Council of Peacocks Read Online Free PDF Page A

be clear about something. Those people in the
woods back there were human. They didn’t have wings or tails and
they weren’t eight feet tall. I didn’t see their faces but they
were definitely human. Doesn’t make them any less dangerous. He
looked in the rear-view mirror. Tonia’s body bounced limply beneath
the blanket. Someone had put a seatbelt across her chest to keep
her upright. “Madmen are a different kind of monster. They’ll use
tricks, guerrilla tactics. You just never know what to expect.”
    “What if…” Rebecca stopped and cleared her
throat. “I mean, when I think of wings, I think of angels.”
    “What are you talking about?” Brian shot her
a look over his shoulder.
    Josh felt blood rush to his face.
    “I’m just saying,” Rebecca sank back into her
seat, pushing herself as far away from Josh as she could. “What if
those things you killed were angels? Maybe this is some sort of
revenge. Maybe…”
    Brian turned around. “Don’t!”
    “I know he’s your friend but how can you not
see this?”
    “Rebecca, you’re trying in a not-so-subtle
way to say this is all Josh’s fault. So enough of the angel crap.
If it wasn’t for Josh we’d probably all be dead now.”
    Matt sank back into his seat, too. “Or we’d
be at the cottage.”
    Josh felt like she had kicked him in the gut.
His body went stiff, his eyes very focused on the road.
    There was a long stretch of silence again
before Brian continued the conversation.
    “So what was it, then? What was your big
secret?”
    Once again, Josh felt he could breathe.
    “Damn. My dad’s going to kill me. If anyone
deserves the truth, it’s you guys. You know how my dad owns that
garage downtown?”
    “Yeah,” Brian said. “I’ve picked you up there
a few times. You worked there during the summer in high
school.”
    Josh nodded while Brian talked. “It’s a
front. You ever heard of CSIS?”
    “That show on CBS?”
    “No. That’s CSI . The one I’m talking
about is kind of like the Canadian CIA. My dad works for them.”
    “I take it he’s not a janitor.” Jan chewed on
her thumbnail. “Christ, you’re just full of little secrets, aren’t
you?”
    Josh swallowed, a sour taste in his mouth. “I
would have told you if I could, Jan. It’s kind of a hush-hush
thing. Dad wasn’t even supposed to tell Mom and me. He’s not even a
regular agent there. He belongs to this secret organization within
the company. They go on special assignments and stuff, the type
that creates a few enemies. Only reason we found out is we were
attacked once.”
    “See?” Rebecca’s voice was suddenly very
shrill. “I told you this was his fault. Should have left him back
there and we’d all be safe now.”
    “Enough of the psycho drama,” Jan said. Her
voice was little more than a whisper but the strange edge to it
froze everyone. “Rebecca, take a pill and let him speak.”
    Josh felt his heart skip a beat. He’d been
thinking exactly the same thing ever since he saw the blade in the
tire. What if this was another attack like Lebanon? Were they after
him to get to his father? He shook the guilt away and tried to
think of what his dad would do.
    “I wish it was all my fault, Rebecca,
but I don’t think it is. I think it’s all about luck in this case.
Bad luck.”
    “When were you attacked?” Brian finished his
can of soda.
    “When I was 16. Dad took us on a trip to
Lebanon.”
    “I remember. You brought back that stupid
urn.”
    “Hey! My mother loves that urn.”
    “Josh, it’s ugly.”
    “Hardly the most important thing right now.
Anyway, while we were there, this guy took a shot at my dad. Bullet
went right through an open window in our hotel room. Sliced through
my mother’s arm. Long story short, my father felt he had to tell us
what was going on so we’d be ready if it happened again. He taught
me a few things after school and on weekends. I can handle myself
really well. I’ll do everything I can to make sure we get