Penumbra (The Midnight Society #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the Midnight Society is not the safest gig in the world. The kinds of enemies we make are rich, powerful, and often belong in a psychiatric ward.”
    “No kidding,” I said , remembering Calisto, hidden beneath that terrifying executioner’s outfit, while she annihilated everyone close to us.
    I shuddered.
    “I was sixteen at the time, climbing the ranks of the Midnight Society, when a war broke out between our organization and the Order of Ascension, a powerful religious sect based in Europe. Believe it or not, they had the backing of the Catholic Church at one point.”
    “ The Midnight Society went to war with a religious organization?”
    “These maniacs had no association with God. They did have incriminating photos of a few high ranking cardinals of the church in the company of a bunch of barely legal Eastern-European prostitutes,” Lincoln said as he leaned back in his chair. “The Ascension claimed they were doing God’s work, but last I checked, I don’t think the lord almighty was an advocate of smuggling and distributing drugs, firearms, and under-aged women.”
    I shook my head. “The church knew about all of this?”
    “They must have, but what could they do?” Lincoln asked. “The Ascension had them all by the balls. Hell, they could have told the church to take down every cross and replace it with a smoked meat sandwich and they would have done it.”
    I raised my brow.
    “Hey, you have no idea how long I’d been craving a sandwich, only to have the opportunity stolen away from me because of your carnal kitchen acts.”
    “Don’t remind me,” I said, embarrassed. “Getting back to the Ascension…”
    “At the time, the Ascension was led by a charismatic man named Elias Rose, short for Rosencrantz, who, I swear, could charm the wool off a sheep’s back if he wanted. He was also a man of vision and wanted to expand his enterprise of guns, drugs, and sex slaves into our territory. The Midnight Society’s Council met with Rose and discussed the potential business venture. Guns and drugs we could sanction, with the hopes of controlling and regulating the market just so it didn’t turn into chaos, but the human trafficking we just couldn’t live with. What Rose was doing to these girls was inhumane. Many of them never got the chance to experience their childhood—kidnapped and thrust into the horrors of the illegal sex trade business.
    “At the time, it was James and Brevin who did all the discussions, but things went south fast. Rose wasn’t pleased that we didn’t want anything to do with the Ascension.
    “However, Rose wasn’t one to take no for an answer easily and retaliated by attacking Brevin’s family. From what I understand, it was only supposed to be a warning shot, but his four year old daughter was scared shitless. In a moment of panic, she ran onto the road and got hit by oncoming traffic. She suffered permanent brain damage and was reduced to a vegetative state.”
    “My God,” I said in utter disbelief. How many innocent people had suffered as collateral damage because of the Midnight Society? Justin, Julia Constantine, Brevin’s daughter...and that was counting only the people I knew about.
    “The Midnight Society does not forgive nor forget their enemies. A war broke out between our two organizations. It was a bloody affair and many lives were lost, including James’ wife. Shadow witnessed the tragedy first hand, watching James cling onto the lifeless body of his wife while her blood drained onto a blanket of fresh snow.
    “And I guess this is the part of the story you’re most interested in. At the time Shadow was in love, but there were three strikes going against that relationship. The first was that Shadow was still consumed by the need to find his parents’ killer. It was hard for him to experience love to the fullest while the desire for revenge still loomed over his head. His lover at the time struggled to stand by him, and it took a toll both on her and