Vision Quest (The Demon's Apprentice Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

cheese, aren’t you? You know chemical warfare is against the Geneva Convention, right?”
    “I’m a very bad person, I know,” I said. “But he really, really deserves it.”
    “Damn straight he does,” she agreed. “He’s keeping my man away from me. When are you leaving?”
    “Oh-dark-thirty,” I said. “We’re only stopping for gas and food.”
    “Get drive-through,” Shade said, her voice smoldering again. “I can’t wait to see you.”
    “I can’t either. I’ve gotta go. I miss you.”
    “Miss you, too.”
    We hung up and I headed for the ladder. Winthrop Gage was going to regret making me late getting home.

Chapter 2
    ~ Our shadows are often our anchors, our reflection in negative. ~ Lazarus Moon
     
    “I’m beginning to see the appeal of car sickness,” Gage said after the first hour on the road. Lucas was leading the way, and I had Linkin Park in the CD player. “At least then I would have something else to focus on than that noise and this God-forsaken landscape.” He looked a little less dapper without his blazer, and no amount of product in the world was going to keep his hair in place in a car doing seventy with the windows down. Okay, seventy-ish. Most of the time. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and it was still visibly damp under his armpits. Of course, the back of my Miskatonic U. shirt was pretty much soaked with sweat, but that wasn’t unusual for an eighty degree morning.
    “There’s a box of eight tracks in the trunk,” I said as “Burn It Down” ended. “If you’re looking for something a little more classic rock.”
    “I believe I’ll pass,” he said. “Perhaps we can forego the music entirely for a bit.”
    “Sure,” I said, and hit the stop button. The Mustang’s muted rumble filled the sudden silence, and I drove on, all the while envying Lucas, whom I could see through his rear window bouncing to whatever he was listening to.
    “Lord, what is that smell?” Gage asked a moment later. We had topped a hill, and I could see the rows of white buildings to our left. The morning sun was just hitting them, and we were being treated to the smell of agriculture in action. Below us, I could see the road ahead, with patches of sunlight and shadow from the big, puffy columns of cumulonimbus clouds to the east.
    “Fresh air and eau de pig,” I said with a little more relish than the moment called for. In the rearview mirror, I saw Junkyard pop his head up. He sniffed the air for a moment, then nudged at my neck with his nose.
    “What is it, big guy?” I asked as we hit the base of the hill. He gave a soft huff of a bark and put a paw on the seat.
    “He probably objects to the smell even more than I do,” Gage said. “Though I’m amazed he even has a nose left, given the stench he produced last night.”
    I ignored the comment and grabbed the walkie talkie from the middle console.
    “Lucas!” I called out. There was no response, and I could see his head still bobbing in time with his music. I tried again, but he still didn’t respond so I sped up a little and flashed my headlights at him. It wasn’t until I honked my horn that he noticed me.
    “Sorry, dude, what’s up?” he asked over the radio.
    “Junkyard’s—” was all I got out before the world around us went dark.
    “Whoa!” Lucas called back. “You didn’t just play a glowing ocarina did you?”
    “This isn’t me,” I said. “No matter what, you just keep moving till you see sunlight. You got it? Keep heading north.”
    “Yeah, I got it! Keep movi—” Lucas’s voice disappeared in the hiss of static. His tail lights came on in front of us and the road in front of him lit up under his headlights. I let up on the gas and watched him pull away.
    “Junkyard, backpack,” I said as I opened the top of the center console. The LeMat was nestled inside. I reached over my shoulder and felt Junkyard’s fuzzy head under my hand, so I reached down and followed his jaw until I could