Page 64 of Grave Danger

Demetrius sighed. “Some people know about them, of course. But not the general public.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, that’s just how the library wants it.”

“The library or Tracey?”

“The library.” Demetrius checked the time on the meter and pushed a dime into the slot before turning away. “I’m not sure why, but Tracey’s always been funny about me looking through those books, warning me not to tell anyone, that kind of stuff.”

They started walking slowly along the sidewalk toward Margie’s. Cody had loosened his tie and had his hands in his pants pockets, and he looked very sexy, even if the tie was a couple of decades out of fashion.

“Don’t you think that’s a little weird?” Cody said.

Before Demetrius could respond, a man stepped in front of them, forcing them to stop fast. He was a bit shorter than Cody, but big across the shoulders and chest, with a wide face and a mean expression.

“Excuse us,” Cody said, frowning as he bumped Demetrius slightly to the right to get around the man.

“You’re Cody Bower.” The man’s voice was deep and agitated, and between his expression and the tone of his voice, Demetrius felt a chill go up his back.

This was going to be trouble.

“Do I know you?” Cody said.

The man swung at him, catching Cody on the jaw and sending him stumbling into Demetrius. They both fell to the sidewalk, Demetrius feeling the impact in his shoulder and a twinge of pain in his knee as he twisted slightly to try and break his fall.

“Hey!”

The shout came from down the sidewalk, and Demetrius looked around to see Jugs, Agatha, Dave, and Oliver rushing toward them. He looked over his shoulder and gasped when he saw the man advancing on Cody, forehead creased and eyes narrowed in rage.

“What the fuck?” Cody said, shaking his head. “What the fuck?”

Dave reached them before the others and planted himself in front of Cody and Demetrius, fists clenched. “Back off.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Cody’s assailant said. “You want this too?”

“This is assault,” Dave said. “And my brother will be pressing charges.”

“Brother?”

The man took a swing at Dave, but Dave was expecting it and dodged back before striking out and hitting the man in the jaw. Their attacker staggered back, and Dave adjusted the placement of his feet as he brought his hands up.

“Step back, man,” Dave said. “I don’t want to fight you.”

A siren bleeped from the street, making Demetrius jump where he lay half underneath Cody.

“You all right?” Cody asked him.

“Yeah. How about you?”

“He surprised me or else I would have been ready.” Cody got up and reached down to help Demetrius. There was a red mark on the side of his jaw that Demetrius knew would turn into a bruise.

“Who the fuck are you?” Demetrius asked as Deputy Ryan Zellmer pushed his way through the gathered crowd, all of them holding up cell phones to get video of whatever might happen.

What a fucking world. Maybe humankind deserved a zombie apocalypse.

“What’s going on here?” Zellmer demanded, looking between Cody and the stranger who had attacked him.

“This guy asked me my name, and then he punched me in the face,” Cody said.