Ghoulies Abroad by Julie Steimle (bts book recommendations txt) 📖

feeling a little gray also, his mouth going dry. He could see what Daniel understood. It took a really suspicious mind to believe it, though. Only a few of them were that skeptical.  

Andy remained confused.

So did the others, except the monk who was waiting silently for them to say it out loud.

Daniel said with a nod to Rick, “You tell them.”

Rick shrugged while Tom started to nod, stepping on another agent before hopping over the ground to Chen who looked tired for a dragon. Turning toward Andy as he addressed all of them, Rick said, “Think cynically. The CIA is supposed to be for American interests, but in reality they are for their own power and self-interest. That’s why many believe they assassinated JFK—me included. But here? We can probably bet they are here for the overthrow of the Chinese government.”

“But that would be a good thing, right?” Eddie asked. “You know, for democracy.”

Rick shook his head, sorry some of his friends believed those government agencies did things for ‘democracy’. It was annoyingly naïve. “No. It wouldn’t be a good thing. Think about it. Besides meddling with another nation—dramatic change is bloody and violent. People would die. There would be riots. The demons would love it. The triads would too if it helped them rise to power. And you can’t guarantee that the overthrow of the current regime would in fact induce a peaceful replacement. More often than not, a more violent, more totalitarian, nastier sort of government would replace it just to quell civil unrest. China is currently in a state of prosperity and expanding freedom. This slow change suits the giant nation better than some dramatic revolution. And for that matter, more pollution would occur in this country rather than less—making China collapse entirely as the pollution here already is at apocalyptical levels, especially with their air and water pollution. The demons will love that too. The triads…” Rick said, gazing on one, “…not so much.”

The group of locals shot a look to Daniel who was nodding to Rick that he had understood right.

“So… in the end the Chinese mob loses too?” Tom said in a purposely loud voice.

Rick lifted his eyebrows, nodding.

“Yes,” Daniel said, keeping his eyes from the giant dragon. “And for that matter, so would the US because China is a huge trade partner. The CIA are always in it for themselves, damn the astronomical consequences.”

The Chinese triad thugs started cursing under their breath again, though this time it seemed to be at the American spies.

Behind them all, the monk smiled to himself.

“That’s it!” Daniel threw up his hands, jerking his head around toward the captives and dragon. “Chen, can you please stop being a dragon and put on some clothes? You are seriously freaking me out.”

Chen shrank down into a large snake, probably an anaconda, but Rick wasn’t sure. It hissed peevishly at Daniel.

Daniel rolled his eyes and walked way. “Close enough.”

“Ooookay…” Eddie then walked over to their captives. “So, Red, what should we do now? We can’t exactly execute them or anything—not the human beings anyway.”

“We could destroy them, though,” Semour murmured.

They all stared at him—especially their captives whose eyes went wide.

“I mean, socially,” Semour added, lifting his eyes to them and sheathing his now shining sword. “On the internet. They tried to destroy our tech and all. There had to be reason for that.”

Rick stared in thought.

“We could also expose them to the Chinese government,” Daniel added dryly, his voice going distant in Rick’s ears as Rick’s mind went into overdrive, thinking about what Semour had said.

“Wouldn’t that cause bad US-China relations?” James asked, frowning at the idea. “I mean when they realize—”

“I think both governments know a spy game is going on,” Daniel retorted with complete dryness.

“But this bad?” James’s frown went deeper. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea.”

“Maybe it would work if it were Americans exposing them,” Eddie muttered.

“We’d be branded at traitors…” James interjected in worried thought, clearly anxious about it.

“They are the traitors,” Tom snapped, feeling quite the opposite. He looked inclined to raid the CIA headquarters and upend the entire organization.

“It’d tick off the SRA if they found out the CIA were conspiring with demons,” Rick murmured out loud, a crooked little gleam in his eye.

All of them froze—especially the CIA agents. One peed himself.

Tom cackled, rubbing his hands while walking over to Rick. “Oh, ho, ho… I like where you are going with this.”

“Where is he going with this?” Andy murmured, shooting Tom desperate looks. Perhaps Andy was the only person who understood the directions Rick’s mind took in times of desperation, which was why he was worried.

“Never you mind,” Rick murmured, thinking ahead to when his computer would be up and running—especially thinking about his blog. He lifted his eyes to Andy, “What we really need to do is find a way to contain these people and let the Chinese government know about their mafia-demon problem.”

“We can tie them up and hang them from the ceiling like Spiderman,” Tom suggested, rocking on his heels while stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Most of them gave Tom a wan look, though Daniel started to crack up.

“I’ll even write the note.” Tom smirked, encouraged by Daniel’s reaction.

He probably would to it too, Rick thought. Yet shaking his head, Rick tried to think of something less cartoonish.

James sat down on the nearest fallen log and started to clean off his sword. Eddie joined him, also taking out his stone to sharpen his. Rick averted his eyes. Whenever they did that it made him nervous.

“Tying them up would be great if we had something to tie them up with,” Andy said sarcastically.

“Duct tape,” Tom suggested nonchalantly—as if he had a cupboard full of it somewhere.

“And you brought—”

“Do you really think I pack everything I use?” Tom retorted briskly, his orange eyes narrowing on Andy.

Daniel moaned, grasping the ridge of his nose. He then tossed his sword to Eddie who expertly caught it and stabbed it into the earth for its own cleaning job. Daniel drew out a pair of daggers, mostly for show in case any of their captives had any ideas of escape. They were brilliantly sharp and uniquely decorated with otherworldly patterns. He absentmindedly flipped them and caught them as he paced pensively in front of the group.

“I think I just wish you wouldn’t go around stealing all your stuff,” Andy chastised Tom.

Tom huffed with a sharp low look on him. “Man, you are so self-righteous sometimes.”

“It is not self-righteous to want your friends to be a little honest.”

“I am a little honest.”

Rick cringed, staring up at the tree cover. He had been waiting for this particular argument for years. It was long overdue—especially since Andy and Tom were polar opposites.

“Could you take that phrase not so literally?”

“No.”

Andy groaned. “Tom! For the love of Mike! Could you—”

“I don’t know this Mike you are talking about,” Tom shot back with half a crooked smirk, the other half being an angry imp. “But could you be less controlling?”

“Seriously! You think me wanting a little bit of—”

“Have a little fun, man! You’re imps are starved! It’s like looking at the imps of a middle-aged church-goer.” Tom tossed an irritated hand out at Andy.

“I am a middle-aged church-goer!” Andy snapped back. “My grandfather is our town priest, and technically I am in my forties!”

Tom pulled back and stared, blinking. He then looked to Rick.

“What? You forgot?” Rick asked, gazing wanly back.

Sighing, Tom nodded. “I guess that explains why I feel like I am listening to one my school teachers,” he muttered, trudging back to the huali. He came back with a box of duct tape and zip ties, lifting it. “Technically is it stealing if it happened to be in the car we ‘borrowed’ from the triad? I mean, you could call this giving them back.”

Daniel laughed, tossing up a knife particularly high and catching it.

“I call it giving back in a big way.” Semour smirked with a chuckle, nodding.

James got up, volunteering to help Tom bind up their captives. And he added to Tom as they did, “And if you want to write a note, you can.”

As James and Daniel helped Tom zip-tie, tape up, and gag the agents separate from the mob thugs, Semour collected all tech off their bodies while Eddie and Andy stood guard so Chen could become human again and put on some pants. In the meantime, Rick walked over to all the other cars and let the air out of all their tires. Moaning, the agents stared at their vehicles with visible grief.

“Hand them over,” Tom said to Semour when he had all their tech.

Semour shook his head. “The Holy Seven is confiscating this, Tom. You can’t give it back to the CIA.”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Can I deactivate dangerous things, though?”

Another agent groaned.

Semour quickly passed the items over, peeking to them.

Tom dismantled a number of cell phones, taking out irregular chips containing small packets of what looked like a chemical agent which probably could be toxic. He separated batteries from the cell phones also, removing the sim cards. Holding them out to Semour, he said, “Be careful with this stuff. I know you are smart, but the Company has decades of research they have been hoarding, and you cannot possibly imagine what they can do with their tech.”

Nodding, Semour took the things gingerly. “Oh, I can imagine. I just might not know the particulars.”

“The agents are also probably chipped,” Tom said, glancing over to the agents. “I refused to take an RIFD chip in the beginning, and it almost cost me the chance to be CIA. I also know they have been trying to get one in me secretly.”

Rick drew in a breath, overhearing him. He turned from his next to last tire and stared.

Tom met his gaze. “I am sure you know they want to chip you.”

Rick nodded.

Andy raised his eyebrows, genuinely shocked. He looked aggressively to the CIA, the muscles in his fists tightening.

But James moaned, closing his eyes—as this wasn’t something he wanted to believe but did anyway. He was always able to recognize truth whenever he heard it… something Rick appreciated.

Eddie and Semour shared looks, cringing. They didn’t want to believe it either, but they also had practical minds and it made sense that the government would want to track a powerful werewolf.

Tom peered harder at Rick. “Do you have a way to—?”

“Yes,” Rick said with an abrupt nod. “Dad… you know… trusts no one. A branch of our tech division has created the machinery for detection and removal of tagging tech.”

Staring dreamily into the space ahead of him, everything on Semour’s face said he wanted to work in Deacon Enterprises’ tech division.

“RIFD chips are creepy,” James muttered, jerking the strap to the zip tie around one of the spy’s wrists a little too hard. “It is like they think people are cattle they can just tag.”

“That about sums it up.” Rick nodded, letting out the air on another tire.

As they dragged their captives to the nearest building, Tom peeking in to make sure there wasn’t anyone inside, one spy hissed to Rick when he got near enough, “Don’t think you are going to get away with this…”

Andy was the one moving him. He shook the man. “Is that a threat?”

“What’s he to you?” the spy snarled at Andy, looking likely to bite his throat out if he could.

Andy jerked him closer. “My best friend.”

The spy laughed. “Then you’ll suffer first.”

Tossing him into the pile of captives, Andy delivered a scathing look as he walked off to help with the rest. “Yeah, right.”

The spy immediately spewed out a string of epithets which increased in loudness and violence, spit spraying from his mouth and his face color transforming from an ordinary ivory peach to dark crimson. Andy gazed dryly on him, unaffected while the stream of profanities continued until that spy went nearly hoarse. Andy then looked to Rick, mildly. “I don’t know who he hates more