The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One (10 page)

Licking his lips, Trench withdrew the key from his pocket. A small clasp at the bottom of the cage accepted it easily enough. The key settled into place with a soft clink, making Jacob think of the poem by T.S. Eliot, the one that ended with “This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper.”

Trench took a deep breath before turning the key. “Dark Lord,” he whispered. “Be free.”

The tumblers slipped into place and the latch on the Cage opened, allowing painfully bright light to suddenly sweep out into the room. The temperature also changed, seeming to rise twenty degrees in the space of seconds. Trench found himself groaning from the sudden shift in the environment and he took a step back as the spilling light began to coalesce into something dark and frightful. He brought a hand up to cover his eyes, his nose wrinkling in disgust. A smell that he found difficult to place was permeating the room now… but then he found himself recognizing it in some deep, dank recess of his mind.

Brimstone.

“Jacob Trench,” a voice said and its power made the room tremble.

Trench lowered his hands, feeling the force of the entity before him making it hard for him to stand. He was staring up into the face of a being far older than recorded history… at times alternately beautiful and horrifying. It was not human but it bore the same general shape, though its eyes were pools of inky blackness and its skin was the color of dried blood. The beast was naked and possessed of prodigious genitalia, though it was oddly shaped, ending in a pronged tip. He was taller than any normal human, having to stand with stooped back brushing the ceiling.

“My Lord,” Trench whispered. “You’re beautiful.”

The dark creature laughed softly and it sounded like rolling thunder. “To be free again after so very long… you have earned your triumph, Jacob Trench. You have earned the power you have so long sought.”

Trench stepped forward impulsively, holding his arms out to the creature, as if expecting to be swept up into an embrace. “I will bring glory to thy name,” he whispered. His expression had become one of rapt admiration… he was a zealot, one blessed to be in the presence of his God.

The devil reached out an oversized hand, one whose fingers were tipped with razor-sharp claws. “This world is not meant for the likes of me. My form can exist here only so long… if I wish to bring my dark majesty to the entire world I shall have need of a vehicle.”

“Tell me what you need and I will provide.”

“I know you will, my pet. What I require is a suit of living human flesh, one that can contain my glory while I walked amongst men.”

Trench felt the first tremulous rush of apprehension. “I don’t understand. You require a sacrifice?”

“Do not fear. What I need coincides with what you desire. You wish for power and you shall have it. You wish for other mortals to fear you and you shall have it. But I need a body to cloak my spirit within… and I shall have that.”

Before Trench could even begin to fathom the meaning of those words, the dark lord had wrapped one of his hands around Trench’s neck. Jacob was pulled off his feet, yanked towards the burning eyes of his master. “No, please,” Trench begged, trying in vain to weaken the grip he was held in. “I have served you so well…”

“That you have,” the entity agreed, reaching out with his other hand to restrain Trench from struggling. “And what I offer you is an honor given to only a very few.”

Trench screamed as he felt his soul being forced downwards, into a long dark tunnel. He could no longer see or hear but he felt very cold and alone. It was as if he had been locked in a basement, one where he could beat on the walls until his hands bled but no one would ever hear.

The physical body of Jacob Trench was far from abandoned, however. The demon now looked at the world through mortal eyes and he inhaled noisily, like a drowning man who had been pulled to shore.

“You did very well, Jacob.” The demon spoke with Trench’s voice and smiled with Trench’s mouth. He strode over to the window, looking out into the slowly approaching dawn. A new day was upon the world… and the sleepy residents of Kassel had no idea about what awaited them. “I shall start by seeking out this Hitler,” the demon mused, having sorted through Jacob’s memory in a matter of seconds. Human minds, he had found, were exceedingly simple things. “His capacity for war impresses me.”

Two figures running through the night made the demon pause, however. He recognized them from Trench’s memory. The so-called Peregrine… and his female companion. He resisted the urge to sigh, but found it impossible to stop. Why was it always so? That foolish mortals should throw themselves into the fire, acting out some noble but stupid desire to destroy themselves?

Of course, he
had
been trapped by a mortal, long ago.

It wouldn’t do for him to simply ignore such threats, no matter how trivial they might seem. He would have to destroy them quickly before their threat could grow.

CHAPTER XXII

Dance with the Devil

The Peregrine found it difficult to get into the hotel. A number of frightened Germans were pushing their way out of the building, many of them screaming things about demons and death. Max knew where they were coming from, for he could feel it, too. It was like someone had left the back door to the house standing wide open… and something dark and scary had scrambled into the kitchen.

“Max. I’m not sure we’re up for this.”

The Peregrine had managed to get both himself and Evelyn to the foot of the stairs, the ones that led up to the second floor. It was there that Trench would be… Max could sense it. He was holding Evelyn’s hand, a pistol in the other. “What do you mean?”

“You’re hurt. I’m half naked. And we’re about to fight the devil. Doesn’t that sound wrong to you?”

“I don’t see any alternative. If Trench and this monster get free of this place, we might never get close enough to strike again!”

“But shouldn’t we call for help? Those friends of yours you mentioned… or even the damned Vatican! This isn’t the kind of thing you, me and some pistols are going to solve!”

Max leaned in close and kissed her, letting the moment linger as long as possible. When they parted, both of them had quickened their breathing. “I won’t ask you to come with me,” he whispered. “But I can’t stand back and let them leave this place. I think this demon is only going to grow stronger the longer he’s here.”

Evelyn smiled softly, shaking her head. “A few days ago, my biggest concern was whether or not I was ever going to become a star. Now I’m seriously discussing heading off to face Lucifer himself. You certainly make a girl feel special.”

“Stay here.”

“No.”

“But…”

Evelyn put a finger over his lips. “We die together or we live together. End of discussion.”

The Peregrine nodded quickly. “Alright.”

Together they ascended the stairs, the oppressive nature of their surroundings growing stronger with every step. Evelyn couldn’t stop herself from trembling as they approached the last room on the second floor. The door was made of strong black wood but it was bending outwards as if a great weight were pressing against it.

“Is your father still here?” she asked, for he had told her of the ghost’s recent visit.

Max glanced at her as he reloaded his gun. “No. Why?”

“Just wondering if I’d get to see him real soon. You know… as in, we’ll all be dead.”

“I didn’t know you were such a pessimist.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

The Peregrine shook his head, impressed that she kept her sense of humor at times like this. He kicked in the door and it splintered into a thousand pieces. Flame shot out from the interior of the room, driving both Max and Evelyn away from the entry way.

Jacob Trench—or rather, something wearing his skin—stepped into view. Max could tell that he was no longer the same man, for his eyes now seemed illuminated from within. “The Peregrine. That’s what you call yourself, isn’t it?”

Max leveled his pistol at Trench’s chest. “You did it, didn’t you? You released that thing.”

“That… thing… is now me. Trench and I are one.” He looked at Evelyn, who stood just behind the Peregrine. “Run, little girl. I can sense you want to.”

Evelyn swallowed hard, raised her own gun… and fired. The bullet struck Trench in the shoulder, but he looked no more bothered than if he had been buzzed by a gnat.

“Is that the best you can do?” the devil asked. “Because I’ve suffered a lot more pain than that. Let me show you.” He raised a hand, clenching it into a fist.

Immediately, Evelyn screamed. It felt like her heart was being squeezed into a bloody pulp. She clutched at her chest, falling to the floor in spasms of agony.

The Peregrine threw himself at Trench, knocking him back into the burning room. The smoke was growing thick here, but Max took note that nothing in the room seemed to be catching fire… rather, the flames danced merrily atop the bed and floor. “Stop hurting her,” Max hissed, slamming a fist down into Trench’s face. A cracking sound was followed by blood pouring from a broken nose.

“Would you rather feel the pain yourself?” the devil taunted. He gripped Max by the ears, channeling more of the strange flame in a direct line against the Peregrine’s skull. “Feel my Hellfire.”

Max lost track of the world for a moment. All was red and black, as the horror of the situation overwhelmed him. He thought he smelled his flesh sizzling, cracking and popping like bacon.
It’s not real
, he tried to tell himself.
The flames don’t really burn. They don’t really burn. They don’t really burn!

And then the fire was gone, replaced by the coolness of snow, falling heavily upon his shoulders.

Max looked around, finding that he was once more outside the strange temple. His father was there, looking as stern as ever. “Am I dead?” Max asked.

“No. You’re still locked in battle with the thing inside Trench. But you’re going to lose… unless you open yourself to your full potential.”

Max rose quickly, rushing over to grab his father by his arms. “Send me back! Evelyn needs me!”

“You’re not listening to me, son.”

Max shoved his father away from him. “Fine. Tell me what to do.”

“You’re able to tap into parts of your mind that normal people can’t. That’s why you can see and hear me so well… even before the rise in magic that’s been going on since Trench started working on opening the Cage. It also allows you to channel energy, from the world of the dead to the world of the living. And vice versa.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Find Jacob. Use him.”

“I don’t understand what…”

Max found himself being thrown away from the devil inside Trench. He landed amongst the dancing fires of Hell, barely able to focus as his opponent rose up over him.

“How did you do that?” the devil asked, in a tone that spoke of confusion, anger… and perhaps a bit of fear, as well.

The Peregrine groaned, trying to shake off the pain that was overwhelming him. His injured leg was throbbing and he felt a grinding motion in his side every time he took an inward breath. Broken ribs. Two, maybe three. “Do what?”

“Your soul… disappeared. For a moment, I held lifeless flesh in my hands.”

Another moment of that and I might have really been lifeless flesh
, Max mused. He reached for the glowing dagger and drew it forth but the devil swatted out a fist and knocked it aside. The knife skidded across the floor into the midst of the inferno.

“No,” the thing inside Trench hissed. “None of that. It’s time we ended this.”

“Get away from him, you bastard!”

Max looked up as Evelyn jumped on Trench’s back, raking at his face with her nails. Long trails of red followed the action and Evelyn capped off the attack by digging her fingers into the man’s eyes.

Trench howled, reaching behind himself and grabbing hold of Evelyn’s dangling hair. He ripped a small patch of it from her skull and she lost her hold on him, landing hard on her rump.

Max took this as his cue. He still didn’t understand his father’s words, but he was weaponless and that meant he had no choice but to come to blows with this thing. He wrapped his arms about Trench’s chest, hissing out the words “Where are you, Jacob? I need you.”

Somewhere within the devil wearing human flesh, there was a stirring. Jacob was locked inside his tiny little cell… but he heard a faint knocking of sorts. He called out an answer…

And Max heard it.

Even as the devil began thrashing about to get free, Max’s eyes were rolling back in his head. He felt like he was falling from some great height, tumbling head over heels.

“How did you get here?” Jacob asked. He was staring open-mouthed at the Peregrine, who had appeared from nowhere in this dark prison.

Max looked around, understanding dawning on him. “You’re trapped, aren’t you?”

“He took my body.”

“Are you okay with that? Is that what you really want? To exist inside his head, while he takes the power you wanted for yourself?”

“I knew the risks,” Jacob answered sullenly. “You don’t bargain with the devil without knowing he’s the Prince of Lies.”

“Then why do it at all?”

“You wouldn’t understand, would you? Born into money, adored by your parents, I bet. But my family saw me as an aberration. Something different from the rest of their children. It wasn’t until I discovered the legend of Lucifer’s Cage that I found a purpose. I lied, betrayed and murdered to get to this point… for power. For prestige.”

“I don’t fully understand… and I suspect I don’t want to. But I’ll ask you again: is this how you want the story to end? With you locked away inside here until he’s done with your body?”

“I have no choice.”

“Yes. You do.” Max offered a hand to Jacob, who stared at it in confusion. “Help me.”

* * *

Evelyn was on her knees, the magic fire in the room beginning to sear her lungs. Though its touch did not harm her, the smoke and heat from it seemed real enough.

She glanced up at the devil, which had managed to knock Max off of it. The Peregrine lay on the ground like a broken doll, barely breathing.