The Peregrine Omnibus, Volume Two (44 page)

“Pretty sweet meeeeatttt…”

Eva skidded to a halt. The voice, low and dangerous, had seemed to come from above her but a quick glance upwards showed nothing but a thin layer of ice over rock. And then, just as she started to turn away, she thought she saw movement. “Max… I think I’ve found a Wraith.”

The Peregrine moved forward quickly, the Knife of Elohim held before him. The blade glowed brightly in the presence of evil and as Max held it towards the ceiling, a creature hissed in response. Despite the fact that Ice Wraith was normally able to hide against the ice, the blade somehow revealed it to normal sight. It was long and slender, with a hairless white body and an elongated snout-like face. The Wraith’s eyes were pools of yellow and black and its teeth and claws gleamed sharply.

The Ice Wraith dropped from above, landing directly on top of Eva. It snapped its teeth at her neck but she was able to jerk her head to the side and the gaping maw closed harmlessly on the air. She could smell its fetid breath and her stomach churned. Because of their positioning, she wasn’t able to turn her gun on him, but it turned out that she didn’t need to.

Max drove the mystic blade he held deep into the creature’s back, yanking it free only to plunge it into the Wraith once more. The Ice Wraith yelled in pain, scurrying off of Eva and whirling about to face the Peregrine.

“Huuuuuman, you cannot leave my home. Kill you and eat you, I willlllll.”

The Peregrine watched as Evelyn helped Eva to her feet and he waved the blade before him, keeping the beast from coming too close. Max had managed to put himself between the Ice Wraith and the girls but he wasn’t sure if the beast was alone… if the monster had friends, they could overwhelm the Peregrine and his allies. “I don’t want to kill you,” Max warned. “But I will if you don’t turn tail and run.”

The Ice Wraith bared his sharp teeth and hissed like a cat. He jumped for the Peregrine, who dropped and thrust upwards with the dagger as the monster soared overhead. The blade caught in the Wraith’s belly and tore a jagged rip that was several inches long. Warm blood spilled on to Max’s shoulder and the Wraith landed unsteadily just past him, steam rising from his open wound.

“Huuuuurt meeee,” the beast whined. It began to turn back towards Max, its eyes narrowed in anger. “Going to hurt you baaaaack…”

“Oh, shut the hell up,” Eva muttered. She tore away from Evelyn and raised her pistol. The sound of the weapon discharging was deafening in the tunnel but her bullets ripped through the Ice Wraith’s skull, splattering his brains on the ice.

The German beauty looked at Max in annoyance. “You shouldn’t play with these things. Just kill them and move on.”

The Peregrine was about to respond when the ground beneath their feet seemed to shift and a cracking sound echoed throughout the tunnel.

“What was that?” Evelyn asked as the ground suddenly rumbled once more. She reached out to grab the wall but found her gloved hands couldn’t find a purchase. She nearly fell but Eva snatched her up by the elbow.

“I think Eva might have started a cave-in,” Max said, as bits of ice began to fall on his head. “Come on. We’ve got to hurry.”

The three of them moved as fast as they could down the tunnel as slightly larger chunks of ice and rock began to rain down around them. At times, Max found he could move faster by “skating” across the ice.

As they rounded one final bend, they spotted what at first appeared to be a dead end. On closer inspection, however, the wall shimmered slightly, like the rippling of a lake’s surface.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Peregrine surged towards the portal. He threw himself through, his feet leaving the ground, and tumbled from one world into the next. Much to his surprise, he landed with a splash in a large pool of brackish water, his arrival disturbing a nearby alligator that quickly began to swim in the opposite direction. A full moon hung heavy and bloated in the night sky, illuminating the swamp in which Max now found himself.

He was quickly joined by Evelyn and Eva, both of whom landed with surprised squeals at his side. Evelyn spat out some water that had ended up in her mouth, looking around her in shock. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know,” Max admitted. He sheathed his knife and drew a pistol. “But we’re not alone.” He pointed towards the shadows, where two figures lay half-hidden by darkness. The smaller of them moved into view, her lovely skin looking the color of chocolate in the moonlight.

“I mean you no harm. It’s only me… Makeeda” She gestured towards the man who remained out of sight. “This is Daniel.”

Max couldn’t hide his astonishment. He looked at both of the women with him. “That’s them - the people that the Claws team went with… and the one that the fake Mr. Dee was pursuing.”

“Odd coincidence that we should end up here,” Evelyn said. The expression on her face made it clear that she didn’t find such a “coincidence” to be very likely at all.

Makeeda looked at them and smiled softly. She looked fairly serene, as if being reunited with Daniel had restored her sense of equilibrium. “The ancients who came here did so because of the swamp’s special nature. There are numerous portals here, and Daniel can sense them. We knew you were coming through right here.”

Eva moved forward through the water, her eyes locked on the figure in the shadows. She was close enough now to discern some of the details and her face twisted in disgust. “That’s Daniel Cummings? That’s what immortality does to you?”

The Peregrine looked over and saw Cummings shamble into view, his arms hanging in front of him, giving him a gait not unlike that of an ape, with his back arched behind him.

Makeeda sounded annoyed. “He’s been changed physically, but he’s still Daniel inside. I’m going to be helping him. I think I can get him back to something that’s more like a semblance of his old self, at least in terms of how he acts and talks. But until then I’m going to help him safeguard these portals… not all the ancients died, despite what Breen said. Some of them fled through these and sometimes things come out, things that are much more frightening than the three of you.”

Evelyn was the first to seize upon an important facet of what Makeeda was saying, linking it to something that Eobard had said before they had left. “There are other portals here… that can send us home? Or to wherever the Claws are?”

Cummings answered her before Makeeda could do so, his slow voice filled with emotion. “Yes. And… I… think that… I can… send you… where they… are.”

“Did they tell you where they were going?”

“No… but… the portals… they speak… to me.”

The Peregrine nodded, having guessed that Cummings’s evolved senses somehow interacted with the portals’ connection to the World of Shadow, altering his perception. Cummings had sensed that Max and his companions would be coming here, and now he could sense where they needed to go to find the Claws team. “Evelyn, if Cummings can send you to the portal nearest our home, I want you to go with him. Check on the kids.”

“I can… send… her… home,” Cummings confirmed.

Evelyn hesitated, not wanting to leave Max to face Dee and Nyarlathotep alone, but also knowing that one of them needed to be with William and Emma. “You better come back to me in one piece,” she warned. Leaning forward, she kissed him on the lips and they held each other in the moonlight.

When they parted, it was Eva’s turn to speak. The lovely brunette had discarded her heavy cold weather gear, leaving her dressed once more in provocative fashion. Evelyn frowned at the woman’s cleavage and resisted the urge to turn her husband’s head in another direction. “What about me, Herr Davies? Are you planning to turn me over to the authorities?” Before Max could answer, Eva raised her pistol and pointed it at the Peregrine’s face. “Or are we going to agree to part as friends?”

With a normal woman, the Peregrine would have gambled at this point, hoping that his own reflexes would be so superior to his opponent’s that he could knock her gun askew before she fired… but with Eva’s abilities, he knew he wouldn’t be able to pull that off. “Are you planning to run back to Mr. Dee?” he asked. “Because I think you’re a fool if you think you still have a place with the Reich.”

Eva shrugged her shoulders, but for the first time that Evelyn had seen, she looked a bit uncertain and vulnerable. “I don’t know what I’ll do… but it will be my own life to lead. Not Dee’s.”

The Peregrine took his wife’s hand and led her away, towards Cummings. “Then good luck, Eva. I hope we don’t face one another as enemies anytime soon.”

Eva watched them disappear into the night. She finally lowered her weapon and took a deep breath, wondering what she should do next.

With a frustrated sigh, she began a slow march out of the swampland.

CHAPTER XVII

The Devil’s House

Mr. Dee stood in front of a roaring fireplace, hands clasped behind his back. He felt flush with newfound power, his abilities having been amplified by Nyarlathotep. Dee could sense the rain falling outside, each drop splashing against the ground with hungry need. The air inside the Berghof was thick with the smell of cooking food, as the home’s staff hurried to prepare a meal for their soon-to-be-arriving master. Dee had called the Fuehrer as soon as they had arrived, informing him that at long last the OFP had succeeded in gaining the kind of power that could turn the tide of war.

Nyarlathotep appeared at Dee’s side, having moved so silently that not even Dee’s newly enhanced senses had detected him. “Not a single word about overthrowing your Fuehrer?”

Dee looked at him in surprise. “It is one thing for you to ask me to swear allegiance to you above all, but I am not ready to actively plot against the Fuehrer!” Seeing the sudden flash of fire in his master’s eyes, Dee quickly amended his declaration. “Unless you ask me to, of course.”

“I told you I don’t care about Hitler’s little schemes. They’re just a tiny blip on the greater picture. But most men who have my blessing would quickly grow too power-hungry to think about serving others. They’d want to know if I could help them kill their leaders and take their power for themselves. But you… you seem content to be a lap dog. Why is that?”

Dee bristled at the insult but held his anger in check. “The Fuehrer is a great man and I believe in the principles of the Reich.”

“The superiority of the Aryan race?”

“Amongst other things, yes.”

Nyarlathotep looked into the flickering flames and Dee followed his gaze. Among the embers of the fireplace, the faces of men and women locked in mortal torment began to slowly take form. “The man who thought he was you, your servant bound to the fire demon, he believed in Hitler, too, but he thought him flawed. I see flaws in the Reich itself. Mankind finds every little difference amongst themselves and seeks to use those things for the purposes of hate and control. The cosmic joke of it all is that the color of your skin, the genetic line to which you belong… none of it matters. You are like insects, with lives that are so brief as to be just a flicker in the eye of a god. And what do you do with these short lifespans? You wage war and call each other names.”

Dee was growing uncomfortable with these words and couldn’t hide it any longer. “You think the Reich is a waste of time? That it won’t last?”

“Nothing lasts, Dee. Nothing.” Nyarlathotep’s voice lowered an octave. “For instance, our peace and quiet is about to conclude. We have visitors.”

Dee glanced around quickly, seeing nothing. More importantly, he
heard
nothing. The kitchen staff had grown quiet and the murmuring of voices that had filled the Berghof since their arrival had been stilled. He was about to comment on this when a burst of pain sliced through his brain. It felt like a railway spike had just been shoved into his skull, and Dee found himself screaming in agony, blood spurting from his nose in a sudden rush, soaking the interior of his metal mask. He fell forward, almost into the fire, but managed to catch himself against the brick façade of the fireplace.

Nyarlathotep turned slowly to face the sole entrance into the room. The first one of their enemies to enter was a massive individual, dressed in an ill-fitting shirt and slacks. Nyarlathotep sensed the man’s uniqueness immediately, as Frankestein’s creation was an interesting amalgam of life and death, all wrapped up in one package.

As Vincent strode purposefully towards Nyarlathotep, the rest of the Claws team came quickly behind. Revenant held a pistol in each hand, her eyes flicking quickly around the room, making certain that there were no surprises lurking for them. At the rear came Catalyst and Esper, hands clasped at first, though they quickly moved away from one another. The mage stared at Nyarlathotep, his occult senses warning him that this battle could go very poorly for the Claws team.

Nyarlathotep held up a hand, warding them away. He looked almost handsome in the firelight, though his sensuality was laced with danger. “So… the Peregrine has formed his own little army, has he? I can’t say that I’m not impressed. The high mage of this era… a telepath… a creature forged from the dead… and a pretty girl in a tight suit. Quite a fearsome force.”

Revenant could hear the sarcasm in the man’s voice, but she was too intent on her task to care. She had helped incapacitate all the guards and housekeeping staff, but she’d made the tactical decision to not burst into this room with guns blazing. Aside from neutralizing Dee for the moment, she wanted to see if this whole thing could be solved through rational discussion. Failing that, she was more than ready to kick some ass.

“Where’s the Peregrine?” she asked, her weapons trained on the mysterious dark-garbed man.

“He’s not here.”

“
Where
is he?”

Nyarlathotep smiled as Dee grunted again. “I wish you’d stop that,” he said, looking directly at Rachel. “Mr. Dee is a friend of mine, and I would so much like to see him in action right now.”

Without even moving a muscle, Nyarlathotep launched a searing attack at Rachel. Her mind was suddenly filled with the overpowering image of Azathoth, the mad god who dances endlessly at the center of the universe. She saw his massive impossibility, his insanity, and his unending thirst for suffering.