Read Online Götterdämmerung by Barry Reese - Free Book Online Page B

I would caution you to show respect.”
    Himmler released his hold on Sonya’s wrist and stepped back, looking at her with disgust. “You need to remind your daughter of the same.”
    Darhoth snorted in an unladylike fashion. Her right hand shot out with lightning speed, wrapping about the neck of the nearest scientist. Within seconds, the man’s skin began to crumble and shrink, until at last it fell away from the bone. His clothing fell to the floor amid dust and skeletal remains.
    With the exception of Dieter and Vulthar, everyone else reacted with horror. The remaining scientists looked ready to bolt while Himmler himself uttered an exclamation that reflected his absolute shock.
    “I can do that to you, too, Herr Himmler,” Darhoth warned. “But I do not want to. I want to help your precious Füehrer and in return, I want him to help me achieve my own goals. Our ends do not have to be at odds. Do you understand?”
    Himmler took a moment to compose himself. When he spoke again, he tried to inject a sense of power into his voice but he failed somewhat. Unlike the Füehrer, he was not a natural ruler of men. “I will have to speak to the Füehrer about this. In the meantime, I would appreciate it if you could give more of that… fluid… to my men so that we may study it.”
    Darhoth nodded, seemingly satisfied that her point had been made. She kicked at the dead man’s skull that lay at her feet. “The substance is my saliva, Herr Himmler. I have plenty more where that came from.”
    She strode past the scientists, who gave her ample space to do so, and seized another beaker. Her tongue extended and several thick globs of liquid slowly dripped from its tip, oozing down into the container. Himmler found himself oddly aroused by the sight and he forced himself to look away lest he lose himself in the moment.
    Dieter stepped towards Himmler and whispered, “I know how terrifying it may seem but her power… it is immense. Surely we can find a way to use it for our own ends.”
    “Yes. And when all is said and done, we can dispense with her,” Himmler said, trying to think as Hitler would.
    Dieter did not reply to that. He had seen enough of The Mother of Pus to know that it would take far more than anything the Nazis had to stop her if she succeeded in summoning more of her ilk. His soul was bound to her, however, and if push came to shove, he would not hesitate to stand at her side.
    He had no choice, after all.
    * * *
    Atlanta
    Nimrod cleaned the wound in his shoulder and hissed as the alcohol he’d poured over it sizzled and burned. He was furious to admit that The Peregrine had gotten the best of him. That had never happened before and it put his hard-earned reputation at risk.
    Sighing, Nimrod looked around his apartment and wondered what he should do. He’d taken most of his earnings in recent years and put them right back into his operation, building up a network of informants and spies who kept tabs on various vigilantes. That was part of the way he was able to track them and observe their abilities. As such, he was still forced to live in rather squalid conditions despite his success. The days of being able to retire and enjoy his earnings still lay in the future. Being a cape-killer was expensive, he’d learned.
    The payday for taking out The Peregrine would have gone a long way towards achieving his goals. He planned to retire to some Caribbean island, where he’d spend his days drinking expensive booze and having sex with brown-skinned native girls.
    “But first I have to pull this off,” he murmured. He sat down next to his room’s phone and buzzed the operator, asking to be connected to a long-distance number. The man he was calling was based in Sovereign City, a town that had even more vigilante problems than Atlanta.
    Within a moment, a gruff voice answered and Nimrod said, “It’s me, Fritz. The Peregrine got away from me and I’m laid up right now. I was wondering if you could give me