Read Online The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One by Barry Reese - Free Book Online Page B

tremendous occult power. “We’ve found it,” he whispered.
    “Yes. You have.”
    The voice came from the depths of the tomb and made the workers at Jacob’s back jump in alarm. How could there be someone inside there? Someone alive? It was impossible!
    Trench stumbled away from the door, hearing footsteps within. They were coming closer…
    “Trench!” Schmidt shouted. “What is going on here?”
    “I don’t… I don’t know.”
    Suddenly several creatures burst forth from within the tomb. They looked like desiccated corpses, but they moved with astonishing swiftness. Each was naked, with sunken cheeks and flesh that outlined the bones underneath. One or two had been female in life, but most were obviously male. They attacked the workers with glee, making sounds that reminded Trench of dogs at play. Amidst the yips of the attackers and the cries of the dying, Trench realized that he alone was untouched.
    Trench turned towards Schmidt, seeing that one of the female monsters had the German gripped about the head. Her hands were pulling his face towards her open mouth, as if to give him a gory sort of kiss. When he was within range, the female leaned forward and bit down hard, tearing away at Schmidt’s handsome face.
    “She is ravenous,” a voice said from behind Trench. It was the same man who had spoken before and Trench turned slowly to face him, wondering what he would see.
    The figure looked old, like a dried-up husk… but he retained much more vitality than the monsters did. He had long dark hair that hung in a braid down his back and his clothing was that of an ancient Egyptian priest. A ceremonial dagger hung on one sunken hip. A cobra wrapped itself lovingly around one of the man’s ankles.
    “They… belong to you?” Trench asked when he’d found his voice.
    “They are my spiritual children. Men and women who chose the life eternal…”
    Trench felt the urge to retch as the man reached out and touched his shoulder. The odor of him was like that of spoiled fish. “Are you…?” He started, but found his throat seizing up, rendering him unable to finish the question.
    The man nodded sagely. “I am Christian Rosenkreuz. And I possess the key to Lucifer’s Cage.”
    Trench’s eyes flew open wide. He felt like he had years ago, when he’d finally found the temple in Tibet. “Give it to me,” he hissed, startling himself with the forcefulness of his desire.
    Rosenkreuz laughed softly. “Patience. Since gaining the Secret Knowledge of the East, I have found that a man must always exercise patience as his highest virtue. There is something I expect from you before I share the key.”
    “What?”
    Rosenkreuz’s lips parted in a leer. “A bride.”

CHAPTER XVI
    Arrival of the Peregrine
    Evelyn fidgeted a bit, trying to ignore the smell of the pigs that grunted all around her. “This was your plan?” she asked, for seemingly the thousandth time. “Max Davies, I will never trust you again!”
    Max smiled, jostled a bit by the bumpy road. The two of them were in the back of a truck, one loaded with pigs and slop. The latter was thankfully sturdily contained, but the former were too plentiful to ignore. “It’s gotten us here, hasn’t it?”
    “Not very quickly, I’m afraid! Trench is likely to have opened the tomb and taken off by now.” Evelyn tried to ignore the stains that dotted her trousers. Whatever that was, she bet it would never come out in the wash.
    “I don’t think so,” Max answered, reaching over to remove a small twig from the curls of her hair. “I haven’t had a single vision since we arrived in Germany and I’m positive that if Trench had opened the cage, I’d know.”
    “Isn’t it a silly thing to even try?”
    “What?”
    “Opening this Lucifer’s Cage thing. If it is the embodiment of evil inside there, what makes Trench think that the thing won’t just betray him? I mean, it is evil.”
    “That’s a good question… and it’s one that’s plagued me