The Peregrine Omnibus, Volume Two (82 page)

Evelyn had heard Max speak about the mystical forces that centered around Atlanta, so that part of Marie’s words didn’t surprise her. But hearing that Marie and Max had been lovers did. It wasn’t that she’d thought him a monk before meeting her, but Max had never really talked about the women who came before her. She realized that she knew very little in the way of specifics about Max’s life in the years before he came to Atlanta. He’d told the major details about his family and his worldwide trek to become the Peregrine, but he’d skimmed over the small details: his friends, where he’d lived, who he’d slept with. Minor in the overarching scheme of his existence, perhaps, but still the sort of things that lovers shared over time. Yet Max, in the ten years they’d been together, had never once mentioned Marie… not even when the girl had appeared in Atlanta and they’d renewed acquaintances. Had he been afraid that Evelyn would be jealous?

“Can you bring him back?” Evelyn asked and this time her words were softer and more pleading. She didn’t care if Max had kept things from her. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that she loved him and needed him. So did the kids. So did Atlanta. “I can pay whatever price you ask.”

Marie touched Max’s leg, giving it a slight squeeze. “He died earlier tonight?”

“Yes.”

“I will need for you to wait outside.”

Evelyn hesitated. “I’d rather stay.”

Marie looked into the other woman’s eyes and Evelyn was shocked by the age and wisdom that seemed to reside in Marie’s gaze. “You don’t want to see what I’m going to do. Trust me on this.”

Sebastian moved forward and gently placed a hand on Evelyn’s arm. He gave her a slight pull and she allowed him to lead her back up the tunnel. They emerged into the tall grasses and Evelyn finally felt her walls begin to crumble. She broke down into a sobbing cry, one that wracked her entire frame. Sebastian said nothing, though he looked like he wanted to take her into his arms.

Evelyn slipped to her knees, trying in vain to reclaim her strength. It was only when she heard a piercing cry from within the sewer tunnel that she snapped back to reality, standing up quickly and starting to sprint towards the entrance. Sebastian caught her quickly and gestured for her to move with caution.

Evelyn forced herself to follow Sebastian back into the tunnel. The scream had sounded feminine, and she wondered if Marie had been alone in there… or if there had been others in the shadows.

Upon reaching the circular room, Evelyn realized who had screamed and why. Marie was crouching beside the altar, one hand held tightly to her neck. Blood was spilling from between her fingers, running in small rivers down to the floor. Max Davies was standing upright, his linen coverings ripped and torn, revealing most of his torso and all of one arm. The horrible wounds he’d suffered were completely gone, with not even scars remaining on the flesh. He looked strong and vital, definitely not like someone who’d been cold and dead only moments before.

But it was when she saw her husband’s face that she knew what Marie had meant about this resurrection coming with a “price.” Max’s lips were stained red, and when he opened his mouth to smile at her, she saw elongated canines. It was something she was far too familiar with, from close encounters with the vampire queen Camilla, Baron Gustav, and, most recently, Dracula.

Max Davies was a vampire.

The shock ripped Evelyn to her very core and she let out a tiny gasp as she fainted to the floor.

CHAPTER VII

Deluge

Will McKenzie sat in his office, staring at the printed missive on his desktop. The mayor had forwarded it to McKenzie’s office and the courier was still present, trying to regain his breath. Will picked up the paper and read it again, still not quite able to put it all into perspective.

TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCILMEN OF ATLANTA:

YOUR LIVES ARE DEPENDENT ON MY WILL AND AMBITION. I CONTROL THE CRIMSON RAIN THAT KILLED THOSE PEOPLE THE OTHER NIGHT AND I CAN CALL IT FORTH WHENEVER I WISH. MY POWERS ALLOW ME TO AIM THIS WEAPON AT A SINGLE BUILDING OR I CAN BLANKET THE ENTIRE CITY WITH IT. AS PROOF OF MY POWER, I SHALL STRIKE AT 10 A.M. THIS MORNING. I WON’T SPOIL THE SURPRISE BY TELLING YOU WHO MY TARGET WILL BE, BUT TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THAT IT’S GOING TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON YOU. ONCE YOU’VE LEARNED TO FEAR ME, I SHALL SEND YOU A LIST OF DEMANDS.

THE RAINMAN.

“Not the most fearsome of names,” the courier said. Obviously, he’d read the note on the way over.

“What he can do is plenty fearsome enough,” Will answered. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It read 9:35 A.M.

“The mayor wants to know if you can call in the Peregrine.”

Will flinched. Nobody else in the city power structure knew about Max’s death, so it made sense that they’d come to him in hopes he could contact his friend. “I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible,” he said quietly. “But I’ll tell the mayor myself. I’ll give him a call right now.”

The courier left as Will reached for the phone. His fingers hovered over the device for a moment. He really didn’t want to make this call. It would make it all seem too permanent. He’d tried to reach Evelyn this morning but the nanny had told him that she wasn’t home. That had worried him enough that he’d asked Kirsten to go and visit the house. Evelyn had to come back at some point and she was going to need a shoulder to cry on.

“Hell,” Will whispered aloud, “I might need one, too.”

He picked up the phone and dialed the mayor’s number. It was on its second ring when the door to his office opened and a figure entered that took Will’s breath away.

Dressed in a long overcoat and low-brimmed hat, Max Davies approached Will’s desk. He reached out and took the phone from Will’s hand, placing it back on its cradle. The mayor’s muffled “Hello?” could be heard for a brief second before it was silenced.

“Max?”

“It’s me, Will. But we need to talk. There have been a few… changes.” To punctuate his words, Max pulled his lips back, revealing his canines, which glistened sharply in the morning light. “Big ones.”

* * *

Garibaldi lit his cigar and reached down to ruffle Raptor’s head. He was standing on the roof of Century Tower, Hochmuller busily setting up the Ivory Machine. It wasn’t long before Atlanta would be bathing in a crimson, flesh-eating rain.

The events of last night had cemented Garibaldi’s desire to move forward quickly with his plans to seize control over Atlanta. If the Peregrine were moving to stop him—and really, who else could have broken into his penthouse and killed those dogs?—then it was only a matter of time before the masked vigilante tied Garibaldi to the Crimson Rain. Of course, considering the amount of blood that the Peregrine lost in battle, there was the chance that the man was dead.

One can only hope
, Garibaldi mused.

“Herr Garibaldi, the machine is ready.” Hochmuller looked up into the clear blue sky. “How big of an area should I aim for?”

“I want to make my point,” Garibaldi said. “So I think we’ll go for City Hall… and the entire block surrounding it.”

The German nodded. It didn’t matter to him how many people would die today. It was all in the name of science, after all. “We only have a few more minutes before the deadline.”

“Do it now.”

Hochmuller blinked. “But your warning to the mayor said—”

“I know what it said,” Garibaldi snapped. “I wrote it, remember? But there’s no point in waiting. There’s nothing they can do about it, one way or the other. And I’m anxious to see it done.”

Hochmuller noted the husky tone in his employer’s voice and he had to fight down a smile. He knew the real reason that Garibaldi was so anxious. He wanted to show off his superiority, true… but he was also sexually aroused by the pain and suffering of others. In that, at least, they were alike.

Garibaldi blew out a long line of smoke. Tomorrow he would contact the mayor’s office again and tell them that more people would die if they didn’t turn over a large sum of money to him. In addition, there would be other concessions: a few of his top men who had been arrested would be released, and Garibaldi would give a list of names of people who were not to be bothered by local law enforcement. He wouldn’t include himself on that list, of course. He was an honest businessman, of course. The list would actually be those men who had so far refused to bow down before him. The logical assumption amongst the police is that one or of the “protected list” must either be the Rainman, or at least very close to him.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Garibaldi hated each and every one of those men.

The Ivory Machine began to hum, unleashing its invisible beam of death into the skies above.

Less than a minute later, the Crimson Rain began to fall, in thick sheets of liquid death.

* * *

“You’re a vampire??” Will McKenzie shut the door to his office, lowering his voice so that the men outside couldn’t hear.

“Not quite,” Max said, taking a seat. He looked pale but otherwise quite healthy. “If I was, I wouldn’t be out in the daytime. Remember?”

“Okay. Then what the hell are you? Those teeth look like they could tear me in half.”

“Will, I just finished explaining all of this to Evelyn. Do I really need to go through it again?”

“I think so.”

“It’s almost ten o’clock,” Max pointed out.

“Do you have any idea how we can stop Rainman?”

“No. I can’t shake the feeling that it’s all tied to Garibaldi somehow, though. Those dogs he had in his apartment weren’t normal. They were too large and far too intelligent.”

“Should I have him brought in for questioning?”

“On what basis?”

“The fact that the break-in at his place was strange as hell? I could say we want to talk to him, that’s all.”

“Couldn’t hurt. If he is Rainman, it might disrupt his ability to carry out his plans this morning. How soon could you have someone there?”

“Century Tower’s not far from here. A few minutes.” Will walked back around his desk and picked up his phone. He dispatched two officers to Century Tower, telling them not to take no for an answer. When he was done, he eyed his friend. “Now. Tell me why you’re still breathing. It’s not that I don’t like it, but you’ve gotta admit that it’s more than a little unusual.”

Max sat back in his chair, removing his hat and placing it on his crossed knees. “I have a friend named Marie. She’s a Bokor. Do you know what that is?”

“Not a clue.”

“A Bokor is a sorcerer or sorceress in the Voodoo religion. She’s basically a Mambo for hire—a priestess who will do work for anyone if they can meet her price.”

“Wait a minute. Voodoo? We’re talking about those witch doctors in Haiti?”

Max grimaced. He loved Will like a brother, but there were times when the younger man seemed woefully unprepared for the kinds of adventures they routinely shared. “Yes. Like in Haiti.”

“Okay. So this Marie person brought you back as a zombie? Or a vampire? ’Cause you look like a vampire.”

“I thought we’d established that I’m not a vampire,” Max answered testily. “I left instructions for Evelyn to take my body to Marie upon my death. Marie revived me. In time, I should be back to my normal self. But for now I’m hosting a loa inside me. A spirit. It wants blood and I have to feed it on a regular basis. That’s why I have these teeth.”

“Feed it?”

Max looked away. “It’s just what it sounds like. I bit Marie last night. Nearly tore her throat out. Tonight I’ll have to slake the demon’s thirst again.”

“How long will you have this… thing… inside you?”

“Don’t know for certain, but Marie doesn’t think it’ll be very long. Evelyn and I stayed with Marie until about an hour ago, to make sure that I’d be able to handle this thing. I left her with Kirsten before coming here. Thanks for sending her over. I think Evelyn needs a friend right now. Seeing me dead last night and then coming back like this… It wasn’t easy.”

“I can imagine.” Will shook his head. “I better call the mayor.”

Max watched his friend pick up the phone again, but both men froze in place as the door to the office burst open. A young officer with freckles and a thatch of red hair on his head looked like he was about to cry.

“Edmonds, what’s wrong?” Will asked.

“The Crimson Rain, sir, it’s falling again!”

“Where?”

“All around us!”

Will and Max both hurried to the window and looked outside. The red-tinted water was splashing down from the sky, first in a small drizzle but quickly building up to a deluge. Men and women on the city streets were beginning to scream and Will caught a glimpse of the mayor himself standing on the steps of city hall, a newspaper covering his head. The mayor was ushered back inside, safely out of harm’s way.

The police chief averted his gaze as a woman fell to the sidewalk outside, her skin beginning to sizzle. “We’ve got to do something,” he whispered. Glancing towards his friend, he asked, “Got any ideas?”

There was no one standing there, for the Peregrine had already sprung into action. Max Davies shoved people out of his way as he burst out onto the street, his heavy coat held over his head. The strange Crimson Rain seemed to affect nothing but human skin so he had no fear of it burning through the thick material. He crouched over the burning woman, whose beauty was now marred forever. Peering out from under the coat, he saw others in need of help. He pulled off his low-brimmed hat and called out to a man who was protectively covering his head nearby. “Catch!” he bellowed, throwing the hat like a Frisbee. The man caught it with one burning hand and pulled it over his head. His face would be spared the horrible effects of the rain, at least.

A wail from nearby then seized Max’s attention. Near the post office, a baby’s pram had been left unattended while the baby’s mother had gone inside. The sun cover was protecting the baby’s face but raindrops were falling on its legs, which were flailing beneath their blankets. A wrong move and the baby’s feet would be exposed to the searing touch of the Crimson Rain.

“Stay here. Keep the coat over you,” he said, touching the woman’s shoulder. She winced, even though her dress had protected that part of her. She nodded, saying nothing but continuing to whimper. The poor thing was half mad with pain and shock.