The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One by Barry Reese Page B

possible inside Max’s head and he felt his consciousness begin to fade. “No… Evelyn…” he whispered.
    Someone crouched at his side, prodding him with a steel bar of some sort. The voice that answered him belonged to Jacob Trench. “She’s gone to her rightful place, hero. While you… you’re going to Hell.”
    Another blow landed squarely atop Max’s skull.

CHAPTER XX
    The Altar of Blood
    The world returned in a swimming haze.
    Max found that he was on his knees, hands tied painfully tight behind his back. The throbbing in his head was painfully harsh and made him feel like vomiting, but he managed to focus on his surroundings and that distracted him a bit.
    He was in a large circular chamber of some kind, one with a very high ceiling. In the center of the ceiling was an intricate carving that resembled a rose, one whose stem was covered with sharp thorns. Just in front of Max was an altar, one stained with dried blood. Atop that altar, dressed in the flimsiest of attire, was Evelyn. Her long legs were bare and covered with goosebumps and her breathing was shallow and rapid. All of that was deemed a good sign by Max, for it meant she was still alive. A serpent was coiled about her left ankle, slowly making its way up her leg. Its tongue darted out now and again, tasting the air.
    “Welcome back, Mr. Davies. I had begun to wonder if my ally had accidentally killed you.”
    The Peregrine craned his neck to see a tall figure approaching. It was Rosenkreuz, still looking like a dried-up mockery of an ancient Egyptian priest. His long hair-braid danced along his back as he moved.
    Max forced a bit of confidence into his voice, though he felt very little of it in truth. “You look very good for your age. Clean living?”
    “If only it were that easy. No, Mr. Davies… my long existence is due to personal sacrifice and an overwhelming desire for knowledge. The sorts of knowledge that many rational men fear to know.”
    “I understand why you’ve got me here. I mean to stop Trench from succeeding. But why Evelyn? She’s nothing to you. Let her go.”
    “Nothing to me?” Rosenkreuz stopped next to the altar, gazing lovingly down at Evelyn. He reached out a thin hand and stroked his leathery flesh against her cheek. “You have no idea how wrong you are. When I was a young man, I turned away from feminine pleasures. I thought I was above such physical concerns. But I was wrong, and I knew it from the moment I first laid eyes upon her, all those years ago.”
    Max frowned in confusion. How could Rosenkreuz know anything about Evelyn? “You’ve seen her before?”
    Rosenkreuz glanced up and nodded. “Oh, yes. Your… Evelyn, is it? She’s the reincarnation of a woman I treasured above all others. But she spurned me. She chose to die rather than accept eternity at my side. The pain was so intense… but I knew she’d return to me eventually. I merely had to wait.”
    “She’s not your old girlfriend. Her name is Evelyn Gould and she’s an actress.” Max drew himself up as much as was possible. “And she’s spoken for.”
    At that, Evelyn opened her eyes and smiled. She quickly resumed her act, however, after giving Max a quick wink.
    Clever girl , the Peregrine thought. Max just hoped she could hold her cool with the serpent slowly making its way up her thighs.
    Thankfully, Rosenkreuz seemed oblivious to the ruse. Instead, he was looking at Max with an almost pitying expression on his sunken features. “I wonder if you would recognize the face of the woman you loved, even over the course of centuries. I do. This is her, given new form.”
    The Peregrine tested the tenacity of his bonds but found that they surpassed what little strength he had left. His struggles increased when he saw Rosenkreuz produce a dagger from the interior of his robes. It was the golden blade that Max himself had used to rid the world of K’ntu. “If you love her, why do you want a knife?” he asked aloud, hoping to distract