“If we’re going to kidnap Quinn, why not take the dame with him?”
“Don’t get greedy.” Arias strode through the living room, straight towards the beautiful blonde, who was standing with her back pressed against the wall. The living room was a quiet, staid place, but Carol’s lovely form illuminated it more than any decadent furniture or expensive lighting. “Hello, Miss Baldwin. My name is Arias. My friend is named Marlon. We’re here for your employer.”
A thousand things ran through Carol’s mind, but first amongst them was that somehow these men knew Tony’s secret identity. But something made her pause before confirming that, in hopes that they were here for some other reason. “Tony Quinn is a good man and he wouldn’t want anything to do with the likes of you!” she answered, raising her chin in defiance.
Marlon closed the distance between them in three long strides. He pushed the barrel of his gun up against her cheek. “Honey, from what I’ve heard, your boss spends way too much time with guys like us. The police have investigated him how many times about being the Black Bat? Now, I don’t know if he is or he isn’t, but one way or another, I bet he can lead us to him.”
Arias looked away from the scene taking place before him. He’d heard something down the hallway, an opening of doors followed by a set of quiet footfalls. Was Quinn trying to evade them? Or was there someone else loose in the house?
Before the magician could speak a warning to his friend, the Black Bat and Ascott Keane burst into the room. The black-garbed vigilante headed straight towards Marlon and Carol, delivering a powerful backhanded blow with the butt of his pistol to the villain’s chin.
Marlon tumbled over a table, knocking a vase full of flowers to the floor. He spat out blood and raised his own gun, firing at the vigilante.
The Black Bat threw Carol to safety, the bullets ripping through the gossamer-like wings of his cloak.
Ascott, meanwhile, cast a small spell on Arias, hoping to bind him in place. The red-haired mage was prepared for him and easily dispelled the charm.
“You’ve been caught at last,” Keane taunted. “Give yourself up before it’s too late. The last thing you want to do is earn the wrath of Doctor Satan—let me protect you from that!”
Arias sneered in response. “Ascott Keane. How droll. I suppose it was inevitable that I’d run into you with our dealings with Satan. Have the two of you ever thought about running away together? Considering all the time you spend chasing after him, I’d daresay your feelings for him are inappropriate!”
Keane gasped as a powerful thunder ball spell shot forth from Arias, an incantation that charged the air about them until it exploded in an ionized state. Keane was thrown off his feet, slamming back against the wall. His head struck with a loud crack and darkness began to press in around the corners of his vision.
The Black Bat and Marlon were trading gunshots, tearing holes in the furniture and walls of the living room. Marlon cursed under his breath, wishing they’d planned this better. They’d assumed it would be child’s play to capture a blind man and hold him ransom, leading the Black Bat into a trap. But given the vigilante’s presence here, it made Marlon wonder if the rumors weren’t true—was the blind attorney secretly the Black Bat?
“Marlon! It’s time to go!”
Marlon looked over at Arias, who was rifling through Keane’s jacket. His hands came away holding the Knife of Elohim.
Marlon fired one more shot at the Black Bat as the world shimmered around him, transporting both himself and his partner away from the scene.
The Black Bat holstered his weapon and moved to check on Keane’s condition. When the criminologist began to stir, Quinn stated an inarguable fact. “Ascott, things have just gone from bad to worse.”
CHAPTER VI
Villainous Liaisons
Doctor Satan was very, very angry. He sat half-hidden in shadow before the bound form of Leopold Grace, who was strapped to a chair in the center of an otherwise empty room. Satan was sitting lotus-style on the carpeted floor, his head leaned back against the wall. A floor lamp was turned so that its light shone directly in Leopold’s face.
Grace groaned quietly, blinking and slowly lifting his head. As his eyes adjusted, he made out the silhouette of a horned man sitting on the floor.
Satan had to admit that he was impressed by what the captive man did next, for it definitely showed a resilient strength of will.
Leopold Grace stared into the shadow figure’s eyes and said “Go back to whatever hell you crawled your way out of.”
“I’m not going to play games with you,” Satan said, his eyes flashing with malevolence. “You are a close ally of the Peregrine’s… and that vigilante has stolen things that belong to me.”
Leopold smiled coldly, looking confident in his words. “You’re making a terrible mistake by engaging him. The Peregrine has taken down much bigger criminals than you.”
“I could care less about his exploits—except where they impact the things that belong to me!” In the blink of an eye, Doctor Satan teleported from his seat on the floor to stand directly in front of Leopold. “That man who interrupted my agents at your hotel… that was him, wasn’t it?”
Leopold said nothing, instead looking off into the shadows. Like his friend Max Davies, Leopold’s life had been repeatedly touched by the supernatural. His father, Eobard, had found a portal into another reality, one that was dubbed the World of Shadows. Eobard had become a hero in that realm and Leopold had taken part in quite a few adventures of his own as a result. He was not someone easily given to fear and he steeled himself now for what he assumed would be a lengthy interrogation.
Doctor Satan saw the resolute look in his prisoner’s eyes and pulled his crimson cloak about himself. “I admire you, Mr. Grace. I had no idea that you were so brave. Or so stupid. I am not the sort of man who would use physical force to compel you to tell me the truth. I have means that are far worse.”
Leopold’s eyes flicked back to Satan, whose eyes were now glowing even more fiercely than before. Small bursts of flame now jetted from the deep-set orbs and as Satan leaned in closer, the stench of brimstone assaulted Leopold’s senses and nearly drove him mad. “Stare into my eyes,” Doctor Satan whispered, his voice carrying all the power he could muster. “And know fear.”
Leopold found that he could not tear his gaze away from the madman’s eyes. A preternatural fear began to build within Leopold’s heart, a pounding terror that seeped through every pore of his being. He began to scream, his voice carrying the tenor of one who was staring into a dark abyss from which there was no hope of escape.
As Leopold’s horror began to crescendo, Doctor Satan began to whisper soothing words into the trapped man’s ears. “Tell me what I want to know and I can release you from this. All you have to do… is tell me.”
Leopold struggled to resist, calling upon every reserve of willpower he possessed. He considered Max a brother to him and would ordinarily never divulge one of his secrets.
As beads of sweat began to appear on Leopold’s forehead, he bit down on his bottom lip so hard that he drew blood. In the end, the power of Satan’s magic was too strong to resist and Leopold found himself asking “What do you want to know? Please… I’ll tell you!”
“You can start by telling me what his real name is. Is he Max Davies, like some of the rumors have claimed?”
Leopold felt something snap inside his brain as the war waging within him reached a fever pitch. Blood spurted from his nose and he sagged in the bonds, forever winning the battle with Doctor Satan. The Peregrine’s identity would not be revealed on this day.
Doctor Satan let out a growl of anger and he began to beat Leopold’s corpse. When the aged adventurer was properly savaged, Doctor Satan turned from him and called for Bostiff.
The legless killer thumped his way into the room, casting a baleful glance at the dead man’s body. “Should I dispose of him?” he asked his master.
“Yes. Leave him on a street somewhere. If nothing else, he’ll be a warning to the Peregrine. Take something of mine… and I will take something of yours.”
As Satan moved past him, Bostiff shuffled around to face him. “Master. What of Girse? Will he betray us?”
Doctor Satan abruptly came to a halt. He whirled on Bostiff so quickly that the misshapen brute nearly toppled over in fright. “Yes! I think that he shall.” Satan began to laugh. “With the proper motivation, that is!”
* * *
Girse stared at the tiny black bird that was perched just outside his cell’s window. He watched it so intently that it almost looked as if he was having some sort of nonverbal conversation with it.
Which is exactly what he was doing.
Sent by Doctor Satan, the bird was informing Girse that he was to answer any and all questions that were posed to him in the hopes that it would lead the Peregrine into a trap of Satan’s devising.
The bird took flight just as the door to Girse’s cell opened, revealing the masked form of the Peregrine. Thanks to various ties he had in the police community—most notably William McKenzie, the chief of police in Atlanta—the Peregrine was sometimes given special discretion by the authorities. It was a nice change from the early years of his career, when the police wanted to arrest him for the murders of various criminals. A mysterious benefactor named Benson had helped smooth out those problems and the Peregrine would be forever grateful as a result.
Girse turned his apelike features towards the Peregrine. “I’m ready ta talk,” the big man stated matter-of-factly, “if you’re able to get the coppers to cut me some slack.”
The Peregrine successfully hid his surprise but he immediately became suspicious. Doctor Satan was a fearful figure and the idea that any agent of his would turn on him so quickly was baffling.
The Peregrine pulled up a chair and sat down near Girse, who was handcuffed still. Outside the cell, just down the hall, stood several police officers who were eager to find out if Girse would turn evidence on the much sought after Doctor Satan. A call had been placed to Ascott Keane, but as with the Peregrine’s earlier attempt to meet with the criminologist, there had been no success.
“Your master wants this weapon. Why?” The Peregrine withdrew the Knife of Elohim, which glowed brightly in the dim prison lighting.
Girse stared at the blade and then blinked, turning his gaze from it. The light burned his vision, imprinting itself on the back of his eyelids. “He wants the ones you took from him, that’s all. You already have one so why would you need more?”
The Peregrine reached out wit his mental powers, the ones that had been stimulated years before when his father had been brutally gunned down before his eyes. They were not something he liked to normally call upon but he did so now, trying to sense deception in Girse. He found none, though he knew it would take a deeper and more invasive scan to truly know for sure. Still, this confirmed his earlier suspicions: Doctor Satan believed the Peregrine to be his enemy, in much the same manner as the Peregrine had been led to believe that Satan was coming for him.
“I haven’t stolen anything from Doctor Satan. Why does he think I have?”
“Because someone broke into his lair and made off with two of his knives… and when he did a spell to show him who it was… it showed you!”
The Peregrine digested that information. Someone was pitting them against one another, but to what purpose? What could be gained from having the Peregrine and Doctor Satan at war with one another?
“Want me to tell you where you can find him?” Girse whispered.
Ah, here we go,
Max thought to himself.
Now we find out why Girse is turning yellow all of a sudden. He wants me to go to a specific place.
“Tell me,” the Peregrine said, nodding as if to promise that this act on the part of Girse might make a difference in how the crook was treated.
Girse gave him the address of a tenement building in Brooklyn, after which the Peregrine exited the cell. He strode towards Evelyn, who was standing near several police officers.
“Did he tell you anything useful?” a police captain asked. He was a burly man with a bushy moustache, a horrible scar marring his appearance. It was given to him by Doctor Satan several years before and Max knew that this man was not the only officer wounded by the villain. There would be many who would want to rush in, heedless of the danger, if he told them about this address Girse had given him.
“Nothing. He’s staying loyal to his master.”
The cop looked disappointed but nodded as if this was exactly what he expected to hear. The officer looked pointedly at the Knife of Elohim for a moment and then turned away with a huff.
The Peregrine took his wife, also masked, by the arm and led her aside. “We need to get out of here. We’re being manipulated, both Satan and us.”
“Do you know who might be doing it?” Evelyn asked.
“No clue,” Max admitted. “But we have to find Satan and rescue Leopold—but we’re not going to play things the way he wants. And after that… we have to find out who’s really behind all this.”
Max squeezed her hand as he pictured Leopold in danger, feeling glad that Evelyn was with him. He always dreaded putting her in danger but when she was with him, he felt stronger somehow.
“Excuse me, but perhaps I might be able to illuminate the situation.”
The Peregrine looked over his shoulder to see a dapper looking figure standing near him. A heavy blood-stained bandage was wrapped around a wound on his head. With him was a handsome man whose eyes were hidden behind the sort of oversized dark glasses that the blind often wore. This fellow held a cane in one hand, tapping it from side to side in front of him.
“And you are…?” Max asked.
“I am Ascott Keane. My companion is Tony Quinn.”
“I’ve been trying to reach you,” Max began but Keane held up a hand to stop him.
“I know. I apologize for not having responded sooner but Mr. Quinn and I were… otherwise engaged.”
Quinn held out a hand, placing it several feet to the left of Max. Keane frowned but understood Quinn’s reticence to reveal the truth about his eyesight. Quinn wasn’t sure yet that he could trust the Peregrine but Keane knew that there was no time to waste. Trust was essential at this point. “Nice to meet you,” Quinn said.