Crimson Shadows Read online

  “Then look at this.” Jimmy took the red-and-black card out of his back pocket and handed it to Maggie.

  Maggie glanced at it only a minute before her eyes widened and she whispered, “The address.”

  “What about it?” Jimmy frowned and glanced over her shoulder.

  “Don’t you remember?” Maggie whirled around to face him. “16 Shelter Rock Road…it’s the house where Simon took me after he killed Alcuin! The house where we conceived the twins.”

  “The house where he tortured me,” Jimmy whispered, his legs suddenly wobbly. He sat down on the bed, remembering Simon Baldevar’s trap as though he’d fallen into ityesterday. The sadistic, jealous vampire had no use for Maggie’s moratl lover so he lured Jimmy to the house and then put him through hell to pay Jimmy back for laying his hands on who he thought of as his woman.

  “You said you’d gotten rid of the house!” Jimmy cried, shuddering when he thought that Ellie might be wearing the same shackles that had imprisoned Jimmy, that Mikal might be tormenting her in the same spot where his father had once tried to kill Jimmy. “You said you sold it out from under Baldevar when he kidnapped me!”

  “I did,” Maggie said and explained. “Last night, when I ran off…I needed to feed. I found some kid and he told me all about this cool Goth club opening in Manhasset. This must be it.” Maggie contemptuously flicked the invitation to a place unimaginatively called Immortal Light. “Rather Freudian title, that. Would you care to guess what Mikal’s planning to do there, what sick fantasies he’s going to enact? According to my little friend, the main charm of this sick, decadent place is that you pay the admission by stuffing it into the body cavity of a disemboweled corpse. Naturally the kid thinks the body is going to be wax, but we know better than that. Don’t we, Jimmy?”

  “Baldevar,” Jimmy said, seeing his own horrorstruck certainly reflected in Maggie’s eyes. “Mikal thinks he’s going to kill his father and then stuff him over the front door of his club.”

  Maggie nodded grimly. “We have to stop them. I just pray Simon had his own preparations to make before he set off for the house. We have to get there before Simon confronts Mikal.”

  “Why?” Jimmy asked, sensing that though he and Maggie were united as long as Ellie was missing, she might feel differently toward him after this was resolved. “I hate to say it but Baldevar can handle anyone. No one wins against him…not even Alcuin, who you told me had four centuries on him.”

  “Alcuin visited me last night,” Maggie said. “He told me I couldn’t let Simon confront Mikal on his own…that he’d die…him, Ellie, and Lee!”

  Jimmy could care less if Simon Baldevar died but with him gone, there’d be nothing standing in the way of Mikal killing Ellie and Lee if he and Maggie arrived too late to save them.

  Jimmy had no idea why Lee Winslow was involved in this anyway, why Simon had spirited him away. Why would Simon Baldevar confront this son with no one to help him but a sickly, transforming mortal? It just didn’t make any sense, Jimmy thought as he and Maggie set off forte house where Lord Baldevar had set everything happening tonight in motion eighteen years ago.

  Eleven

  Simon guided the car off of the Sunrise Highway and drove into the Pine Barrens, a vast area near Southampton comprised of marshes and swamps surrounded by skeletal, burnt stumps of trees that leered out from the darkness like gnarled sentinels when lightning illuminated the car’s path.

  Simon was glad of the fierce storm raging outside. No mortal hikers or park rangers would brave the steady downpour and hurricane-like gusts of wind to interrupt Simon’s ritual at any crucial point.

  Simon cut the engine and turned to Lee Winslow, semi-conscious and shivering uncontrollably, Simon put his hand on the mortal’s wrist, registering the clammy skin and weak, thread pulse with some alarm. It was just as he’d thought—Lee’s older body was having grave difficulty withstanding the shock of transformation.

  “Dr. Winslow,” Simon said, grasping the mortal’s wrist tightly and infusing him with some of his own strength. Simon imagined his power as a circuit rushing through Lee’s bloodstream, healing all in its path, and soon Lee sat up, looking around in a dazed manner as his fever abated for the first time that night.

  “Ellie,” Lee muttered, sitting up in alarm and then slumping back down from dizziness. “I heard Meghann screaming…what has Mikal done to Ellie?”

  “Try to remain calm,” Simon said. “Panic will weaken you. Mikal has abducted Elizabeth to force a confrontation with me. He thinks I’m going to foolishly blunder into whatever trap he’s set.”

  “Oh, God,” Lee sighed, his waxen, pale skin turning whiter with fear. “Simon, what’s he going to do to her?”

  “He won’t kill her,” Simon said shortly, leaving the rest unsaid. Mikal had no choice but to keep his sister alive because he knew Simon wouldn’t chase after a corpse but that did not mean the twisted, venal boy would not spend every drop of jealous, resentful energy on his helpless twin, visiting frightful tortures upon her. Simon could not only hope that no matter how mutilated Elizabeth was when they found her, she still had life enough within her to undergo transformation. Simon knew immortality was likely the only way to heal his daughter after Mikal was through with her. “Not if we find him soon.”

  “We?” Lee said. “Where are Meghann and Jimmy?”

  “Meghann is at home where she belongs,” Simon answered, ignoring the reference to Jimmy Delacroix. Pity he’d already been transformed or Simon would have used him for the ritual. Then Delacroix would serve a purpose for once. “It is bad enough Elizabeth’s been hurt. I will not endanger Meghann by exposing her to battle. I enchanted her so she would sleep until his is over.

  “You want to attack Mikal with me at your side?” Lee Winslow was intelligent enough to know he, as an utter novice, would not be of great aid to Simon.

  “I want your immortal body,” Simon said, choosing his words carefully. “But to use you means putting you at great risk.”

  “I’ve known all along there’s a risk of death with transformation,” Lee said. “I still want to try…I have to help Ellie.”

  “I plan to do a great deal more than transform you this evening, Doctor,” Simon said, determined to make full disclosure before starting the ceremony. “I will use your new, invincible body in ways you cannot imagine. You will not be aware of what I am doing because you, the mind and soul behind your physical body, will not be here.”

  “Simon, you’re speaking in riddles. Tell me what you mean. If my soul isn’t in my body, where will it be?”

  “I do not know,” Simon said candidly. “No magus has ever figured out where he soul of a possessed body vanishes to.”

  “Possessed,” Lee said and Simon saw real fear enter the mortal’s eyes, though he didn’t appear ready to cry off Simon’s proposal. “Simon, are you planning to put some…daemon in me?”

  “That would be foolhardy, not to say dangerous in the extreme, for no daemon with a body all its own would heed my wishes. An immortal body is all those creatures want—why should it obey me when I have no more to offer? You shall be possessed but not by such a terrible entity as that…merely a force with the power to assist me when I face down Mikal.”

  “Will this force take me over forever?” lee asked quietly and Simon saw the trepidation behind the seemingly calm tone.

  “No possession lasts forever,” Simon explained. “The force I plan to invoke would not try and force you from your body as a daemon would. But it is possible you could die when I perform the ceremony or your body could be mortally wounded when I confront Mikal. Finally, it is possible that when I release the entity from your form, your soul will simply not be able to find its way back. You may remain wherever you are.”

  Lee nodded and said steadily, “Do whatever you need to save Ellie, Simon.”

  Simon nodded and helped Lee out of the car, feeling almost humbled by the other man’s quiet courage. There’d been no turmoil in his mind. Lee Winslow
handed over his life with no thought but for saving Elizabeth. How fortunate his daughter was to have this man for her foster father. If lee didn’t survive tonight, Simon would make certain his sacrifice was not unheralded—he would tell Meghann and Elizabeth that Lee Winslow had died a hero’s death.

  He would also make certain Mikal paid for all he’d put his family through. Meghann would never fully recover from Charles Tarleton’s death or those ghatl images of Elizabeth so hurt and mutilated—they were branded inot her heart and mind forever. Mikal would pay dearly for the hurt he’d caused Meghann, taking the life of so good a man as Charles Tarleton, and putting into jeopardy this equally good man, Lee Winslow.

  Simon took Lee’s hand again, grasping it in a firm handshake that was as much salute as possible farewell. “You are a fine man, Lee”

  “So are you, Simon,” Lee said softly. “I was so scared of you at first. You seemed so…cold, but you were a different person altogether with Meghann. I’ll never forget the way you stroked her hair and held her close to you while you fed her your blood. And I’ve seen the way you do your best to protect Meghan and Ellie. I know if…something happens to me tonight, you’ll keep them safe.”

  “You have my word,” Simon told him, reflecting that this was the first true friend he’d had since John Dee, Elizabeth I’s renowned astrologist, died. Strange that Lee Winslow’s homosexuality had never bothered Simon when he usually despised sodomites—his

  own son included. But there was so much to admire about Lee that it had never been difficult to overlook his one character flaw.

  Simon pushed dripping strands of hair off his face and wiped his eyes clear of the pouring rain—there was no more time to speak. In tonight's ceremony, time was of paramount importance. Lee Winslow's transformation must take place between midnight and one am. The first hour of the new day was the only suitable time for the conjuration Simon planned.

  It was now eleven o'clock. Simon used his blood teeth to open the vein in his wrist and held out his bleeding hand to Lee. Understanding Simon's intention, Lee raised Simon's wounded wrist and drank the vampire's blood to complete his transformation.

  The first swallow affected Lee like a jolt of electricity. His entire body shuddered and his eyes rolled into the back of his head before he crumpled to the muddy, water logged earth. Simon pulled a sheet from the trunk and laid Lee on it, securely tying his hands to one of the pine stumps behind him. Any i transforming mortal had to be restrained lest they hurt themselves.

  Simon knelt beside Lee and examined him. He was now in the second stage of transformation, characterized by convulsions, fever, and vomiting. As the vampire blood coursed through his system, Lee's body underwent a radical and extremely painful change. Skin, muscles, bone, organs, blood . . . not one part of the body was unaffected.

  From experience, Simon knew this stage of transformation could take anywhere from several hours to a fortnight. His own transformation took more than two weeks but Simon suspected that was because no vampire watched over the process: he'd transformed by stealing a vampire's blood and then John

  Dee did what he could to assist Simon. Tonight Simon planned to rush the process along so Lee's transformation would be completed at the same moment Simon was ready to invoke.

  The crucial moment in transformation came when the physical metamorphosis began to taper off and the semi-transformed mortal regained awareness. Many could not handle the shocking process and lost their minds. The vampire guiding them had to keep a firm hold over his fledgling's psyche, guide them through the pain and terror to complete transformation.

  I am here, Lee. Simon spoke into the mortal's delir- ium-laden mind. I am your master now. Come to me and the pain will lose its grip. Find me, reach out to me.

  He felt a tremulous, hesitant touch in his mind and knew Lee was hanging on. Simon didn't worry that this strong-willed man would lose his mind, but he did worry his frail, mortal heart might give out if transformation wasn't accomplished quickly.

  Simon pulled a large suitcase from the trunk, filled with objects he'd packed in anticipation of finding Mikal. First, he removed a small packet of sulfur and used it to cast a counter-clockwise circle that included himself, Lee, and the tree he was tied to. A few inches beneath that circle, he made another sulfuric circle the exact diameter of the outer circle. The rain poured down and melted the sulfur until it almost blended into the soil but that did not bother Simon— a thunderstorm provided powerful energy that would aid him tonight.

  But it did mean he had to work quickly to activate the circle. Simon burned a red candle, guarding the flame from the rain with his hands. When the wax began to run, Simon used the wax to write the names Agla and El between the outer and inner rim of the two circles.

  The red candle and names corresponded to the Fourth Pentacle of Mars, which provided power in war and Simon considered himself at war with his son.

  Next, Simon drew the Fourth Pentacle a few inches from Lee with dirt he'd taken from the North End graveyard, the oldest cemetery on Long Island. Simon laid Lee Winslow on the pentacle, making sure his head faced east, in the direction of the rising sun. Lee's limbs were arranged with the arms and legs in cruciform position to later invite the spirit Simon needed to rise from the dead.

  Now the magic could begin. First, Simon consecrated the circle, speaking in the Latin tongue as he'd done since he was a mortal magus. "By the holy, terrible, and ineffable name IAH, at which the whole world doth tremble, I beseech thy confidence and grace, that all discord and strife fly from this circle and you bless and sanctify my humble assembly this evening. Amen."

  At the close of his prayer, the sulfuric outline burst into flames no earthly rain could douse. The blue- white fire burned bright, impervious to the rain that drenched Simon's clothes and poured down his face. The fire almost seemed a holographic image, emitting warmth but layered with a transparency that reminded Simon of his own image when he looked into a mirror.

  Pleased that his circle was activated and no unwelcome infernal visitors could enter and try to force themselves upon Lee's body, Simon went to the tree Lee was tied to and tore off a limb, consecrating it as his magic rod for the evening by attaching steel caps to each end and magnetizing it with a lodestone. Next, he used his blood teeth to bite off a circle of bark in the center of the stump and place a small, perfect ruby in the hole.

  Now a small offering had to be made. Simon withdrew several stone philters and a gold plate from the suitcase. Onto the plate, he poured a small bit of wine, mastic, sweet oil, and virgin's blood from one of the captives he'd used to feed Mikal. Placing the offering at Lee's right hand, Simon said, "O high and powerful beings, may this sacrifice be pleasing and acceptable to thee that you may bestow your favor upon my work this night."

  Simon glanced at Lee and saw the moment of transformation was at hand. Awareness was creeping back into his expression and sharp, ivory blood teeth emerged from his gum to cut open his lower lip—Lee Winslow now had a vampire's body. Holding the rod up to the thundering sky, Simon roared, "By virtue of He who created all things and reigns eternal, I conjure and command that ye bring the spirit of the slain vampire, Alcuin, Bishop of Kent, to answer my demands and come unto me. I, Lord Simon Baldevar, as thy killer, order ye, Alcuin, into this new immortal form I have provided. In the great name of God, Tetragrammaton, I say arise, arise from your sleep and come do my bidding else suffer everlasting torment. I charge and command thee, Alcuin, to awaken. Awake, awake, awake!"

  Simon's deep voice rumbled through the desolate area as he held the pine rod up to the heavens and then touched Lee's heart with the magnetized tip.

  Lee's eyes widened, as if with great surprise, and then clouded over, becoming utterly vacant for a moment before they darkened and changed. Now the eyes staring up at Simon were those of a much older soul than Lee Winslow, reflecting wisdom it had taken centuries to obtain and the same self-righteous piety that always annoyed Simon unendurably on the few occasions he'd confronted
Alcuin.

  How Simon wished he could have called upon any soul but this pompous prelate he despised. Charles Tarleton would be a fine ally by his side but his soul, dead so short a time, was in a state of transition now and it would be near impossible to bring him into a new body so soon after his death. There were other dead immortals Simon could have called upon but none of them had Alcuin's powers. Prejudiced though he was, Simon was forced to admit his enemy was one of the most formidable sorcerers he'd ever encountered. Simon had no idea how many vampires had joined Mikal's futile quest but none of them would be able to stand against his and Alcuin's combined power. Now he had to see if Alcuin would assist him, if the love he had for Meghann were stronger than the enmity he felt toward Simon.

  Alcuin sat up, blinking eyes that were not his and marveling on what it was to hear sound again, to feel sensations like cold rain landing on skin to make it pucker up into gooseflesh.

  "Uncle." Alcuin heard an icy voice and saw Simon Baldevar glaring down at him, holding a hunting dagger with the sharp point poised to attack the throat of the body he inhabited. "I have summoned you to do my bidding. I do hope you not force my hand to strike Lee Winslow's body in defense against any attack from you. Think how it would hurt Meghann to lose her friend."

  "You do not need that weapon, Nephew," Alcuin said, surprised that the voice he spoke with had his own earthly timber, his queer accent that stemmed from the old English. He'd thought he'd sound like Lee Winslow .. . how very strange all this was, to use another's vocal cords and yet sound like yourself!

  "Of course I don't," Simon said and hard gold eyes appraised Alcuin thoroughly before he resheathed the dagger. "You will provide assistance this evening, not only because I have summoned you, but out of love for Meghann."

  That last sentence was spat out and Alcuin flinched when he felt the rage that lurked beneath his nephew's customary, imperturbable expression. "I do love Meghann. She is the daughter I never had. Why does that anger you so?"