Of Masques and Martyrs by Christopher Golden

Author:Christopher Golden
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Horror, Occult & Supernatural, Fiction
ISBN: 9781847399267
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Limited
Published: 2011-04-01T01:49:30+00:00

Outside the gray walls of the convent, Kuromaku paused in the darkness. It was quiet within, particularly in comparison with the garish lights and roar of tourism from elsewhere in the Quarter. Quiet, yes, but there was life there. Kuromaku could sense it, could almost hear a whisper on the wind.

He held Peter’s sword in his right hand, its scabbard wrapped in green silk and tied with a thin black cord. Almost there, he thought. And somehow, he knew he was in time.

As mist, he slipped through the huge iron gate, reforming inside. There were lights on inside the convent, though very few. A small lantern hung not far from the main interior door, on the other side of the garden. It could only be reached by following a winding path through the flora.

Slipping through the shadows, silent among the flowers, Kuromaku moved toward the house. He’d barely gone half a dozen yards when the plants began to rustle around him. A snake, or rat, or dog . . . something. More than one something. And a small pool of mist, just at ground level, creeping across the garden.

With one swift motion, Kuromaku reached around under his long jacket, unsnapped the catch of its scabbard, and withdrew his wakizashi, which had hung there upside down. The short sword’s guard was nontraditionally flat, so it could hang there undetected.

Moon and lantern light glinted on the edge of the short sword as Kuromaku moved into a defensive posture. But the shadows took their time. They were confident in their greater numbers. At some signal he could not detect, they changed. One moment he was alone on the garden path, and the next, surrounded by five vampires.

Absurdly, he thought of the girl, Lolly, and the ecstasy she would feel if she could trade places with him.

Kuromaku smiled.

“So you’ve found us,” one of the shadows said. “I’m surprised one of Hannibal’s beasts had the balls to come onto sacred ground, but it won’t do you any good, spy. Hannibal will never hear from you again.”

The shadow who’d spoken, a slim black man, paused then, as if waiting for some response. None of the others, two women and two men, spoke at all.

Kuromaku decided to ignore them.

“I’m here to see Peter Octavian,” he explained. “If you would be kind enough to fetch him for me, I have something for him.”

The shadow’s eyes flicked to the silk-wrapped sword, then to Kuromaku’s wakizashi, and back to his face.

“I’m sure you do,” he said. “We’ll make sure he gets it.”

Kuromaku held the sword a bit closer to his body then and glared at the shadow. He would kill them all, no matter their allegiance, if they attempted to take Peter’s sword from him. There must have been something of his resolve in his eyes, for the hateful look he gave the shadow caused the man to frown, to hesitate.

“As you say,” Kuromaku pointed out, “we are on sacred ground. You have only your suspicion and paranoia to inform you.

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