The messenger grimaced at that. They all knew too well about the defeats the Scarlet Knight had handed to them over the millennia; the hero was even more dangerous than those blasted witches of the coven. “What should we do about her?”
“Bring her to me.”
“But—”
“Leave the strategy to me,” the Watchmaker snapped. “Do as instructed.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good. And once you’ve finished, put out the call to our brothers around the world. Bring them here.”
“How many?”
“All of them. Our time is now. No longer will we hide and skulk around. The time has come to make our presence felt, beginning with the Scarlet Knight.”
The messenger nodded. He backed out of the doorway to resume his bird form. The Watchmaker heard him flap out the window. Then he closed the book and stuffed it in the burlap sack.
The time had come for him to rally those who remained. They had bided their time these past three thousand years, but now the time had come. Soon they would have their revenge on all who had wronged them, all thanks to Marie Marsh and that eye of hers.
The Watchmaker chuckled to himself as he stomped downstairs and then out of the old jewelry store for the last time.
***
Though he was only a few inches taller than her, Dan insisted he carry Emma over the threshold. She let out a joyful scream as he staggered through the doorway. She wriggled out of his arms before he toppled over. While he tried to catch his breath, he said, “Here we are, Mrs. Dreyfus.”
“Here we are,” she echoed. Here was the honeymoon suite of the Rampart Arms Hotel. The suite looked bigger than Emma and Becky’s apartment in the former timeline and came complete with a hot tub.
A bottle of champagne sat in a bucket of ice on the bar. Dan scooped it out of the bucket. Emma let out another joyful scream as the cork exploded from the bottle. He poured some into two flutes; she noticed more in his glass than hers.
“To the rest of our lives,” he said. She clinked her glass against his. She took only a sip of her glass while he downed his in one gulp like at the reception. Then he took her hand and smiled. “So, what are we going to do now, Mrs. Dreyfus?”
From the look in his eye, she knew what he wanted to do. The bedroom was just fifty feet away from them. She was certain it would have a king-size bed. They would consummate their marriage in there to use the old jargon.
The predatory gleam in Dan’s eye and smell of alcohol on his breath brought to mind what Mrs. Chiostro had told her. This wasn’t her Dan, the one she had gone on one awkward date with. That Dan had admitted he loved her, but he didn’t have the same look in his eye; he hadn’t hunted her.
“Um, well, my feet are really tired from these shoes.”
“You’re right, you should go lie down.”
“Actually, I thought maybe I could soak them in the tub.”
“Oh, yeah, that would be great. We can get clean and then we can get dirty again.”
She blushed at that idea. She turned around so he couldn’t see the redness of her face. “Could you unzip me?”
“No problem, babe.”
After he unzipped her, he peeled the dress back from her shoulders. The wedding dress sagged to the floor and pooled at her feet. He started to remove her bra until she took a step back. “Not yet,” she said. She turned to him and smiled. “Let me help you.”
Her hands shook a little as she unbuttoned his shirt. She was certain in this timeline she and Dan were very comfortable around each other but she wasn’t that Emma. She and Dan had never been intimate; they had only kissed a couple of times.
He shook out of his shirt and jacket. She hesitated a moment before she unbuttoned his trousers. She stopped him before he could drop his underwear along with the pants. “Let’s just take this slow,” she said.
“Come on, babe, we’re finally married. You don’t have to worry about pissing off your parents anymore.”
“It’s not that,” she said. She tried to think of a way to explain it that wouldn’t make her sound insane. “We’ve got all night to…do it. Let’s not rush into it. I want our first time as husband and wife to be perfect.”
“Sure, babe,” he said, though some disappointment leaked into his voice. “Whatever you want.”
He helped her into the hot water and sat across from her in the Jacuzzi. He’d brought the bottle of champagne as well and offered her a glass. “No thanks,” she said.
“Suit yourself.” He took a slug right out of the bottle.
When he leaned over to kiss her, she pushed him back gently. “Not yet,” she said. “Let’s just talk for a few minutes.”
“About what?”
“Tell me how we met.”
“Come on, babe—”
“Just tell me.” She snuggled against him in the hot water to listen to his answer.
“I was in Costa Rica for a conference. It was one of those boring dinners at the hotel restaurant, where I was sitting around with all these old farts. Then I saw you in the bar.”
“You picked me up in a bar?”
“Sort of. I went over there to try picking you up. It was some really terrible line. You started laughing. So I told you why I was really there and you went into this whole spiel about Aztec sacrifice rituals, just brilliant stuff. Some of it I didn’t even know. I asked what institution you were representing and you got all red like you are now and you said you were a free agent at the moment.”
“Did we…do it then?”
“No, of course not, babe. I wanted to, believe me, but you didn’t seem like the type for that.”
“What type did I seem like?”
“Like a spoiled daddy’s girl who was in way over her head.”
“Oh. That bad, huh?”
He tapped the end of her nose. “But I also knew you were the smartest girl I’d ever known. And you didn’t have a bad body either.”
“I’m glad you noticed,” she said. She ran a wet hand along his chest. “So you fell in love with my mind?”
“Of course, babe.” He ran a hand through her damp hair. “What’s with you? Are you having second thoughts?”
“No! I just wanted to make sure.”
Their lips finally came together. Unlike in the church, this kiss involved tongues. Emma had never gotten the chance to kiss the Dan of the original timeline like this. She didn’t want it to end, but then the window shattered. Emma grabbed the back of Dan’s head to push him down into the water along with her as glass flew past them. When Emma finally came up from the hot water, she saw a trio of black men in the living room of the suite. While the rest of their bodies looked normal, they had unnatural dark yellow eyes. Contacts?
Before she could stop him, Dan got out of the tub. “Look, guys, I don’t know what the hell you’re doing, but my wife and I are on our honeymoon. How’s about you get lost?”
“How’s about we cut you and your wife into tiny pieces instead?”
Emma looked around her for a weapon. She saw only their discarded clothes on the floor and a vase full of wildflowers on a table. While Dan and the strange man exchanged barbs, Emma slipped out of the tub. She took a couple of steps towards the table to grab the vase. One vase wouldn’t do much good against three assailants, but it would at least make for a distraction.
“You can have what money we got, but it ain’t gonna be a lot,” Dan said. “You better make it quick before security gets up here.”
“We don’t want your money,” the man said. On cue his fingernails elongated into claws similar to those of the Black Dragoon, except they appeared to be made of bone instead of metal. The man opened his mouth to grin at Dan, which revealed rows of unnaturally sharp teeth.
“What the—?” Dan didn’t get any farther before the man raked one set of claws across his midsection. Dan screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. The man—the monster—only snickered at this. He drew his arm back to slit Dan’s throat.
Emma
threw the vase as hard as she could. She didn’t wait for it to land before she sprang into action. The Emma Earl of this timeline wasn’t in as good of physical condition, but she wasn’t flabby either. Emma managed to hop across the tub and over Dan before the vase hit the leader of the trio in the center of his chest. The pottery shattered, but didn’t do anything against the creature.
She followed up the vase with a kick to the monster’s midsection. With the Scarlet Knight’s armor the kick would have sent him back a few feet, but without it she only staggered him. He took a swipe at her head, but she had already ducked. She swept her left leg to take his feet out from under him. As he toppled, she shoved him in the back, so that he stumbled into the hot tub.
That still left two of them. They grinned at her with their sharp teeth. “You might as well give up now, little girl,” one said.
“I could say the same for you,” Emma said with a confidence she didn’t feel.
Before either side could make a move, the room lit up in white light. Emma threw a hand to her eyes and thought of the last time she’d been blinded like this. Had Marie gone back in time again? Would her vision clear to reveal she was in a different place and a different body?
A hand took hers. “Sorry I’m late, dear,” Mrs. Chiostro said. “I think it would be best if we got out of here.”
“Wait, Dan’s hurt,” Emma said.
“Then we’ll take him with us.” Emma’s vision cleared enough that she could see the witch had taken Dan’s hand as well. “Close your eyes, dear.”
There was another flash of light and then they were gone.
Part 3
Chapter 20
The SUV cut through Robinson Park, past the spot where Marie and the Watchmaker had left Steve Scherr. She wondered what had become of him, if he had survived the loss of blood. Then she turned back to Veronica. The little girl was asleep and still sick.
Once they exited the park, the SUV turned onto a road littered with expensive mansions. As the SUV continued up the road, each mansion got successively larger. The road ended at the gates for the biggest house yet. It sat on a hill, a pond in front of it. Marie guessed the mansion must have at least forty bedrooms, if not more. “This is it?” she asked the monster beside her. He only grunted in reply.
The gates parted for them without the need to talk to anyone on the intercom. They must have a camera up there, Marie thought. They probably watched the car right now. This thought made her shiver as she remembered the institution and how its cameras had constantly monitored her, which never allowed her to feel truly at peace. This mansion wasn’t the institution, yet she couldn’t help but feel it too was a prison.
A fat man waited at the top of the drive to open the door for Marie. Unlike the others he was pale and his eyes a normal brown. He must not be one of them, she thought. He tried to take Veronica from her, but she refused. “She stays with me,” Marie said.
“Whatever floats your boat, kid,” the fat man grumbled. He turned to the monster. “You have any more trouble on the way here?”
“No. Is the master here yet?”
“He is indeed,” the Watchmaker called from the doorway. “Ah, how good of you to join us, young lady. And you brought your little friend too.”
“We didn’t have much choice,” Marie said.
“I am sorry about that, my dear. However, I think you will find our accommodations quite to your liking.” The Watchmaker clucked his tongue. “It appears your friend has fallen ill again. Never fear, we have prepared for this contingency.”
“What do you mean?”
“You will find out, my dear. Douglas, show Marie to her room. I’ll begin making preparations with the others.”
Douglas took Marie by the arm. She tried to shake it off, but his grip was too strong. She could always try to use her special eye on him, but even then she would have all those monsters to worry about. For the moment she and Veronica were trapped.
An older man in the black suit of a butler opened the door for Douglas and Marie. Through the doors she found herself in a palace with crystal chandeliers, marble floors, and priceless artwork on the walls. “It’s up here,” Douglas said. He led Marie to a wide staircase that wound its way up to the second floor.
Veronica stirred in her arms along the way. “Where are we?” she asked.
“Your new home. Isn’t it pretty?”
“Are Mama and Papa here?”
“Not yet. After you’re better, then we’ll bring them here.”
“Good,” Veronica mumbled. She fell back to sleep before she could see her new room. Like the rest of the house, the bedroom looked fit for royalty with its king-size bed made of sumptuous dark wood. It was the old-fashioned kind of bed with a canopy and thick velvet curtains that would screen out all the light.
The Watchmaker’s friends had prepared for Veronica’s arrival with a monitor, IV stand, and other medical supplies next to the bed. A bald man about the same age as the Watchmaker stood there to greet them. “You must be Marie Marsh. I’m Dr. Torrence. Mr. Schulman asked me to take good care of your young friend.”
“I can take care of her. I’m a nurse.”
“Now, young lady, this is no time for bickering. Let’s get her on the bed so I can have a look.”
Marie wanted to argue, but the doctor was right; this wasn’t the time to bicker over who was in charge. Veronica’s health had to come first. Marie set the little girl on the bed and then leaned down to whisper, “The doctor is going to look at you now, sweetie. I promise it’s going to be OK.”
Veronica muttered something, but didn’t open her eyes. The doctor took this as his cue to put on his stethoscope and remove a thermometer from his bag. Marie watched him work to judge his competency. He worked confidently with a neutral grunt every now and then.
Once he finished, he looked up at Marie. “Her fever seems pretty serious, but treatable. You already gave her some of the antibiotics?”
“Not for about a day. I lost the bottle.”
“Don’t worry, we have some more here. Other than that we’ll give her some fluids and let her rest. With any luck, we won’t need to do anything more.”
“Can I stay here with her?”
“Of course you may. I’ll check up on you in a few hours.”
“Thank you.”
Dr. Torrence left Marie to rig up an IV of fluids. She leaned down to whisper to Veronica, “There’s going to be a tiny poke, but it won’t hurt long. All right?” The little girl nodded slightly. Then Marie pushed the end of the IV into Veronica’s arm. She double-checked everything to make sure it flowed smoothly.
From there she had nothing to do but try to figure out how to get out of here. She went to the window, which overlooked the bay. If she and Veronica could get on a boat—
She abandoned this line of thought when she saw a man walk along the edge of the bay. He didn’t appear to be one of the monsters, but he did carry a machine gun. With a sigh she collapsed onto a leather armchair to wait and plan.
***
Despite all the other changes in the timeline, Mrs. Chiostro’s parlor remained the same as Emma remembered. With her vision still obscured by green and purple blobs, Emma staggered over to the sofa to sit down. She closed her eyes to wait for the blobs to fade away.
They had made a stop along the way to St. Joseph’s to drop Dan off. This time they left him by the front door before they both took off. Emma had wanted to stay with Dan, but Mrs. Chiostro insisted they go.
“I don’t know how you can travel like this all the time,” Emma said with a groan.
“We don’t go this way all the time. Only when it’s necessary.” Mrs. Chiostro patted Emma on the shoulder. “I’m sure a nice cup of tea will bring you around.”
“I suppose.”
Emma’s vision had finally cleared up from all the bright flashes that accompanied the witch each time she vanished. She followed Mrs. Chiostro into the kitchen, where she found Sylvia at the table—or at least she
assumed the redheaded girl at the table was Sylvia.
While the change of the timeline had not affected Mrs. Chiostro at all, somehow it had turned Sylvia into a teenager. Emma remembered the long, dark red hair from when she had first met Sylvia at the Plaine Museum, but now her face was free of wrinkles and her plumper cheeks dotted with pimples.
Mrs. Chiostro clucked her tongue. “You shouldn’t be out of bed yet, dear.”
“I’m not an invalid,” Sylvia snapped, though her voice was higher than its customary growl.
“I know, dear, but you’ve been through a traumatic experience. You need to rest.”
“I’ll rest when I’ve found that bitch.”
“You mean Marie?” Emma asked. She sat down across from Sylvia while Mrs. Chiostro went over to the stove for the teapot.
“Yeah, her. I can’t believe I let her do this to me.” Sylvia buried her pimpled face in her hands. “I’m such an idiot!”
“‘Let her?’ That didn’t happen from the timeline change?”
Sylvia looked up from her hands. “No. She did it with that stupid eye of hers.”
“She changed you into a teenager?”
“No, dear,” Mrs. Chiostro said. She set a cup of tea down in front of Emma and then sat down next to her to sip at her own cup. “She made Sylvia relive a memory from her youth. The memory was so powerful Sylvia’s body changed to fit with it.”
“What kind of memory?”
“None of your business,” Sylvia growled.
“Be nice, Sylvia. Emma’s our friend.”
“Some friend she turned out to be. If she’d been doing her job, I wouldn’t have had to go after the little bitch in the first place.”
“I’m sorry,” Emma said. “I couldn’t. My parents—”
“Whatever,” Sylvia said with the sullen whine of a normal teenager. She pushed herself up from the table. “I’m going back out there to do my job.”
Mrs. Chiostro took her sister’s wrist. “You’re not going anywhere, dear, except your room.”
Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Call Page 44