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Back Cardinal Black Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Title Page
  2. One: Into the Storm
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Two: London Calling
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Three: The Malignant Seven
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Four: Squirrels and Cats
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Five: Revelation
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. About the Author

There was still some difficulty ahead, and not just concerning the trip to Italy. In the morning at six o’clock Berry’s ship sailed for New York. There would be copious tears, wailings and handwringings at the dock, and Hudson figured he might have to slap Matthew to get him out of it. Berry obviously did not particularly approve of this eastward journey but she was resigned to it, and Hudson had told her he would look after the boy as best he could.

The boy?

No longer a moonbeam, and far from it.

The man.

But after Berry’s ship departed in the morning, Hudson intended to get Matthew a little bit drunk, because whether Matthew knew it or not he needed to fly free out of that tight skin of his, at least for a while. He was going to get a little bit drunk too. He needed it just as much.

Hudson couldn’t shake the feeling that something about Matthew had changed quite dramatically since the last time he’d seen the young man. It was in his face, in his eyes, in the way he carried himself. Of course Matthew had been through a difficult time—and difficult was not strong enough a word—but still … something about Matthew reminded him now of …

… himself?

The demonic mirror. Awaiting them in Italy?

What was awaiting them there?

Something worse than a demonic mirror?

One never knew what Fate had in store.

One never knew.

But for the moment … live for the moment, and in the moment.

“Another ale,” Hudson told the serving girl who came to his table. “And another song from the singer.” He lifted his near-empty mug in respect for her talents, and she gave him a pretty smile and a sweet chorus of notes on her guitar that sounded like birds at play in the trees of summer.

Bringing back change from the Old Crock?

The hell you say.

“I have come here as a salesman, to sell you an idea,” said one man to another.

The man who sat in shadow didn’t reply for a moment. Then the voice issued out: a low, sonorous voice, yet there something afflicted about it. “Go on.”

“I believe you know my reputation. I of course know yours. You possess something I am in need of, and perhaps I possess knowledge that you may find invaluable.”

“To the point,” said the man who sat in shadow.

Cardinal Black’s long thin fingers toyed with the silver skullface and satanic rings that adorned his other hand. “You possess a fast ship. I believe it is called the Nemesis. I need such a vessel, unencumbered by other passengers.”

“And why might that be?”