Playing With Fire

Chapter Twenty-one DONNING DARKNESS

IT WAS TIME.

Vengeous felt its power, felt it pierce his skin and wrap itself around his insides. Even if he wanted to, even if he changed his mind about what he planned to do, it was too late now. It was pulling him forward. How could Vile ever have been beaten with power like this?

The Infected had laid out the armor on a table, in a small room at the rear of the church.

From such humble beginnings, Vengeous thought to himself, and smiled.

He approached the table, reached out, but stopped, his hands hovering over the gauntlets.

His fingers trailed in the air, moving over the chest plate, the boots. The first piece of armor he touched was the mask. He picked it up carefully, held it, felt it change and shift beneath his touch.

The garments he wore — black and simple to the eye — were specially woven to ensure a successful binding. He would be wearing Lord Vile's armor — his body would need insulating against the raw power contained within, power that could sear his flesh and boil his blood.

By now, Billy-Ray Sanguine would have located the Cain girl, and he would be bringing her to the church. The Baron himself, with help from the Infected, had subdued Dusk and injected him with the serum. By shedding his skin, Dusk had failed him, nearly cost him everything. But Vengeous would punish him later. For right now, all his dreams were about to come true.

As Baron Vengeous donned the armor, shadows rose from it like steam.