Hellboy
Chapter 2
Safe behind his mask, Karl Kroenen gave a wide, dark grin, then wrapped one dry-skinned hand around a lever in front of him. He ran his tongue over the inside of his teeth for good measure, then threw the stiff switch on the huge machine.
An untold number of gears churned to life and steam pistons thrust bright copper rails upright. As two metal rings were lifted high into the air and gyroscoped outward, Kroenen signaled excitedly for more lights.
Illumination flooded the expanse of an ancient sacristy lined with eroded stone saints. Their dark, eyeless faces gazed blankly at a tall, gaunt, and nearly naked man with his arms fully extended who was standing in the center of the room. He stared hard at a woman coming toward him, and when he spoke, his voice was stern and his breath plumed outward in a freezing temperature that seemed to have no effect on him.
"No matter what happens to me, Ilsa, you must carry on with the work."
Beneath tightly drawn blond hair, there was no smile on Ilsa's coldly beautiful face, no warmth in her ageless, Aryan expression. "I will not leave you, Grigori," she said matter-of-factly. In a rare show o ... read full excerpt from Hellboy ebook
