New Olympus Saga (Book 2): Doomsday Duet Read Online Free PDF Page B

superhero, and the police and the Chicago Sentinels were watching Doctor Cohen’s residence in case Ultimate showed up there. For all that, being elsewhere seemed like the prudent thing to do.
    Failure was not something he was used to. As a young man, an immigrant from defeated and humiliated Germany in the wake of the Great War, Dietrich had done what he needed to in order to get ahead, and his failures had been minor and few. When he had discovered his talents, the ability to sense people’s emotions and manipulate them, and later the power to control and alter their dreams, his fortunes had soared. As the Dreamer, he had stolen mostly from criminals, since they were less likely to go to the authorities, and had found himself being toasted as a hero, even immortalized in cheap adventure magazines. Life had been good then. He had wanted more, however, and found himself working for another so-called mystery man, one whose enormous wealth and influence were matched only by his grandiose plans. Dietrich and the Dreamer had disappeared and gone underground. For decades, he had served his master willingly and well, until now.
    The operation had been ruined by the girl. If only Dietrich’s handler hadn’t insisted on using Ultimate to capture her… Years of patient effort to slip past the Invincible Man’s formidable psychic defenses had been wasted in a few hours; he still couldn’t understand how the little bitch had managed to enter Ultimate’s mind-scape, let alone help the cursed Ami break free from Dietrich’s controls. She was young and inexperienced, but her raw power was more than enough to compensate for her shortcomings. He should have killed her, and damn the consequences.
    Mr. Night knocked on the door.
    Dietrich knew who it was the second he heard the knock. His empathic senses should have detected any living being approaching the dwelling, but Mr. Night had always been undetectable unless he wished otherwise. The man, Dietrich suspected, was neither human nor Neolympian, but something else altogether. When the strange little man knocked on the door, his presence became apparent and unmistakable. The door had been locked but Mr. Night let himself in before Dietrich could answer the knock.
    His extrasensory perceptions told Dietrich Mr. Night had entered his apartment, but the little man in the dark suit had been replaced by a hairy giant in a trench coat. Dietrich recognized him: it was Medved, the renegade Hero of the Revolution, who had ended up in the service of Daedalus Smith, Dietrich’s master. They had worked together on several occasions over the decades. Dietrich considered Medved to be a dullard, an unthinking brute with no manners or subtlety. His empathic senses told a different story, however. So did his eyes after a second look. The lopsided smile on Medved’s face did not belong there; it had been placed there by the entity now inhabiting the Russian’s body.
    “Ah, there you are, my dear Dietrich,” the giant spoke. The gruff, almost-growling voice of the man Dietrich had known had been replaced by a thin, reedy one, unmistakably belonging to Mr. Night. “The man of the hour,” Mr. Night, continued. “Look at you, trying to hide your light under a bushel. How modest and unbecoming of you.”
    “I needed to get away,” Dietrich protested weakly. “Ultimate…”
    “Yes, the Invincible Man slipped from your grasp. You managed to lose him, the girl, your composure and your dignity, all in one fell swoop. Failure that complete is something of an achievement.”
    “I… the girl! It was the girl’s fault! How could I know she was a telepath? More than that, she entered Ultimate’s mind as if she had been mind-walking all her life!”
    “She is a talented young lady,” Mr. Night admitted. “I must admit it was a tad imprudent of me, asking you to capture her while you were busy riding the Invincible Man like a prize horse. I saw an opportunity and acted in haste. For that, you have