Bloodliner (20 page)

*****

 

Chapter 50

Mavis wasn't all that surprised when the muscleman claimed to be a Greek god.
If I can meet up with King Arthur, why not Hercules, too?

"I know why you're here!" Hercules bellowed so loud that the veins on his sweaty bronze forehead jumped out. So did the cords of his muscle-packed neck. "And I won't allow you to violate sacred Vesuvius!"

With that, Hercules grabbed hold of Jonah's shoulder. Jonah looked like he still couldn't believe the god could touch him in his astral form.

"Bony whelp!" roared Hercules. "You're not fit to pick my teeth with!"

Then, suddenly, Arthur leaped across the room and bashed Hercules in the head with his clasped hands.

Hercules let go of Jonah and wobbled in place for a moment. Without hesitating, Arthur shoved Jonah out of the way through a wall.

Stanza tried to do the same with Mavis, grabbing her by the arm and pushing her toward a wall...but Mavis wouldn't cooperate. She shook off Stanza's grip.

I won't leave him.

As Arthur looked in her direction, Hercules took a wild swing at him. The punch clipped Arthur's shoulder, pitching him forward. Arthur rode the impact, letting it spin him around to face his opponent. "We have no intention of violating Vesuvius."

"Liar!" Hercules swung another punch, which missed...then caught Arthur with the edge of a sudden backhand. "You wish to make the sacred mountain breathe fire!"

Arthur stumbled from the backhand. "We don't have that kind of power," he said, deflecting Hercules' next blow with a sweep of his forearm, "and we wouldn't use it if we did."

"Ha!" Hercules charged forward, catching Arthur around the waist. "He
told
me you were liars!"

"He who?" said Arthur.

Hercules strained to dump his opponent to the floor. Arthur stayed on his feet but could not break Hercules' hold from his midsection.

"My own flesh and blood!" said Hercules. "My descendant,
Borgia
!"

Just then, Hercules shifted his weight hard to one side and brought down Arthur. Hercules dropped on top of him, pressing Arthur's astral form halfway through the marble floor.

"I am the lord of Vesuvius!" said Hercules as he pinned Arthur with one hand and pounded him in the face with the other. "All who seek to ruin her and obliterate this noble city of Herculaneum will answer to
me
!"

I have to help Arthur.

Even as she had the thought, Mavis wasn't sure what she could do. In a battle of brute force between legendary titans, she had little to offer. On the other hand, she didn't think it was possible for her to die here. She still hadn't seen her vision come true, the one in which she became a vampire.

So what do I have to lose?

Taking a deep breath, Mavis edged along the wall toward the action. Stanza saw her, but instead of trying to stop her, she spoke up to distract Hercules.

"Borgia lied!" she said. "We are not your enemies!"

Hercules roared like an animal and chucked a fist across Arthur's face, spraying the floor with black blood. "Then my city will not be destroyed? Vesuvius will not explode?"

"If those things happen," said Stanza, "it will not be because of us."

For the first time since storming into the house, Hercules took a good look at Stanza...and his expression changed. His scowl deepened, became a look of searching disbelief. "Helen? Is that you?"

Stanza nodded. "It's been a while, my friend."

"An
eternity
." Hercules gazed at her wonderingly. "And yet, I think
often
of Troy."

"As do I," said Stanza.

Suddenly, Hercules' face reverted to a scowl. "But why are
you
in league with these
enemies
? They must have
deceived
you!"

"No, Hercules," said Stanza.

"I'm sorry," said Hercules, "but you must be stopped! I cannot allow you to destroy my city!"

Almost there.
As Hercules continued to talk, Mavis eased up behind him. Just as she was working up the courage to move, though, Paetus leaped in front of her, hissing. He lunged...and passed right through her astral form. His head thumped against the wall, and he slumped to the floor.

I guess he's not a god.

Hercules turned at the sound.

This is it. Do it.

And Mavis charged.

Howling, she ran three steps and threw herself on top of Hercules. With one hand holding down Arthur and the other choking him, Hercules didn't have a hand free to swat her away.

Now what?

"Off me, woman!" Hercules tried bucking her loose.

Mavis kept her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. His thrashing tossed her body back and forth like a kite on a line, but she didn't let go.

Then, with one great guttural shout, Hercules reached back and ripped her free. He pitched her over his head, and she landed on her back on the floor. The next thing Mavis knew, he was looming over her.

"You want my attention?" Hercules snarled, his lips curling away from his bright white teeth.

And that was when Mavis knew how bizarre things had truly become. That was when she was finally surprised.

That was when she saw Hercules' fangs.

"Well, you've got it," said Hercules, just before he went for her throat.

*****

 

Chapter 51

Mavis screamed as Hercules the vampire lunged for her throat.

Is this what leads to my vision? If a vampire who's also a god bites my astral form in ancient Rome, will that make me a vampire?

For the moment, at least, she didn't get an answer.

Before Hercules could make contact, Arthur heaved him up and away from her. As Hercules crashed into furniture across the room, Arthur bolted after him, drawing Excalibur from its scabbard on the way.

Arthur swung his sword overhead as he charged, but when he brought it down, Hercules lashed up a wooden club from his belt and stopped it.

The two men struggled for long moments in a stalemate. One gained an inch, then lost it...but neither was able to disarm or upend the other.

"Yield!" Hercules snapped out the word through tightly clenched teeth.

"
You
yield!" Arthur shook and sweated from the strain but did not buckle.

Mavis got up from the floor and took a step toward the battle of wills. She wondered how much longer it could last, and who would triumph in the end.

If Hercules wins in the state he's in, we're in serious trouble.

That was when she decided to provide a distraction.

"Hercules!" She took a step closer to the struggling men. "What if Borgia lied about being your flesh and blood?"

"Impossible!" Hercules didn't waver or break eye contact with Arthur as he spoke. "I am a god! I can see the fire of my blood in a man's heart just as clearly as you can see a drop of wine on a sheepskin!"

Suddenly, Stanza stepped up beside Mavis. "Then look here," she said. "Tell us what you see."

She gestured at Mavis.

Hercules threw a glance in her direction, then returned his gaze to Arthur...then glanced back at Mavis again.

His scowl deepened.

"This is a trick," he said, continuing to struggle with Arthur.

"Then explain this." Stanza turned and waved for Jonah, who had reentered the room. "What do you see, Hercules?"

Jonah stepped up beside Stanza, and Hercules looked at him, too.

"You see your blood, don't you?" said Stanza. "They're your descendants."

Hercules kept straining to push Excalibur toward Arthur. He applied a sudden burst of energy and gained several inches, but Arthur pressed him back and made gains of his own.

"Which descendant do I believe?" said Hercules.

"Who has the most honest face?" said Stanza.

Hercules looked at Mavis, then Jonah, then Mavis again. "Faces can be as misleading as the deeds of the gods."

"Then what does your heart say?" said Mavis.

Hercules smirked. "It says to kill you all."

Why didn't I keep my mouth shut?

Hercules made a sudden, strong push—and this time, he knocked Arthur off balance. As Arthur stumbled, Hercules burst up from the floor, swinging his club at Arthur's head.

"No!" said Mavis. "Don't!"

But the club stopped short of striking Arthur. Hercules lowered it and stuffed it handle-first into his belt.

"Good thing I never trust my heart." Hercules smiled ruefully. "Or rather, the thing that has taken its place in my chest."

*****

 

Chapter 52

"We're here because we're tracing Jonah and Mavis' family history," said Stanza, "and looking for the secret way into Heaven."

Hercules drank another long swallow of something red from a wineskin. Jonah wasn't sure from the crimson trickles on his lips and cheeks if it was wine or blood.

"Then you've already got your answers," said Hercules. "I'm your family history in the flesh! And here's how you get to the heavens: climb Mount Olympus!" He grinned, his huge nose reddening. "No need to thank me!"

Stanza cleared her throat. "What was Borgia looking for?"

"Illumination, of course!" said Hercules. "He wanted to learn the tales of my glorious life!"

"Like the tale of your thirteenth labor?" said Stanza.

Hercules raised the wineskin to his lips...then stopped before taking a drink. "Actually, he
did
seem to be excited about the story of my thirteenth labor. How did you know?"

"It's the reason we came here," said Stanza. "To retrieve the story of that labor. Could you tell us about it?"

Hercules grinned and raised his eyebrows. "It was the labor of the
Scythian
Monsters
. I traveled a
great
distance to retrieve a king's beloved
beast
and ended up single-handedly
crushing
the greatest army of assembled
monstrosities
ever to walk the face of the
Earth
!"

"What kind of monstrosities?" Arthur looked especially intrigued. "Dragons?"

"Better to ask which monstrosities I
didn't
face that day!" said Hercules. "Gryphons, sphinxes, minotaurs, centaurs, rockodiles...and yes,
dragons.
An
army
of them, laying siege to the fabled city of
Gelonus
! And I
annihilated
every last one of them!"

"Amazing," said Arthur. "All that glorious battle just to save the king's beast. What kind of beast was it? A treasured mare? A hound?"

"The beast was
Gelonus itself!
" said Hercules. "A
living city
...a
cathedral
...and a
treasure house.
"

"Why haven't we ever heard of this Gelonus?" said Stanza. "What happened to it after the battle?"

"It contained such
riches
, I had to hide it. Otherwise, it would never be safe from attack." Hercules cracked his knuckles. "So I split a mighty lake in two with my
bare
hands
, carried in Gelonus and placed it on the bottom, then covered over it with the water of the lake."

"This Gelonus," said Stanza. "Where is it exactly?"

Hercules gave her an odd smile. "Funny thing, Helen." He cocked his head. "That's what Nicolo Borgia wanted to know."

*****

 

Chapter 53

"Stanza?" said Mavis. "You look all blurry."

Leaving the past wasn't quite the same as getting there had been.

Instead of a sudden flare of red light, followed by darkness and sensations of wild movement, Mavis felt herself fading. As she sat on the floor of the temple, her whole body prickled with a feeling of pins and needles. The room and people around her looked hazy and wobbly.

Stanza had said the effects of the mold were temporary, though she hadn't said how long they would last. Apparently, they wore off at different speeds for different people...and Mavis was the first to go.

At least the fading had held off long enough for Mavis and the others to finish their business. After hours of discussion with Hercules, they'd figured out the modern-day location of Gelonus, where Hercules had performed his thirteenth labor. They'd also made arrangements to meet Hercules when they returned to the future, before heading for Gelonus. It was theoretically possible that Hercules would survive to the 21
^st
century, since he was both a demigod and a vampire, doubly blessed with supernaturally long life. He planned to hibernate in a nearby tomb, sleeping through the destruction of Herculaneum and the centuries that followed. Stanza, Arthur, Mavis, and Jonah would find and wake him when they returned to their home era.

"See you on the other side, Mavis." Stanza waved.

"See you in a few thousand years!" said Hercules.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness rolled through Mavis, and she went limp. She fell back...and someone caught her. When she looked up, she saw Arthur's face gazing down at her. "Relax. I'm here with you, Mavis."

"What?" It was then that Mavis realized something had changed. She wasn't in the house in Herculaneum anymore. In fact, she didn't think she was on Earth at all.

Mavis felt like she was floating on the surface of the ocean...except she wasn't anywhere near an ocean. When she looked around, all she saw were sparks and rippling bands of multicolored light. The bands swayed and crossed and interwove in a constantly shifting dance, slipping and swirling around the only solid objects Mavis could see anywhere: herself and Arthur.

It was some kind of vast psychedelic realm—another dimension or universe beyond mortal reality. Something must have gone wrong on Mavis' return trip, stranding her astral self in this surreal, intangible plane.

But Mavis wasn't scared.
As long as I'm in his arms, I'm all right.

"Where are we?" she said.

"Don't worry," said Arthur. "We're on our way home."