Bloodliner (25 page)

*****

 

Chapter 68

"Don't I get a hug?" Nicolo spoke with an Italian accent and a trace of a lisp. "It isn't every day you meet your great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather." He took a step toward Mavis and reached for her.

Mavis backed away. "Actually, that's pretty much
exactly
how it is."

Nicolo laughed. "That's cute! That's very funny!"

This guy's a psycho.
Nicolo acted congenial, but Jonah saw the wild gleam of danger in his eyes. He also set off alarm bells for Arthur and Hercules. They leaned toward him with jaws clenched and muscles tensed. Stanza held them back, pressing the palms of her hands against their chests.

"Now where's my hug?" Nicolo moved a step closer to Mavis.

Mavis moved another step away from him. "I think you've got the wrong great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter."

Nicolo laughed again. "Say, that's cute, too!"

"Yeah?" said Stanza. "What about this?" With that, she let go of Arthur and Hercules.

Jonah's heart pounded as they stormed toward Nicolo. Things were heating up fast.

Nicolo leaped straight up before Arthur or Hercules could get a hand on him. "Not the hug I had in mind!" he said, flapping his wings overhead.

Immediately, Arthur and Hercules followed his lead and shapeshifted, growing wings of their own.

"Look," said Nicolo. "You've got it all wrong! I'm a friend of your parents, Jonah. I knew them well!"

Arthur and Hercules flapped and rose from the floor. Nicolo gained altitude and backed away from them. "I'm with the church! I'm with
Cruentus Estus
," he said. "Just like your mother and father!"

Jonah frowned and wondered if he'd heard correctly. Was Nicolo trying to tell him his parents had somehow been involved with the vampire church?

Impossible.

"I come in peace!" said Nicolo. "I've been assigned to witness the reopening of Empyrea."

Arthur drew his sword and flew up to face Nicolo. "Methinks you've come for more than witnessing."

Hercules bounded up next and hauled back a fist like a sledgehammer. "This is nothing personal."

Arthur swung his sword and Hercules swung his fist at the same time. Nicolo dove out of the way, leaving the two projectiles to collide with shuddering force.

As Jonah watched the fight, the idea of his parents being involved with
Cruentus Estus
kept spinning around in his head, completely insane...yet utterly mesmerizing. Was there a
chance
, he wondered, that Nicolo
did
know something? Could Jonah forgive himself if he didn't at least try to find out what it was?

Just as Arthur and Hercules cornered Nicolo, Jonah shouted up at them. "Wait!"
I can't believe I'm doing this.
"I want to hear what he knows about my parents."

Instantly, Nicolo swooped toward him. Arthur and Hercules hesitated, looking to Stanza for guidance. She glared but didn't countermand Jonah.

"So tell me," said Jonah. "What do my parents have to do with all this?"

Nicolo landed in front of him. "You never knew they were members of
Cruentus Estus
, did you?"

"No," said Jonah.

Nicolo grinned. "Well, Isaac and Caroline weren't just members. They were part of the inner circle. They served on the
Scarlet Council
."

"Wait a minute," said Mavis. "Does
Cruentus Estus
admit
non
-vampires?"

"It does not," said Nicolo.

"Then how did Jonah's parents join?" said Mavis. "Unless..."

"Exactly." Nicolo looked at Jonah. "Did you not
know
this?"

Jonah didn't like what he was hearing. He tried to tune it out, but it was the very thing he'd been trying not to think about since Nicolo had first mentioned his parents' link to
Cruentus Estus
. "Did I not know
what
?"

"They were
vampires
, of course," said Nicolo.

Jonah glared at him. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know anything about them."

"More than you, apparently." Nicolo chuckled.

"Oh, yeah?" Jonah's voice oozed sarcasm. "And what makes you such an expert?"

"Because." Nicolo nodded soberly. "I've been investigating their murders."

Jonah experienced a moment of dislocation, as if he'd been shunted elsewhere, away from the conversation. And then bounced back. "Did you say, 'murders?'"

"Yes, murders." Nicolo cocked his head. "Don't tell me you don't know your parents were
murdered.
"

"They died in an accident," said Jonah.

"It was made to look that way, but no," said Nicolo. "It was not an accident. That much is clear."

"If it was a murder, who did it?" said Jonah. "Who killed them?"

Nicolo shook his head. "All I know is, it involved the search for Empyrea. Apparently, they were on the verge of
finding
it."

Jonah rubbed his temples. He was having a hard time getting his head around the possibility that his parents were vampires, let alone that they had been murdered. "Since when is finding Heaven a bad thing?"

"When it threatens those in
power
, of course," said Nicolo. "There is a legend about Empyrea, you see. About the reason it is such a paradise for vampires."

"What's the reason?" said Mavis.

"That it makes them powerful beyond imagining." Nicolo patted the spot on his chest under which the
feratu
nested. "That it makes them like
gods
." A wicked smile unreeled across his bone-white face. "Can you imagine how that would be? What would happen if thousands of godlike vampires were suddenly unleashed upon the world? Upending the status quo, overthrowing the power elite of
Cruentus Estus
...destroying the delicate balance of vampire and human that has held since the time of Lazarus?" Nicolo fanned his arms and hands wide, taking in everything...encompassing the world. "It would be
chaos
.
Armageddon.
"

"Oh my God." Mavis turned to Stanza. "Is that why we've been looking for Empyrea all this time?"

Stanza squared her shoulders. "We need to find it before anyone else does."

"No wonder they're all hunting it," said Mavis. "They want to become
gods
."

"Or prevent others from doing so," said Arthur. "Others who would abuse such godlike power."

Jonah shook his head slowly, feeling completely overwhelmed. The stress that had been building like a storm cloud within him was pushing outward, about to let go.

How could his parents have been
vampires
without his
knowing
it? How could they have been influential members of a secret religious order? How could they have been
murdered
over a secret paradise that could turn vampires into
gods
?

It just wasn't possible.

"You're full of shit." Jonah jabbed a finger at Nicolo. "Everything you say is
bullshit
."

"You're wrong," said Nicolo. "I've told you the truth about your parents...about
all
of it."

"I don't
believe
you," said Jonah. "It's all
lies
." He looked at Stanza, who was watching him solemnly. "He made it all up, didn't he?"

"No." Stanza stepped toward him and took his hands. "I'm sorry, Jonah, but it's true."

"
Bullshit!
" Jonah snapped his hands out of her grasp. "They
couldn't
have been vampires. I
lived
with them! They
raised
me! I know them better than
anyone
."

"Everyone has secrets, Jonah," said Stanza.

"Not like
this
," said Jonah. "Not like
drinking blood
and having a
monster
instead of a
heart
. It would've been physically
impossible
for them to keep this from me!"

"There are ways," said Stanza. "You're not the first son or daughter to have been fooled by a vampire parent."

"It's just not possible!" said Jonah.

"Why do you think they spent so much time indoors, out of the sun?" said Stanza. "Why do you think they worked so many night shifts? Why do you think they were so
distant
? Always pushing you away?"

"No." Jonah shook his head. His heart was pounding, and he was breathing hard and fast.

Stanza turned to Mavis. "Why do you think they wouldn't adopt
you
when your parents died? Why do you think they wanted to keep you from getting too close?"

Mavis' face turned pale. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, speechless.

"They wanted to keep you away from the life," said Stanza. "They didn't want to take the chance that someone from their world might
turn
you. Or worse, they might turn you
themselves
in a moment of weakness."

Mavis looked stunned. She grabbed handfuls of her pleated red hair and tossed her head. "That's
why
? That's
why
?" She gaped at Stanza and Jonah. "All this time, I never
knew
. I
blamed
them. I
hated
them."

"They needed to keep you safe," said Stanza. "Because you're one of the keys to Empyrea...and because they loved you. They loved
both
of you."

"How do
you
know
any
of this?" said Jonah. "Why should we trust
you
any more than
him
?" He gestured at Nicolo.

"Because I have it in writing," said Stanza. "Your parents left me very detailed instructions when they hired me. They left nothing up to interpretation."

Jonah felt an unreasoning rage billow within him. "No! This is all wrong!"

"Jonah..." Stanza reached for him.

Jonah lurched away from her. "You're a liar!" He spun and glared at Nicolo. "You're both liars!"

"Wellll." Nicolo shrugged. "I confess I
did
lie about
one
thing."

Stanza spun to face him. "What's that?"

"Hercules was right." Suddenly, Nicolo plunged two fingers into his mouth and let loose a shrill whistle.

Right after that, Jonah heard a flurry of movement from the hallway outside the brain chamber. He turned and looked through the doorway.

A mob of vampires flowed into the chamber, hissing and snarling. There were males and females, human-shaped and bat-formed and in-between, brandishing claws and fangs and all manner of weapons.

As the horde crept and crawled and flapped closer, Nicolo laughed. "I'm not here to
witness
the reopening of Empyrea. I'm here to
seize
Empyrea."

*****

 

Chapter 69

Arthur fought like a whirlwind.

As Mavis watched from below, he tore the attacking vampires to ribbons, swooping and spinning and diving through the air. His sword, Excalibur, flashed and twirled in his hands, moving so fast that the trails of blood it left crossed in midair before falling.

Hercules fought like a rhino, plowing through enemies with brute force, thrashing off hangers-on, using bodies as bludgeons...but Arthur was graceful. The speed and elegance of his movements made him seem fiercer than Hercules, more like a glittering angel of death.

Mavis thought he was beautiful to behold.

Stanza's voice snapped her attention back to ground level. "Look out!"

Mavis turned in time to see a female vampire spring at her, mouth cranked wide open and fangs gleaming.

I'm dead meat.

Just as the vampire was about to reach her, Excalibur shot straight down, right through the vampire's back, and pinned her to the floor like a bug. One second later, Arthur dropped down like an anvil, crushing the vampire's skull with his feet.

In one smooth motion, Arthur popped Excalibur from the vampire and ducked forward to plant a kiss on Mavis' lips.

He broke the kiss, leaned back, and smiled. "We really must get you a sword, dear."

Then, he flapped his wings and vaulted back into the heights.

Mavis would have melted right there if she hadn't been standing in the middle of a battle.

Definitely true love.

Suddenly, Mavis heard Jonah shout for help. Whipping around, she saw that Nicolo had bound Jonah's arms with a chain and was dragging him across the floor.

Instinctively, Mavis ran to help her cousin. Feeling bold after Arthur's kiss, she hauled back a leg and kicked Nicolo hard in the side.

I don't care if you
are
my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather.

Mavis kicked him again, this time in the shin. Nicolo hissed and staggered.

"Cute," he said, letting go of the chain with one hand so he could slash his claws in her direction. "I could just hug the
life
out of you, you little
gelato
."

Mavis ducked back, and the claws missed. She timed her next kick just right, catching Nicolo in the belly after his claws slashed past again.

Nicolo doubled over, but only for an instant. Without warning, he suddenly sprang at Mavis. Fortunately, she shot straight up in the air before he could get her. More specifically, someone
lifted
her...and she thought she knew who it was.

"That was close," said Mavis. "Thank you, Arthur."

Then, she looked up.

But it wasn't Arthur who looked down at her. It wasn't Hercules, either.

It was a giant red hawk, the size of a man.