Bloodliner (8 page)

*****

Chapter 18

As the ferry pulled into the harbor of the island of St. Mary's, Jonah smiled. The view from the boat's front railing was beautiful.

The sun was setting over the low green hills of the island, casting a rosy blush over the town that ringed the harbor. Sailboats skated over the smooth blue water, sails fat with wind and pink with sunset. Seabirds coasted lazily across the sky, rising and falling like counterweights.

A cool breeze fluttered Jonah's white bangs and caressed his pale cheeks. He drank deep breaths full of the strong, salty smell of the sea.

He was a desert rat and had never seen a place like this in person. If not for the run of recent events, he might never have seen such a place at all.

Or maybe he just wouldn't have seen this particular place in this corner of the world so far from Arizona. What were the chances, if Stanza hadn't brought him here, that he would have come to the Scilly Islands off the southwest coast of England?

Jonah wondered what he would find there. It had to be something good, to draw them all that way.

But Stanza was still keeping it to herself. Jonah had fished for clues on the train from London to Penzance—where they'd caught the ferry—and Stanza had given him nothing.

What's with all the secrecy?

Maybe it was the mystery that was making him so interested in her. He sure as hell wasn't getting
less
interested.

What did Stanza know that she wasn't telling him? What were her true intentions?

Do I have a chance with her, or am I just a means to a paycheck?

Sometimes, Jonah caught a look from her that made him think there was hope. Other times, Stanza was as encouraging as a block of stone.

Now, for example, he spotted her leaning against the rail at the stern of the ferry, staring out at the sea. She glanced his way through her black, wind-blown hair, and their eyes met...

I can feel my heart pumping faster.

But she gave him nothing. No warmth, not even simple recognition. She just turned away.

But next time, who knows? I choose to believe there's hope.

"First time at St. Mary's?"

Jonah jumped. He hadn't heard anyone come up beside him, and suddenly, someone was there.

When Jonah turned, he saw a tall man with wavy gray hair and a neat gray mustache and beard. The man smoked a pipe and wore a brown tweed jacket over a white turtleneck sweater. A red feather was stuck in the band of his brown fedora hat, and he wore sun-shades that clipped over his wire-framed eyeglasses.

Jonah nodded and smiled. "Pretty place."

"Prettiest in the world." The man spoke with a smooth English accent, the kind earls and dukes and bankers had in the movies. "I've been everywhere, and I tell you it's true."

"Glad I came, then," said Jonah.

"Where on the island will you be staying?" said the man.

Jonah thought for a moment. "Lion-something. Lioness. I'm not sure. Someone else is doing the driving."

The man raised his bushy gray eyebrows. "Lyonesse, you say?" He stressed the last syllable of the word, which otherwise sounded just like "lioness."

"That's it." Jonah snapped his fingers. "Where is it, exactly?"

The man smiled and puffed on his pipe. "Well now." Turning, he raised an arm in front of Jonah and pointed a finger.

Pointed away from the island of St. Mary's and out to sea.

"Actually, let me be more specific." The man lowered his arm to point down at the water. "Right about there, more like."

The man looked so thoroughly amused, Jonah had to laugh. "Guess I'd better get some scuba gear then, eh?"

"May I suggest a submersible?" said the man.

"I didn't even bring a swimsuit." Jonah laughed some more. "But seriously, where is this Lyonesse place?"

The man nodded and pointed down at the water again. "Under there, like I said."

"Okay, okay," said Jonah. "Whatever you say."

"I'm being serious." The man didn't look quite so jolly as he puffed on his pipe. "Legend has it that Lyonesse sank beneath the waves in the time of Camelot. Some say it submerged in the vicinity of these very islands."

Jonah chuckled. "So you're telling me it's like Atlantis or something?" he said. "It's not even a real place?"

The man shrugged. "People say they've heard church bells from under the waves. Some have seen things they can't explain. Who are we to say it's not a real place?"

"I hope it's real," said Jonah. "You've talked it up so much, I really want to see it now."

Just as Jonah laughed again, the man gripped his shoulder. "I'm not joking, you know. If someone's telling you they'll take you to Lyonesse, you might want to be careful.Word to the wise."

"Okay. All right." Jonah frowned and nodded. "Thanks for the heads-up."

The man tipped his hat and smiled. "If you
do
make it to Lyonesse, look me up and let me know, will you?"

"Sure." Jonah's attention had already drifted across the ferry to Stanza. She gazed out to sea like before, wind still whipping her hair across her face, hiding her expression.

Ever since she'd saved him from the blonde vampire in the alley behind Halcyon, Jonah had trusted her. He'd been annoyed that she kept secrets, but he'd still trusted her enough to go with her and do what she told him to do. Maybe it was just the fact that his parents had trusted her enough to hire her, but he hadn't seriously doubted her good intentions.

Until now.

Was Stanza leading him and Mavis into some kind of trap? If Lyonesse wasn't a real place, then where was she actually planning to take them?

And why had she bothered to come so far to take them there? What could she do to them there that she couldn't have done in the U.S.?

As Jonah watched, Stanza turned and looked his way. This time, she smiled...or at least he thought so. Her wind-blown hair obscured her face, and she turned away before Jonah could get a definite read.

*****

 

Chapter 19

Shakespeare strolled into the pub on St. Mary's island in disguise and doffed his brown fedora hat with the red feather in the band. He took a bow before the corner table, holding out his hat as James applauded.

"Once again, I have returned to that which held in awe the London theatre-going masses." Shakespeare straightened, then took another bow.

"Jonah didn't suspect anything?" said James.

"I met him at the railing on the ferry." Shakespeare spread his arms wide. "He saw the hat, the pipe, tweed jacket, white turtleneck—the uniform of a scholar. The gray in my hair and beard suggested grandfatherly age and benignity." He rubbed his mustache, and his hand came away with a dusting of the gray powder he'd used to color it. "The rest of the performance arose from within."

James grinned. "I haven't seen you so happy in ages."

"To act, for me, on any stage," said Shakespeare, "the boards of the Globe or the deck of a ferry, is a bliss surpassing any mortal passion."

Suddenly, Genghis popped up behind him, carrying two pint glasses of dark beer. "You love it because you're a born deceiver," he said. "You get your rocks off fooling people."

Shakespeare tossed his hat on the table. "I love it because it allows me to cast aside the darkness of my life infernal, if only for brief moments at a time." He puffed on his pipe and smiled. "And I get to pretend I don't have to deal with demons like you for a while."

"We love you, too, Suckspeare," muttered Thomas, who was hunched over a tourist brochure about the Scilly Islands.

"Tell me again why you risked the whole mission to make contact with Jonah Ivory," said Genghis, sliding onto the bench beside Thomas.

Shakespeare reached for one of the beers, but Genghis pulled them both away and shook his head.

He brought two beers to the table just so he could refuse me in front of the boys, I'll wager.

"I wanted to put him on guard," said Shakespeare, taking a seat beside James. "Alert him to the danger he faces, at least in some small way."

Genghis drained one beer halfway, then clomped the glass down hard on the table. "Gee, dontcha think he's on guard already? Seeing as how he's almost been killed by vampires multiple times, I mean."

Shakespeare shook his head. "That's nothing compared to what awaits him in Lyonesse. Awaits them all."

"I'm sure your heads-up will make all the difference." Genghis laughed. Thomas laughed, too, without looking up from his brochure.

How can I help that boy, as I've vowed, if his laugh alone is enough to set my teeth on edge?

It was then that James spoke up. "What will happen to Jonah when we take the prize?"

"He'll go his way with neither harm nor strife," said Shakespeare. "The loss of his inheritance may cause a certain pain, but I resolve he'll suffer nothing further."

James pointed at Genghis. "He asked about drinking Jonah's blood."

"I expect we'll all refrain from such temptation," said Shakespeare. "Best to cross the threshold of paradise restored without the blood of he who led us there dripping from our chins."

"Speak for yourself, pussy," said Genghis.

Shakespeare met his gaze. "So long as I yet stride upon this world, I'll write the final act to this dark drama."

"Then I sure hope you don't break your stride." Genghis raised his second beer in a mocking toast and drained more than half of it.

"What's he like?" Thomas kept staring at the brochure as he spoke. "Jonah Ivory, I mean."

It wasn't easy to surprise Shakespeare after so many centuries studying the human—and vampiric—condition, but Thomas had done it. The last thing Shakespeare had expected to hear from the delinquent's lips was a civilized question.

Further, it was a question about a subject of intimate concern to Thomas, though Shakespeare suspected Thomas did not know that.

Or does he? How much has Genghis told the boy, I wonder?

"Jonah's pleasant enough," said Shakespeare, "and he made me laugh. He treated me, a stranger, as a friend."

"Sounds like a moron," said Thomas. "Too stupid to spot a vampire with zero acting talent in a lame disguise. I can't believe he's still got a drop of blood left in him."

Shakespeare smiled as he pictured splitting open Thomas like a fish and feeding one offending tidbit at a time to barroom cats.

Here now. Have a care in public so as not to draw undue concern from eyes around you. And remember: your vow is to restore the boy, not slay him.

"You'd like him well enough in person," said Shakespeare. "You might even be surprised to find you share some things in common."

"
Really?
" Thomas glanced up from his brochure. "You mean he likes mass murder and senseless atrocities like I do?"

Shakespeare kept smiling. "I'll have to get back to you on that."

I'm starting to think this one might be more than I can handle. For every sign of light, a greater sign of darkness supersedes it.

Just then, Genghis finished his second beer and belched like a foghorn. "I'm bored," he said. "How much longer till we rape paradise?"

"Yeah." Thomas was back to staring at the brochure. "I'm
this close
to slaughtering this whole island."

Shakespeare cast a frosty look in James' direction.

Remember what I told you, James. "They shall ever be our enemies most foul."

"Our search could reach an end at any time," said Shakespeare. "Jonah could find the map to paradise in Lyonesse, or not for a dozen steps or more. We'd do well to reach for patience in this game, lest we in haste indulge mistakes and lose the prize we seek."

Thomas looked up from his brochure and rolled his eyes. "Does this moron ever speak English?"

"You should hear him try to order food at a drive-through." Genghis laughed and jabbed Thomas with his elbow.

Let it go. Denied the use of force by truce and promise, Genghis seeks advantages by other means. I must let stand what I in other circumstance would never bear without immediate reprisal.

"Where are they now, Master?" said James. "Jonah and the others?"

Thank you for changing the subject, James.

"Taking rooms at a nearby inn," said Shakespeare. "I expect they'll patronize this very pub ere long, so we should finish and be gone."

"Will we follow them to Lyonesse?" said James.

"We'll follow to the gate and keep a watch," said Shakespeare. "I alone will go inside and dog their steps in case of danger."

"Like hell!" Thomas flung the brochure across the table. "You'll cheat us out of the prize!"

"I'm bound by the terms of our truce not to cheat," said Shakespeare. "Your share will be safer than mine would be if your master entered Lyonesse alone."

"What makes you think I'd let you go by yourself?" said Genghis.

"One of us must stay behind to carry on the hunt," said Shakespeare. "If a mortal threat should claim us both, the hunt would end and neither of our families take the prize."

Genghis sneered. "I
hate
it when you make a good point."

"But Master," said James. "You
can't
go alone, not if it's as dangerous as you say."

"Hah!" said Genghis. "The boy has a point, as well! I
insist
you take a partner!"

Shakespeare gestured toward James and shook his head. "I will not jeopardize my apprentice," he said. "Further, I know better than to leave you at the wheel without a better angel by your side."

Genghis roared with laughter. "I wish I could
bottle
that sense of humor and save it for a gloomy day!" he said. "What the hell makes you think I was talking about
James?
"

Shakespeare turned to look at James' twin across the table. As he watched, Thomas raised both hands, palms facing himself, backs toward Shakespeare. He tucked in the thumb and pinky of each hand and stuck the three middle fingers straight up.

"Read between the lines," said Thomas. "That's what just happened to your vacation plans."