Bloodliner (26 page)

*****

 

Chapter 70

As Mavis sailed up out of reach, Nicolo crashed into a female vampire, bowling her over. He quickly regained his feet, though, and hurried back to Jonah.

Jonah was on his feet, staggering toward the door, but Nicolo leaped in front of him and spread his arms.

"Why fight it?" Laughing, Nicolo feinted toward Jonah, then bobbed away without touching him. "He won't take 'no' for an answer. In fact, he already owns you."

"'He' who?" said Jonah.

Nicolo lashed out a claw, and Jonah sidestepped...right into the arms of another vampire. Before Jonah could make another move, the vampire's grip had tightened around him like a boa constrictor.

"All done." Nicolo dusted off his hands. "Not much of a fighter, are you?"

As Jonah struggled in the vampire's grip, he looked around for help, but all his allies were busy. Stanza's full attention was focused on gunning down vampires with ironwood rounds from her machine gun. Hercules was battling a trio of brawny vampires on the wing. Arthur was chasing a giant red hawk that had Mavis in its talons.

I'm on my own this time.

Nicolo strutted over. "Wise decision, surrendering like this. Saves everyone a lot of trouble." Chuckling, he tousled Jonah's hair.

Then, he punched Jonah in the face.
Hard
.

"I'm doing you a favor," said Nicolo, and then he hit him again. "You don't want your girlfriend to think you didn't put up a fight, do you?"

Jonah howled in pain as Nicolo punched him in the gut.

"I'm a real Good Samaritan," said Nicolo, pulling back his fist for another blow.

Jonah shut his eyes against the coming pain...but it never came. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the reason why. Two bat-winged vampires had descended on Nicolo and were taking turns pounding on him.

Though the two newcomers were smaller than Nicolo, they had him outmatched. They struck him hard and flitted away, first one and then the other, before he could grab them. As small as they were—each only five feet tall, thin, and wiry—they seemed to bring exceptional force to every blow.

Nicolo shrieked in pain from the pummeling, which only got worse. The two vampires latched onto him with their clawed feet and ratcheted up the bombardment, not even bothering to flit away anymore.

With a shriek, Nicolo made a last-ditch effort to save himself, trying to leap up into the air and fly away...but he never got off the ground. The two vampires hurled him down to the floor and pounced, exploding in a frenzy of motion as they literally tore him apart.

When they were done and turned to Jonah, their light brown fur was spattered with Nicolo's blood. The mess they left on the floor behind them looked like Nicolo from only the waist down.

*****

 

Chapter 71

Mavis screamed as the giant hawk dove toward the floor, then pulled up at the last second. She wondered if Arthur, who'd been chasing them, had managed to pull up, too.

She found out when the hawk looped around at the ceiling...and came face to face with Excalibur.

Arthur roared as he swung the blade, slicing across the bird's chest. He pressed the attack as the hawk flapped backward, but his next two strikes missed the mark.

Then, with a shriek, the hawk burst past him, knocking Excalibur from his grip. As the hawk carried off Mavis, she watched the sword spin end over end toward the battle below.

Mavis expected Arthur to retrieve his weapon, but he turned his back on it and hurtled after the hawk. He caught up fast and swung the hawk around by the tip of its wing, then leaped onto its back. Mavis couldn't see what came next, but she guessed from the hawk's jarring movements that Arthur was hammering it with blows.

Before long, though, the hawk bolted upward and hit the ceiling. The impact knocked loose Arthur, and Mavis saw him fall past. He plunged straight down, just as Excalibur had before him.

Mavis lost sight of Arthur when the hawk soared into the mists of the Brain of Kitezh. Amid the twinkling lights, she glimpsed images like movies projected on the rippling fog—but none of the images showed Arthur or the others.

The hawk swooped around and angled downward. Mavis felt little crackles on her skin every time they passed through one of the glowing images in the mist.

Just as they glided toward a big one—a scene of the city of Kitezh sinking into the lake, under fire from Soviet tanks—the mist stirred violently. Suddenly, Arthur exploded from the center of the rippling movie, armed again with gleaming Excalibur.

The hawk veered off, but Arthur still nicked him with the blade. Drops of blood spattered Mavis as she swung like a rag doll in the hawk's grip.

Excalibur slashed uncomfortably close to Mavis, just over her head, and she ducked. It whizzed past again and again, hacking at the hawk's talons.

Suddenly, the hawk let go of her. As Mavis dropped, she saw Arthur dive after her...and the hawk plunge after him.

"Arthur!" Even as Mavis tried to warn him, she knew it was too late.

As Arthur reached for her, the hawk drove its claws into his back, and he gasped. As Mavis fell away, the hawk drew back its head and gouged Arthur between the shoulders with its razor-sharp beak.

It was the last Mavis saw of Arthur before she plunged down into the twinkling mist. "Arthur! No!" Excalibur whipped past her, turning like a wheel, barely missing her as it hurtled from the heights.

The next thing Mavis saw was the hawk, plunging toward her like a blazing shooting star.

*****

 

Chapter 72

"I'm James," said one of the two vampires who had rescued Jonah from Nicolo. As James spoke, he shifted shape, drawing in his bat wings and light brown fur, revealing a boy with short blond hair. He looked like he was eleven or twelve years old, though as a vampire, his appearance gave no clues to his true age. "He's Thomas."

The other vampire did not change out of his bat-winged shape. He kept looking around, alert for the next sign of danger.

"We're here to help," said James. "We're on your side."

Jonah nodded warily. "Thanks." He raised his wrists, which were still bound with Nicolo's chain. "How about giving me a hand with these?"

James unwrapped the chain from Jonah's wrists and dropped it on the floor. "Done and done," he said with a smile.

Jonah rubbed his sore wrists and stared at the young vampire. There seemed to be something familiar in James' expression. Was it the eyes? The curve of his smile? Or was it Jonah's imagination?
"Do I know you?" said Jonah.

James cocked his head to one side and stared back at him. "I don't think so."

Jonah shrugged. "My name's Jonah." He reached out for a handshake. "Jonah Ivory."

Suddenly, Thomas turned his full attention on Jonah. "
Ivory
? Your last name is
Ivory
?"

"Yeah," said Jonah. "Why?"

That was when Stanza grabbed him by the neck of his brown sweater and yanked him away from James and Thomas. As Jonah stumbled backward, Stanza swung the muzzle of her machine gun to aim at Thomas.

"No!" said Jonah, but it was too late. Stanza was already firing.

Jonah felt a flash of panic, but it was all for nothing. Thomas and James leaped away in opposite directions, avoiding the gunfire.

"Don't shoot!" Jonah grabbed Stanza's shoulder. "They're friendly!"

Stanza frowned at him. "Say again?" Her face was flushed and sweated, and her long black hair was in disarray.

"They saved my life," said Jonah. "They killed Nicolo."

Stanza took a long look at James and a longer one at Thomas. Then, she suddenly whipped around and cranked off some rounds at a pouncing vampire, dropping him on the spot.

"Let's go." Stanza started marching for the exit. Jonah fell in behind her and waved for James and Thomas to follow.

Stanza cleared the way by gunning down every vampire who popped up in front of her. James and Thomas took to the air, fighting off flying attackers with brutal teamwork.

When the four of them had crossed the threshold into the hallway, Stanza shouted at Jonah. "Close the door!"

As Stanza kept firing into the room, Jonah grabbed the door. "Ready!" he said.

"Go!" Stanza stopped shooting while Jonah slammed the door shut.

Finally, Jonah had a moment of relative peace and quiet. He could still hear the sounds of battle through the door, but they were muffled.

"This way," said Stanza, sweeping past him down the hallway.

Jonah followed. "What about Mavis? What about Arthur and Hercules?"

"You'll see," said Stanza.

As Stanza headed around a corner, Jonah looked back to see James and Thomas following on foot, wings folded behind them. Jonah wanted to ask Thomas why he'd been surprised at the mention of Jonah's last name, but he didn't get the chance.

Suddenly, James and Thomas froze, gaping at something up ahead. Jonah looked to see what it was, and then he was shocked, too.

Around the corner, a giant red hawk stared back at him, the same hawk he'd seen earlier with Mavis in its talons. Mavis was there, too, lying unconscious at the great bird's feet.

And Stanza...

No.

Stanza stood at the hawk's side, aiming her machine gun at Jonah.

"Change of plan," she said. "Surprise."

*****

 

Chapter 73

"These are the fruits of betrayal," said Shakespeare as he throttled the last of the vampires sent to kill him. "Would I had your master in your place, that I could give this message to him sooner than later."

With that, Shakespeare broke the vampire's neck and hurled him against the wall. The vampire fell onto the pile already amassed on the floor there—six other vampires, all dead or broken, who had come to murder him in his watching place overlooking the Brain of Kitezh.

Moments after James and Thomas had left to neutralize Nicolo, the vampires had swarmed Shakespeare. So numerous and well-trained had they been, they'd kept him busy a long time and had nearly killed him more than once.

They had never told him the name of the master who'd sent them, but Shakespeare knew. He knew with unwavering faith that there could only be one man behind it.

Genghis' plan is in full bloom.

Battered and bloody, Shakespeare gazed from one of the round windows into the great chamber of the Brain of Kitezh. Things had changed since the last time he'd looked.

It was war down there. From what he could see, three vampires stood alone against dozens. The three stood back to back to back, fighting like maniacs, holding one circle against the press of an irresistible sea.

Without another thought or hesitation, Shakespeare bolted from his roost. With his tattered black cloak whipping behind him, he charged down the grand spiral staircase. Two levels down, he burst onto the ground floor and raced to the Brain of Kitezh.

The huge door to the chamber was closed. Shakespeare hurled it open and leaped in with a primal roar.

All his artful thoughts dissolved in a haze of red. Suddenly, he was back to being the vampire warrior who had murdered his way through the shadows of history—nothing but breaking and killing.

He hadn't fought with such frenzy in years, tearing through enemies like a runaway buzzsaw, ripping apart vampires who in some cases were two or three times his size. The truth was, those vampires were only stand-ins for the real focus of Shakespeare's rage—Genghis, who of course was nowhere in sight. Each vampire he dismembered, disemboweled, or decapitated was a warm-up for Genghis, a practice dummy for the real thing. He'd been angry at Genghis before, but now he was murderously furious, and the enemy's foot soldiers paid the price.

After long, bloody moments of hacking through the mob, Shakespeare reached the three lone holdouts he'd glimpsed from above: Arthur, Hercules, and the priest, Alexander. When Shakespeare brought down the last vampire blocking his way, bashing its head in with a mace he'd taken from another opponent, he found himself face to face with Hercules.

Hercules then proceeded to try to kill him with a punch from a fist the size of a battering ram.

"Friend, not foe!" said Shakespeare as he ducked to one side, avoiding the blow. Surviving that, he quickly killed a screeching vampire who was diving at Father Alexander.

"You've earned your chance!" Hercules stepped aside to make room for Shakespeare to squeeze into the group. "Now make the most of it!"

Shakespeare joined the circle, moving in to stand back-to-back with the other men. As the
feratu
in his chest shot liquid fire into his bloodstream, he swung his mace in wild strokes at the onrushing horde.

"What's your name?" Arthur shouted over his shoulder.

"William Shakespeare...though I fear am not now the man I once was."

"It's an honor, sir," Arthur said over the clang of steel. "A great honor, fighting alongside a countryman so noble as you."

"The honor is mine, King Arthur," said Shakespeare as he bashed a vampire's skull with the mace. "You are far more of a legend and inspiration to the people of England and the world than a shadow like me can ever hope to be."

"Why are you here, Shakespeare?" said Hercules.

"I'm in search of lost friends," said Shakespeare. "Yours as well as mine—all taken, I am sure, by the same dark bird."

"I've battled such a bird," said Arthur. "A red-winged hawk that kidnapped my love and nearly killed me."

"His name is Genghis Khan." When the latest attacker grabbed the mace in midair, Shakespeare kicked him in the gut and took back his weapon. "He has taken more than your love and stands to take much more besides." One good stroke of the mace was all it took for Shakespeare to bring down his attacker.

"He's a wicked man," said Alexander, "violating the holy cathedral of Kitezh with his war!"

"You have no idea how wicked," said Shakespeare. "And I say this as one whose own blood is
far
from pure."

Hercules hoisted an opponent overhead and pitched him at the crowd, bowling over three vampires at once. "How is it you know this wicked bird so well, friend Shakespeare?"

There's no use in lying, I think. As poorly as the truth reflects on me, 'tis better yet to place it in the pipe and give all here a taste than sink it in a pond and hope it floats not to the surface later.

"We were allies of a sort," said Shakespeare. "Lords of rival sects of
Cruentus Estus
. We'd been dogging your steps to Empyrea, pledged to share the prize together—but Genghis must have decided to take it all."

"Hah!" Hercules tore off a vampire's head and hurled it like a missile at an incoming flyer, hitting it square in the belly. "I guess you're
our
ally now, eh?"

"Of course," said Shakespeare as he blocked an incoming blow. "Our goals are the same. We can be of much help to each other in this dire time."

"And you
promise
not to switch sides again?" said Alexander.

"Whatever vow we make today," said Shakespeare, "I with all devotion will uphold its precepts."

Hercules grunted as he strained against a new opponent. "Tell me...you're not just...looking for help...to steal this 'prize' back...from your former ally."

"Genghis may have kidnapped my young page and his twin brother," said Shakespeare. "I am more concerned for those two lives than all the treasures of Empyrea."

Hercules overcame his opponent and heaved him across the chamber. "I don't suppose you know where Empyrea
is
, do you? Because that's where we'll need to go to stop this Genghis."

Shakespeare scowled. "Say not you lack the secret, else our enterprise is doomed...and with it, those lost souls caught in the claws of our deceiver."

"Kitezh told Stanza," said Arthur, "and she's disappeared. Genghis must have taken her along with my love, Mavis."

"But Kitezh spoke through the
priest
," said Hercules. "Any chance you remember what she said, priest?"

"I remember," said Alexander, "and I'll show you the way. I'm coming with you."

"At least we know you can
fight
," said Hercules.

"Just like old times!" said Alexander as he killed two vampires at once, cracking their heads together in a burst of black ichor. "Reminds me of fighting the Persians!"

"Thank you for the offer, Father," said Arthur. "We'll gladly accept it."

"I'm 'Father' no longer. I've broken too many vows of my faith today." With that, Alexander strangled a bat-winged vampire and pitched its corpse at the mob like a sack of garbage. "Only Alexander now."

"Alexander the
Great
!" Hercules roared and slapped Alexander on the back. "Good enough for
me
!"

"Now if we can just get out of here," said Arthur. "Every moment we delay puts Genghis another moment closer to his goal."

"Will he kill our people?" said Hercules. "When he has what he wants?"

"Who can say?" said Shakespeare. "Genghis is a monster with hunger aplenty for death, but his dark needs and whims may lead him to save our people for other uses."

"In other words," said Hercules, "
fight harder!
"

Shakespeare swung the mace up and caught a diving flyer in the face. The winged body dropped to the floor at his feet, writhing and screaming and clawing at him. Shakespeare pounded it with the mace, cracking open the ribcage, freeing the
feratu
to scramble out...at least until he smashed it, too.

It was then that he felt it. Back to back with King Arthur and Hercules and Alexander the Great, fighting against the odds for the lives of endangered friends and charges, he felt it. For the first time in ages—centuries, perhaps—Shakespeare felt as if he were fighting on the right side for a just cause.