Bloodliner by Robert T. Jeschonek Page A

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