Bloodliner by Robert T. Jeschonek Page B

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."
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    Chapter 20
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    "We're human sacrifices." Mavis kept her voice low. Stanza was in the next room, and the inn's walls were thin. "She had to bring us to a specific Druid temple for the dark magic to work."
    "That would explain why she brought us here, even though there's no Lyonesse." Jonah's whispered voice was dead serious.
    "I was joking!" Mavis socked him in the shoulder. "Just because vampires exist doesn't mean every horror movie plot in the world is true."
    Or does it?
    Mavis yawned. She and Jonah had been talking about Lyonesse and the warning from the old man on the ferry for a