Vampire Affliction (14 page)

“So, I guess you don’t want to be friends. I get that,” Hector said.

“No, I do. I don’t have very many. And I think if I were in your position, I’d feel the same way.”

No one said anything for a few moments. Gertie was about to sit up, but then Hector spoke again.

“You really are a cool dude,” Hector said. “I can see why she loves you.”

Jeno didn’t reply. Gertie tried really hard to read his mind, but it was heavily guarded.

Just then, they heard the swish of gigantic wings through the air as a white crane descended from the sky, like a second moon, luminous and beautiful.

They all three staggered to their feet, amazed that Hephaestus had actually come, and a day early at that. He swooped down and perched on the outside of his temple, waiting quietly.

“Father!” Hector cried.

“I sensed discord and urgency all around my temple,” Hephaestus said. “What’s this about?”

Hector told him about the vampires wanting the helm, their deal with Hades, and their idea to switch Athena’s shield.

“Can you make one identical to hers?” Hector asked.

“Of course I can,” Hephaestus’s voice bellowed from the golden beak. “But there is only one way such a quest can end, and that’s with your deaths.”

Gertie flinched. How could he be so sure?

Hephaestus continued: “The goddess of wisdom is the smartest among us and cannot be easily fooled. If she doesn’t catch you making the switch, she will eventually recognize the trick. Then she’ll hunt you down until you’ve all three been destroyed.”

“What choice do we have?” Hector asked. “If we don’t get the helm from Hades, Vladimir will kill Gertie and me. We die either way.”

“You can rally the gods against the vampires,” the giant crane said. “I mentioned this to you in our last meeting. Why have you joined forces with them?”

“Because they deserve freedom, like anyone else,” Hector said. “Victims shouldn’t be punished for the crimes committed against them.”

Gertie glanced at Jeno, who smiled. His thoughts were still guarded, but she didn’t need to read his mind to know what he was thinking. He was pleased that Hector had officially taken Jeno’s side.

“You
can’t
do this quest, my son,” Hephaestus said. “Unless all three of you are willing to sacrifice your lives. Are you willing to do that?”

As Hector had said, what choice did they have? And maybe Hephaestus was wrong. Maybe they could pull it off and live.

They all three nodded.

Frightened, Gertie took each of the boys’ hands, showing Hephaestus that they were united in their mission. “Can you think of any other way?”

“There is one person who could deceive Athena without incurring her wrath,” Hephaestus said.

“Who?” Hector asked.

“My son, Erichthonius, also known as Erichtheus. His mother and I call him Erich.”

“Who’s that?” Gertie whispered to Hector. That was one god she hadn’t read about.

Hector whispered, “Athena adopted him and has always loved him like a son.”

“Athena adores him,” Hephaestus said. “He can do no wrong in her eyes. If you can convince him to switch the shields, she’ll forgive him when she learns the truth.”

“How do we find him?” Jeno asked.

“Go to his temple around the corner, the Erichtheion,” The giant crane replied.

“That temple was destroyed by Athena,” Gertie said.

“Pray near the rubble. Entice him with your singing, Hector. He can’t resist a beautiful voice.” The great bird lifted from its perch and hovered in the air above them. “He appears as a golden snake.”

Hector and Jeno gasped. Gertie felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Had her “dream” been a prophetic vision?

“Why would he help us?” Jeno asked. “Your son, Erechthonius. He has nothing to gain from it.”

“Maybe there’s something he wants.” The bird hovered above, its luminosity blocking out the moon behind it. “I’ll make the shield. You persuade Erich. I’ll deliver the shield here tomorrow night.”

The beautiful crane ascended into the sky and disappeared.

Chapter Nineteen: The Golden Snake and the Golden Ram

As soon as the great crane was out of sight, Jeno turned to Gertie. “You can see the future! That’s your talent!”

“This is brilliant!” Hector was full of excitement. “Maybe if she drinks more of that wine, she can tell us something about our mission, or the uprising, or anything we want to know.”

“What did I say last time, exactly?” she asked, feeling uneasy. “You said I was mumbling.”

“I couldn’t make it out,” Hector said. “Except for my father’s name.”

Blocking her mind, Gertie hoped she hadn’t said anything about the passionate embrace with Hector.

“Did you see something else?” Jeno asked suspiciously. “Something you’re not telling us?”

She shrugged. “Nothing important.” Then she asked, “Do you really think I can see the future?”

Jeno squeezed her hand. “It seems so. Are you worried about something else you saw?”

She shook her head but, knowing she wasn’t convincing, shuddered at the thought of hurting Jeno. How could she be with Hector anyway? She was a vampire.

Needing to change the subject, she turned to Hector. “So, what song are you going to sing to your brother the snake?”

“Oh, wow.” Hector took a step back. “I guess he
is
my brother. That’s new.”

“No other demigods are from Hephaestus?” Gertie asked.

“Nope. I’ve been an only child my whole life. It’ll be pretty cool to meet a sibling, even if he
is
a snake.”

Gertie missed Nikita and sensed Jeno thinking about Calandra. “You okay?”

Hector bent his brows. “I’m so stupid. Sorry, man. I wasn’t thinking. You just lost your sister.”

“It’s okay.” Jeno picked up the bottle of wine and sat down on the floor, blowing out Hector’s candle. Then he took a sip from the bottle. “So are we ready to call the snake, then?”

“Hector needs to decide on a song before we head over there,” Gertie said.

“I’ll just sing my newest one,” Hector said. “I wrote it when I thought I’d lost you forever, Gertie. That night you left with the vampires.” His face turned red. “The words are fresh in my mind. I wrote it in English.”

Gertie and Jeno each took an arm of Hector’s and lifted him into the air toward the Erichtheion. Gertie’s heart pounded against her rib cage the whole way. So many things could go wrong. So many things had already gone wrong.

When they reached the mound of rubble, Hector glanced at each of them and said, “Okay then. Here goes nothing.” He took a deep breath and sang along to his ukulele (to hear Hector’s song, go here:
https://soundcloud.com/travispohler/alive-again
):

I wish that I could feel alive again.

I don’t know where, where I’ve been.

I’ve been away, away somewhere.

I surely wanted to stay,

But I went, and I died, I died that day.

One day … I tried to stay.

I would have died either way,

And now my life has gone astray,

And I have felt Death’s embrace,

And I would like Death to delay,

And I would like to live another day.

One day … I want to stay.

I wish that I could feel alive again.

I don’t know where, where I’ve been.

I’ve been away, away somewhere.

Tears formed in Gertie’s eyes as she listened to Hector’s soothing voice and heard the story of the pain she’d put him through when she’d flown away with Jeno that night they’d awakened Vladimir. All of Hector’s pain and worry and sadness came through in his voice and in the words of his song. He’d been numb, not really alive.

Gertie could have listened to Hector’s singing all night, but after twenty minutes he stopped and said, “I don’t think he’s coming.”

“I saw it happen,” Gertie said, desperate to see her vision come true. If it didn’t, then maybe she had no talent, just as she had suspected all along.

“We need to be patient,” Jeno said. “These things take time. Keep singing, Hector, It sounds nice.”

“Maybe you should join me. Maybe all three of us should try it.”

Gertie wasn’t thrilled about Hector’s idea. Her voice was more likely to frighten the god away.

“It’s an interesting song for a vampire to sing,” Jeno remarked. “It gives the lyrics a whole new meaning, but I’ll give it a try.”

Hector started up again, and Jeno joined. The two voices together sounded so lovely, and she didn’t want to mess that up. She stood there, trying not to gawk at the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen: two gorgeous boys with equally gorgeous voices harmonizing beneath the stars on the acropolis. They each glanced at the other, grinning. They knew how good they sounded, and, worse, they could sense the affect they were having on Gertie. But Gertie wasn’t embarrassed because her heart was warmed and overjoyed by their friendship. That was more important to her than anything.

Just when she had stopped thinking about the golden snake, it appeared, and Hector and Jeno quit their song.

“Who sssserenadesss me where my temple oncccce sssstood?” the golden snake hissed, reminding her of Kaa from
The Jungle Book
.

Hector stepped forward. “I’m a son of Hephaestus. My name is Hector, and these are my friends, Gertie and Jeno.”

“A ssson of Hephaestusss?” the golden snake asked. “I’ve never heard of you.”

Gertie read Hector’s disappointment and wished there was something she could say, but he spoke again, “He was tricked into a union with my mother and doesn’t like to speak of it.”

“At leassst he had a
union
with your mother,” the snake pointed out. “Gaia became my mother by default when my father sssspilled on her. She never cared much for me, you sssssee.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hector said. “But I understand Athena loves you as her own.”

“Yesss, but look what she hasss done to my temple,” the snake hissed. “She said we had an infessstation that needed cleansssing, but I want my temple back!”

Gertie blanched at the word
infestation
and sensed Jeno’s discomfort, too. Even Hector had turned a paler shade of white. How could Athena be so insensitive? This further proved to Gertie that even the wisest of gods did not understand the vampires and their plight.

“Maybe we can help,” Hector said.

Gertie cocked a brow. How could they help Erich?

“I’m lissstening,” Erich hissed.

Hector crossed his arms. “How would you like to get Athena back by playing a little trick on her?”

“Hmmm. I’m ssstill lissstening.”

“Hephaestus is making a shield identical to hers. He’ll deliver it to his temple tomorrow night. We want you to switch them and bring us the real one.”

“Intersssting. And what will you do with the real one, ssson of Hephaestusss?”

“We’ll eventually give it back,” Jeno said. “But before we do, we will give it to Hades, for safekeeping.”

“Yesss. Good idea. She never goesss to the Underworld.”

“So we have a deal?” Hector asked.

“Oh, yesss!”

The three teens made it back to Hector’s house just before dawn was about to break. Hector was disappointed to find his mother wasn’t at home. A text from her revealed that she and the council of demigods were on a mission, and she couldn’t disclose her location. Hector went around the house closing as many blinds and curtains as he could and told Gertie and Jeno to make themselves at home.

Gertie took a long hot shower upstairs in the guest bath, brushed her teeth, and put on a fresh pair of her own clothes, which almost made her feel human again.

Almost. Having to dodge the sunlight that broke through some areas of the house was a pretty clear reminder. The big window in the guest room had no blinds or curtains, so she had to avoid it.

Hector’s bedroom, however, was protected by blinds. When she met up with the other two boys, they had also showered and were sitting side by side on the sofa in Hector’s bedroom bent over Hector’s smart phone, laughing.

They were watching a YouTube video and laughing so hard that tears welled in their eyes.

“That’s got to be staged,” Jeno said between laughs. “She can’t be that stupid.”

“It’s not staged,” Hector insisted. “She really is that dumb.”

Gertie plopped in a cushy chair across from them. “You two sound like a couple of misogynists.”

“This American YouTuber is having a debate over whether dogs have brains,” Hector explained.

“I can’t believe anyone her age can be that stupid,” Jeno said again. “It’s one thing when people argue whether or not dogs have souls. But brains? This has got to be a satire.”

“I’m telling you, this girl is serious. That’s what makes it so funny.”

“Can I see?” Gertie asked.

Hector handed her the phone, and she replayed the video of a very blond girl with a fake tan, dark eye makeup, and enormous boobs on display in a very small bra. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This girl will do anything for attention, guys. Of course she’s not that stupid.”

“Don’t get mad,” Hector said. “Why are you upset?”

“I’m not.” But she was, even though she wasn’t sure why. She handed the phone back to Hector and sighed.

Hector groaned. “Help me out here, Jeno. Are girls not a mystery?”

Jeno smiled. “I guess it’s easier to understand them when you can read their minds.”

“So why’s she mad?”

“She’s not sure herself,” Jeno said.

Hector stuffed his phone in his pocket. “Well, that doesn’t help.”

“I think she both pities and abhors the girl,” Jeno said. “And somehow, this girl’s behavior is the fault of all boys.”

“How’s it
our
fault?” Hector asked.

“Shut up, Jeno,” Gertie said. “You’re way off.”

“You see this girl as both a victim and a threat,” Jeno said. “Like a vampire.”

“Give it a rest, Professor,” Gertie said.

Hector turned to Jeno and started to whisper, but Jeno cut him off and said, “No, they don’t.”

“Did Hector just ask if girl vampires get their periods?” Gertie asked, on the edge of outrage.

“Not technically,” Jeno said. “I stopped him before he actually said it.”

“But he wondered it.”

“Get out of my head,” Hector said. “You can’t get mad at me for wondering things.”

“Oh, yes I can.”

“Gertie,” Jeno said softly. “Is something else bothering you?”

“No.” She got up and crawled into Hector’s bed, wishing she could fall asleep like a normal person.

“Maybe we should all get some rest,” Hector said. “I’m beat.”

“Good idea,” Jeno said.

It
was
a good idea, especially for Hector, who needed more sleep. They’d be up again all night, as long as Erich didn’t let them down.

“You take the couch, man,” Hector said to Jeno. Then he snagged one of the pillows Gertie wasn’t using and dropped it on the floor.

Gertie was about to tell Hector he could have his bed, but his thoughts revealed that he enjoyed the feel of the shag rug. As long as he was comfortable, she’d stay put.

She bit her lip and sighed and, not for the first time, wished she were back at the Angelis apartment living a normal life. She closed her eyes again and prayed to Hypnos, the god of sleep, and Morpheus, the god of dreams. Before she had finished, she also found herself praying to Dionysus—not so much praying as asking, “Do you care about me? Do I matter to you at all?”

It was still light outside when she woke up with Hector spooning her from behind.

What the heck?

She looked around the room to find Jeno sitting up on the sofa with his back to her.

He got up to use the bathroom about an hour ago, and when he returned, he crawled into his bed with you.

Jeno, I’m sorry.

I don’t think he was awake enough to know what he was doing. He hadn’t gotten much sleep during his vigil.

Gertie slowly lifted Hector’s arm and crawled out of his embrace. Then she sat on the sofa with Jeno.

Did you get any sleep?
she asked him.

A few hours. How about you? Do you feel rested?

Yes. But I’m so worried. Have you heard any news from your father? I still can’t get through to Phoebe or Damien.

All I get are warnings from my father that we are running out of time.

Oh, Jeno. When will this ever end?

He patted her thigh.
Once we get the helm, once we get the help of Hades, maybe then.

I hope so.