Vampire Affliction (13 page)

Chapter Eighteen: Gertie’s Hidden Talent

Gertie and Jeno reached the barn just as the first rays of the sun broke through the clouds.

“Too bad we don’t know Charon’s sister personally,” Gertie said as she took a seat on a bale of hay. “Maybe we could persuade her not to part her parents’ embrace.”

Jeno laughed as he sat beside her. Then he moved a strand of her hair behind her ears.

“What are you guarding from me?” she asked.

“Have you ever noticed that your book addiction helps you as much as it hurts you?” He gave her a tender smile.

She thought about that.

He lifted her chin with his index finger. “Maybe you do get lost in books to avoid reality. I do it, too. But if you weren’t such an avid reader, you wouldn’t have figured out who your father was, or what we needed to gain leverage in the uprising, or how to get it. The knowledge you’ve gained from books has been your most powerful weapon.”

Gertie smiled back at him. “Thank you, Jeno.”

“That duality is the same for Dionysus. The wine acts as both his weakness and his power.”

“I wish he did more good than harm.”

“He’s helped a lot of groups over the years. Now he’s trying to do the same for the vampires.”

“Why do you suppose he’s waited so long to help you?”

“Maybe he was waiting for you.” He gently nudged her with his shoulder.

“I doubt that. I don’t even have any hidden talents.”

“I think you’re wrong.”

“Until I became a vampire, I was completely powerless,” she argued. “I was nothing before I was turned. I should be grateful.”

“But you aren’t,” he said sadly. She started to apologize but he said, “No. I understand. I feel the same way. I’ve never liked being a vampire.”

“It does have its high points,” she said. “I love to fly. I love being strong. And I love being able to see you naked.”

She had wanted to lighten the mood, and it worked. Jeno busted out laughing.

“I think you have a hidden power.” Jeno smoothed another strand of hair away from her face. “You’re so beautiful, koureesti mou.”

She blushed. “So are you, Jeno, but beauty isn’t power.”

“It can be. In fact, it’s very important to the success of a vampire, but that’s not the power I’m talking about.”

“Then what?”

“There have been other children of Dionysus, and I knew one in particular.”

“Who?”

“He was a potter. He made the most beautiful wine jugs the world had ever seen.”

“Was that his only talent?”

“No. Normally, he was a humble potter turning clay into ceramic masterpieces. But when he drank wine, he became a powerful being.”

Gertie furled her brow. “He’d get drunk and what, turn into the incredible hulk?”

“Not drunk. It only took one sip. Have you ever had wine before?”

“Not until that night of the dance, with the Maenads and satyrs. That was my very first drink.”

“Did anything happen?”

“I just got dizzy and…well, I figured out who my father was.”

“Tonight, we need to get you some wine.”

She smiled. “I really do love you, you know.”

“I know.” He kissed her cheek. “But I’m not the only man who has your heart. I’ll keep my distance until I am.”

She frowned and felt a little nervous now. “I’m sorry.”

“You can’t help how you feel, but Hector won’t be around forever, and you and I will.”

She quickly blocked her mind, because the thought emerging would only hurt him: What if the demigods were successful in their mission to kill Vladimir?

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “I don’t need to hear your thoughts to know.”

“So what if they kill him?”

“Too many vampires need him to stay alive. I don’t see it happening.”

“Good,” she said, though her stomach clenched. Sometimes she hoped the demigods
were
successful. She missed being human, especially when she was hungry, like she was now.

If only a burger and fries sounded good like it used to.

That night, they flew to Omonoia Square to feed on their human contacts. Then they went into an American burger joint to get Hector’s food. Before they left the downtown area, Jeno went to a liquor store, and using Hector’s change, bought a bottle of wine.

“Are you sure about this?” Gertie asked, as they flew toward the acropolis.

“It might be the only way to find out your hidden talent.”

When they arrived at the Temple of Hephaestus, they found Hector curled on his side, asleep, holding his ukulele in his arms like a lover. They held off waking him, knowing he needed rest, but the smell of the food aroused him.

“I’m starving,” he said as he opened his eyes. “Thanks. I missed you guys.”

Jeno and Gertie exchanged smiles.

As Hector eagerly ate the burgers and fries, Gertie checked his mind and learned that the day had been hectic for him, with all the tourists visiting and asking Hector questions. When approached by strangers, he had explained he was holding a vigil for the god of the forge, hoping for an answer to his prayers. Some of the tourists had been respectful and had left him alone. Others had kept asking him more annoying questions. Still others thought he was playing his ukulele for tips and expected him to sing.

Most of the tourists hadn’t been happy about the state of the acropolis. With all the loud construction going on and many of the ruins destroyed, the general mood had been irritable at best.

“Tough day?” Gertie asked.

Hector nodded as he gulped down his food. “Tough crowd, too.”

“Well, they’re gone now,” Gertie said, reassuringly. “And we only have one more day to go.”

“So what’s with the bottle of wine?” Hector asked after sipping down some of the Dr. Pepper.

Jeno extended the nail of his index finger and pierced the cork before popping it off. “This is how we’re going to discover Gertie’s hidden talent.”

Gertie explained Jeno’s theory to Hector.

“As long as we don’t have too much of it,” Hector warned. “We need to keep our heads on straight if we expect to have any chance of pulling off this mission.”

“Believe me,” Jeno said, handing the bottle to Gertie. “The mission is important to me. I won’t do anything to jeopardize it. Just take a sip, Gertie.”

The wine wasn’t as smooth going down as the sip from the golden cup the night of the dance. It also wasn’t as delicious. In fact, it tasted horrible. But as with that night, the dizziness built up, from her chest to her head, in a way that reminded her of the first time Jeno had bitten her.

She lay on her back on the hard, stone floor, and felt like a little girl again, spinning in the backyard behind her parents’ New York mansion.

“Gertie?” Jeno asked.

Gertie could only smile and close her eyes.

“Do you feel anything?” Hector asked.

She must have fallen asleep, because she began to dream of an enormous golden snake looking down at her. The snake balanced a clay jar on the end of its tail and lowered the jar to her. She took it between her hands and drank. It was more wine. Delicious wine. Smooth, like her father’s.

“Gertie, are you okay?” Jeno asked.

“You’re freaking us out.” Hector gently slapped at her cheeks.

“I’m okay,” she said, blinking. “Did I fall asleep?”

“No. You were talking,” Hector said. “You mentioned my father, but I couldn’t make out the rest.”

“I was dreaming of a golden snake,” she said, still trying to get her bearings. Boy, oh boy, had the world revolved around her this time. “He gave me some of my father’s wine.”

“Maybe it means something,” Jeno said. “Maybe it was a vision.”

“Big ol’ snake,” she said. “Huge. But not scary.”

“Can you remember anything else?” Hector asked.

Gertie blinked a few more times. A new image flashed behind her lids: she and Hector were entangled in one another’s arms, lying on his bed, and passionately kissing. He was saying he loved her, and she was saying it back. She shook her head and tried to guard her mind from Jeno.

“I guess I’m tired,” she said. “I should have slept some today.”

“Go ahead,” Hector said. “Jeno can keep me company.”

Gertie closed her eyes, but she didn’t sleep.

She could hear Jeno take a sip from the bottle. “Want some?”

“No, thanks,” Hector replied. “But thanks a lot for bringing me food. Man, was I hungry.”

“Did you get enough?” Jeno asked.

“Oh, yeah. Maybe too much.” Hector laughed.

“Well, no need to thank me. I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

Hector cleared his throat. “Listen. I’m not doing this for you or for the vampires. I mean, I feel for you, man, but I have my own reasons.”

“I know, but you could have taken Gertie and ran.”

“Not with Phoebe and Damien still with your people.”

The boys were quiet for a moment, but then Jeno asked, “So if Gertie and the Angelis kids weren’t involved, and knowing what you know, would you side against the vampires in this uprising?”

Hector sighed. Gertie held her breath, not wanting to miss a word.

“Knowing what I know now,” Hector said. “I might not go so far as to try to steal the helm or Athena’s shield, but I’d speak up. I don’t think I’d just sit by and do nothing.”

“Most people do sit by and do nothing in the face of injustice, when it doesn’t affect them,” Jeno said. “But I can see you are different.”

“How did you know about my dog? About Paris?” Hector asked suddenly.

“That wasn’t long after I turned Damien. I’d been keeping an eye on Marta and her family. I had nothing better to do one evening, so I followed her kids to the park, where they met you and your dog the night he was hit.”

“He was a good dog.”

“I bet he was.”

“I had him seven years and was nine when I got him.”

“I’ve had a lot of pets throughout the centuries,” Jeno said. “It never gets easier to say goodbye. Eventually, I stopped getting close.”

“You don’t like being a vampire much, do you?” Hector said more than asked.

“It’s my affliction,” Jeno said. “But I try to make the most of it.”

“Have you ever thought about…?” Hector’s voice dropped off, but his mind was an open book:
Suicide?

“Of course.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Many times. Two things have always prevented me from following through with it.”

“What two things?”

“First of all, it goes against my instinct. I’m wired to survive at all costs.”

“And what’s the second thing? Love?”

Gertie felt Hector’s eyes on her as he wondered if Jeno’s love for her was keeping him alive.

“No, not love. Duty,” Jeno said.

“Duty? To who?”

“The correct English is ‘to whom.’”

“Seriously?”

“I know the language well.”

“I mean are you seriously going to sit there and correct my grammar? Come on, man. That’s not cool.”

“Sorry. I was only trying to help.”

Hector snorted. “So duty to
whom
?”

“To all the vampires I turned whose lives would be destroyed along with me. It’s one thing to make the decision for myself, but….”

“Yeah. I see.”

“And if you kill my father to save Gertie, at least thirty people will go with him.”

“Including you?” Hector asked.

“No. Not me.”

“Good.”

“But wouldn’t it be better for you if I went, too?” Jeno asked. Gertie felt his eyes move over her as Hector’s had a moment ago.

“No, man,” Hector said. “I’d be sad. We’re friends now, right?”

“I hope so. But would a friend kill a friend’s father?”

Hector was quiet for a few seconds. “Don’t you want Gertie to be saved from what you call an affliction?”

“Not at the expense of my father’s life. He’s the only family I have left.”

“So you’ve forgiven him for wanting to kill Gertie? For making us go on this impossible mission?”

“I betrayed him.”

“Because he was wrong.”

“I’m not so sure of that.”

“But human lives…”

“Maybe it’s the only way to be heard,” Jeno said. “I’m not so sure that getting Athena’s shield to Hades is really going to solve anything for the vampires, to tell you the truth, but I’m willing to give it a try.”

Hector seemed to be digesting that, as he was quiet again, until he said, “I don’t think I’m going to need to kill your father.”

Jeno said nothing as he read the rest of Hector’s thought:
Because the council of demigods will do it for me
.