by Howe, A. E.
“You’re a monster!” Josephine growled.
“Ha! Take a closer look at your companions before you start hurling words like that around. You might damage that glass house you live in.”
“Josephine! He said we,” Blasko yelled, remembering the pronoun the captain had used earlier.
“He did,” said a woman’s voice from behind Josephine. “Don’t move.”
Neith walked slowly up behind Josephine, and Blasko could see her finger tightening around the trigger of the Luger she held in her hand.
“Josie, don’t move! She’s got a gun,” Blasko warned.
“Thank you, Baron,” Neith said. “Now if you and your girlfriend will both drop your guns, we can get on with this.”
“What did you do with the others?” Hume asked her as he bent over to pick his Webley up out of the sand.
“Tied up. I saw this one follow you off into the dunes and decided that we had no choice.”
“Perfect. We just need to dig up the hoard and get rid of all the dead weight.”
“What about Manfred Brock?” Blasko asked, trying to stall.
“You mean the other one? I must say, it was quite a shock when he walked through the door. They looked remarkably alike.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Neith said.
“Nonsense. I want to wait until sunrise to see what happens to this fool when the first rays strike his skin. So there’s plenty of time. Where was I? Oh yes. I had to keep calm and move forward with my plans until I could figure out how to dispose of the second Mr. Brock. Once it was clear that the sheriff doesn’t care what happens on Cedar Island, it was very easy to have Neith seduce her way into Brock’s room so she could hit him over the head. Then together we drowned him.”
“What do you want to do with him?” Neith pointed her gun at Carter.
“I think we’ll turn him over to our aquatic friends. I would bet they will find his mutation very interesting. Trying to pass yourself off as a local—what a crude attempt at deception,” Captain Hume scolded.
“We should get back to the others before one of them worms their way out of the ropes,” Neith warned.
“You’ve got a point. Get up!” he said to Carter, who was still kneeling in the sand.
Neith glared at Blasko and trained her Luger squarely back on Josephine. “I tell you now, if you make any move or attempt to escape, I will shoot this woman full of holes.”
“And if any harm comes to her, I will pull your limbs from your body and feed you to the sharks,” Blasko promised with a smile.
“Brave words for a vampire who’s going to be just so much dust come morning,” Neith hissed.
“And I thought we were getting along so well the other night.”
She spat at him and, to everyone’s surprise, Josephine turned toward her and returned the favor. Neith whipped up her hand holding the pistol and slapped it across Josephine’s face, knocking her down. Enraged, Blasko lunged toward Neith, but Hume stepped between them.
“May the gods destroy your house and the house of those who gave you birth!” Neith screamed at Josephine.
“Don’t even think about it,” Hume said to Josephine, pointing his own gun at her when he noticed that she was starting to move her legs with the intention of sweeping Neith off her feet. “Enough of this foolishness! Stand up, all of you. And if there are any more delays, Miss Nicolson will die with a bullet through her head. Is that understood?”
Soon they were walking through the moonlit dunes on their way to the beach where they had come ashore. As they drew closer to the beach, Blasko could see the other three treasure hunters stretched out in the sand with their hands and feet tied and gags in their mouths.
“What’s your plan?” he asked Captain Hume.
“For the others, I’m thinking they might have a boating accident. As for you, we’ll just let you bask in the dawn of a new day. You have Neith to thank for filling me in on your unusual nature. She recognized you for what you are right away. Clever girl. I met her father when I was working in Syria. When I expressed interest in some of the more esoteric cults, he was very helpful in obtaining obscure books and documents from the Egyptian Museum’s collections.”
“You aren’t here for the gold, are you?” Carter asked.
“The gold is a wonderful perk. But you’re right, it’s the books in the cache that are the real prize.”
“How did you get a copy of the letter?” Carter turned to look at Hume, who was walking behind them with the gun pointed at their backs.
“What’s it to you?”
“I know I didn’t send you one.”
“Ah! I wondered what part you really played in this. The… octopus appendage threw me. So you’re the letter writer. Yes, you have the look of an antiquarian about you. For your enlightenment, you sent a letter to the British Museum. In that particular letter, you included Nicolson’s descriptions of various grimoires. A friend of mine at the museum recognized them as books that I would be very interested in. He subsequently sold me the letter for a hefty price, but I think it will be more than worth the cost.”
As they reached the others, Blasko could smell blood. Looking at the bound group, he noticed that Zhao was unconscious, the back of his head matted with blood.
“Get down on the ground next to them,” Neith ordered.
When they hesitated, Neith struck Blasko in the back of the head with her pistol. He only turned and smiled at her, blood dripping onto his shoulder from a cut on his scalp.
“You are a tough one. I can respect that. Fine. I will put a sizable dent in your girlfriend’s skull instead,” Neith threatened, moving behind Josephine. Blasko dropped instantly to his knees, followed by Josephine and Carter.
Neith pulled a long rope and a knife from her bag while Captain Hume gathered up a couple of shovels. She cut off a length and tossed it at Josephine. “You tie up the mutant.”
Josephine was cursing herself for not having realized that Captain Hume was involved in the murders. It seemed so obvious now. When she’d copied their names out of the hotel’s ledger, his had been first by a couple of days. When she’d seen in Bobby’s letter that Wallace Brock had gone missing, she should have guessed that the first of the guests would have had an opportunity to get rid of him. Not to mention the clue Mitzi had unknowingly dropped about her gentleman caller. All of this roiled around in her mind as she tried to tie Carter’s good hand to his groping tentacles, all while trying not to touch the creepy things herself.
“Make the knot tight,” Neith said, standing over her. Josephine thought about kicking the woman’s legs out from under her, but what good would that do? More than likely, it would just get them all shot here on the beach. Except for Blasko. The captain seemed perversely interested in watching him die in the morning sun.
Once Blasko and Josephine were also tied up, the captain told Neith, “You will need to stay and watch them. I will take Donavan and Jamila with me.”
“Is that wise?”
“We need to move the treasure tonight and go somewhere we can lie low for a while. I can use their help.”
Captain Hume cut Donavan’s and Jamila’s hands loose, then had them untie each other’s legs and retie them with about two feet of rope connecting their feet together. Donavan’s eyes blazed while his jaw worked over the rag stuffed in his mouth. Jamila stared down at the ground as though scared to meet her captor’s eyes.
“Now you’re hobbled. Try to run and I’ll shoot you dead.” Hume pointed toward one of the mounds. “March.”
Josephine watched as they went off, shuffling through the sand. Lying next to the wounded Zhao, she was worried about him. He hadn’t moved or made a sound.
“You can’t kill me,” Carter said, twisting around so that he could face Neith.
“Shut up unless you want to be gagged.”
Carter’s movement had left him half lying against Josephine, not flat on the ground but rather leaning onto her. Josephine felt an odd movement b
etween them and started to flinch away when she realized that his tentacles were reaching for her. As she tried to squirm away from him, Carter pressed his elbow against her side. It was clear that he wanted her to stay where she was.
“I just… don’t want to die. For a while, I did want to die, but I don’t now,” Carter babbled. “I could be useful. I have a copy of the Necronomicon.”
Neith looked at him. “You know something of the Old Ones and their books?”
“I flatter myself that I’m a scholar of dark lore.”
Josephine could feel the tentacles grasping at the ropes around her wrists while Carter talked to Neith.
“Maybe you could be of use to us,” Neith wondered aloud.
“I can. I swear,” Carter said, squirming about to keep eye contact with the Egyptian woman.
As Carter moved, Josephine felt him poke her in the side with his good hand. She shifted as though he was making her uncomfortable, while actually turning to give him better access to her hands and the ties that bound them.
“You don’t want that charlatan. I’m the man you need,” Blasko piped up.
Josephine raised her head to see him looking over at her and Carter. He had obviously guessed what was going on and was helping Carter stall for time.
“Baron, I don’t think I could save you if I wanted to. Captain Hume has been looking forward to staking you out in the sunlight ever since I told him what you are.”
“You’ve met another vampire?” Blasko asked, and Josephine was sure that there was more than just an attempt at diversion in his question.
“Oh yes,” Neith said.
“Where?”
“It was years ago. She was… interesting.”
“You seem to have come out of the meeting in one piece.”
“We had an understanding.”
“Is she still alive?”
Josephine felt the tentacles working in concert with Carter’s fingers to untie her bindings. She was glad that Blasko had managed to gain Neith’s full attention.
“She’s still undead, if that’s what you mean,” Neith said, smiling at Blasko.
“Why don’t you let Hume burn her alive instead of me?” Blasko asked, changing tack in the verbal sparring.
“No. You are going to be the sacrificial lamb. I think Dagon will be pleased.”
“Who?”
“Dagon, the eldritch god from our distant past, come back to rise above the waves and bring forth his warriors. All hail!” Neith started to sway back and forth as she spoke, and the whites of her eyes shone in the moonlight.
Josephine felt her hands go free. She didn’t even resent the tentacles she felt running over her wrist as they pulled the rope away. With Neith focused on Blasko and half in a trance, Carter scooted around close enough to whisper to Josephine.
“We have to get our feet free very quickly. I think I can do that by bending backward and using my tentacles. When I’m free, I’ll go straight at her. Untie yourself, then come help me subdue her before she can fire the gun or yell for help.”
Blasko was watching them and sincerely hoped that he was right about what they were doing. Suddenly, Neith seemed to come out of her reverie and Blasko grabbed for her attention again.
“Your Dagon sounds like the twin of a monster we sent back to the pits of hell last year.”
“You know not of what you speak,” Neith said, drawn back into the tête-à-tête with Blasko.
“I know a half-ass god when I hear of one.” Blasko was well aware of the effect his words would have on Neith.
“Monster! Blasphemer!” she snarled, running forward and kicking at him. Blasko tried to dodge the blows while keeping Carter in his peripheral vision. As soon as he saw Carter crouch to spring, Blasko swung his feet and swept Neith’s legs out from under her.
As she hit the ground, Carter charged at her. Everything happened quickly as Carter threw himself on top of Neith, swinging his tentacled appendage in her face. He needn’t have worried about her crying for help, as the suckers closed over her mouth and prevented her from making any sound. As her eyes grew wide in panic, Carter realized that he needed to shift one tentacle away from her nose so she could breathe.
Her hand holding the gun flung out toward Blasko, who rolled onto the gun and pinned it to the sand beneath him. Reflexively, she pulled the trigger. Smothered by Blasko’s body, it made little sound. The bullet barely grazed his side and buried itself in the sand.
“Help me hold her!” Carter barked as Josephine joined him.
Blasko rolled off of Neith’s hand, then bit into the wrist that held the gun. She heaved and flopped against the pain, finally releasing her hold on the gun so Blasko could shove it away from her.
With Neith restrained, Blasko concentrated on freeing himself. He pulled and struggled with all his strength at the bonds holding his hands. Sawing his arms back and forth with no regard for the rope tearing into his wrists, he pulled them loose, then quickly untied his legs. Blood from his wrists dripped over his fingers as he loosened the rope and flung it aside. Then he grabbed the Luger from the sand and bent over Neith.
Placing the muzzle of the gun a foot from her head, he said, “Stop struggling or I will shoot you. Blink if you understand me.”
Her eyes remained fixed and angry. She flailed at him with the arm he’d bit, throwing blood everywhere.
“Don’t shoot her,” Carter said, and used one of his tentacles to again close off her nose, this time on purpose.
Neith struggled as she slowly lost oxygen. Just before she would have passed out, she started to blink furiously. Carter pulled the tentacle away from her nose and she inhaled deeply.
Josephine ran to Zhao and pulled the rag out of his mouth, touching him gently to make sure he was still alive. Reassured, she came back beside Carter.
“You know you will die if you make a sound?” Josephine asked Neith, who blinked once in answer to the question. “Franklin, take your tentacles away.”
Carter pulled them away slowly. As soon as Josephine had the chance, she crammed the rag into Neith’s mouth.
Blasko stuffed the gun through his belt and picked up enough rope to tie up Neith. Once she was bound, they went over to Zhao.
“He’s alive, but I’d say he has a concussion,” Blasko said. “Getting him to a doctor has to be a priority.”
They all looked at the boat floating a hundred yards off shore.
“Can you row?” Blasko asked Carter.
“Probably not well.” He held up his tentacles.
“Then I’ll need to be the ferryman. I’ll take Zhao and Josephine first. You stay here with Neith.”
“We could all go and leave her here,” Carter suggested.
“There’s still Donavan and Jamila to think about,” Josephine reminded him.
“Exactly,” Blasko said. “I’ll come back once you’re all off the island. I can deal with the good captain. What I don’t want is to have to worry about Neith too.”
Carter nodded.
Blasko and Carter carried Zhao to the raft. Once he and Josephine were onboard, Blasko pushed the raft into waist-deep water, ignoring his own discomfort, then he climbed in and began to row hard for the boat.
They were halfway there when the moonlight illuminated three of the mutated fishmen from Cedar Island climbing up the side of the boat.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Look,” Blasko told Josephine.
“Two of them look like the ones who tried to kill you.” Josephine’s voice was raw with tension.
“Damn it! We have to turn around.” Blasko swung the raft about and rowed back toward the beach, where Carter stood looking confused.
“There are some of the locals on the boat!” Blasko yelled when they were fifty feet from shore.
Suddenly they were bumped from below and the raft rocked violently. Before they could react, the raft was bumped again and they were thrown into the water.
The creatures surrounded them in the water. Josephi
ne had gone in closest to the shore, but she hesitated for a moment until she saw Blasko’s head bob to the surface.
“Swim!” he yelled at her as one of the creatures grabbed onto him with its awkward webbed hands. Blasko took hold of the arm and, with as much leverage as he could muster in the water, he twisted it back until he heard a sickening snap. The creature howled in pain and fell away from him.
Rapidly losing strength in the water, Blasko dove down in search of Zhao. His hand brushed the man’s shirt and he grabbed it, twisting to get a good grip before pushing off the bottom toward land. He surfaced as the water became shallow enough to walk. Hearing the monsters surging through the water behind him, he didn’t look back. Josephine and Carter waded out to help him.
They all made it to shore only to see two of the creatures pull themselves out of the water behind them. Blasko felt for the pistol he’d taken from Neith, but it was gone, lost when the raft capsized.
“Give it up, Baron,” said Captain Hume from behind him. He was pointing a gun at all of them. “Don’t worry about our friends from the sea. Or, I should say, my friends from the sea. Move back toward me slowly, or I’ll be forced to shoot one of your companions. Not even sure myself which one I’d kill first.”
The captain’s callous tone left no doubt that he was sincere. Blasko backed away, still looking at the creatures. Fresh out of the water, they looked even more like fish-human hybrids than the men he’d met in the bar.
“You attacked our father,” the one on the right said in a voice that sounded like he was trying to swallow water while he spoke. Blasko could see odd marks on their necks, below where their ears should have been. He guessed that they were gills.
“Your father attacked me first!” Blasko yelled to them.
“Don’t care,” the other one mumbled in the same waterlogged voice.
“These are the Marsh brothers,” Captain Hume said, as if making a formal introduction.
“Do you have them?” the brother on the right asked him.
“First introduce yourself to the vampire standing before you. He is a marvel. And you have only about five hours left to get to know him.”
