by J A Cummings
“I don’t know if vampires have those.”
“At least you know that he can produce the ingredient,” Imptah smiled. “And I’m not going to ask how you knew.”
Grendel went to the telephone and called the concierge to order a golf cart for their use. Rowena looked toward where Lucius lay sleeping, and Imptah looked at her. He smiled.
“He’s a very lucky vampire to have someone so dedicated to his freedom.”
She looked up at her Egyptian guest. “We’re both very lucky to have such a knowledgeable friend.” She folded the list she had written and put it into her pocket. “Tell me… do you really believe that you and I…?”
“No,” he reassured her quickly with a chuckle. “That’s just something I say to the nubile young ladies. Although if we were so bound, I wouldn’t hesitate to try to entice you to stay with me and leave your Roman behind.”
“My father was Roman, and Lucius and I were probably born around the same time,” she said. “I think we were always fated to be together.”
“So you would never even consider leaving him?”
She shook her head. “No. Never.”
Imptah sighed. “So I thought, but you can’t fault an old man for dreaming.”
“Are there no lovely lady mummies to be had?”
He looked toward the door, which Grendel was opening. A member of the concierge staff was standing there with the keys to the golf cart, which waited in the drive.
“I had a love. Merit was her name. She was never vivified after her mummification.”
“Where is she now?”
“The Louvre, I believe.”
“How horrible!”
“Humans love to desecrate graves and call it science,” he sighed. “If I could get in there with the right potion, then I could make her live again. Then I would bring her here, and we could be in our pyramid by the dunes forever.”
Rowena put her hand on his arm. “When this works, and when Lucius and I return to the world of humans, we’ll go to Paris and bring her to life. We’ll bring her back to you.”
Imptah kissed her cheek spontaneously. “That is a promise fraught with danger, and I would never hold you to it.”
“But it’s a promise I will keep.”
Grendel interrupted. “Ride’s here. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Chapter Sixteen
They drove to the wetlands first. Rowena wanted no part of crawling around in crocodile-infested waters when it was too dark to see any reptiles approaching. Grendel stopped the cart and looked into the murky water of a canal.
“I smell a crocodile here, as well as few cryptids,” he warned. “Be careful. Witches are tasty.”
“Keep your eyes and nose open,” Rowena requested, pulling on rubber gloves and picking up one of Ziploc baggies they’d brought from the bungalow. She took off her shoes and rolled her jeans up to the knees, wishing she had fishing waders instead.
“There’s some dung right here on the edge of the canal,” Grendel told her. “The sort of greenish brown bit.”
She looked around. “Del, everything is sort of greenish brown.”
“No, right there. About three feet to your left, near the slide.”
Rowena could see the place where the mud had been scraped into a ramp by the passage of a huge reptilian body. The claw marks on either side of that ramp told her that the crocodile that lived there was huge. She swallowed a nervous lump in her throat.
“If you see it, scream,” she asked her companions.
“I will tell you calmly,” Imptah said. “Crocodiles don’t like it when people scream. That’s why they drag them under the water immediately. Well, that and to drown them.”
Rowena muttered under her breath, “Thank you, David Attenborough.”
The water was cold and the mud was slimy, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste as she crept closer to the pile of reptile poo. She knew her friends were watching but she kept a close watch on the water, too. A trail of tiny bubbles could have been off-gassing from rotten vegetation, but they could have been from a creature, too. She didn’t want to find out.
She finally struggled through the muck until she was close enough to grab the noisome ingredient, and she shoved it into the bag. Relieved to be done with that part of the operation, she headed back up the bank.
There was a sudden splashing sound, and she shrieked, racing up the bank toward safety. Something brushed against her naked foot, and she flailed, panicked. Grendel leaped from the golf cart and grabbed her shirt, dragging her up and away from the water.
Behind her, she heard a low chuckle. Rowena, gasping for air around her racing heartbeat, turned to see a Creature standing there, his webbed fingers over his belly as he laughed at her. He pointed and lowered himself back into the water, still laughing.
“That wasn’t funny!” she shouted after him as he sank from view.
In the golf cart, Imptah chuckled. “Actually, it was hilarious…”
She stripped off her soiled glove, turning it inside out to keep the obnoxious substances contained. “Oh, ha, ha.”
Grendel, his tail puffed out to three times its size, got behind the wheel again. “Let’s go.”
They drove up the road to the desert habitat, and once they were safely in the dry air, Imptah breathed a sigh of relief. “Ah, much better. Humidity is terrible for me, you know.”
“I’m sorry,” Rowena apologized. “You didn’t get wet with all that splashing, did you?”
“Not at all. I’m just… happier. Oh! Turn left at this junction.”
Grendel steered as the mummy instructed, and after a while, they drove up to a work site. Massive blocks of stone were being dragged up a ramp of sand by minotaurs and desert trolls while a genie oversaw their work. Sand devils were adding to the ramp, and everywhere she looked, Rowena saw industrious labor.
“Is this your pyramid?”
“Yes! They’re constructing the bottom layers first. Then there will be an air shaft, and an access tunnel to the king’s chamber - can you believe I’ll be sleeping in a king’s chamber? Such a dream come true - and when the time comes, they’ll be putting the capstone on. Then they’ll cover the capstone with gold and sheet the walls with limestone. It’ll be beautiful.”
Grendel flicked an ear. “Let’s hope they build it well so it doesn’t collapse on you.”
Rowena stroked his head. “Don’t be so negative. And thank you for coming to my rescue.”
He rubbed his face against her hand. “You’re welcome.”
Imptah went on, enraptured by his future home. “There are artists who’ll be painting the interior murals, and scribes to put all the appropriate scripture verses…” He sighed. “It’ll be so beautiful.”
“Scripture?” Rowena asked.
“The Hymn to the Aten, and the Song of Amun. My favorites.”
“Ah. Right.” She nodded.
They watched the workers, and it seemed that Imptah would be content to stay all day. Rowena glanced at the lowering sun, then said, “Uh… Can you show us where this desert wight is, so I can get those other flowers?”
Imptah shook his head. “Oh, of course. I’m so sorry. Right this way.”
He gave Grendel more directions, and the grimalkin drove away perhaps a bit more speedily than was prudent. The golf cart bounced over the uneven roadway, and Rowena held on for dear life.
They finally found the wight’s grave an hour later after zigzagging across the desert. Imptah gave them directions, and though they were anything but straightforward, they still managed to find their way.
The grave was a long, low hillock with a bare, rocky top. On the lee side of the hill, in one of the few places where moisture collected, a patch of spindly greenery had sprung up. Rowena had never seen plants like this before.
“The ankh-amu is the one with the black leaves and purple flowers. The senepe should be around here somewhere, too.”
Rowena left the golf cart with her black-handled kn
ife to collect the herb. “What does the senepe look like?”
“Like this.”
The new voice was startling and unwelcome, but not nearly as unwelcome as the rush of infernal power that she sensed. A beautiful man climbed up over the hill, holding a bundle of golden flowers in his hand.
“Yes,” Imptah nodded. “That’s the senepe. Thank you, my friend.”
“I’m not your friend.”
Grendel snarled. “Incubus.”
Rowena stared at him in alarm as he slowly descended on her side of the hill. His dark eyes flashed with pinpoints of red, and he held up the flowers. “You want these.”
It wasn’t a question. “Yes.”
“What are you prepared to do to get them?”
She wanted to run, but she held her ground. “You must be Mario.”
“I am.” He reached her, standing close enough to touch. He kept his hands to himself. “I’m here to offer you a deal.”
Rowena feared incubi, but she feared the deals they offered more. Cautiously, she asked, “What deal?”
“I serve two masters. One wants the vampire you have in your bungalow. The other wants your soul, or at least your pledge of allegiance, which you gave readily enough once before.”
She felt cold despite the desert heat. “I serve Hecate.”
“And you can continue to do so. I don’t really care about that.” He smiled, and his charisma made her mouth water in spite of herself. Sex demons had that power.
“What do you care about, then?”
“You want to break Julia’s chains from her slaves, correct? All of us?”
She nodded. “All of you.”
“Here’s the thing.” He stepped closer still, and she could feel his body heat. “I don’t want to be freed. I want to stay with Julia. If I’m no longer in chains, then I have to go back to the Pit, and we can both agree that’s no place any sane person wants to be.”
“You want me to leave you chained?” she asked, incredulous.
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if I can be that specific.”
“You can, if you’re careful.” He held the golden flowers up. “I will give you these, and in return, you leave my chains exactly where they are. Then you’ll have your Roman, I won’t have to leave Julia, and nobody in Hell needs to know that I ever saw you.”
“What about the others?”
“Release them. I don’t care.” He hesitated, then admitted, “Demons like me can’t feel love, but we can feel something close to it. Loyalty to our masters and mistresses is the next best thing. If you leave my chains in place, not only can I avoid a trip back to the Beast, but I can stay with my mistress and enjoy the fruits of my loyalty. Do you understand?”
She swallowed hard. “I understand.”
“Then we have an agreement?”
“Yes.”
He started to hand the flowers to her, but he pulled them back at the last instant. “If you break my chains, witch, I will come for you and drag you into Hell with me. Is that clear?”
Rowena set her jaw and nodded. “Crystal.”
“Good.”
Mario handed her the senepe. “Here’s your herb. Now get out of here… the wight is waking, and he doesn’t care for visitors.”
Rowena hurried back to the golf cart, and once she was in, Grendel sped away, back toward their bungalow. She watched over her shoulder as a door appeared in the side of the barrow. Mario vanished, and they crested a sand dune before she could see the wight. More importantly, they put a mountain of sand between the golf cart and the barrow before the wight could see them.
“Holy shnakies,” Rowena said, clutching the senepe blooms in her hand. “That was close.”
Imptah nodded, and Grendel swished his tail.
Chapter Seventeen
Lucius paced through the bungalow, restless and worried. He knew that Rowena and her friends had gone to gather potion ingredients, but he didn’t know how far they had to go, or what dangers they might have to face to obtain them. In his experience, nothing was ever easy. It killed him to think that his love was putting herself at risk for him while sat back and did nothing.
He heard a heavy footfall outside the door. Grabbing the fireplace poker and the lid from the heavy cauldron, he approached.
“Who’s there?” he challenged.
“Oh!” It was the Headless Horseman. “It’s just me. I’m… may I open the door?”
Lucius dropped into a fighting crouch. “Slowly.”
Heinrich came into the bungalow and chuckled when he saw the Roman vampire. “Heh. Once a gladiator, always a gladiator, eh? Nice makeshift weapon and shield.”
His mirth made Lucius feel as ridiculous as he probably looked, and his confidence flagged for just a moment. He squared his stance and recovered. “I didn’t know who you were. You could have been someone of ill will.”
“I understand.” He hesitated, then gestured calmingly. “You can put those things down. I’m not here to fight.”
Lucius reluctantly put the lid and poker back where he had found them. Heinrich strolled into the bungalow and stood near the table, his torso inclining toward the papyrus.
He chuckled again. “Can’t read a word of it.”
Lucius felt his antagonism easing. “Me, neither. She has a mummy friend who can read it, though.”
“Probably the only person on the whole island who could.” Heinrich pulled out a chair and sat down. “I’ve been standing guard for days for Miss Rowena, but I haven’t had the chance to talk to you.”
“No.” Lucius sat down across the table from him. It was strange to speak with a man who lacked a head, but in his days, Lucius had seen far odder things than this.
Awkward silence fell between them.
Heinrich spoke first. “You love her? Or are you using her for your freedom?”
Lucius raised his chin. “I love her. I would never use anyone that way.” He paused. “And you… you love her, too, don’t you?”
He sighed. “I do. But ladies like to be kissed, don’t they?” He gestured at the empty air above his neck. “I’m no longer equipped. Also, I know when I’m outmatched. Soulmates are forever. Lovers are just…” he shrugged. “Temporary.”
Lucius considered the man across from him, and he thought of all the times he’d seen and heard Rowena interacting with the headless Hessian when she thought Lucius had been asleep.
“She cares for you,” he said at last, although it wrenched his heart to say it. “I think she might even be falling in love with you.”
Heinrich clasped his hands on the table. “Well, a lady can only love one man.”
“That’s not true. People love more than one person all the time.”
“You think she truly loves me?”
“I think she could.” He didn’t know why he was saying this. It would have been in his best interests to push Heinrich away, but there was something about the horseman, a lonely honor, that was making him respond. “I think she does.”
“Then I would think you’d want me to go far away,” Heinrich mused.
“No.” Lucius looked at the door. The golf cart was approaching. “I want her to be happy, and if that means that you stay, as well, then… that’s what that means.”
“You don’t want her to yourself?”
He sighed. “I am accustomed to sharing. Besides, she’ll need someone to keep her company in the daylight besides her cat.”
Heinrich offered him a handshake, and Lucius accepted it. The horseman said, “I will never let any harm befall her.”
“Nor will I.”
“You have my solemn vow.”
“And you have mine.”
The golf cart whined to a halt outside the door, and the three occupants barreled back into the bungalow.
“Oh! Heinrich!” Rowena exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Lucius nodded to himself. He knew that he had made the right decision.
“I’m
glad I’m here as well, dear lady,” the horseman said, standing up and pushing in the chair. “How may I help?”
“Can you fill the cauldron with water for me? It gets so heavy.”
“This I can do.” He bowed to her, then retrieved the iron pot to fill it at the pump outside.
Lucius rose. “I smell Mario.”
“We had a little talk,” she said. “He wants to stay with Julia.”
The gladiator snorted softly. “He’s welcome to her.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Rowena went to the table and began laying out the ingredients for the potion. Imptah checked them off on the list as she put them down. Heinrich returned with the heavy cauldron and hung it on the crane arm in the fireplace, and Lucius built the fire.
“Aren’t you flammable?” Grendel asked him.
“I’ve learned how to be careful,” the vampire reassured. “Believe, the last thing I want is to burst into flame and make all this work for naught.”
Imptah tapped the hieroglyphs spelling out the name of the last ingredient, and he raised an eyebrow. Rowena blushed and looked at Lucius. She picked up a clean shot glass.
“There’s something I need your help with,” she told the gladiator.
He nodded. “Of course.”
“Come with me.”
Rowena took his hand and led him into the privacy of the bathroom. Heinrich stood and wiped his hands on a cloth, and Imptah began to whistle, looking around the room with forced nonchalance.
“What?” the horseman asked.
“Last ingredient,” Grendel said. “She’s obtaining it now.”
“What is it?”
Imptah nodded toward the bathroom, then made an illustrative gesture with his hands. Heinrich gasped.
“Oh! Well… that’s….”
“The crucial piece,” the mummy finished for him.
Grendel sniffed. “It’ll only take a minute.”
A few long moments later, Rowena emerged with Lucius’s offering in the shot glass. The gladiator himself, red-faced, left the bathroom just behind her.
“Okay,” she said breezily. “Here we are. Let’s get this stuff combined and get to work.”
