“We’re just getting to know each other,” Vivian replied as Lancelot handed Kathy his credit card. “We’re having a nice visit with them. They’ve agreed to consult with us about a rather supernatural problem we’re involved in with Madeline. Isn’t that right, girls?”
Glinda, Gabriel, and Ginger all nodded their heads in sync. Shivering a little, Kathy looked at Vivian with new respect. Hurriedly, she ran the purchase through, getting Lancelot’s signature and providing a bag to slip over the Wolf’s Bane. Lancelot shouldered the sword in its leather casing. He then picked up the bag with the Wolf’s Bane and the Amethyst Cluster inside.
“Come along, girls.” Vivian motioned the three Goths out in front of her.
“Vivian…I will see them again…won’t I?” Kathy asked.
“Oh sure,” Vivian looked back at her as Lancelot followed the Goths. “They’ll be around to see you again very soon, I’m sure. Thanks for your help.”
Smiling uneasily, Kathy gave Vivian a little wave with her right hand. When they were all out on the sidewalk, Vivian confronted the three women, after moving them next to the wall. Lancelot scanned the street so as to know if they received undue attention.
“Which one of you is Glinda?”
The one who had not spoken yet – the one with straight black hair lying limply at the middle of her back – raised her hand slightly. She appeared to be the youngest to Vivian.
“Okay, Glinda, tell me how the three of you came to be here,” Vivian prompted her.
“From a website where our coven meets online,” Glinda answered in monotone voice.
“Crap,” Vivian muttered, “they won’t be able to tell us anything. Glinda, Gabriel, and Ginger, wander around for a few hours, and forget you ever saw us.”
The three moved off without another word. Lancelot smiled at Vivian.
“You’re almost your old self again. Will they be okay?”
“Who cares?”
“Vicster!”
“They’ll be fine, Monte. Now let’s get the hell out of here. We don’t know if they phoned us in or not,” Vivian replied, giving Lancelot a push toward the car, which they had parked nearly three blocks away. “You already have a swelled head. One more of your predictions to come true, and there’ll be no living with you.”
Vivian stopped after a few steps, pulling Lancelot aside. “Give me the sword. I know you have your knife, but I don’t want some minion of Dunkan’s catching us unaware.”
Nodding, Lancelot handed Vivian the leather case. While she opened the case, he stood in front of her, watching the street and occasional passerby. Because Golden Gate Park was only a couple of blocks away, sidewalk traffic remained steady most of the day. Vivian placed two of the Wolf’s Bane plants onto the blade of Lancelot’s sword, one at each end, and held her hand up.
“Give me your silver blade, Monte.”
Lancelot handed her the silver-bladed knife without question. Vivian placed the silver blade crosswise at the sword’s midpoint. Holding the Amethyst Cluster in her left hand, she held her right hand over the crossed blades.
“Wolf’s Bane and Silver, share thy essence,
With broadsword blade forever hence.
To vampire and shape-shifter, deadly be.
Make dust and death, oh hear my plea.”
An eerie reddish haze passed over the blade, as people passing in the street stopped to watch what they thought was a magic show. Having glanced at the gathering, Lancelot shifted uncomfortably before returning his gaze to Vivian’s colorful ministrations. She stood up a minute later as the small group of spectators burst into applause and threw spare change and dollar bills into the leather case. Laughing, Vivian waved her thanks, while Lancelot scooped up the sword-case and bag.
“Very impressive,” Lancelot complimented Vivian as they hurried around the corner toward his Pontiac. “I think you made a few bucks.”
“There’s a clothing store halfway down this block,” Vivian said. “We need to stop and buy a long trench coat, so you can hide the scabbard.”
“Did I miss something?”
“Yeah. I’m getting a bad feeling now… here we go.” Vivian slipped through the door of a small men’s clothiers, with Lancelot following.
“May I help you?” A tall, portly man in a tailored gray suit approached them with a smile. He looked up at Lancelot with interest as if already taking measurements in his head.
“My friend needs a trench coat…you know…one of those full length ones.”
“I have only one coat large enough to fit your friend in the store, ma’am. It’s a full-length, thin-leather black overcoat. I imagine you were hoping for some form of raingear, but-”
“That sounds perfect,” Vivian interrupted.
“I’ll be right back.” The man hurried happily into the rear of the store, emerging a minute later with a large, collared, belted overcoat.
Having set down his case and bag, Lancelot allowed the man to help him on with the coat. It gave him plenty of room, and extended almost to his ankles. Lancelot took out his credit card.
“We can tailor the coat to your liking.”
“No need,” Lancelot said, handing the salesman the card. “I’ll wear it out of here.”
“Yes, sir,” the salesman quickly ran Lancelot’s card and had him sign. “I never thought we’d sell the coat, after the guy we made it for didn’t come back, a couple years ago. He paid an advance on the coat.”
“It worked out for all of us.” Grinning, Lancelot took his receipt. “Thank you.”
“Thank you! Come again.”
“I’d better get some use out of this coat,” Lancelot told Vivian on the way out. “This thing cost me three hundred fifty dollars.”
“It looks good on you, Monte. You look like one of those cowboys on Lonesome Dove. We should have bought you a cowboy hat, too.”
“I never forgot how to ride a horse. That helped me in Afghanistan,” Lancelot replied, as they cleared the store entryway. “Let me see if I can hide the scabbard and sword well enough.”
Quickly, Lancelot slipped out of his coat, waited for some people on the sidewalk to pass by, and then put on the scabbard over his right shoulder and under his left arm, so that the sword rested at his back within reach of his right hand. The coat covered it nicely with the collar turned up, without making it impossible for Lancelot to draw the sword.
“Maybe we should play cowboys and Indians when we get home tonight,” Vivian said, brushing her hands down over Lancelot’s arms.
“First, let’s get our stuff back home and pick up the kids,” Lancelot said, leaning down to brush his lips lightly over Vivian’s. “We’ll play later.”
“I think you should let me tie you up,” Vivian suggested.
“Yeah, that’ll happen.”
As they rounded the corner to the right on Waller Street where they had parked the Pontiac, Lancelot cursed under his breath. A small crowd of people stood looking at his Pontiac, which was half way down the block. He could see from where he stood that the trunk was open and the lid ripped off.
“Oh, my God,” Vivian murmured in a whisper, “they took Excalibur.”
Lancelot felt a faint thrill on hearing the words. When they reached the side of his Pontiac, he could see they had ripped open the hood and torn out the battery cable, thereby disabling the alarm system. The people milling around the car backed away as Lancelot walked up to his Pontiac. The tires were also slashed.
“Is this your car?” a woman in a pantsuit asked Lancelot, and then went on when he acknowledged that it was. “Three men and two women walked up to it. One of the men jammed his bare hand down into the metal of the hood and ripped it open. The alarm sounded for a few seconds until he ripped the battery cable off. Another tore aside your trunk lid and removed a case. They ran off almost in a lope. Here’s my card, if you need a statement.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind,” Lancelot told her, taking the card. “We’ll get the car picked up as
soon as possible.”
Lancelot put his arm around the stunned Vivian and guided her away from the car.
“Call Merlin, and have him take Serge and Kara over to pick up the kids. They’ll know to wear something appropriate while there’s still sunlight.”
Vivian pulled out her cell-phone with a shaking hand. Moments later, she spoke to Merlin, explaining the situation. Lancelot could hear Merlin raging unchecked as Vivian held the phone away from her ear.
“He’s a little upset, Monte,” Vivian said, smiling at Lancelot as he took the phone from her.
“Shut up, old man!” Lancelot barked once in the phone, silencing Merlin. “It’s just a damn sword.”
“We’re undone…we were so close…” Merlin’s voice trailed off.
“Look,” Lancelot interrupted impatiently, “pick up Serge and Kara, go over to the school, get the kids, and then go into lockdown at your place. Better pick up Gwen’s parents while you’re out, too. It looks like things are coming to a head early.”
“I…I’ll get it done. What about you and Vivian?”
“We’ll work our way back. Call Mallor and let him and Madeline know what’s happening. They’ll help you if you need it. I-”
“Mister!” The woman who had given Lancelot her card was pointing at the corner, where three men and two women stood watching. “Those are the people who broke into your car. Call the police!”
“Thank you,” Lancelot said. “I think they’ll be coming up here, folks. You all had better go somewhere else. Hurry!”
As the small group scattered, Lancelot talked into the phone once more to Merlin.
“Get moving, Merlin. Excalibur is on its way to Dunkan already. Make sure that Arthur and Gwen are safe. Don’t think about anything else.”
“I will,” Merlin answered. “Take care, boy.”
“You bet,” Lancelot said, ending the call, and looking at Vivian. “We need to make them think we’re running scared. Golden Gate Park is only a couple of blocks down the street away from them. I wish I’d brought my .45, but I was afraid I’d get stopped in San Francisco. They’re shifters, so the Wolf’s Bane will work for you. We’ll make our stand in the park. They move real fast, so do whatever you do on the way. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just pissed that you were right again. Why are they just standing there watching us?”
“There may be more of them cutting off our avenues of escape,” Lancelot conceded. “I don’t suppose you could wave a hand and turn them into rabbits, could you?”
“Awwwww…you’re so cute.” Vivian pinched Lancelot’s cheek. “Shifters are supernatural. They dull my Mojo. Let me have one of those Wolf’s Bane blooms.”
Vivian extracted one of the exotic flowers and held it up in her fist, clasped against the Amethyst Cluster. “Shifters beware my eerie light, here’s a taste of pain and blight.”
A wide bluish beam shot out from the crystal, bathing the shifters at the corner, evoking yells and screams as they ran around a corner building. Vivian laughed in delight, but Lancelot could see that there was nothing left of the small flower she had been holding next to the crystal. Grabbing her arm, he hurried her down the opposite way on Waller Street. Vivian’s cell-phone rang as they ran toward Golden Gate Park. Lancelot handed it over to her. She answered, and then listened for a few seconds.
“We’re heading toward Golden Gate Park on Walling Street. Park on Walling and Stanyan Street, outside the park, and we’ll find you. Thanks,” Vivian said, breathing heavily, and ended the call. “It was Mallor. He’s coming to get us in his car. I’ll cast a protection spell over us both, and we can wait it out.”
“Cast your own. I’m going to even the odds,” Lancelot replied, glancing behind them as he jogged easily near Vivian. Can you do anything with the bodies?”
“I can cloak them if they’re dead, but there are too many of them for you to kill, Monte,” Vivian gasped. “Man, I…I’m out of shape.”
“We’re almost to the park. They may have only wanted Excalibur, and could care less about us.”
Vivian saved her breath, and they made it to the outer perimeter of the park. They paused inside the park, where the lane from Waller Street ran into Kezar Drive. Lancelot watched their surroundings with practiced ease as Vivian took deep breaths.
“I don’t get it,” Lancelot said. “I figured they’d be all over us by now. Maybe you scared them away with the light beam. Another thing, Vicster, if you think some shape-shifters are too much for me, how in the hell do you think a tussle with Dunkan will end?”
“Good point, Monte,” Vivian acknowledged, giggling. “I didn’t mean to disrespect you. Besides, with Excalibur in Dunkan’s hands, we may as well bend over and kiss our asses goodbye.”
“You and Merlin put way too much stock in stupid sword.”
“Hold that thought, Monte. Here comes the answer to whatever happened to the shifters.” Vivian pointed toward where they had entered the park off of Waller. “Eight of them, and they want to talk.”
Five men and three women walked toward the couple, spreading out slightly as they walked. A woman in the lead waved a white hanky disdainfully. Lancelot saw only feral rage on their faces. It was obvious that the idea of a talk did not originate with them.
“Did you cast your spell, Viv?”
“Yeah. They won’t want any part of me,” Vivian replied quietly. “It sure is quiet here on this end of the park. I wonder if they rigged it to be this way.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
The woman stopped only twenty feet from her prey. The eight were dressed in dark blue-and-black spandex as if they were members of a racing team of bikers.
“If you and the witch come along with us quietly, we won’t kill you. Try any of your magic crap and we gut you where you stand.”
Lancelot let the leather coat slip off his shoulders to the ground.
“Don’t do it, Lancelot,” the woman warned, seeing the broadsword hilt. “Our master, Dunkan, wants you for himself. He offers fair battle, one on one, to decide the fate of the legend. If you resist, we’ll attack you all at once. No one could withstand such an assault.”
“I agree to the battle,” Lancelot replied, “but I only need one of you to take me there.”
Chapter Twenty-Two: Warm-up
The second Lancelot stopped talking, the broadsword rasped from its scabbard, and the dread knight was among them. The leader’s head lay on the ground next to her lurching body. Lancelot gutted two more before they could take form, the arc of his sword nearly cutting them in two. Vivian moved backward, awestruck by the symmetry of Lancelot’s movements. The creatures encircled their prey, with fangs and talons ripping at him. Lancelot sliced away limbs and heads with short bloody sweeps, always twisting away to sustain the least damage. Only moments after he initiated the attack, Lancelot stood alone on the makeshift battlefield. One werewolf remained alive, clutching the bloody stump of her arm as she writhed in agony on the ground. Every wound on the creatures smoked. Wispy tendrils curled away from the ghastly cuts. Lancelot, his shirt ripped to tatters, bleeding from dozens of shallow furrows across arms, chest, and back, knelt next to the survivor. With one blow to the back of her neck, Lancelot smashed the werewolf into unconsciousness.
“Jesus…Monte…you are definitely a very bad man.” Vivian stared unbelievingly at the dead and maimed bodies. She put her splayed hands on Lancelot’s chest, her face contorting slightly as she healed him. “They didn’t have a prayer.”
“Oh…I’m sorry. Should I get blindfolded, and bind an arm behind my back when I fight again?” Lancelot retorted sarcastically. “I didn’t get picked for this gig because I could play the piano. Thanks for the repair job. Can you do something with our little lamb here?”
“Sure,” Vivian said, reaching down and grasping the end of the werewolf’s stump, cauterizing the wound with a brief blue flame.
“Ouch,” Lancelot chuckled, returning the broadsword to its scabbard after w
iping the blade on a torn piece of spandex. “I’ll rely on my knife now. Put the sword in its leather case while I put my new coat around Wolfy and get her ready for the short walk out.”
Vivian took the proffered sword and scabbard from Lancelot and placed it in the case, while Lancelot wrapped the groaning woman, now in human form, with his leather coat. Vivian stood up. Opening her arms to the area where the dead pack-members lay, she murmured an incantation that rendered the bodies invisible. Lancelot grasped the maimed woman easily at the waist. With Vivian carrying the leather case, the crystal, and the Wolf’s Bane, they walked out of the park to where Mallor would pick them up on Stanyan Street.
LANCELOT Page 30
