by Dana Cameron
There was stunned silence around the table.
“I guess,” I finished, “it would kind of explain my powers coming in and out of control, even when I should have been trying to stop Grayling’s murder, right? I don’t like to think I’m being driven by something magical, but it’s starting to be the only thing that explains all this.”
“Ariana?” Ben said. “You’re the one who’s been so diligent about combing the histories? Is it possible these things have that kind of power?”
She shrugged. “There are no dates, no places, no names. But since Zoe’s the only person in a thousand years to claim the Beacon and it seems to be communicating somehow with other artifacts of Fangborn origin, I’d say the chances are, yes, they are having an effect on her. And therefore, the Unchaining is at hand.”
I tried not to gulp and kept my eyes on my plate. I did not want to believe, as Grayling had said, that I held three of the four keys to Pandora’s Box. I didn’t want to think that I was the one who would unchain and reveal too much. Chaos and upheaval. Ariana was right; I wouldn’t wish that on a dog.
That reminded me of something, and I looked at Gerry, eager to change the subject. “Adam Nichols, the one who beat up Dmitri but took away my figurines, then helped me get away from Knight? Who is he?”
The Fangborn exchanged looks, shook heads.
“I know the name,” Will said slowly. “He’s attached to Senator Knight’s office. I’ve always just thought of him as an aide, but he seems to be inserting himself into the Fangborn side of the senator’s business now. Why?”
“Well, he told me to tell Gerry and Claudia that Senator Knight has decided not to retire, because he believes the time is coming soon. He has three of the four keys and believes he’s heir to the Beacon, too, so he’ll begin the Identification soon.”
Questions erupted from all over the table. I glanced around helplessly until I met Ben’s glance.
“This is why we have rules,” he said loudly. “What’s supposed to happen, Zoe, is that in any group of more than three, when there is serious business, we pick a moderator, usually someone senior, to help organize who speaks and keep things organized when there are so many strong personalities involved. Formality is a good thing here. Order is good.” He frowned, nodded once. “There. Now you know. Maybe others will follow suit.”
The others stopped. Ariana rolled her eyes, but Gerry nodded. “Allow me, Thorben. Zoe, why don’t you start from the beginning?”
I started from Berlin. I told them how I’d taken the necklace with the figurine fragment from Dmitri, and how he’d told me to meet him at Delos. About the clue he gave me, the disappointing trip to the museum, and my discovery of the caduceus and the golden disk. How Adam broke into my room and stole all three figurines while Sean almost broke my arm trying to drag me away from him. Ditching Adam and the tussle with the TPC as we tried to escape Ben and Ariana.
When I got to the scrum by the Brandenburg Gate, I suddenly looked up.
“Where’s Sean?”
“We don’t know,” Gerry said.
“What do you—?”
Will was staring at his plate. “He means, we don’t know. Last time we saw him was Berlin. He was with you until you got to Venice, right?”
“Yes. I…” I swallowed. “I ditched him before I went to the airport.”
“Why?”
“I’m…I’m not sure. I thought…I had the impression someone had wiped his mind. Badly, I mean, not like Claudia did it—”
“Like I did what?”
Claudia had emerged from her cabin. Human once more, she’d changed into a swimsuit and cotton knit cover-up and pulled a chair to the table. I would have killed for a body like that, not covering it up under prissy sweaters.
“I was just saying, I think Sean’s brain had been…tampered with. He kept trying to get me to stay in Venice, he kept saying Danny would be OK, which was a total turnaround. When I asked him about it, he went kind of blank. When he practically broke my back trying to drag me away from Adam and the figurines—he knew how important it was to me to find them—I began to wonder whether he’d been turned against me. So, just in case, I ditched him.”
I swallowed again and reached for the water. “Do you think he was working with Senator Knight? Maybe even those other Fangborn I ran into, back at home? Maybe they wiped him?”
Claudia nodded. “Probably the groups in Boston were working for Knight, in one way or another. But, Zoe, I have bad news.”
My stomach clenched. “What? What is it?”
“News from Venice. Professor Schulz is dead, Zoe. And the police are searching for someone with Sean’s description.”
Chapter 22
“He didn’t do it,” I said instantly. “There’s no way Sean had anything to do with it. He was with me, in Venice…”
I realized Sean and I had been apart since I’d leapt from the vaporetto. But it was still impossible that he would commit murder. He had no reason.
“No way,” said Will. “There’s been a mistake.”
We looked at each other; we still had loyalty to Sean in common.
“I think you’re right. I think either the police were given that hint by someone on Knight’s team or somehow Knight’s people managed to ‘suggest’ Sean kill him. If that’s the case, we’re on truly dangerous ground. Knight must absolutely believe killing the professor would be for the good of human and Fangborn kind.”
No one said anything; they all seemed to understand the importance of this.
“Uh, why would he do that?” I said. “Seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do.”
“It is,” Gerry said. “If you believe that it’s better we remain hidden. A large minority of the Family doesn’t, for various reasons. And…who in their right mind would want to unchain anything that shows up in a prophesy? Never mind Identification; it just doesn’t sound safe.”
There was a long hesitation. Clearly it was a complicated matter.
“Hey, wait,” I said. “If Knight’s going to make this announcement—and if he’s believed—doesn’t that make him evil?”
“No, it just makes him a lousy student of our democracy,” Gerry said.
“He thinks he’s taking a long-term view in the fight against evil,” Claudia said. “We can’t confuse political maneuvering with real evil. Fangborn can be willful or wrong about many things. We can disagree, we can do stupid things.” Here she looked at her brother, who gave her the finger. “We don’t thrive on the unhappiness of others, we don’t murder or torture for pleasure, which is how I define evil. It’s just that until recently, in the twentieth century, when our numbers started rebounding after the world wars, we’ve been concerned with survival and protecting humanity. Identification wasn’t even a consideration.”
“We don’t have time for history and philosophy,” Ben said. “We need a plan for now.”
“Agreed,” Gerry said. “Bad enough Knight should identify the existence of the Fangborn, but what if he starts chucking magical and mythical objects around, too?”
“We have no evidence of ‘magic,’ only that which is unexplained,” Claudia said.
“OK, so Zoe glowing like a, well, a beacon on Delos isn’t magic?” Gerry asked.
Ben and Claudia opened their mouths to disagree.
Will held up a hand. “Let’s put it this way: If anyone ever wanted to identify the Fangborn, he’s never been in a position to be believed. Not like a senior US senator.”
“We need to stop him,” Ariana said. “That’s our plan.”
“Clearly he’s on this side of the ocean because he’s after the Beacon and the keys. He clearly knows about the Orleans Tapestry, so it stands to reason, if there is a connection with an object we can call Pandora’s Box, he’ll go for that next. It fits with his politics—he wants to expose us to the world.” Ben started stacking plates and putting them off to the side.
“I can help with that,” Will said. “I’m gonna keep this short, because
we need to plan for tomorrow morning. He’ll need the fourth figurine if he’s going to open the Box. I don’t believe he has it, so we need to get to it first. I think that’s why he had Professor Schulz killed.” He looked at me. “And why he framed Sean.”
“We have two advantages, though,” I said, trying to ignore the notion I might have led Knight to the kindly Professor Schulz. “The disk and the other figurine—the other key—which is still out there.”
Will shook his head. “Wait, Zoe, what are these figurines?”
“OK, the guy in London, Grayling? He claimed they were the keys to Pandora’s Box. They are little clay things, like dolls, but they’re really ornaments you find on some types of Greek pottery.” Score one for me for knowing something Will didn’t.
“My specialty is Roman colonies, Zoe. Not Greek pottery. I’ve never even seen a picture of the type of pottery you’re talking about.”
“You’re the expert, here,” Gerry said to me.
It was like he threw a bucket of water on me; I was suddenly breathless. “I’m…nothing of the sort. It took me six years to get my BA. That doesn’t make me an archaeologist. It means I’ve had a thorough grounding in the work and principles, a lot of ancient history, but it makes me—barely—qualified to recognize the working end of the shovel.”
Ben shrugged. “Well, that is infinitely more training than I’ve had.”
The others nodded. I felt a weight settle down on me. It’s not like I picked archaeology because it was easy. I had picked it because…it wasn’t about me, not directly. I could wallow in the research. The past didn’t bring with it the weight of making rent, dodging my father’s family, my growing psychosis.
Now it seemed it did. Maybe it hadn’t been a coincidence.
I explained quickly about the figurines I had seen from what I remembered from Jenny. “Thing is, that’s just what we archaeologists know. I don’t know what they have to do with the document in the Tapestry.”
“The figurines you had came from—?”
“I think Delphi, Delos, and Didyma, according to Rupert Grayling.” That reminded me, and I pulled out the disk. “I think the last one must be at Claros.”
“Why?”
“That’s on the map, here.” I oriented them and showed them where the site was. “Modern-day Turkey, the western coast. All the marked sites are temples with oracles. Dedicated to Apollo.”
“Let’s see it.”
I was reluctant to let them touch it, but I kept reminding myself: These were people I needed to trust, people who could keep my secrets, because they had so many of their own. They’d helped me save Danny, and that made them family to me, more than any fangs or fur. I watched nervously as they passed it around and explained how old maps of the world were circular, and how I thought this one indicated four of the most important oracles in ancient times, at the height of the classical Greek period.
When it came back to me, the disk was warm. I blushed when I realized it had been heating up in everyone’s hands. Maybe it had been my imagination it had pulsed on Delos…
But the others had seen its extravagantly white light, too. Face it, Zoe. You’re it.
“Anyway,” I said, taking the disk back at long last, “you can see, it looks like a version of the map of Hecataeus, who was from Miletus, on the coast of Turkey, and it’s organized the way he described the towns in his work—”
“How do you know that? It seems like very arcane knowledge,” Ben asked.
“It took me two and a half extra years to graduate because I was moving around,” I said. “Not because I had to repeat courses. And I checked. The places marked are all important oracles sites.”
“Our people,” Ariana said, nodding.
“What? Greeks?”
“Fangborn. There are oracles as well as vampires and werewolves. Didn’t you know that?”
“Well, kinda.” I shook my head. “But I never thought of, you know, Greek oracles as maybe being Fangborn oracles.”
“They aren’t always, but I think in this case it’s a good bet.”
I slumped. “I know hardly anything—”
“And that’s going to change.” Gerry stood up. “People, I’m beat. It’s been a long day of outrunning international authorities and hard sailing. I need to sleep. I think, with everyone’s consent, we need to head for Claros. You said Knight doesn’t have the last figurine?”
“On Delos, Adam Nichols said he only had three,” I said. “And…yeah, I sensed only three on the boat when the disk…gave off the beam of light.”
“And they don’t know where to look next?”
“They sure didn’t see this drawing on the disk. Even Ariana and Ben didn’t know what was on it.”
“Last question: Do they have what we’ve been calling Pandora’s Box?” Claudia looked around. “We know about the keys, so we have to assume there’s something they unlock.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“So we head to Claros and look for the last one,” Gerry said. “Then we try to figure out how they work together and figure out how to defang Knight.” He pushed his chair in. “It will take a couple of days of motoring, at least, so we can stay under the radar. So I propose to swap off captaining with Ben and Claudia, and I’ll get Zoe up to speed on Fangborn culture and try to get her powers under control. They’ll be looking for her, not a crowd of yachters, and with any luck, by the time we get there, we’ll get this figured out.”
No one disagreed, and the idea of a few days of resting, surrounded by people who weren’t trying to kill me, was very appealing. There was one thing, however.
“Is there any way we can find out about Sean?” I said. “I don’t like the idea of him being alone, and a murder suspect.”
Claudia said, “Will?”
Will frowned and looked away. “I’ll try. I may be able to reach him, but I think you’re right. If someone got to him, I suspect Sean’s in Senator Knight’s hands now, willingly or no.”
We cleared up, and everyone drifted off to chores or their cabins. Will vanished, which was fine. I still wasn’t sure I could talk to him about all the personal stuff I probably should have discussed when we were still together, and I wasn’t sure he’d forgiven me for ruining his plans to capture Dmitri in Berlin. But I still wanted to follow him.
Chapter 23
It took me a minute to remember where I was when I woke up the next morning. My cabin was well designed, small but not claustrophobic. After an unexpected lurch of the boat rolled my stuff from the top of the cabinet to the floor, I figured out that everything had to be inside a locker or under a net. I’d found the shower last night, so tiny I could barely turn around inside it; but it had hot water and that was good enough for me.
I was shy about going above. After all, I had gone to a lot of trouble throughout my whole life not to draw attention to myself, and last night’s revelations about my potential role in Fangborn and world affairs were plain horrifying. Under the sink was a bag of clothespins, so I rinsed out a few things and then brought them up to the main deck with me. A line was stretched out, and I hung them up, making sure they were safely fastened. The wind was picking up a little.
Then breakfast smells hit me. I forgot about shy and beat a path for the table.
Danny was there. He was eating like a horse. He looked tired but so much better, even with the small piece of surgical tape on his nose.
“Hey, you!” I hugged him around the shoulders.
“Hey!”
“I’m so sorry this happened,” I whispered to him. “It’s all my fault.”
“What do you mean?” He stepped back from me, cocking his head. “You’re the reason I got away from him.”
I was saved from thinking about what I’d eventually do to Dmitri when the others arrived. True to form, there wasn’t much talk during the first few minutes. When Fangborn get together, they generally—
I realized I was going to have to tell Danny I was a werewolf. In fa
ct, that out of the seven people on the boat, he and Will were in the single-skinned minority.
Later, I decided hastily. After breakfast, at least. I already had about sixteen things on my “too hard” list, and this one could wait.
A few minutes later, Gerry got up. “OK, orders of the day. Ariana, you’ve got galley duty today, so you’re excused from everything else.”
Ben grumbled something about too much oregano.
Gerry—and everyone else—pretended not to hear him. “Ben, you’ve got the helm today. We’ll get underway, and when we’re clear of the harbor, Zoe, you and I will start Fangborn school.”
I felt my stomach clench. I tried to think of a word that sounded like “Fangborn” I could use to cover Gerry’s gaffe.
I turned to Danny, who was scraping off his plate into the garbage. “Uh, what he means is—”
He looked up. “I didn’t know you were a werewolf—how come you never told me?”
“Uh, what?”
“Claudia’s been explaining.” He shook his head. “You never said anything to me.”
He was calm, only curious. If Claudia had told him about the Fangborn and me, maybe with a little vampiric push, he was bound to accept the truth. “Um, I didn’t know? I thought I was going mental?”
“Oh, Zoe.” His brow furrowed. “You poor thing.”
I patted his arm, reassuring him so I wouldn’t start crying myself. “It’s better now. It explains a lot.”
“It opens up a lot of other questions, about your family.”
I held up a hand. “Yeah, trust me, I’ll be looking into that.” I didn’t tell him of Dmitri’s probable connection with my father.
“Do you mind if I sit with you and Gerry? Listen in?”
I shrugged. “Fine with me. You can leave for the naked stuff.”