“Nina!” Costa shouted. He rushed to her side. “Oh my God! Nina! Can you hear me?”
“Aye, but not for long,” she groaned.
“The stone is supposed to make you resistant… like an immortal… I don’t understand…,” he muttered as he gathered her small body up in his arms. Nina had been hit three times. Two were flesh wounds, but the third slug lodged in her chest. Costa at once realized why Nina was struck down.
He looked up at the face on the wall and whispered to himself, “Of course. Unlike her sisters, Medusa was the only Gorgon… who was mortal.”
The barrel of a .44 pressed against Costa’s skull and the hammer clicked back.
“Vril cannot protect you from a point blank widow-maker, Zorba,” Don declared with labored words. He had been wounded during his run-in with some of Deon’s men earlier, but he was resilient.
“N-no..no, no,” Nina murmured weakly.
“You’ll never make it out of here, idiot!” Costa sneered. “Nothing can kill me while I have Stheno. And when I go to pay Deon Fidikos a visit, I am taking him a nice statue of a kilt-wearing moose from Dundee.” Before he finished his sentence, he had Stheno ready, staring straight through it at Don. The archeologist’s gun jammed, leaving him unarmed. Costa retreated out of striking distance from the Scotsman, aiming his potent beam of energy at his chest.
Nina watched as the foil Don tucked in his chest as a joke reflected Costa’s weapon back on him. Like the old Greek heroes used their shields to deflect the deadly stare of the Gorgons, Don closed his eyes to keep from going blind as the dissonance of the freshly generated light doubled back onto itself. Its intense heat enveloped Costa instantly, securing the Stheno into the solid stone of his face.
“Holy shit!” Don gawked, utterly amazed that he not only survived the attack, but saw the process in action. He quickly dislodged the marble relic from the surface of the rock and did his best to carry Nina to the nearest office where he could alert any security to get her to a hospital. He kept both stones in his boots, preparing to be arrested when he called for medical assistance.
Chapter 36
“I have the Medusa stone,” Purdue said over the phone. “Shall I just send it with Costa? He is dying to ask you the details of Soula’s death.”
Deon did not know what to make of it. Indeed, he wanted Costa to come to him so that he could claim the Stheno. Even better if he had the Medusa stone on him as well.
“By all means, Mr. Purdue. Just make sure he has the authentic stone, otherwise, your lovely mansion in Edinburgh will contain a lovely statue of Professor Barry,” Deon retorted calmly.
He ended the call and fondled the stone pendant around his neck as he overlooked the Medusa garden where Claire had now joined the oblivious serpent nymphs. True to Gorgon fashion her eyes stared straight ahead, dead and cold. The evening drew on into night while he waited for Costa to bring him his prize — and a bout of war. Deon relished the idea so that he could feel his body rush with heat and exhilaration.
At precisely 10pm, the security intercom sounded. Over the speaker Deon heard Purdue’s voice, “I have a Greek here, bearing gifts.”
“Very amusing, Mr. Purdue. Enter, please,” Deon said. In the shadows of the pathway he saw Costa approaching, dressed in his customary black coat and exotic couture. Purdue was a short distance behind, looking around to see if Helen was still alive, but all he could see was a woman’s silhouette behind the stained glass window above the majestic front steps. At first he thought the figure was Helen, but it remained inanimate, frozen in its pose.
“Soula,” he said softly when he recognized her tall, curvaceous stature. Sadness filled him, but his solemn moment was interrupted by trouble when Deon addressed them in Greek and the impostor failed to answer in his own tongue.
“What is this, Purdue?” Deon shouted. “Who is this charlatan?” he asked about the man he thought to be Costa.
“A friend of mine,” Purdue answered. He had his hand raised in surrender. “He and I each have a Gorgon stone, Deon. You cannot harm us.”
“But I can harm Helen,” Deon reminded them, violently tugging Professor Barry from behind the front door and pulling her against him.
“No, please don’t!” Purdue implored. “Here, take the bloody stones and keep your word.” Both men tossed their stones on the steps in front of Deon, hoping they could subdue him before he realized the stones were fake. Instead, he pushed Helen back in the house and closed the door. Laughing at the effortless trickery he had fooled them with, Deon collected the two stones while holding his at the ready, making it impossible for them to do anything without getting killed.
“Oh Christ, now we’re done for,” Purdue’s friend mumbled.
Purdue had no idea how to get around this one, but the trouble was taken out of his hands. A deafening crash broke the tension. From seemingly nowhere, the heavy marble statue of his wife crushed Deon, killing him instantly.
“My God! How…?” Purdue gasped as they cowered from the darting shards of shattered stained glass. Above, in the window, Claire stood quietly, calmly. She briefly looked down before retreating into the dark hallway.
Helen came rushing out, repulsed by the sight of Deon Fidikos’ splattered brain matter and protruding bones. Like Son of Zyklon-B Soula’s body was parted in four places, revealing her organs too. Holding Helen tightly, he looked down at the broken statue.
“So ironic. So tragic. Poor Soula,” he said.
“Get the stones,” Helen reminded him. “No need,” Purdue smiled. The real ones are at Wrichtishousis, being crushed by hydraulics as we speak. Dr. Graham is taking care of chemically dismantling those evil eyes. This one will be destroyed tomorrow when I go home to see how Nina is doing.”
He tucked Deon’s stone in his pocket and took Helen home. She did not have the heart to tell him that the entire north slope of Mount Pentelicus, outside the suburb of Vrilissia, yielded the same marble the Medusa stone was fashioned from.
When Nina woke in the cozy room two days later, she felt like a bag of worms over a roasting fire. She knew she was in Purdue’s mansion, but the flashbacks of the horror she saw in Auschwitz drove her to weep. Confused about everything, feeling alone and shocked from her ordeal she sobbed bitterly, not even caring about the bullet wound in her chest.
“Hey, stop that crap!”
Nina perked up at the sound of Don’s voice. He stood in the corridor outside her room, having a stout as usual. Purdue came skipping up the stairs and appeared in the doorway shortly after. “How are you feeling, Dr. Gould?”
“Thank you,” was all she said. She smiled and then broke down in tears again.
“We’ll give you something for that shock, love,” Purdue smiled, holding her hand.
He looked at Don, but actually he was looking at the silhouette next to Don. Nina’s eyes widened.
‘It can’t be!’ she thought. ‘I watched him die!’
The long wild tresses and the dark eyes were all she saw at first, but then she noticed that he was carrying something. It was Bruichladdich. Nina’s heart went crazy as he came into the room, stroking his cat and smiling. Now she had reason to cry, even while her friends chuckled at her reaction. Through her tears Nina laughed. No pain or discomfort could spoil the moment.
“Sam!”