How to Cure a Vampire Bite without Losing Your Mind
Chapter 14

There was a long and extremely heavysilence, and then I said, “Tell me why your house is so unnecessarily large.Were Henry VIII still alive, he’d make you hand over the lease.” Orcus lookedrather nonplussed, and Mr. Locke had turned away to hide his smile. “I mean,really?” I continued. “Is it necessary to have a house this big? We get it; yeah, you’re rich and everything, and you makethe rest of the world look destitute, but whywould you want a house this size? Do you have any idea how much work it wouldbe to keep this place clean?”

It took a moment, but Orcus’ nonplussedexpression quickly became dubious and dangerous again. “You always were aterrible liar, Mallory.”

“What’s your point?”

He opened his mouth to tell me, butMr. Locke cut him off. “Eat something, Orcus, and then go to bed.”

“Why?”

Mr. Locke was his surly self again.“Because I told you to, boy, that’s why. You’ve been ill, and I don’t care whatyour fool of a grandfather gave you, you willrest.”

Orcus was now bristling with rage.“I feel fine,” he snapped.

“I don’t recall asking,” Mr. Lockeretorted.

Orcus opened his mouth to argue, buton impulse I put a hand on his arm. “You know, don’t you,” I said, “that if youdon’t go voluntarily you’ll be made to?”

He looked at me, eyes flashing.“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

He gritted his teeth, and bit out asullen, “Fine,” but we all three knew it meant nothing. He was going to ignorethe command as soon as his father left the room. It was more a formality thananything, and was quickly discarded as such.

“Is the McNab girl still in thelibrary?” asked Mr. Locke.

“Yes,” said Orcus stiffly.

“Excellent. She’s not vegetarian or anythinglike that, is she?”

“She’s allergic to tomatoes,” Isaid, “but otherwise, she’s fine for anything. She eats meat like a caveman,too, so be careful what you tell her she can have.”

Mr. Locke did eventually depart thekitchen with a tray for Raechel (which is not the Old Money way, let me tellyou right now), and Orcus stared for a long while at the door, his jaw musclesworking. Finally he turned his angry eyes on me. Having known him for so long,I wasn’t particularly bothered.

“You agreed you would not speak tohim.”

“Did I?” I said airily. “Must haveslipped my mind.”

His fingers were suddenly around myarm in a vice-like grip, eyes flashing dangerously. “I told you not to speak tohim,” he said coldly.

“What upsets you more, Orcus? That I‘disobeyed’ you, or that your dad seems to actually be all right with me?”

Even as his eyes flashed, his voicewas low. “What did you say to him? And what was he going to tell you?”

“That wasn’t your conversation,” Isnapped, “so I’ll thank you to keep out of it.”

He shook me then, his grip tightening;there would be a very nasty bruise tomorrow. “You are not to go near him again,am I clear?”

I pushed him violently, and hereleased his hold on me. “No. I will speak to whom I please, Orcus. I’m notyour pet, nor am I your servant, and you would do well to remember that.”

“I think you’ve forgotten whosehouse this is, Mallory,” Orcus said, his tone condescending.

“And you’ve forgotten who yousolicited for help,” I returned. “Stop trying to order me about, and we mayactually get somewhere.” He began to bristle, so I cut him off before he hadtime to build up steam. “You do this allthe time, Orcus! You get yourself into situations where you do actuallyneed the help of another person, but you’re so damn proud you can’t ask forhelp when it rears its ugly head. Maybe your dad’s just as clueless as we are,but maybe, on the flipside, he knows something we don’t. You want to replace acure for this bite? Then we’ll have to ask your dad for help, because eventhough you don’t like to admit it, we are fuckingkids, Orcus! We can’t get everything we need on our own!”

The anger flared again for a moment,and then it was suddenly gone, and Orcus was back to his sadistically pleasantself. “You are right of course,” he said.

“Come again?” This wasn’t good.

“I did solicit your involvement, andfor that I apologize. You see, I do believe I’ve made a very grave error inoverestimating your abilities. I hadthought you were capable of setting aside whatever petty grudge you haveagainst me – ”

“ – and doing exactly as you say,never straying from the path set by the great and all-knowing genius that isOrcus Locke?” I finished in a bored sort of tone.

His face was patronizing. “Is thatit? That I’m better than you?” He chuckled. “But, Mallory, dear, that can’t behelped. It’s simply my nature.”

He was riling me on purpose, but Igave in to the urge. “You want to know what it is I hold against you, Orcus?” Isaid. “All right. Fine. Your narcissism, for starters; sickening to the nthdegree; and then we’ll go on to, say, your obsessive need to control everyonearound you; your psychotic need to be worshipped and adored and adhered to atevery turn of the day; your arrogance in thinking that you can treat me as youplease and not suffer for it; and your uncanny knack for just annoying me every time you open yourmouth.” I paused, feigning hard thought. “I should say that’s it for now.”

And then he smiled. It didn’t touchhis eyes (his smiles never did), but I knew he was both amused and – strangely– pleased. It made me exceedingly angry, and another deep quandary arose fromthe moment. I really understood whyhe’d brought me along: It wasn’t just, as Mr. Locke had suggested. He knew myfavorite pastime was pissing him off, or being given an order and ignoring it.He wanted me there because I was apain in his backside. The quandary was whether or not to give in to my urgesand continue as I had been, or toreally aggravate him by turning into one of the sickeningly sweet bimbos whotypically followed him around.

“That’s very interesting, Mallory,”he said softly.

That could only indicate that thingswere going to get very much worse, and my brain began to debate the pros andcons of kneeing his groin again and running away. I decided I rather liked thatidea, and immediately set about executing it. He likely guessed what I wasthinking, as he stepped to the side, and my knee struck his thigh. It didn’tmatter; it was opening I needed, and I was taking it. Again, as always, I wascaught up just as I was getting away. Orcus’ arm went around my retreatingwaste and pushed me deeper into the cavernous kitchen.

“You and Father seem to have hit itoff rather well.”

“Thanks for pointing out theobvious. May I go now?”

“I’m not done just yet, so you’llhave to wait,” he said calmly. “It was a lovely little chat, wasn’t it? Did youhave a nice laugh?”

“At your expense, too,” I retorted.

‘Now, now, Mallory,” he chidedgently, “let’s not be rebellious. It could get you hurt.”

“Because that’s never happenedbefore, has it?” I said. “Is this going somewhere?”

Orcus sighed. “Bottom lining, asalways. Very well, I’ll simply reiterate what I’ve already said. You are not tointeract with my father. If he asks you anysort of question, or gives you anysort of acknowledgement, you are to ignore him altogether.” His eyes narrowed.“You are never to be alone with himagain. He is not to be trusted.”

“Not to be trusted because he’s yourfather, or because he knows your jig as well as I do?” I asked. “He could helpus, Orcus.”

In the next second Orcus furyresurfaced, and his fingers had snagged my throat and I was pushed up against awall rather roughly. “Because,” he said coldly, “you belong to me, and I don’twant you alone with other men, my fatheror not.”

I kicked him savagely, my footnearing a very sensitive place, and Orcus released me to back away, if only astep or two. “I don’t belong toanyone,” I said savagely, “and youwould do well to remember that. Don’t speak, just listen!” He’d opened hismouth, but I was determined to get my piece in before he brushed it offcompletely. “I am not property, I am not a possession; I am a living, thinking,breathing being, and you will respectme as such, or so help me, mission or not, there will be hell to pay. I will doas I please, how I please, and with whom I please, and you will not tell meI can’t.” I paused, and then borrowed his favorite punch-line. “Am I clear?”

There was a disconcerting raw sortof look on his face, but he schooled it immediately. It was the only window Iwas getting to what he was thinking, and I didn’t like what I saw there.

“Is that so?” he said quietly.

“Indeed.”

“We’ll just have to break you ofthat habit, won’t we?”

I don’t remember which of us movedfirst, but his long-fingered hands went around both my wrists, and he waspushing me back into the wall again. It wasn’t a prospect I thoroughlyrelished, but using his shirt as leverage, I hoisted myself up and bit down onhis ear. He hissed in pain and pulled away. I’d locked on, though, and as hepulled away there was the dull sound of flesh separating from flesh. I let gobefore his entire ear came off, but the damage had been done. Blood spatteredthe floor, and Orcus’ pupils dilated. We both stood there, somewhat surprisedat what had just happened, him holding onto his ear, me trying to ignore thetaste of blood on my tongue. He stared at me, and I stared at him, and theatmosphere was nearly tangible.

“Mallory,” he finally breathed. “Younaughty thing, you.”

I walked to the sink, rinsing theblood from my mouth, and being very careful not to swallow. . .just in case. “Ido believe I’ve made my point,” I said coolly.

When I turned around again Orcus washolding a cloth to his ear, but I got the impression he wasn’t paying the woundmuch mind. The primary base of such an idea was much to do with how he waslooking at me: Like I was his next meal. I took some paper towels and wiped thefloor, watching him warily out of the corner of my eye. He didn’t move. He didtalk.

“Why do you fight me?”

I snorted. “I’ve already told you.”

“You told me about your grudges, notwhy you insist on picking a fight with me every other hour,” he contradicted.

“Consider aforementioned reasons asalso applicable,” I retorted.

“That’s no reason to fightsomething, Mallory,” he countered softly. “What is the real reason for yourumbrage?”

“Oohh, look at you using big words!Have you been playing with your daddy’s dictionary again?” He just stared atme. Sometimes it’s so hard being the wittiest person in the room, and I just…can’t.“Do you think I enjoy fighting withyou?” I said. He quirked his eyebrow. “All right, I do; sometimes; but not on adaily basis.”

“If you don’t like the fighting,then don’t fight,” he said simply.

I crossed to the sink again andbegan to rinse the blood out of the paper towels. “Oh, because you’ll respect my space of your ownaccord,” I said drily, tossing the wadded towels into the bin. It wasn’t untilI turned around that I realized he’d moved, and just how close he was. I froze,but only for a split second. It was long enough for him to block my escaperoute and pin me to the counter. “Back up,” I warned.

Orcus smiled and pulled the towelaway; the damage to his ear was extensive and would require professionalmedical attention; I wasn’t looking forward to the hospital visit. I lookedback into his herbal green eyes.

“What?”

“Fix it for me?” he said. “Please?”His eyes were puppy-dog, and his practiced expression was a very artfulfacsimile of sincerity.

I tried to sneer, but for somereason found the will lacking. “Why?”

“Because I asked you to,” he said.“And because you don’t want to make the hospital visit any more than I do.”

Dammit, he was right. They would askwhat had happened, and it was more than obvious that those tooth-marks weren’tfrom the family dog. “I take it this means you’re still a human?” I said with apointed look.

He shrugged. “For now. Grandfather’sserum should last for about six months.”

“But you still want to replace a cure.So as to not be encumbered by taking a medicine once every six months, is thatit?”

He smiled. “Naturally. When theserum’s work is finished I go back to being a potential candidate for the worldof the undead.”

I frowned. “Then wouldn’t you justtake it every so often?”

Orcus chuckled. “Mallory, don’t beridiculous. It’s never that simple when it involves vampire bites.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course not.Let me guess: It becomes less and less effective the more you use it.”

“Something of that nature, yes.”

“Effectively leaving us with onlysix months?”

“About that, yes; at the very most ayear.”

“Great.” Could we just stake him nowand get it over with, or was that unethical?

“Fix me up, Mallory.”

“I don’t want to,” I said. “I likeyour ear like that; it boosts my ego.”

“Shall I return the favor?”

“You wouldn’t bite a girl.”

He grinned. “How do you know? In anycase, you’re no girl.”

“You don’t bite,” I contradicted.“Lesser mortal’s flesh wouldn’t leave a very nice taste in your mouth.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he warned.

I huffed. “Fine. I’ll fix your ear.But you corner me like that again, and I’ll bite them both off completely andfeed them to the first dog I replace.”

His grin didn’t abate. “Would I dothat?”

“Yes,” I groused. “You would.”

He retrieved a medical kit from acupboard over the sink, some peroxide and paper towels, and then perchedhimself on a bar stool while I set about disinfecting the injury. “I didn’tthink it could be stitched, but it looks like it might,” I said, examiningwhere the skin had separated.

“Torn flesh doesn’t usually workthat way,” he said.

“Normally I’d leave you to fix ityourself, but I’m here helping you, aren’t I?”

“It’s not the same thing, Mallory,”he chuckled.

“No, but I felt it needed to besaid. I’ll patch it for tonight, and we’ll see what’s it’s doing in themorning.”

He hummed agreement, and I dugthrough the box for the bandages, pausing when I saw the stitching thread.“Oh.”

“What?”

I held it up and he grimaced. “Now Ihave to stitch it,” I said, the grinspreading over my face.

“Don’t you dare.”

“But pink does wonders for your skincolor,” I said.

“Tourney, I’m warning you. . . .”

“And it brings out your eyes. . . .”

“Woman, if you even think – ”

“And just imagine how it wouldcomplement your dress sense!”

“Mallory, so help me – ”

“All right,” I said, still enjoyingwatching him squirm. “I won’t use pink thread, but if there are pink band-aidsin here, I’m not going to be able to resist.” I dug through some more, andswallowed my disappointment at the lack of pink band-aids. The necessitieslocated,I tilted his head just so. “Don’t move,” I ordered. “See if you can follow thatdirection.”

“If I can’t?”

“Look, if you do something stupidI’m not responsible for what other damage is done to your ear.”

Orcus laughed. “What do I get forbehaving?”

“A fixed ear,” I said, tearing openthe package gingerly. “How’s that?”

“I’d be getting it back anyway,” hesaid, catching my wrists.

I scowled. “Do you want me to dothis, or not?”

“Just because you use bandagesdoesn’t make it all better, Mallory,”he chided gently. “You did bite off my ear; you know the sort of damage thatdoes.”

“I’m starting to think it didn’t donearly enough.” I yanked my hands away and forcefully turned his head so as togain access to the still bleeding appendage. “Now stop moving.”

“You’re not being very considerate,Mallory,” he said. “Can’t you see how much emotionaldamage you’ve done?”

I double-took. “Excuse you, bitch?”

“You can’t imagine how dreadfullydisrespectful you’re being in regards to how distraught I am.”

Was he for real? “Oh my actual god.”

His pout was well-executed. “Is thishow you treat everyone you assault?”

I thought about that. “Yeah.”

The pout disappeared, and the coldsmile returned, but he didn’t say anything else. I turned his head, glad of theopportunity to actually do what he was harassing me to do. Luckily for him,there were a pair of scissors in with the kit, and I was able to clip away someof his hair to avoid it getting caught in the wound. A few more drops of theperoxide (I was pleased when his hands twitched from the sting), and then Ibegan adjusting his torn ear back to its original state. It took a lot of tapeto hold his ear in place, but without an actual medical professional it was thebest we could do. One very large bandage applied, and the job was done. Ipulled away and handed him the towel to mop up what had dripped down his neck.

“There,” I said. “You can’t complainthat I was never nice or helpful.”

He laughed, taking the towel asthough it were being handed to him by a child. “One of these days, Mallory,you’ll stop fighting of your own volition, and not because of my persistence.”

“Then what?” I chortled. “Will Ijoin your troupe of stooges, or will I be licking the dust off your boots?”

“I should think not,” he saiddecisively. “You are too good for that sort of thing. You’ll be my right hand.It would suit you well.”

I folded the kit back together andfixed him with an even gaze. “I’d rather snort pulverized glass.”