How to Cure a Vampire Bite without Losing Your Mind
Chapter 18

When Orcus returned with the promisedprize and handed it over to Phyllida, she greeted him like some sort of Greekhero. Jo simply quirked her eyebrow, and Raechel made a comment about how niceit must be to actually be a hero,rather than a pretend one. I didn’t say anything, and sensed a disturbance inthe Force. It didn’t really matter. I was still trying to determine how pissedoff I was that he wasn’t going to use Sebastian’s blood for research.Surprised? No, most definitely not. Pissed off all the same? Indeed. It didn’thelp that we weren’t getting anywhere with the garlic.

Raechel and I had been working forseven solid hours by the time Orcus came to join us, and even he had to admitthat, while we’d covered a fair bit of ground, there was nothing conclusivejust yet. I tried telling myself that it was only the first day, and instudies, almost nothing was accomplished that early in the search for any cure;it didn’t help. I was still left very cross. I wanted this to move along so Icould be rid of the vampires and go back to being only very different instead of inordinately different (there is adistinction between the two). Of course, given that I was with Orcus, thatwasn’t a very likely possibility.

We received a call that evening fromMr. Locke. He’d very quickly informed us that he was in Montreal, would be backin two days, and that we probably wouldn’t be hearing from his friend until theweek after next, as his schedule seemed to be quite full. Orcus was more thanjust a little pissed off at the whole idea, and made it known by teachingRaechel and me some choice words that would make even my Navy grandfatherblush.

After twelve hours of dutifullyseparating the disulphide, allicin, and aliin from the samples of the garlicthat we chose, Raechel and I covered our tables and called it a night. I wasmore than ready to get away from the smell, and Raechel’s lower jaw wasirritated from where she’d gotten some residue on her skin. Orcus stayedbehind, and I briefly considered staying to watch him, but I was moreinterested in waking Sebastian and having a very serious conversation about hisblood. It was a pointless endeavor. Phyllida had occupied his attention, and hedidn’t even register that I might be in the room.

I smirked on my way out from them.If I was feeling annoyed at beingignored, Orcus would have been down-right furious. It explained his begrudgingacceptance of his sister’s independence. Or perhaps it was that he’d lostcontrol of her. No matter; he’d get it back somehow. He always did.

I trudged along the house, notentirely sure as to where I was going (probably to the library again), when Isuddenly ran into Strumpen, rounding a corner. He looked slightly taken abackthat I was still in the house, which was understandable given that I’d not seenhim, nor he me, since the night Orcus knocked the knock-off vase onto thefloor. I was about to apologize and hastily run away, but he kept me stalled.

“Master Locke left instructions forme to give you a room separate his son’s hideaway in the attic,” he saidloftily. So he wasn’t surprised at my continued presence, just at my suddenappearance.

“Orcus will replace a way to torture me in a spite of this. You know that,right?” I said.

Strumpen managed a nod. “Indeed. AndI am very sorry for the sad impressions he’s made about his father.”

I snorted. “His father I like.Orcus, I don’t.”

The manservant looked distinctlyuncomfortable. “If you’ll follow me, then?”

I followed him down a series ofhallways, up some stairs, down another corridor, and then he stopped in frontof two double-doors. After a quick look at what must have been my veryinquisitive and bewildered face, he opened the doors and gestured me into theroom.

“Uh. . . .” I wasn’t quite sure whatto make of what I was seeing. It was probably the biggest room I’d ever seen inmy life, in terms of bedrooms. In fact, I’m pretty sure the term ‘suite,’ orperhaps ‘apartment’ would have been more appropriate.

It was aesthetically pleasing, to besure. The walls were a midnight blue, accented by cream baseboards and corners.The bed was a large canopy decorated with curtains the same color as the halls,and the comforter was just half a shade darker. An incredibly sized window thatstretched from the ceiling to the floor looked out over a garden that would likelysmell lovely in the summer months. It wasn’t so nice now, given that we were inOctober, and most of what we saw was falling into hibernation.

“Will it do?” interrupted a voice.

I wheeled around, looking atStrumpen with surprise. “Will it do?” I repeated stupidly.

“If it isn’t what you’d like, I’vebeen told to replace a room to your satisfaction.”

“Uh, well. . . .” I wandered theexpanse of the room and found myself equally impressed by the lavatory. The tubwas big enough to be a small swimming pool, the mirror above the sink wouldprobably have serviced a large restaurant, and the sink itself was like a smallbathtub. The color pattern was the reverse of the bedroom. I stumbled back tothe other room, and gave Strumpen a thumbs-up. He looked bemused.

“It’ll more than do,” I said. “What about Raechel?”

“Miss McNab was given her own roomjust last night,” Strumpen said. “Right across the hall from this one.”

I nodded. “Okay. Well, this works.”Orcus was going to be royally pissed. Nothing was going his way at all. Iprayed to whoever was listening that he wouldn’t sneak in the door in themiddle of the night to torment me. . .in the same breath I prayed that I hadn’tjust jinxed myself.

Strumpen nodded. “I’ll have yourthings brought down from the attic.”

“No, no,” I said. “I’ll do it.”Orcus had probably left the laboratory by now, and I wanted to be the one togleefully tell him I was in a singular room notshared by him. Strumpen looked a little bit miffed, but nodded once, and leftme to my devices.

I took a few more minutes, and thenwandered in the general direction of the attic, hoping I met Orcus along theway. I briefly wondered why Mr. Locke would go the trouble of putting usall up in separate bedrooms when we were all working on the same projecttogether. But then I shook it off, figuring that it was because he probablyknew better than we did what sort of games his son was fond of playing; perhapshe was attempting to throw a monkey-wrench into Orcus’ plans because that wasthe only form of contact they had.

To my surprise, Orcus was coming outof the attic door when I got there, and his expression was one of bemusement.“There you are at last!” he said. “Where have you been?”

“I was – ”

“Never mind that.I’ve been looking everywhere for you; thought you were up here.”

Since I had to get my things anyway,I acquiesced and approached him. “Obviously I wasn’t,” I said quickly. “Whywere you looking for me?”

“I’ve had a thought about thispotential cure, and I want a second opinion.”

“No,” I said, not knowing if thiswas ludicrous enough to laugh.

“Excuse me?”

“Orcus, you don’t want to know whatI think, you want me to agree with you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course Iwant you to agree with me, Mallory. Don’t be stupid,” he said. “I’m alreadyright.”

“Then why would you say you want asecond opinion?” I contradicted.

Because,” he said lightly, “I ambeing courteous to your sensitivities. If you feel like you’re being left out,you’ll likely botch what I’m doing in a high temper, and if you don’t know whatI’m doing, you’ll ruin it out of sheer ignorance.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m touched byyour sensitivity. So what sort of idea have you had that may or may not becomea complete and utter nuisance?”

He smirked; I was making him proud.“My grandfather, when we went to see him in the library, gave me a dose of – ”

“Phoenix tears,” I said. “He toldus.”

“Why would he tell you?” Orcus demanded, looking slightlydisgruntled.

“It had to do with a theory yoursister had,” I said dismissively. “What are you thinking? Mixing the elementstogether?”

Orcus looked pleased at my moment ofingenuity. “Indeed.”

I sighed. “Much as I hate to say it,I was thinking the same thing. I was going to run it by your grandfather andsee if he had enough to spare for experiments.”

Orcus was looking very pleased.“He’ll have more than enough; you needn’t worry.”

I shrugged. “And there you have it.It could work. I mean, we’re going on nothing; it can’t hurt.” Orcus wasleaning casually against the door, studying me carefully. “What now?”

“Did Strumpen show you the roomyet?” he asked. When I didn’t answer he simply laughed. “Mallory, my fatherknows what I want him to know, and I know everything about all the moves hemakes. I know Strumpen was meant to show you a room. By your stunned silence,I’m going assume he has.”

“Uh – yeah. I’m getting my things.”

He smirked. “I’ll help you.”

Alarum bells went up in my head. Whywas he – My bag had been brought out from behind the door, and Orcus hadoffered me his arm.

“Shall we then?”

“Why are you pretending to be okaywith this?”

He shrugged. “If that were for youto know, I’d tell you, wouldn’t I, darling?”

“Don’t call me that.”

He simply smiled his cold smile, sothere was nothing for it but to take the proffered arm and go along with it. Iknew these signs: Orcus Locke was backing me into a corner, and my chances ofescape were grim.