How to Cure a Vampire Bite without Losing Your Mind
Chapter 19

One week, two weeks, and then three, andnothing changed. Orcus was reporting back to Carson every other day with“updates” on progress, and what we’d “found” about Sebastian’s family, and whatwe knew about Sebastian himself. Stealing from the blood bank became a bit of apastime, and much of Sebastian’s self-restraint came because of the pintpackages. Sometimes he’d go through ten in a day and not eat for another two orthree. Phyllida stayed with him through the process, teaching him to read,write, and execute basic math, with a level of patience that Orcus, Raechel andI combined would have had troublemanaging.

Mr. Locke hadn’t seemed too terriblybothered about his daughter’s romance, but the two were never allowed to bealone together. Jo theorized that it was for Phyllida’s protection; Mr. Lockeadmitted it was because he was more concerned about how warm-blooded Sebastianmight be. He pointed out, and I had to agree, that Sebastian was only eighteen,“and boys at eighteen typically only have one objective in mind.” It’s verytrue. “And while I don’t believe in the saying, ‘Boys will be boys,’ I dobelieve that it’s my job as Phyllida’s father to run interference when I thinkshe’s in danger.”

“You think she’s in danger?” Iasked. And here we had brought thisplague upon the Locke family.

“Not grave danger, no,” Mr. Lockereplied. “However, if Mr. Degas really does come from a wealthy sixteenthcentury family, he won’t be used to the word ‘no,’ more specifically a nocoming from a young woman.”

The blood Orcus had been sodesperate to attain finally was drawn, though it looked more like sludge, to beperfectly honest; not that Sebastian much understood or cared. He was busyreciting times-tables to Phyllida. Raechel and I had been duly frightened, morein the fact that we didn’t know what Orcus was planning, and we didn’t fancyhaving to deal with an outbreak of power-hungry megalomaniacs, as wouldindubitably be the case if Orcus was left to his own devices. As it was, theblood was being stored in a freezer in the laboratory, and while Raechel and I kepttabs on it – much to Orcus’ amusement – we knew the resident sociopath wouldn’tabuse it. Not yet, anyway.

True to his grandson’s word,Grandfather Storenton had had several bottles of phoenix tears stowed away, andhe agreed to allow us the use of them for our experiments. Nothing was goingthe way we wanted it to, though, and on more than one occasion, Orcus upended atable in the attic. Raechel and I didn’t sleep there anymore, but Orcus did,and it was still the meeting place for when there were important issues todiscuss as it was ground for Orcus to vent his fury. My mind wasn’t often onthe subject matter of these meetings. I was examining information I’d stowedaway on Orcus Locke years ago; his behavior wasn’t ordinary, and I couldn’tquite follow it.

It occurred to me, one afternoon,after I’d sat staring out of a library window for three hours at a bleak andgrey sky. At first I thought I was being paranoid, but the fact that I hadtwisted the hypothesis every which way to fit Orcus’ odd behavior,and was still coming to the same conclusion, wasn’t making me comfortable.

Orcus Locke, as long as I’d knownhim, would never have set out on an attempt that he didn’t think would befruitful, and a vampire cure was just the sort of challenge he relishedovercoming. Every move would have been calculated, everything would be weighedand measured, and if found wanting, discarded. All would be drawn up on awhiteboard in the massive expanse that was Orcus Locke’s intellect. He wouldhave known that his father knew about the attic hideaway; it was a logicalconclusion. He was letting his father think he had the upper hand. It was ablow to Orcus personal pride, to be sure, but one he would no doubt sufferwillingly in order to win the game. It was his version of a feint; it was hisMarshall Swindle; and it was brilliant.

He’d known that his father wouldprove partial to me; he had to. He wouldn’t bring anyone along just to keep an eye on them, perceivedterritory or not. He had a troupe of boys to do that for him. He’d brought mebecause he knew I would be a distraction to his father. He wouldn’t havetolerated my impertinence or Mr. Locke’s interest otherwise.

Oh, yes, Orcus had calculated andmeasured out every step he was going to take on this game-board before the gamewas even set, and it all pointed back to his father. The question I couldn’tanswer – and it made my stomach clench – was why? Why would he go to all thetrouble to make life hell for his father? Why would he bring me along as a distraction?It wasn’t to keep his father out of the vampire cure; Orcus knew I was tellingthe older man, quite freely, what we were replaceing out down in the lab. Itwasn’t Orcus’ modus operandi to do something simply for the sake of doing it,which meant that he wanted something from his father. It wasn’t money, and itcertainly wasn’t power; Orcus was eighteen. If he wanted either of thoseimmediately, a convenient accident would get it for him. He wanted somethingmuch more important. But what?

I posed the theory to Raechel afterbreaking into her room in the wee hours of the morning, and was more than alittle relieved when she appeared to agree.

“Have you told Mr. Locke?” sheasked.

I snorted. “Of course not. Can youimagine that conversation? ‘Mr. Locke, your son is under the impression that youfancy me, and I’m not sure it isn’t because he wants to divert your attentionfrom. . . .’ well, something.” I knocked my head against the wall. “What though? What could Orcus possiblywant that he would go to all this trouble to get?”

Raechel dropped her head down ontothe table. “Why are you asking methis? You’re a researcher; why don’t youfigure it out?”

“Because I’m confused!” I wailed. “Idon’t like being confused, and ever since Orcus got us here doing all this,that’s all I’ve been! You’re smart, andobjective. What would he want so badly that he’d risk us replaceing out in distracting his father?”

Raechel’s head came up again, andshe eyed me almost angrily. “No matter how many times you ask me that, if Idon’t know the answer, I’m not going to know the answer.”

We were sitting in her bedroom;Raechel was seated at the study table in the corner, and I was perched in thewindow seat. It was about six, and as I wasn’t able to sleep, I’d wokenRaechel. She had been the dictionary definition of annoyed, but she’d let me inand we’d discussed and abused Orcus for the last half-hour.

“His dad’s clever,” she argued.“He’ll figure it out.”

“You can count on Orcus to becleverer,” I said darkly. “D’you think if maybe we snuck a look at the familyrecords we’d get a better idea?”

Raechel looked at me like I was fromouter-space. “Why would he be interested in that? Since we’ve known him he’salways been interested in – ”

“Things that could further a causehe wanted to achieve,” I interrupted. “Yes, I know, but, Raech, this family hasmore money than the combined Roman emperors.”

“That’s an invalid point,” she saidflatly, “as many a Roman emperor was broke and bankrupted the state.”

I rolled my eyes. “Split hairs, whydon’t we? Fine; they’re richer than all the popes; will that do?”

She thought this over. “I supposeso, yeah. Seems about right.”

I huffed. “The point here being, theLocke family has a ridiculous level of wealth, maintained over generations. They are old, old money. Hell, they’re older thanpretty much any kind of old money on any side of the pond.”

“Which pond?”

“What d’you mean, which pond?”

“There are two main ones for sure.”

“Fine. Pick one. The point is,there’s almost nothing they can’t buy. If his grandfather is keeping phoenixtears locked in a cabinet, what else might they have? If they have it, you canbet they’ll have it recorded somewhere in case of theft, as there’ve got to be other people in the worldwho’d want it. It’ll be something extra special, and Orcus will want itdesperately.”

Raechel groaned. “Locke wants to ownthe world; we could be talking about anything.”

I nodded. “I know. It’ll probably bewell-hidden, though. If he’s resorting to using me to distract his father from what it is he’s doing, then it’ssomething his father has been keeping an eye on, too, and so it’d be hidden.What do you think?”

“I think you’re being stupid,”Raechel said flatly. “Get over yourself, talk to Locke Sr., and thwart his son.It’s not as complicated as you’re making it.”

I stood up from the window seat.“Fine. I’ll talk to him; but if I die of embarrassment, your butt is haunted.”

“Could I come to your funeraldressed as the Grim Reaper?”

I paused. “That seems like it wouldbe legitimately entertaining. Please do, so my ghost doesn’t die of boredom.”

Raechel snickered. “I see what youdid there.”

“Did you?”

“I did. Now go away.”

I obliged and slipped out into thecorridor. Much to my chagrin, I came face-to-chest with Orcus. He smiledcoldly. “There you are.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Don’t be silly,” he said lightly,“of course I was. Why are you in McNab’s bedroom?”

“We’re having a tawdry lesbian affair,”I deadpanned.

“Interesting. Now why were you really in McNab’s room?”

I hesitated. “Er, girl – stuff.

“Girl stuff?”

“Yeah.”

He cottoned on to what I was saying;I couldn’t tell if he knew I was lying. “I see.”

“Yes.”

“Yours, or hers?”

“Hers. She wanted to get it off herchest.”

“If she wanted an ear, she couldhave had mine, I’m much more sensible than you.”

“Puns? Really? Is this a fuckingjoke to you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, thank God for your sense ofhumor,” I said (extra heavy on the sarcasm). “Now, what do you want?”

His eyes glinted, but his tone wasprofessional. “You, in the laboratory. Something I think you ought to see.”

“Is it to do with the cure?”

“Indeed.”

“Can it wait until later?”

“No, it cannot.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I’ve had another idea,but I want you there when I try it. Just to make sure.”

“Orcus, aren’t you always right?”

“Of course.”

“Then why must I be there?”

He grinned, and suddenly caught upmy hand. “You’ll just have to come along and replace out, won’t you?”

I realized then that he was wearinghis pyjamas still, and I looked away quickly. No boy should look that fetchingin threadbare bedclothes.

“Orcus. . . .”

“Hmmm?”

“Shouldn’t we be dressed?”

He smiled wickedly. “We are dressed, Mallory, darling.”

“Don’t call me that, and you’rewearing pyjamas.”

“As are you. . .darling.”

“Don’t call me that,” I repeated.“Orcus, we’re going to work in a laboratory, with chemicals extracted from aplant, and if we’re going to be doing what I think you’re thinking we’re goingto be doing, we’re going to need to be wearing the proper clothes.” Anything toget him into something not those pyjamas.I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You don’t have to like a person towant to bang them.

His smile said that he knew what Iwas about. ‘Now, now, Mallory. We haven’t the time for that sort of thing.”

“Orcus, please,” I was more than ready to beg. I was not prepared to dealwith this. I hadn’t been lying when I’d said it was Raechel or me dealing with“stuff.” I was lying when I’d intonedthat it was Raechel’s issue. It was mine, and Orcus Locke was looking more thana little – er, appetizing. . .as he had been for the last week. I was appalledthat my resolve was really beginning to crumble, but there was nothing else forit. A hormonal surge is a hormonal surge, and there is cock all you can doabout it (pun intended, because I have no proper sense of humor).

He smirked, and I almost died. “Ifyou behave.”

Damn. That could only mean onething. I bit back a groan as we descended the steps into the lab.

Raechel was giving me the evil eyeand a knowing smirk when Orcus and I finallymade it up to the kitchen for breakfast. He looked more than a little ruffled,and I could feel parts of me beginning to bruise. Orcus was exceptionallypleased with himself, and it made me want to crawl under a rock and die slowly.Raechel, on principle, wouldn’t have minded murdering me for giving in to a distraction.As far as actually reacting to our mutually mauling each other, she reallyseemed quite smug.

“You realize, of course,” I saiddrily, “that due to this oneincident, we’re going to be at each other’s necks more than ever.”

She sniggered. “I’m sure you will.”

“No!” I said, realizing my mistake.“Not like that!” Raechel descended into a fit of giggles; her manic laugh justmade it all seem planned. “You’re quite pleased with yourself for being rightabout this, aren’t you?”

She paused, and then nodded. “I am.I feel a little bit like a cat that caught a bird.”

I glared at her. “You troll.”

Raechel giggled again, beforeschooling her face. “In all seriousness, did you get anything done down there?As far as the cure goes, not your new boy-toy.”

I pretended to be blasé about thewhole matter. “A little. He wants to try incorporating the phoenix tears intothe allicin compound, and then maybe in the alliin, just to see what happens.”I was seizing onto this topic of discussion gratefully. “We should have thoughtto have his blood collected as well; I regret not doing that now. Why didn’t wethink of it?”

Raechel snorted. “We hadn’t had theidea then, and it didn’t occur to us that we might actually need our patient’sDNA.” A huge oversight all around, really.

I sighed. “We’ll see how the twoelements react to each other first. For all we know it could be a catastrophe.”

Raechel hummed, and I slouched downinto my chair, deciding to let my mind wander. Mayhap it would stumble acrosssome important bit of information that would indicate what Orcus wanted fromhis father. It wasn’t a wise idea; my brain immediately started rehashing whathad happened in the laboratory, and my face automatically turned bright red. Itwasn’t a simple snog that was for sure. It was entirely shameful how lovely thewhole thing had been, and I cursed myself for not demanding he put on properclothes.

I gave myself a mental slap. Whoexactly was I kidding?! Of course it was wonderful! He knew what the hell hewas doing, and I now knew things about him that I hadn’t known before.; Hisraven hair was extremely thick, which explained why he always kept it so short;his hands were remarkably calloused, and given that he didn’t engage in thetypical activities of most boys his age, I was left a bit befuddled. Orcus wasalso much thinner than I’d realized. He made up for it, to be sure, but if Iheld any concern for his welfare it would be a cause for worry.

Oh, yes, I’d found out much moreabout Orcus Locke than I’d known. That wasn’t all I’d discovered, of course,but I was endeavoring not to think about those things, as I was alreadysufficiently distracted.

In all honesty, if he initiated itagain, I had no intention of saying no. He was damn good at what he was doing,and for the next week and a half, I would be more than a little receptive. Theonly trouble was what I was going to do after that. I glanced to where he satat the breakfast nook, calculating in my head how likely and how long it wouldbe before he made another advance. The look he was giving me said exactly, andI quickly looked back at my empty plate.

My mother was going to be furious,but that was okay. In any case, it was the last thing on my mind. I had justjumped into the deep end of the pool, and in a few days I would likely begasping for breath (and not for the right reasons). I’d thought this would be acinch, and I’d just realized how big a fool I really was. With any luck, myancestors were rolling over in their graves that very moment.