Part 21 (1/2)

From my previous experience hauling corpses, I knew I couldn't possibly drag Sebastian into the house by myself. I'd call for help, but there was no time, and besides, I'd probably used up all my favors with my friends. Anyway, Parrish had given me an idea. I ran to the house, grabbed my to-go bag, and locked up.

Sebastian had managed to get the key in the ignition before pa.s.sing out. It still took me several tries to remember how to operate the old car. Sebastian huddled close to the floorboard, as far away as possible from the bands of sunlight that fell across the seat. I shrugged out of my jacket and tossed it over him.

Then I popped the clutch, and stuttered and stalled down the street until my body remembered the rhythm of driving a manual.

Luckily, we didn't have far to go. By car, State Street was less than five minutes from my house. So it wasn't long at all until I pulled into the underground parking lot of a hotel a block and a half from the State Capitol building.

I killed the engine once we reached the very bottom row. The car lurched forward when the brake released and hit the wall with a crunch. Sebastian stirred. From under my jacket, he murmured, ”You suck at driving a stick.”

”Yeah, well, you're alive.”

The parking garage smelled dank. Low, concrete ceilings held rows of exposed bulbs and barely concealed wires. White painted stenciled numbers proclaimed that our car occupied the two hundred and twenty-seventh s.p.a.ce.

Sebastian pulled himself up onto the seat. He cranked the window down, though I could tell it cost him alot of effort. Leaning back against the seat, he shut his eyes. ”I'm sorry about your friend. Is she dead?”

”No, although she would have been if I hadn't magically intervened. Or Lilith, I mean.”

Though his eyes never opened, his brows knit together. ”Since when is Lilith a healer?”

”Since I tried to call on another G.o.ddess for help,” I said with a shrug. I fiddled with Sebastian's key chain. He had a number of charms hanging from the ring, including a bottle opener. How boy.

”The jealous type, then,” he said with a closed-mouth smile.

”I guess so.” I shrugged.

”Iam sorry,” he said, still not looking at me. ”I should have had more control.”

”Yes.”

He cracked an eye to look at me. ”You've never felt it, have you? When you're wounded like that, it's so strong. It's... insanely intoxicating.”

I was with him until that last line. ”Your excuse is that you were drunk?”

Sebastian laughed a little. ”No. Yes. I guess I can't explain it.”

”You'd better try, or I'll start this car up and drive you right to the sunniest spot on the beach.”

He took in a hiss of breath. ”You'd kill me?”

”You wouldn't be the first,” I reminded him, though I'm sure he could tell I was bluffing.

Sebastian lifted his head from the rest and turned to look at me. ”Then you understand how powerful the desire to allow yourself... to beuninhibited can be.”

I did. A cold twist in the pit of my stomach made me realize how much I did. Lilith sighed contentedly in her slumber. I might have called on Her in desperation, but I didn't rush to kick Her out, now did I? Part of me liked having Her there, and having access to all that destructive power-the ultimate power of life and death.

I didn't like to think about that at all. While I mulled over the implication of his statement, Sebastian had laid his head back down. Glancing over at his aquiline profile, I noticed a particularly angry looking black splotch on his cheek. ”So, what happened to you? I thought the sun wasn't your enemy.”

”The formula protects me from the sun. The formula's powers are fading.”

”The mandrake.” So, by not having it in the store, I really had been issuing Sebastian his death warrant.

Then I remembered something else from our first conversation. ”Please tell me you don't need to perform your ritual on a full moon.”

He sighed so sadly that I knew the answer before he said it. ”I do. At least, I think I do.”

I looked at his gaunt, pocked skin. ”You're not going to last another twenty-eight days.” Sebastian straightened his shoulders. ”I might surprise you.”

Considering how badly he looked right now, I'd be stunned if he lived to see another day. To be fair, the bullet hole seemed to have healed. ”The formula isn't working, but blood still fixes you up, I see,” I said, glancing at his stomach.

”Yes,” he said. Turning away, he stared out the window at nothing. ”Though I seem to need a lot more than I used to.”

Yeah, Feather discovered that firsthand, didn't she? Yet I couldn't stay mad at him. It wasn't his fault.

His formula had failed him-he was dying.

”So, right now the problem is the sun,” I said. ”So, if you can stay in the dark, you'll be okay for a while.”

Sebastian ran his hand along the interior door handle. ”As long as I get enough blood, I believe that's true. It's hard to tell, since I was so recently wounded both by the Vatican and by the sun, but I feel as strong as before.”

”Just hungrier.”

He didn't look at me when he said, ”A lot hungrier.”

A headache sprouted between my eyes. I rubbed my forehead. ”But you only have to last until the next full moon,” I said hopefully. ”Then you can mix up your formula, and you'll be back to normal, right?”

He shook his head.

Then I recalled what he'd said when we were discussing his corpse-wife Tereza. ”But, you've never been able to duplicate it. There's something occult missing in your notes.”

”That's why I wasn't terribly angry when I discovered you took my grimoire. I would have preferred you asked, but I have other copies; besides I thought,Well, if Garnet's looking the formula over, maybe she can tell me what I'm missing.”

Parrish still had the grimoire. Plus, I'd just given him five hundred bucks-enough to live on until he contacted his London buyer. Oh, and I'd conveniently let him know that the Vatican had interest, too. He was probably snug in some five-star hotel right now, dreaming of all the money he'd make when he started the bidding war over Sebastian's flawed formula.

Or Parrish could just keep the grimoire from me out of spite, since I all but spurned his love for me.

Smart, Garnet. Truly Brilliant.

”Why didn't you just tell the Vatican the formula was f.u.c.ked up when they had you against the wall?”

”Do you think they'd have believed me? They hardly wanted to believe the truth when I gave them my safe-deposit box key. Anyway, I don't think it would have mattered much. The Vatican has enough arcane knowledge that they could probably fix the problem, if they wanted to.” Suddenly, it hit me. ”Great G.o.ddess,” I said with a s.h.i.+ver. ”They could turn the Order of Eustace into super-vampire soldiers.”

”Well,” Sebastian said, clearly trying to contain the horror of that thought, ”that would certainly make their Witch hunting more effective.”

That observation could qualify for understatement of the year. ”Yeah,” I said.

After a moment more of contemplation, he added, ”You dohave my grimoire, don't you?”

”Uh.” He was going to be so mad. ”Actually, I... uh, loaned it to a friend of mine.”

”Youwhat ?”