Garnet Lacey - Tall, Dark And Dead Part 21

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 shiver. "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 ?"

Yep, he was mad. Sebastian sat up straighter and turned toward me so that I was inches from his bloodshot eyes. The mottling of his skin spotted darker with anger. His hands clenched as though he were holding back the urge to shake me or strangle me or both.

I pressed myself against the door of the car in order to put a little distance between us. "Okay, 'loaned'

probably isn't the right word. He's holding it for me until things are safer. It's lucky he had it, too.

Otherwise, the Vatican would have confiscated it already."

Sebastian seemed unconvinced. "How can you be sure it's safe with him? What if he's some kind of undercover agent?"

"For the Vatican? Hardly. Parrish is a vampire."

Oh s.h.i.t. The words just flew out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"You gave my grimoire to a vampire?" Sebastian had gone from angry to livid. I swore I could see the veins on his neck about to pop. At least his fangs hadn't descended yet.

Though they probably would. I didn't have a good answer. Parrish had been clear about how valuable the grimoire was to the vampire community. Sebastian must realize it, as well. Worse, I couldn't guarantee that Parrish would return the book, even though he had done so once.

When I didn't say anything, Sebastian's jaw twitched. "You can trust him, can't you?"

Well, no. He was a professional thief. Then again, Parrish had come through when I needed him the most. "He helped me cover up a murder."

Sebastian grunted. "What an excellent character reference. And you thought it was a good idea to give him my grimoire?"

"He's a nice guy, really. I mean, once you get to know him." Oh, shut up, Garnet. You're not even convincing yourself.

"Jesus," Sebastian said.

"I'm sure we can get it back from him," I said. "He brought it home last night when I didn't think he would." "Home?" Sebastian said. "You're living with a vampire?"

"He's an ex!" Who I slept with-or nearly so-but I didn't want to tell Sebastian that part right now.

"Ex? You gave my grimoire to a murdering ex-lover of yours? What, are you insane or just stupid?"

His fangs were down and in my face. I fumbled for the door latch, thinking that putting a steel door between us seemed like a good idea right now. Sebastian grabbed my shoulder firmly but not so hard it hurt. He seemed to realize that his anger had me spooked, because he took a moment to consciously school his expression into something resembling calm.

"Please, please tell me you can get it back, Garnet."

Could I? Parrish had said last night that he loved me. "I'm sure I can."

He removed his hand from my shoulder and sat back a bit. "I'll have to trust you. I don't see I have much choice. I need that d.a.m.ned book back. It's my working copy. It has all my most recent notes."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and released my death grip on the door handle.

"You dated a vampire before me?" Sebastian's head tilted backward onto the seat. "Should I be jealous?"

I shrugged. "Parrish was from a different lifetime."

"But he's living with you now."

"It's temporary."

Sebastian shut his eyes. "Isn't that what they all say?"

My cheeks colored a bit. He was right, of course. It wa.s.such a line. Besides, Parrish had made his intentions clear: hewas totally trying to worm his way back not only into my bed but also into my heart.

"It's not going to be like that," I said. "I have you. Besides, Parrish comes with a set of problems that isn't going to go away just because he's in Madison instead of Minneapolis."

"Oh? And what problems are those?"

The same ones I'll have with you, eventually, I thought but didn't say. After all, if I didn't let him bite me on a regular basis, Sebastian was going to have to feed on other people, too. h.e.l.l, he'd already had Feather, and that had made me jealous enough.

"I'd rather not talk about him, if you don't mind," I said.

Sebastian arched his eyebrow without opening his eyes. "Hmmm."

"Hmmm, what?"

"Sounds like unfinished business," he said. "And never will be-unless I stop dating vampires," I said.

He cracked open an eye. "Oh, so it's a vampire problem, is it?"

"It's a biting problem, Sebastian. I don't like being used as a food source by my lovers, so sue me."

"Ah," was all he said, then Sebastian fell silent. After a moment, I thought he must have gone to sleep.

I'd have taken it personally, except that we were well into the daylight hours. The sun was taking its toll on Sebastian's ability to stay with me.

I wondered what I should do. He was safe here. Unless there was a freakish Midwestern earthquake that split open the earth right above this particular hotel, sunlight was not going to find its way through several stories of concrete and steel.

It still seemed risky to just leave him snoozing in the car. A security guard could decide Sebastian was homeless, sick, or at the very least dodging the hotel room rental fees, and call the cops.

The hotel was just upstairs, but we'd have to somehow navigate a sun-filled lobby. And any room would invariably have a window, so there wasn't much point in even bothering-unless I wanted to tuck Sebastian under the bed, which could lead to all sorts of interesting scenarios if the cleaning crew discovered him.

c.r.a.p.

Selfishly, I didn't want to miss another day at work. Since I'd decided to stay and fight the Vatican, I wanted to keep my job. I was in danger of being fired if I kept up with the unscheduled absences. I should know; I was the manager.

I poked Sebastian on the shoulder. He stirred slightly. "How do you feel about sleeping in the trunk?"

I explained the various problems with his current napping position, and he finally grudgingly agreed. "I'm going to be a prisoner in there unless you find a way to prop it open. There isn't an internal release."

"No wonder the Mafia loved these cars," I said. In my previous car you could release the seats and crawl into the interior of the car. I knew because on those Minnesota winter days when the temperature hit an arctic minus-twenty and the doors had frozen shut, I'd used that alternate entry in order to start the car.

"It might be too small for me," he said. He opened the door and pulled himself slowly, painfully around to the back. I looked for a trunk release for a few seconds before I realized there wasn't one. Stupid, inconvenient old car.

He did fit, only barely. Though I agreed to come back once night had fallen, we used one of his bungee cords to jury-rig a kind of internal release. Really, the cord attached to the handle of the trunk, wound inside to where Sebastian latched the other end to the spare tire. That kept the trunk closed but also allowed it to remain open a crack.