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“I have an idea.” Dr. Dwivedi shoved a plate of English muffins toward me. He had also asked Parvati to bring us a pot of coffee and an assortment of jams and jellies, including marmalade.
After plopping two cubes of sugar into my cup, I drizzled in a little cream. “Well, I’m glad somebody does, because I have nothing.”
Erik remained silent, which was the agreement we’d made when he’d met me at my room and escorted me to breakfast. I’d told him if he wanted to participate, then he had to agree to keep his—marvelously talented—mouth shut unless any of the plan directly involved him. And I sincerely hoped my plan wouldn’t have to involve him. Bloom was not his problem. At the end of the day, I was still a Solo Practitioner, and rescuing Bloom was one hundred percent my responsibility alone.
“Yes, well, designing a plan is my specialty.” Dwivedi pushed the marmalade jar closer to my hand. “It is in the execution that I often have trouble. But you and Cy seem quite capable, so let me explain my scheme, and then you tell me if you are willing to do it.”
While I slathered jam onto a muffin, Dwivedi launched into his proposal, explaining that Moll Grimes had sent word that she required a new shipment of Dwivedi’s temporary immunity serum. Normally, he made a few sparing doses at a time because only Erik’s blood provided the basis of the serum. But if Erik agreed, then Dr. Dwivedi proposed to extract an extra donation, enough to make at least double the standard number of dosages. It was sounding as though my intentions of keeping Erik out of my plans were quickly fading.
“With this bargaining chip,” Dwivedi said, “I believe Ms. Grimes might agree to allow Bloom and you to meet. As I said before, my dear, we must first determine if your sister desires her freedom.”
Even though Bloom had said some things to make me doubt, I still functioned on the belief that Moll took Bloom against her will. Otherwise, it would mean Bloom had abandoned me without a word, and it hurt too much to believe she would’ve ever done that to me.
“Since we’re talking about my blood,” Erik said as he dusted crumbs from his fingers, “I figure I have a right to offer an opinion.” He cut his gaze to me and raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to object. I huffed but nodded in agreement. “Why should I give Moll anything? What if I told her to release Bloom or else I won’t give any more of my blood?”
Dwivedi’s dusky complexion paled. “No, no, Cy.” He waggled a finger. “I have no desire to aggrieve Moll Grimes. The people in the college depend on good relations to keep our trade routes open.”
“It’ll be temporary.” Erik swirled his coffee cup as he gazed at its contents. “An embargo.”
Dwivedi waved Erik’s words away. “You underestimate Ms. Grimes. She will not bow to pressure. She does not give in to demands. She takes what she wants, and she will take you, Cy, by force if necessary.”
Erik set down his coffee and stiffened his back. “But if I refuse to give you my blood, then you won’t have any choice.”
Dwivedi narrowed his eyes, obviously not cowed by Erik’s threat. “Then the consequences will be your responsibility alone. Your blood is most valuable, but it is not everything. So long as I do nothing to damage the trade relationship with Ms. Grimes, then this community will survive. I cannot say the same for you.”
I’d had enough of watching the two bulls circle each other, snorting and pawing the dirt. This whole plan came down to me getting my sister back, and Erik could grow a tail and swing from trees before I’d let him jeopardize any plan to retrieve Bloom. The same went for Dwivedi.
“Dr. Dwivedi.” I waited until he turned his attention away from Erik and back to me. “I like your plan. I support it. But we can’t force Erik to give his blood against his will. If he doesn’t want to do things your way, then we’ll have to find another way.”
Erik’s shoulders slumped. His gaze dropped to his lap. “I don’t like the idea of giving in to Moll, but I’ll do whatever you want, Sera. If you like Dr. Dwivedi’s plan, then I’ll give my blood until my veins run dry.”
Dwivedi chirped with delight. “Oh, that will not be necessary. We will not take enough to hurt you, but you may feel quite unlike yourself for some time.”
***
WHILE DR. DWIVEDI PREPARED his implements for drawing Erik’s blood, I went to Amity’s cage, peeled back the cloth covering her, and immediately noticed she didn’t stink nearly so much as usual. She was resting peacefully, and I hated to see her caged, but I believed Dwivedi when he said she couldn’t be trusted with her freedom.
“Hello, Amity,” I said. “Do you remember me? We went to school together.” I pointed to myself. “Serendipity Blite, but everyone calls me Sera.”
She didn’t respond, but she didn’t try to eat me either. She didn’t really look at me at all but lay listlessly on the floor of her crate. Along with the loss of her death smell, her chest rose and fell with regularity, and her skin had plumped and pinkened. Her recovery astounded me and made my heart heavy with the familiar regret of all the things that could never have been.
Erik suffered Dr. Dwivedi’s ministrations in silence, and before long, they had filled several glass vials. The blood drawing didn’t bother me the way it had before, and once I gave up trying to get a response from Amity, I took a seat on a stool beside Erik.
He scowled, bottom lip poking out in a petulant frown. “Not feeling sick this time? Is it because you’ve got such a big stake in the outcome?”
His comment hit a little too close to home, and defensively, I snapped back at him. “I said you didn’t have to do this.” I slid off the stool and returned to Amity’s cage, preferring her silent company. One of her inhalations caught in her chest, and she coughed.
How interesting.
Erik heaved a sigh I could hear all the way across the room. “I’m sorry, Sera. I really do want to help.”
His apology only made me feel worse.
Dwivedi filled his last vial full of blood.
Erik caught my eye as he rolled down his sleeve. He tilted his head and raised a brow. I gave him an apologetic smile. He offered his own soft smile in return.
Just then, Dwivedi dropped one of the full vials, and it crashed to the floor, glass shattering. Blood splattered everywhere.
“Oh, dear—” Dwivedi said, but a vicious snarl from Amity interrupted him.
She launched to her feet, fingers curling around the bars of her cage, knuckles straining white against her skin. She licked her lips, and a thin string of spittle dripped from her chin.
“Amity?” I eased back several steps.
Grinding her teeth, eyes rolling, she ignored me. She flung herself against the cage’s bars, and the whole contraption rattled. She howled, obviously outraged. Dr. Dwivedi shook himself, recovering his composure, and hurried to clean the blood spill.
Erik scurried to help him.
Clang! Amity threw herself against the cage again.
“I thought her kind didn’t like your blood,” I said to Erik.
He looked at me with a stunned expression, eyes wide. “I said they’re more inclined to ignore me than compared to other people. But blood is blood. I don’t think they’re all that picky when it comes down to it.”
“Sera, put the cover over her,” Dwivedi said, pointing at the cage. “It will calm her.”
I yanked the canvas sheet over the top of the cage, but before I let it drop between us, Amity’s eyes turned on me. I searched for a sign, a glint of something human. Instead, she growled and lunged, her teeth chomping with a ghastly crack.
I dropped the cloth, and moments later, she went silent. “She looked like she was doing better,” I said sadly.
“She is doing better, physically.” Dwivedi rose from his knees, clutching a bloody rag. Erik took it from him and deposited it in a metal bin marked for the incinerator. “But I’ve seen no improvement in her mind. I fear that part of her is not regenerating like her body. In that sense, I’m afraid the cure may have failed.”
“Are you going to keep treating her?”
Dwivedi nodded. “‘As long as the heart beats, as long as the body and soul keep together, I cannot admit that any creature endowed with a will has need to despair of life.’”
More Jules Verne quotes. How apropos and unsurprising. Whether Amity was endowed with a will was still very much in question. Perhaps it would take a journey not to the center of the earth but to the center of her soul to find out. But who knew if she had one of those anymore?