Chapter 34 #2
“When was the last time you spoke with Miss Westenra?”
Mina stilled, looking over her shoulder at him. He glanced down at her for only a moment, then fixed his gaze ahead.
“How do you know that name?” she asked, her voice weak.
“Will you turn around?” he said, agitated. “I can’t think when you’re glaring at me an inch from my face.” She frowned, then faced forward. “There’s something I have to tell you, but I need you to be rational about this. We have no time for hysterics—”
“Is this little speech meant to be calming?” she replied.
He sighed. “I never said I was particularly skilled at easing the mind of women.” Then, lower, he said, “Or anyone for that matter.”
“You don’t say,” she muttered. Perhaps it was rude, but she’d taken just about enough of his callousness as she could handle without a rebuttal.
There was a soft exhale from behind her that almost sounded like a laugh, but then he coughed, and she figured she had imagined it.
“You know a colleague of mine,” he said. “Dr. Seward.”
She frowned, tempted to ask what on earth Dr. Seward had to do with any of this, but she decided her best chance of getting information was to let him speak freely.
“A few weeks ago, a patient of his fell ill. At first, he thought it might simply be anemia. A vast amount of blood loss weakens the body. But then, the symptoms progressed.” He paused, and Mina found herself suddenly nervous.
“That’s when he called me in. He suspected there might be something else going on. ”
Her voice was weak as she said, “He thinks a vampire is in London?”
“Yes.”
Mina inhaled sharply, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She tried to steady her racing heart, not wanting to faint from the horse and prove Van Helsing’s beliefs about her to be true.
“And the patient?” she asked. She knew the answer, but she needed to hear him say it.
“Lucy Westenra.”
Mina felt his arms shift more firmly around her waist, as though steadying her should she faint.
“She’s not—” Her voice cut out, not able to even speak the word.
“No,” he said quickly, forcefully. “She’s alive. She’s ill, but alive and under the care of Dr. Seward.”
Mina nodded, swallowing against the nausea in her throat. Lucy was alive. She was alive, and they were making their way to her, and everything would be okay soon enough.
She breathed in steadily, then out, trying not to panic.
“Alright,” she said. “Alright. If this was the Count’s doing, as you seem to suspect, how did he even come into contact with Lucy?”
“Dr. Seward has a theory,” he began, as though wanting to distance himself from the information. “He believes it likely occurred while she was sleepwalking. Mrs. Westenra has found her out in the night on more than one occasion, still in her nightgown.”
Mina’s chest tightened. “Lucy used to sleepwalk when we were children.” She recalled a memory. “Before Dr. Seward, there was another doctor, a man who advised Mrs. Westenra to tie her down to her bed each night. But she refused.”
Mina tried to imagine it. Lucy out on the road, the Count lingering, crossing her path.
But what did he want? Why had he chosen London of all places?
Her thoughts drifted back to a conversation she’d had with Jonathan about Carfax.
Was that why he’d chosen her—because he needed an English bride?
It still made little sense. If the acquisition of the property was political, he might have selected a woman with far more power than her.
“Why?” was all she could ask.
“I don’t know,” Van Helsing said, “but whatever his reason, I can’t imagine it’s altruistic. He hired men to go to the castle and transport some of his belongings. All that was taken were coffins.”
Mina thought back to the coffin she’d found in the underground, the one she’d been afraid might hold the priest. The memory reminded her of her first meeting with Van Helsing, when he’d helped her escape the wolves. “What about Father Petru?” she asked. “Was he ever found?”
“No,” Van Helsing replied. “At this point, I doubt the man is still alive.”
Her chest tightened. “Do you think . . . do you think they turned him into one of them?”
“Unlikely. His purpose was only to perform the marriage ritual. Beyond that, they would have no need for him. He was probably gifted to the brides.”
Mina’s mind clung to something. “Ceremony?”
“What?” he asked.
“You said marriage ritual. Do you mean the marriage ceremony?”
Van Helsing said nothing, and suspicion climbed up her throat.
“Let me guess, this is something else you won’t tell me.”
“Let’s just get to London first,” he said.
Despite her frustration at being kept in the dark, her mind returned to Lucy. Had the Count known of their connection? Surely he had to. Is that why he’d chosen her? To hurt Mina? To get back at her for disobeying him? Or had it truly been a coincidence that had come from Lucy’s sleepwalking?
Mina was silent for some time. Some part of her wanted to ask more questions, to get more information, but another part of her was afraid to know more without having Lucy before her as assurance that she was alright.
Lucy was alive and with Dr. Seward.
That’s all she needed to know right now.
Mina wasn’t sure how long had passed when she eventually spoke again. “We must go straight to her. Once we reach London—”
“We will,” he said, his voice almost softened.
And for the rest of that day, she found herself thankful for his silence, thankful that at least she knew of the secrets he held from her. She realized she preferred this silence, this clear withholding, over lies meant to keep her satisfied.