CHAPTER 20
Caroline woke up in a tangle of limbs she had to fight her way out of.
It would have been cute if her bedmate wasn’t in an infernal slumber that made it impossible to wake up so she could rescue her arm that was trapped beneath her body.
It took some shimmying, but she finally removed herself and turned the lamp on the bedside table to its lowest setting.
Watching Valeria sleep was still eerie. Even after Caroline left the bed, Valeria’s body was still contorted as if she was still there.
She frowned. Valeria looked worse than she had the previous evening.
Haggard, even. Her skin was flat and pasty, like all color had been leeched from her.
Her hair was dry and breaking apart. The bags beneath her eyes were dark purple, and her cheeks were hollow.
Caroline stretched out a shaky hand to feel her forehead, and she was colder than she had ever felt before.
Valeria looked dead for the first time.
Only it didn’t make any sense for her to look so…sick when she had always been beautiful and vibrant. The promise of a doctor coming had been a ruse to stay in her house, but perhaps she would ask if there was a vampire doctor somewhere out there she could get to come out.
She froze when she realized what was wrong. Valeria had spelled it out for her last night, but they were too busy arguing for Caroline to realize exactly what the problem was. Valeria was hungry. Starving.
It was enough to make her want to run because she couldn’t imagine the damage a hungry vampire could do if all this time they were dealing with a well-fed vampire. She couldn’t leave the town to that sort of carnage.
But more than that, she couldn’t leave Valeria. Not when she was vulnerable. Not when she was trying so hard not to kill, and it was all for her.
Caroline would help her keep off human blood.
Last night she drank from a wild boar, so animal blood was an acceptable substitute.
Though there was no way she could ever dream of catching a wild boar.
She wasn’t much of a hunter. Her father had tried to get her into fox hunting, but she was an awful shot and found the actual work of hunting to be terribly boring.
There were the chickens out back, but she needed them for eggs. Besides, they seemed like an inefficient food source since there couldn’t be that much blood in their little bodies. Rabbits were too quick, and voles were too cute with their sweet little faces, in addition to being too small.
She thought about what animals she could find on such short notice as she snuck into her bedroom.
There was no sign of Lucy, so she hoped her night with Valeria had gone undetected.
Lucy knew, which meant that information was slowly making its way through the house.
Her only hope was that Mrs. Thomas wouldn’t find out.
She would likely die of embarrassment if the housekeeper knew how often she was sneaking out of anyone’s bed.
It would be worse than her parents finding out.
Pulling apart her still-made bed, she mussed the sheets to make it look like she slept there. When her bedroom door creaked open, she threw up her arms as if she was stretching.
“Good morning, Lucy,” she yawned.
“You’re up early, Miss,” she said, balancing the breakfast tray on one hand as she shut the door.
“I figured I might as well get a head start on the day.”
“I suppose that’s good luck then since a letter from Dr. Murnau arrived early.”
Caroline froze as guilt flooded her. He had tasked her with finding the vampire, and instead she had been busy making love to that very vampire. She could only imagine how disappointed he would be if he found out.
Though the killing had stopped, and that should count for something.
* * *
Her stomach still hadn’t settled by the time she got to the hospital.
The ward was quiet, save for the gentle voices of the nurses as they gathered their supplies.
Some of her unease dissipated when she saw there were no more patients.
Valeria seemed hungry, but that was still a theory until she could ask her when she woke up.
It would have destroyed her to walk into the ward and see it full.
“Ah, Miss Blythe.”
Caroline turned to see the doctor walking toward her.
He looked good, far better than he had in weeks.
Probably since the night of her engagement party.
The bags beneath his eyes were gone, his clothes were clean, and his hair had been brushed.
His expression was still severe, but she would have worried if he was smiling.
“I see the last of your patients have left the ward. I’m hoping they were discharged.”
“They were yesterday afternoon, and we haven’t had anyone new. It’s been several days since anyone in the village has fallen ill.”
“Good.” She couldn’t help her shaky smile. “Do you think we’re safe from the vampire now?”
Murnau frowned. “I’m not sure why it’s stopped, but I don’t think it’s done with us yet. I fear this is another of its vicious games.”
“But why?” She asked, frowning.
“Because superstition has deluded him,” Dr. Gardner said as he walked into the room.
“Just because you refuse to open up your mind doesn’t make me delusional.”
“My mind is open to science.”
“Then what is the scientific reason you think the attacks have stopped?” She asked.
Dr. Gardner removed his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief. “Most likely, the illness burned out. You see it all the time with illnesses with a high mortality rate. They spread quickly at first, but die out once the hosts die before they can pass it along.”
Caroline shivered; it sounded truly ghastly. She was lucky to live in such a time of medicine and science.
“How do you explain the fact it took them several days to die? A disease like the one you’re describing would need to kill in hours. Days would mean people would keep getting sick.”
“Not if it was an illness local to the region that people who had been here for generations had developed an immunity to. That happens all the time in remote villages.”
Murnau snorted. “There’s nowhere in England that remote.”
Dr. Gardner turned to her. “Were the sick men local or had they moved here recently?”
“Most were local.”
Nelly’s family had lived in the area for generations, and she was sure Tommy Palmer’s had as well. Some of the men they had treated may have been newer to the area, but so many of the men she nursed were familiar faces.
“Besides, I never got sick. Even though it was also an illness that targeted men.”
Dr. Gardner frowned, replacing his glasses on his face. “No women fell ill?”
“You saw the ward; I wasn’t hiding any female patients from you.”
“But Dr. Murnau, Nelly was a woman.”
“I know, but your maid was the only female casualty. Even in homes where the men got sick and died, none of the women ever reported even feeling ill in the many interviews we’ve done.”
She didn’t know what to think about that, but it didn’t feel good when she thought about how Valeria selected her…food. That her victims were purposeful. She wasn’t sure why, but somehow choosing made it worse.
It was another thing to speak to Valeria about after sundown.
“Just because something is strange doesn’t mean vampires are the culprit. I don’t know why you called me here if you were so dedicated to believing this madness.”
“I called you here in case you could provide an alternative, and you haven’t. You grouse around here all day talking about how foolish I am, but you have never offered up a single credible theory.”
“I’m still measuring my options, but neither Mrs. Montgomery nor I have seen anything that could suggest anything fantastical,” Dr. Gardner sputtered, his face reddening.
“Then I’m afraid you’re not the diagnostician I thought you were.”
“If you’re so convinced there’s a vampire, then tell me, where is it?” Dr. Gardner threw his hands up.
“That’s where Miss Blythe comes in.”
Both men looked to her, and she blinked at them. She had forgotten to come up with a credible lie about why she hadn’t yet found the vampire.
“I haven’t yet located the vampire.”
Dr. Murnau frowned while Gardner looked smug.
“Have you found any clues?”
“She won’t because there are no clues to find.”
“What are you all squabbling about?” Mrs. Montgomery said, frowning at the three of them. “You’re lucky this ward is empty. I could hear you from the other wing.”
“Your hearing is phenomenal, Mrs. Montgomery. My office is between the two wards, and I still have trouble hearing from there.”
“Yes, yes, I’m quite impressive, but we can talk about that anytime. What’s going on here?”
“Just a different variation of the same fight we’ve been having for the past few days,” Murnau said.
Mrs. Montgomery rolled her eyes before facing Caroline. “It’s been like this for days. Obviously, I’m on Dr. Gardner’s side and don’t believe in vampires, but I would almost accept it if it meant an end to the bickering and woodworking.”
“Woodworking?” She asked, furrowing her brow.
Mrs. Montgomery snorted. “Have you not been to his office yet? It’s a real treat.”
Caroline’s footsteps echoed a staccato beat as she rushed to the doctor’s office, the dread already growing in her. She thought she would have at least a few more days to fake her foolhardy mission. All she needed was a little more time.
She stopped just inside the doorway as she took in the scene before her. “Oh.”
The room was filled with dozens of wooden stakes, all with varying degrees of pointed tips. Some were a foot long while others were just a few inches. There was such variety that no two even slightly resembled one another.
“I’m not the best craftsman, but I’m sure at least one of these will get the job done?”
Caroline turned to face Dr. Murnau. “What are these for?”