Page 36 of The Doctor and the Devil
“Well.” The Comtesse Charlotte de Brionne huffed. “It’s about time you arrived.”
13
MINA
April 26, 1768
Château de Ruisseau Magdelaine
From my guestroom in Charlotte’s château, I heard a commotion in the front hall, which I expected to be news from the remaining agents inles DD.After we’d returned from Daphne and Charlotte’s meeting with the Order, they’d spent the following nights planning and sending messages to their agents, desperate to gather word of anything that could help us determine our next move.
The Order had abducted Laszlo. They were keeping him in a locked room underground, drugged with quicksilver and nearly feral from hunger. Daphne and Charlotte both reported a peculiar sensation when they entered the mausoleum, something they’d never felt before. They asked me if I knew of any supernatural repellants other than the false folk cures such as garlic and wolfsbane, but I knew of none. They described a feeling of illness and terror but could not explain its origin. Knowing the Order, I had no doubt they had something nefarious up their sleeves to keep an old, powerful vampire like Laszlo incapacitated.
Laszlo. I knew they would not feed him, and it was possible—difficult, yes, but possible—for a vampire to starve to death. The Order was holding him for questioning, likely torturing him for information on the whereabouts of Rafael, unaware or uncaring that Rafael was innocent of their accusations. Perhaps Laszlo was responsible for the blood plague, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to believe that was true. The Order would execute him, Daphne had said, if he couldn’t prove useful.
One fewer vampire,they’d said, clearly drawing a line in the sand. It was a wonder Daphne and Charlotte had made it out of the meeting alive. Well, undead.
My thoughts turned to Rafael. Where was he? Where had he gone? Was he safe? Did he know about his brother?
And then, my traitorous heart thudded in my chest.Does he still want me after I turned him away?
I tugged the wool wrap around my shoulders, cold despite the slow warming of the April days. Winter had clung too long to France, but finally we’d had a couple of scant sunny days that felt like spring forcing its way through.
Another servant hurried down the hall and knocked at my door.
“Doctor,” she whispered. “I think you’ll want to come see this.”
Usually, when people said that, it meant a visceral appointment for me. Collecting my medical bag, I frowned down at my spring-inspired gown of cream decorated with a riot of tiny flowers. Charlotte had picked the fabric for me, and while I’d balked at the impracticality of it for my line of work, I couldn’t help but feel delightful cheer when I put the gown on.
“Do I have time to change beforehand?” I asked the young housemaid.
“No, mademoiselle. But I don’t think you’ll want to, anyway,” she added cryptically.
I furrowed my brow.
“Why?”
She beckoned me into the hallway and nearly pushed me toward the main staircase. When I peered down into the grand foyer, I understood the commotion.
Rafael stood in the middle of the marble floor, completely naked aside from the mud and traces of dried blood around his mouth. Charlotte stood in front him, chattering animatedly, seemingly oblivious to his unclothed state. Two servants waited patiently at the edge of the hall, poised to offer whatever their mistress required. At present, I thought that should be clothes, but that seemed to be the least of anyone else’s worries. I fought to stem the annoyance I felt at everyone else having a full view of Rafael’sendowments.
I couldn’t help but allow myself a thorough look. If only for scientific purposes, I told myself. How had the vampire changed since I’d last let my eyes rove over his beautiful body—twenty years ago and yet yesterday?
He hadn’t.
His lean muscles—honed through years of a soldier’s training and a predator’s hunting practice—flexed beneath moon-pale skin. A dusting of soft, dark hair sprayed across his chest and tapered down his abdomen. I blushed when I looked lower, embarrassed to be staring at a man I no longer claimed. Lifting my gaze back up, I noticed the tension in his shoulders as he crossed his arms over his chest and the hard lines of his jaw. His eyes were locked on Charlotte’s, and they flashed with restrained anger and powerful promises. He wasn’t threatening her, but he wasn’t pleased with what she was telling him. A loose lock of his black hair fell forward across his brow, and as he pushed it away, his arm drew back from his chest enough that I saw what made my heart nearly stop beating.
A recent wound of fresh pink skin, directly over his absent heart. It was a rough wound that was still healing, which meant not only had someone staked him, but the fight had also been a struggle for him as well.He is not dead,my mind cried.But he could be dead.That was the hardest part about immortal beings—the fact that you could rely on their immortality…until you couldn’t. The fear that followed stopped me in my tracks. Panic clawed at me, hot and sharp, until the room started to spin, and air became thick. From below, Rafael’s gaze flew to mine.
In less than an instant, he was at my side.
“Mina,” he murmured, smooth and low, like a bow being pulled across a cello. The comfort of my name on his lips pulled me from the brink of fainting.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice hoarser than I wanted it to be.
His eyes narrowed.
“You are pale…and weak,” he said, by way of an answer. “You have not been eating. Or sleeping.”
