Dead on Arrival, page 7
“Really? Because I heard that you and Oliver exchanged some heated words earlier today.”
“We had a conversation, sure, but — wait a second, did Azalea tell you that?”
I didn’t see any point in denying it, so I nodded. “She did. She said you came flying into Petals & Potions complaining about the smell coming from the shop, and you were so upset about it that Oliver had to take you outside.”
Bella’s cheeks flamed, and she opened and closed her mouth several times like a fish out of water. “I… I, well, I admit it, it upset me, but it’s not like… I didn’t hurt Oliver, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“I’m not pointing any fingers, Bella, I’m just asking around for Oliver’s sake.”
“Right, of course, I understand. Listen, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea from, well, prying ears,” Bella said, annoyed. “I’m sure Azalea meant well, but she doesn’t know the complete story. The thing is Oliver and Giles have been working on some new product, and every time they do it puts off this horrendous smell. I don’t know what they’re using, but it’s seriously suffocating.”
“Azalea said it’s not that bad.”
“Well, like I said, Azalea doesn’t really know what she’s talking about sometimes. I’m telling you, Selena, I’ve never smelled anything like it, and I’ve gotten several complaints from some of my regular customers, so it’s definitely not just me. I can’t even describe the smell, it’s like… Something died and they left it to bake in the sun,” Bella said, and this time I shuddered.
“What do you think it is they’re doing?”
“I wish I knew, trust me!” she said, and I didn’t doubt that for a second. For someone as nosy as Bella, not knowing the details about something like this must’ve been driving her absolutely crazy. “Giles swore Oliver to secrecy, and though I’ve tried to weasel the details out of him a few times, all he’s ever told me is that it’s something ‘revolutionary’ that will ‘change the world,’ whatever that means. Oliver’s quite the visionary, I’ll give him that, but I’ve never heard of any flower or potion that’s started a revolution. Have you?”
If those were really the terms Oliver and Giles were using to describe their work, then that might explain why someone like Dominique would be interested in swooping in to scoop up exclusive rights to their serum. But what was it? What could warrant that much secrecy — and such an allegedly offensive smell as a byproduct? “No, I can’t say I’ve heard of anything like that either, though I’m not the best with history.”
Bella’s brows scrunched as she thought everything over, and then her face lit up. “Hey, wait a second! I just thought of something. Do you think whatever happened to Oliver could’ve been caused by what he and Giles were working on?”
“You mean like some weird side effect of exposure or something?”
“Yeah. I mean, working around something that smells that awful all the time can’t be good for you.”
“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that,” I lied, mostly because I wasn’t sure if Bella was trying to throw me off her trail or if she really thought that might explain it.
“Well, there are really only two people left to ask about it, though I don’t know if either of them will tell you anything,” Bella said.
“Oh? Who?”
“Giles, obviously, but good luck getting anything out of him. There’s this scary other vampire though who’s been hanging around here a lot lately whispering in Oliver’s ear. I’d never seen the giant until Oliver and Giles started working on, well, whatever it is they’re working on, but now that other vampire’s here pretty much every day. I think his name is Dom?”
Instinctively, my eyes shot to Thorn’s; they were just as wide as mine must’ve been. I’d already known Dominique was trying to strike a deal with Oliver and Giles, but if Bella was telling the truth about his visits, the vampire was obviously much more interested in acquiring the rights to the serum than we’d first thought — so just how far had their negotiations gone? And could Dom have attacked Oliver for backing out? He seemed too aggressive to use something like poison, but stranger things had happened.
“Oh, and you know what? He was here again earlier today. After you guys left the festival, he showed up at Giles’ table demanding to speak to Oliver, but Giles didn’t have the guts to tell him Oliver was busy and to buzz off, so I did it for him,” Bella continued, and my mind flashed back to the look of borderline fear I’d seen in Giles’ eyes when Dom approached his table; I’d seen the interaction on our way out of the square earlier. Was Giles asking for my help when our eyes locked, or was it something else?
When neither of us responded, Bella spoke up again. “I take it that name rang a bell?”
“Yeah, Dom’s staying at Kindred Spirits. He said he’s here for business, but we didn’t really know what kind until recently.”
“Well, that’s perfect for you, isn’t it? If anyone would know what Giles and Oliver were working on, it would be him, judging from how aggressively he’s been trying to court their business. Dom scares me, honestly, but Oliver has had nothing but good things to say about him,” Bella said, which left me wondering why Giles wouldn’t want him meeting with Oliver. Was Giles trying to protect his admittedly gullible business partner from getting swindled, or was he just jealous? “Dom probably knows a thing or two about people becoming vampires too.”
“Do you know where he went after you told him to get lost?” I asked, and Bella shrugged.
“No idea, I lost track of him, but he’s gotta come back to Kindred Spirits at some point if he’s staying there, right? Who knows, you might’ve passed him on your way back into town.”
“We should probably get going then,” I said more to Thorn than Bella. Thorn nodded his approval, but I noticed him staring at the case of baked goods longingly. Bella did too, and she laughed.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you leave here without another cookie or two for the road,” she said and pulled one for each of us out of the case. I doubted I could finish mine, but I also doubted Thorn would object to me giving him whatever I didn’t eat, so I took the cookie.
“Thanks for the food and conversation, Bella. We appreciate it,” I said.
“Sure thing, I’m glad you stopped by. It was nice to get to know you a bit better, though obviously I wish it’d been under different circumstances. Do you know if they’re allowing visits to Oliver?”
“I don’t, but I can’t imagine it’s a good idea right now if he’s turning.”
Bella gulped. “Oh, yeah… I didn’t think of that. Might be a bit too tempting for him, huh?”
“Probably,” I agreed. “Anyway, it seems like you stay up on things around town, so if you see or hear anything interesting, you can call me at the inn.”
“Will do. Take care, Selena,” she said warmly, and I couldn’t help thinking that, for all my fear of her before I’d entered the shop, she seemed harmless. Nosy, sure, but did that mean she’d hurt someone who she had so much history with? I didn’t think so.
“You too, Bella,” I said and ushered Thorn out of the shop as quickly as I could.
Chapter Nine
Outside, Thorn bit off a huge chunk of his cookie and struggled to chew. “Tho, do you think Dominique might know thomething?” he asked, and I snorted because he sounded like the Cookie Monster.
“There’s only one way to find out. I guess we just have to go back to Kindred Spirits and camp out until he shows his face, but that might take a while. He’s practically a recluse.”
“I’m thure you could engineer a thituathion to get him out of hith room,” Thorn said, then realizing how ridiculous he sounded, swallowed hard. “Sorry. These cookies are just too good.”
I laughed and shook my head. “It’s fine. Anyway, we should get back.”
“You got it,” Thorn said and reached into his robes with his free hand for his wand. After he pulled it out, I wrapped one arm around his and waited for my body to tear apart magically at the molecular level again. Despite what Thorn said about getting used to the sensation eventually, I doubted I ever would.
“I’m glad you came with me today,” I said, and Thorn looked down at me with his brows furrowed.
“Really? Why? I didn’t do much,” Thorn said, surprised.
“You didn’t have to do anything. I just appreciated you being there, that’s all,” I said, and laughed to myself at the blush that rushed across his face like wildfire.
“Evanesco,” Thorn muttered, and magic swirled, whisking us away from our own awkwardness. Moments later, we popped onto the drive at Kindred Spirits. I scanned the grounds for Jadis where we’d left her weeding, but she wasn’t there. My heart skipped a beat, however, when I saw Blair’s car back in her parking spot.
“They’re home!” I shouted and thrust my cookie into Thorn’s hand. Despite my disorientation from teleportation, I stumbled up the drive to the huge double doors of the inn and throw them open. Blair stood at the front desk with our old rotary dial phone’s receiver tucked between her head and shoulder while she scribbled something in the guest book. A new reservation, maybe?
Blair glanced up and smiled at me, then held up a finger to tell me to wait a moment. “Okay, thank you for the update, Healer Hook. I appreciate it,” Blair said and hung up, and I realized she must’ve been talking to someone treating Oliver. Before I could question her about his condition, she breezed around the front desk and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Oliver’s stabilized, but he’s not conscious.”
My chest clenched. “What’s the outlook, then?”
Blair sighed. “The healers aren’t sure. Hook, the Head Healer on Oliver’s case, said it could take a few days for them to get a clearer picture of what’s going on inside him. They’re running tests and monitoring all his vitals in the meantime.”
Emile’s words bubbled in my mind, and panic surged through me. “Did they give him any kind of antidote?”
“No. That would be too dangerous at this point. It’s okay, Selena. The healers at Spellfield know what they’re doing.”
“I know, I just don’t want him to get stuck. Emile said that Oliver could go into a coma if—”
“They won’t let that happen,” Blair interrupted. “Anyway, let’s talk about something else. Where have you two been?” she asked, glancing around me at Thorn, who’d started in on my cookie. She returned her gaze to me, and I spotted an all-too-familiar twinkle in her eye. “Sticking your wands where they don’t belong again, I assume?” she asked playfully.
“We just went to talk to some people who knew Oliver, that’s all.”
“Then that’s a yes,” Blair said, though her growing smile said she didn’t disapprove. “And? What did you learn?”
“A lot, honestly, but the short version is that Oliver and Giles, his business partner, have been working on some kind of top-secret potion and fighting over it. Apparently, the work gives off a terrible smell, one so bad that it sparked a heated argument between Oliver and Bella, the owner of Bella’s Bewitching Boulangerie next door to Petals & Potions. Bella accused Oliver of scaring off her customers with the stench. Oh, and Dom, that huge vampire staying here? He’s been hounding Oliver and Giles, trying to buy up exclusive rights to whatever it is they’ve been working on,” I explained, and Blair raised her brows at me.
“Wow. You’ve been busy.”
“You know me; I don’t like to sit still. Anyway, have you seen Jadis? Or Dom?”
“I think Jadis is getting cleaned up after her war on the weeds, but I haven’t seen her for a while. Dom’s in the kitchen working on his computer.”
“What? He’s actually out of his room for once?”
Blair chuckled and shrugged. “Apparently the Internet connection is stronger there, or so he said. I didn’t ask too many questions.”
“Good, that’s my job,” I said and left Blair standing there as I stomped toward the kitchen in the west wing. Now that Dom was out of his room, I didn’t care how busy he was; I had a lot I needed to ask him.
Sure enough, when I passed through the tall, pointed kitchen doors, I found Dom sitting hunched over his laptop at the room-spanning table. The computer looked so small compared to him I might’ve mistaken it for a toy replica if I hadn’t watched his fingers flying across its keyboard in a furious blur of motion. How fast could vampires type, anyway? I’d never thought about it before, but I’d bet it was probably north of thousands of words per minute.
Unsure of what to say to get his attention, I stood waiting across the table from Dom until finally he glanced up as if coming out of a trance. “Yes?” he barked, clipped and gruff.
“I assume you’ve heard about what happened to Oliver Pollock by now?”
Dom furrowed his bushy black eyebrows at me. “I have. Why?”
Without asking for permission, I slid into the chair across from his and rested my sweating palms on the table to cover them. Bella wasn’t lying; Dom was intensely intimidating, from his hulking frame to his searing gaze. If he’d wanted to, he could’ve reached across the table with one hand and snapped me in half like a toothpick, and he probably wouldn’t have needed the help of his superhuman vampire strength to do it; judging from the swollen muscle cannons that were his arms, he had plenty of power.
“I know you were doing business with Oliver.”
One side of Dom’s mouth ticked upward in a patronizing smirk. “How intuitive of you.”
“Is your deal with him what you’re typing about right now?”
“What deal?”
“The one for the exclusivity rights on what Oliver and Giles have been working on.” The smirk dropped from Dom’s face like a heavy weight, so I must’ve been on to something. “It’s not as much of a secret as you probably think it is.”
“Apparently not,” Dom said flatly.
“How did you get into business with Oliver, anyway?”
“How did any of that become your business?” Dom challenged.
“When Oliver started turning into a vampire right here in this kitchen.”
Dom glanced at the door, and I turned to find Blair and Thorn standing there, no doubt to watch over me. Dom slammed his laptop shut so hard I worried he might’ve shattered it, but it seemed to be in one piece when he picked it up and jammed it under one of his tree trunk sized arms. “I don’t have to discuss any of this with you. Excuse me,” he said and pushed back from the table.
“Why were you pressuring Giles to meet with Oliver today?” I called after him as he stomped toward the door like some undead Hulk, and he froze. I was pressing my luck — and risking my safety — but I couldn’t let Dom get away without at least giving me something to go on. “Did something go wrong?”
Dom turned slowly to glare at me, and every muscle in my body tensed. His blood-red eyes bored into me for what felt like forever, until finally he stepped back to the table to sit down on it right next to me. Amazingly, the table didn’t collapse under his Herculean weight, but I sure felt like I might under the power of his gaze as he stared down at me. “Oliver stopped returning my calls,” he said at last, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Why?” I squeaked.
“Well, if I had to guess, I’d say it has something to do with his partner getting in the way.”
“Giles? Why would he do that? I thought he wanted to strike a deal.”
Dom flashed me an unsettling smile, all pearly and razor-sharp teeth. “I thought so too, but apparently even vampires get cold feet.”
“Why would he, though?”
Dom shrugged. “Good question. That’s what I’ve been talking with Oliver about, or at least I was until he stopped speaking to me. And now, with what happened to him, well…” he trailed. “Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to get at here, but you seem to know a lot already, so ask yourself this: In what universe would it benefit me to hurt a potentially golden goose?”
“Maybe his refusal to speak to you pushed you too far,” I ventured, and Dom chuckled.
“I’m not unaware of my stature, so I can’t blame you for thinking that,” he said and drummed his knuckles against the table, sending a thunderous echo through the kitchen. “But even if I’d wanted to hurt Oliver, turning him into one of my kind wouldn’t have been my first choice.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t have been effective for very long.”
“What?”
Dom flashed me another smile that made my skin crawl. “Ah, so there’s the limit of your knowledge. You don’t know what he and Giles were working on, do you?”
“No,” I admitted; there wasn’t any sense in denying it. “All I know is you were throwing a lot of money at them to lock up exclusivity rights.”
“That part is true, but a vaccine like theirs could be worth infinitely more than what my company offered to pay them for it,” Dom said, watching my face, and I gasped as what he’d said clicked.
“They were working on a cure for vampirism, weren’t they?” I asked. No wonder the smell coming from Petals & Potions smelled like something dead — whatever ingredients they were using for their vaccine probably were!
“Winner, winner, blood bag dinner!” Dom joked, though it sent chills rippling across my body.
“Wait, why would you want to finance something that could literally erase your whole species?”
“Taking it would be optional, and trust me, little girl, I know plenty of people who’d line up in a — well, not a heartbeat, exactly, since we don’t have those, but something along those lines — to go back to a warmer version of themselves. There’s lots of money to make there.”
I nearly slid out of my chair as I realized what Giles was so upset with Oliver about in the vision I’d had. Giles was the scientific brain who found the key to the vaccine, but Oliver didn’t want to pay him for his part; he wanted the money for himself. Was that why Giles had stonewalled Oliver talking to Dom? And was excluding Giles a requisite for Oliver to take the deal with Dom?
“You were trying to cut Giles out of the deal, weren’t you?” I asked, now sure of it. Why would Dom pay two people when he could swindle one of them into shutting the other out? Dom had no attachment to Giles, so what would he care about the damage he’d be doing to a lifelong partnership so long as he got to make a buck?
