“What are you going to do?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the nervousness out of my voice. She patted my upper arm reassuringly.

She circled me until we were face-to-face and began smoothing my hair away from my ears, straightening the locks. “Do you know where our—where your—ability comes from?”

“Magic?”

She gave me an indulgent look. “Of course. But magic and science, they’re permanently intertwined. And as it turns out, nullness is intertwined with a particular part of the body. A particular system.” She paused. “You really have let this grow out, haven’t you? Do you get regular trims?” She picked up a loose strand, examining the ends.

I knew she was baiting me on purpose, but I couldn’t help but take it. “Please, Olivia, what do you mean by system? Like, circulatory and digestive, that kind of thing?”

“Exactly.” She stepped back, spreading her hands. “If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Your aura fights magic, fights to keep you normal and healthy and untouched by outside infection like vampirism or lycanthropy.” She looked at me expectantly, but I just shook my head. Behind Olivia, Mallory had returned wheeling an IV stand. A bag of unidentified fluid with a long IV tube attached hung from one of the pegs at the top, and Mallory had already hooked two more bags on the opposite peg. She was making her way toward us, pulling the stand as she hobbled along on the cane.

Olivia was shaking her head, and I turned my attention back to her. “You never were a very good student. It’s the immune system,” she announced. “Your immune system suppresses invading disease, and your null aura suppresses invading magic. They’re tied together.” I’d spent months hanging around the cancer ward; I knew what the immune system did. I also knew that many cancer treatments—specifically chemotherapy and radiation—killed the immune system along with cancer cells. It was why cancer patients had to avoid being around sick people or little kids. “And when you abandoned me”—her eyes darkened—“I just happened to make a surprising discovery.”

My mind raced.

“Domincydactl,” I said softly.

Olivia took another step back to examine my face. She looked a little annoyed, like I’d ruined her punch line. “Perhaps you’re not such a bad student after all,” she said airily.

Mallory finally appeared at Olivia’s elbow. “I have to begin in fifteen minutes,” she told Olivia sternly.

My old mentor waved her hand dismissively. “You’re all prepared, it’ll be fine.”

Mallory’s mouth set in a frown, but she nodded and began tying a small rubber tube around my upper arm.

And it finally hit me. Olivia wasn’t planning to keep me around as her pet, and she wasn’t planning to kill me. She was going to do both.

She wanted to make me a vampire.

Chapter 28

“What about Eli?” Jesse asked, desperation seeping into his voice. “Does he know anything? Can I talk to him?”

Silence. Then Will said, “Eli is unconscious. It’s a long story, but he’ll be out at least until morning. I’m sorry; he can’t help.”

Jesse thought that over for a second. “Maybe you better tell me the long story.”

When he hung up a few minutes later, Jesse realized he was sitting down again, his head in his hands as he stared absently at his cell phone. What was Scarlett thinking? Scratch that, he decided. He knew exactly what she was thinking. In that moment, he realized that the little voice mail icon on his phone’s screen was blinking. Jesse frowned. When had that happened? His reception was terrible in the hospital, so it must have popped up when he’d finally gotten close to the windows. He pressed the screen and listened to the message.

“Shit!” he yelled, not caring that the two arguing men, the clawed intake nurse, and his newly minted ex were all staring at him. He couldn’t believe she was really going to just hand herself over to the vampire. Jesse jumped up and beelined for Runa. “I need a car,” he said bluntly. “You’re staying here with Kirsten and her husband, right? Can I borrow their car?”

“Did you find her?” Runa asked, without moving.

He shook his head. “She went after Olivia by herself. I have to go look for her.”

Runa raised her white-blonde eyebrows. “Do you know where she is?”

“No.” He shifted his weight, anxious to be moving.

“So you’re just going to drive around aimlessly and hope you find her?”

“Do you have a better idea?” he snapped.

“I might.” Runa gave him a strange, speculative look. “Does she have a car?”

“She’s driving Eli’s.”

“The bartender at Hair of the Dog?”

Jesse was surprised. He’d been under the impression that the different Old World factions didn’t mix much. “You know him?”

“Kirsten does.” She stood up from her seat, dug in her pocket, and dangled her keys. “I have a spare key for their car. You can drive. But I’m coming along. I can help.”

His brow furrowed. “I’m not trying to start a fight, but how can you possibly help me?”

She straightened her back, squaring her shoulders. “First of all, I was the one who spent all afternoon researching the golem for Kirsten. She delegated to me so she could get ready for the party. I explained everything to her while we were making the appetizers, but I’m guessing she didn’t have time to tell you or Scarlett before everything went to hell.”