Page 110 of Eternal Craving

“Well, you’re definitely afflicted.”

“You’ve seen this illness before?”

“You could say that.”

“Can you help us?”

I held on to my patience. “Yes.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Benjamin’s face reddened.

“May I take a look at your friend?”

“Sister.”

A young girl lay on the floor, around sixteen or so, her hair a vibrant titian. I knelt beside her.

“Can you help her?” He looked woeful, as though already aware of the answer.

“What’s her name?”

“Rachel.”

“She’s very pale.” I felt a wave of sadness. In his confusion, Benjamin had drunk from her, leaving her close to death.

“Does she have what I have?” he asked.

“How did you come to be down here?”

Benjamin settled beside me, his face sallow. “Rachel got a job as a housekeeper and I as a servant for Delacroix.”

“Go on.”

“The count found favor with her.”

Delacroix had also found favor with Benjamin, but I didn’t push it. Again, Benjamin closed his mind to me, providing only controlled glimpses, allowing me just enough to make assumptions.

Benjamin sighed. “The count’s behavior was so strange.”

“I understand.”

“No, I don’t think you do.”

Rachel’s bodice was tight. I wanted to loosen it to aid her breathing but knew how it would appear.

“Is she dying?” he asked.

“I think she is, yes.”

Benjamin’s anxiety was increasing.

Rachel had not been turned, but if it wasn’t done soon, she wouldn’t last another night.

“Tell me something,” I said, “have you bitten your sister?

“He did send you!”

I strolled under the stone archway and laid down on one of the coffins. I rested my hands behind my head and crossed one leg over the other. Uncomfortable, but I’d known worse.