“When he murders someone, you mean?” I whispered, riveted and horrified by the idea of it all. “Can you feel him doing it? Do you ever enjoy it too, just a tiny part of you, the part where the two of you meet? If you’re the same person, I don’t see how you can’t.” I stopped short, licking my dry lips, and found Edward watching me with a strange expression.
“No, I don’t enjoy it,” he said firmly. The edge to his voice had returned. “And you shouldn’t ask me such things. Nor should you be interested in him, Juliet. He’s a monster.”
I blinked as though he’d shaken me, yet he hadn’t laid a hand on me. I flushed deeply, mortified. I’d merely been curious, and curiosity was nothing harmful in and of itself.
Edward slammed the book closed, still upset, and paced slightly as he replaced his pocket watch into his vest. “I’m going out for the phosphorous salts. You needn’t worry about me killing anyone; I have him under control. I’ll be back in a half hour.”
I listened to his footsteps, followed by the door closing with a loud thwack. I thought about what he’d said, wondered why I was so fascinated by the Beast, told myself it was only because of my love for science, nothing more. I opened my journal, forcing myself to focus only on the chemistry at hand and not our conversation.
I read over my formula once more:
• 1 DRAM ................. CASTORIUM
• 80 MG ................... GLYCOGEN EXTRACT
• 30 MG .................... PHOSOPHOROUS SALTS
• 30 MG ................... EXTRACT OF HIBISCUS
• 10 MG (EACH) ......... WHITE HOREHOUND, GOLDENSEAL,
............................. AND BITTER MELON
INSTRUCTIONS: heat over contained flame in spirits of niter bath until separate oils combine; allow time for essential oils to evaporate. Note: Successful serum shall remain uniform in texture and color when allowed to cool below 40° C. If serum separates, THROW OUT.
On the following pages Edward and I had scrawled our own notations: alterations to the dosage and ingredients, failed results, amended amounts.
The lantern flickered as a spool of air slipped in from the window cracks. I worked quickly, readying the extract, and finished the serum by distilling it over the burner flame and then transferring it into a glass vessel. Each minute that passed while I waited for it to cool was excruciating.
Five second passed, and still it held. My breath hitched with hope.
Ten seconds.
I took a thermometer, waiting at the edge of patience for the reading.
It reached 38° C, and still it held.
Still.
Then it split apart like oil in water.
“No!” I grabbed the vial full of separated liquid, shaking it, willing it to stay mixed. But it had failed, as all of them had. In a fit I threw the serum against the wall, where it shattered to the floor, making Sharkey jump up and bark in alarm. I doubled over in the chair and leaned my head on the table, barely holding myself together.
Failed again.
I rocked back and forth, listening to the wind push at the window, Sharkey’s uneasy pacing on the floor before he curled up again on the hearth. Had Father had these same challenges? Everything had seemed so easy for him. I couldn’t ever picture Father failing at anything.
Your father is still with you, a voice whispered in the back of my head.
I tilted my head so one eye was free, and my gaze fell on Father’s journal flickering in the lantern light. It wasn’t exactly true that Father said nothing about serums. On one page near the back, I had found a detailed procedure he’d done on a cat.
Glycogen deposits are most potent when they are freshly collected, the entry said, And in many cases, this means the difference between a serum’s success and failure.
“Freshly collected”—he meant from vivisecting a live animal.
I glanced toward the door to make sure Edward was long gone, and let my fingers creep toward the crooked shelf like a spider. The lantern cast a ghostly shadow as they moved closer and closer to the journal, until I could graze it with my index finger. The leather cover was soft, well worn, well loved.
The difference between success and failure.
I ran my finger along the top of the journal, testing its weight, how much pressure it would take to pull it from the shelf. I did so, just an inch, and then paused.
How desperate was I to cure myself? To cure Edward? Desperate enough for that?
I glanced at Sharkey, curled on the rug by the woodstove. His paws twitched as he dreamed he was chasing rabbits. I traced my eyes along his scrawny rib cage, where the bones stuck out like a map of his body. I’d seen enough of Father’s diagrams to know where to cut to extract the pancreas. First I’d have to splay the stifles and make an incision from abdomen to sartorius, looking for the pink line of the diaphragm. The pancreas would be located between that thick wall of muscle and the spleen. It would take no more than four incisions to free it. A simple procedure, really.
A log cracked in the fire, and the dog twitched awake. I jerked out of my thoughts and slammed the journal back against the shelf as if it was on fire. My head filled with the memory of watching Father at work in his laboratory, his poor victim twitching, screaming, dripping blood onto the floor. I stumbled to my feet, knocking the chair back, whole body shaking. Sharkey leaped up, worried for me, and scrambled to my side.
I looked down at his wet nose, his tiny claws. No, I couldn’t. I would never. God help me, I’d stop Edward some other way before that.
I pulled Sharkey into my arms.