The Vampire of Tinkerfall (Elysium #3)

Chapter Nine

 Midnight seemed to come far too quickly. Before Trinket knew it, she and Booker were heading off into the night on their way to the dreaded police station. It still unnerved her to think of him going back in there. But she was being overly concerned. Jewkes had invited them there. He wasn't going to arrest Booker.

Maybe he'll arrest you.

Because he knows.

He knows.

He knows!

Shaking her head, she focused on something other than the voices. "You're awful chipper," she noted, observing the spring in Booker's step as they rounded a corner.

He gave a crooked smile. "Am I?"

"You look as though you could break into a jig at any moment."

With a soft laugh, he glanced up at the night sky. The moon was bright, and the stars stood out in the inky backdrop. "I suppose I'm eager to expose the ridiculous superstitions my supposed medical equals have suddenly begun to subscribe to," he said. "They are pathetic excuses for doctors."

"Don't pull any punches."

"I'm sorry, but vampires? Really? How can they consider themselves intellectuals when they believe in fairy tales?"

"This coming from the man who has a woman with gills working as his maid."

He opened his mouth to respond but caught her teasing grin and smiled. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call Daphne a fairy tale, but she is the closest thing I've seen to a mermaid."

"All right, so real vampires are out of the question. But could Benedict have created his own form of vampire?"

Shrugging, he glanced down at her. "If anyone could, it would be him. Sometimes I thought his abilities might be supernatural. Like that healing mixture of his."

"Healing mixture?"

"Something his father concocted. Benedict never told me how he made it, but he used it to speed up the healing process after surgery. And it seemed to keep an animal's body from rejecting a new limb. It was something of a miracle. Or otherworldly, even."

"His father made it? Was he a doctor, as well?"

Booker clenched his jaw. "I would dare to say he may have been the original mad scientist. Benedict idolized him. He was raised to be his father's assistant, giving him a leg up in the field. Made it almost impossible to keep up."

There was a hint of jealousy and maybe even resentment in his voice. Trinket found it fascinating that he could be so utterly obsessed with this friend of his and yet at the same time want to crush him as his rival. It made no sense to her. But then, she wasn't a scientist.

"However, Benedict wasn't all that interested in myths and the like," he continued. "So I highly doubt he would try to create something as silly as a vampire."

She furrowed her brow. "Didn't you say that you two tried to sew snakes onto a girl's head? What other source could have inspired that than old myths?"

"Well, that was more Frieda's influence." He gave her a sidelong glance and raised his eyebrows. "She was the one who indulged in fairy tales."

Those were some twisted fairy tales for a little girl to indulge in. Then again, experimenting on animals was rather twisted as well. Clearly, none of Booker's childhood friends were completely within their right mind. Which explained why her own friendship with him had flourished so.

Right mind, right mind, right, right, right . . .

They arrived at the station to find it nearly pitch dark. There was a weak glow coming from one of the windows, likely an officer assigned to overnight duty. They bypassed the main entrance and made their way into the back. Booker knocked on the gate, and before he could hit it a third time, the back door swung open. Jewkes stood in the doorway, bearing a lantern and a sour expression. He jerked his head, motioning for them to follow him.