I pressed the pedal again, feeling the hammer board tighten and release, wishing everything could be as simple as the workings of a piano.
Edward cracked his knuckles, one at a time. The air was getting tense. “I don’t recall the Bible preaching clawing people’s hearts out.”
Montgomery’s hands curled to fists at his sides. “You can’t blame them for wanting revenge. Do you have any idea of the pain they’ve suffered at human hands?”
“I don’t,” Edward said. “But I’d wager you do.”
I pounded my fist against the lower keys. The room shook with the wild combination of deep notes. “Stop it! You can box each other to bruises back in London, if you like. But let’s get the launch first and get off this island.” I slammed the key cover down. “Agreed?”
They stared at each other, taut as a piano string. At last Edward turned away, his eyes meeting mine. I got a chill, thinking of the three of us back in London. Not every problem would be solved by leaving the island.
“Where’s the boat, then?” Edward asked.
“There’s a church,” Montgomery said. “It’s a stone building in the main square with a wooden cross above the door. The rowboat is in a shed behind it. They might have smashed it for firewood for all we know.”
“We don’t have any other options,” I said.
“We should wait until the doctor leaves,” Montgomery said. “The next time he takes Puck on another fool’s errand.”
“How do we know the beasts won’t try to kill us?” I asked.
Montgomery folded his arms again, staring out the window. “Let’s hope they feel more loyalty to me more than they do the doctor.”
I COULDN’T SLEEP THAT night. My dreams kept replaying the feel of my kiss with Montgomery. His arms around me in the barn, pulling me closer, his hand running down my hair. The dreams slipped to Edward holding me behind the waterfall, and I awoke, restless. It was very early, though already hot. I sat up and my foot accidentally kicked the wooden box where I kept my medication. I’d run out the day before but I hadn’t told anyone. If I didn’t take it today, I’d start to feel symptoms.
I pushed the still-locked box farther under the bed. No matter how Montgomery tried to convince me my treatment was different from the islanders’, I needed to find out for myself.
I went to the salon just after dawn. The mantel clock sliced little ticks through the thick early-morning silence. Troubling dreams. Father insane. Murderer loose. Alice dead.
Montgomery came in, as surprised to see me as I was him.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I said. “The heat.” I left out the dreams.
If he could tell I was nervous, he said nothing. “I can’t say that I mind a little time with you before the world rises.” My stomach pressed against my spine, the air suddenly gone. He took my wrist, lightly. He kissed the soft, sensitive flesh, and then ran his finger up my arm. This is what people talk about, I thought, when they say they could die of pleasure. I would have gladly died, if it meant he’d press his lips to my skin again. But he stole away his touch and didn’t return it.
My eyes snapped open.
“You didn’t take your treatment this morning,” he muttered.
I swallowed, surprised, still longing for his touch again. “How do you know that?”
“Because you’re out of medicine. I’ve kept track of the number of days in your supply.” He pressed his palm to my forehead. “And you’re burning up.”
Maybe the heat I felt wasn’t just at the thought of him and Edward, then. I twisted my head away. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll drown at sea or be clawed to death before I get sick.”
But he shook his head, his eyes locked to mine. “You’re doing this on purpose. You want to see what will happen if you don’t take your treatment. You think you’ll become like them.”
A bead of sweat rolled down my temple. “It’s an experiment,” I said. “You have to appreciate that, as a man of science.”
“I told you. You aren’t one of them.”
“Then my experiment will prove it.”
His body tensed, the muscle in his bicep straining. He was so close all he’d have to do was duck his head to kiss me. “You’ll go into a coma and die if you stop taking the injections long enough.”
“Then we’ll know for sure,” I said.
He sighed. Those fathomless blue eyes swallowed me, making me helpless. “Juliet . . .”
My cheeks burned. All I could think of was his lips on my pulsing veins. I blinked, trying to regain my reason. He’d be easier to argue with if he weren’t so attractive.
“If you kiss me right now, I’ll slap you,” I said. But my threat was barely a murmur. The heat from his body made my skin sizzle.
He grinned. “I’ll make you a deal. You told me and Edward to wait until London to work out our differences. You must do the same. Once we’re in London, with proper medical care, then you can play your experiment if you insist.”
The clock on the mantel ticked away each long second. He was right, of course. Whatever the experiment proved, it did me little good if we were still stuck on the island.
I folded my arms. “You know, I suspect you and Edward would be friends if it weren’t for this place.”
His eyes were on fire. “It’s not the island keeping us from being friends.”
My pounding heart stole the words to reply to that.
He took my hand, kissing the knuckles gently, sending trails of fire along the length of my arm. “I’ve made you another batch of treatment. It’s in the lab.”