9
Maxwell
“Remember, honey,” Benji murmured encouragingly in his daughter’s ear, “you’re still feeling itchy and uncomfortable.”
Lark nodded. “Unconf… Umcomf…” She frowned. “Un-coffee-table.”
“Eh.” Benji shrugged. “Close enough.”
I smiled as the two sat in my office, waiting for Pierce to show up. It was a few days after Pierce agreed to let me stay at the mansion to look after Lark’s condition. I hadn’t seen much of Adriel since then, although Caleb didn’t seem too concerned.
Even though the whole chicken pox scenario was a lie, it was sweet watching Benji and Lark have such a fun time with it. Well, Lark was, at least, judging by how enthusiastically she continued to fake-scratch herself.
The other person I hadn’t seen much of was Theo, which was more worrying. Didn’t he want to see me? I’d gone through all the effort of putting up a front and lying to his brother’s face, and now he was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe he just wants to give me some space,I thought. After the whole near-kiss and the conversation we had where we were so physically close we were almost touching… maybe Theo wanted to create some distance.
I frowned. Had I read the situation incorrectly? I’d never been in a relationship before, sure, but I’d seen enough movies and read enough books to know that Theo’s behavior was a bit strange.
I made up my mind to talk to him about it, but it would have to wait. Pierce wanted a formal check-up done on Lark, since it had been a couple days since ‘discovering’ her condition and she showed no signs of improvement.
A knock at the door alerted us. Benji shot Lark a knowing glance and nodded at her. She grinned widely.
“No,” Benji hissed softly, “you’re sad, remember?”
“Oops.” She frowned, turning her lips downward so hard that her sharp fangs poked through.
At least she’s having fun with this whole thing,I thought in amusement.
“May I come in?” Pierce asked.
“Yes, of course,” I told him.
He entered and smiled at his family. “How’s my daughter doing, doctor?”
“Hi, daddy!” Lark cried, waving at him with one hand and pretending to scratch herself with the other.
“She’s doing well, but this isn’t a condition that clears in a few days,” I explained. “Generally, chicken pox lasts for two weeks.”
Pierce nodded. “So you don’t think her vampiric heritage will speed up the process?”
Crap, I didn’t even think about that!
“Honestly, I don’t know,” I admitted. “After all, she’s the first dhampir I’ve ever met. We don’t have much medical knowledge about them.”
“That’s understandable,” Pierce said. He turned to his daughter. “How are you feeling, honey?”
“Itchy!” she complained. She reached all over her body, almost contorting as she faked the condition. Benji and I exchanged a quick glance. I hoped that Lark’s act would come across as genuine, even though it was inching its way towards being over-the-top.
“That’s too bad,” Pierce murmured. “Has Dr. Green given you anything to help the itching?”
Lark pouted. “No.”
“Er, I’ll get right on that,” I said quickly. I rummaged through my cupboards for calamine lotion. I found the bottle, but hesitated. It contained zinc oxide, which commonly helped irritated skin, but Lark didn’treallyneed it. I knew a small amount wouldn’t be harmful, but I didn’t want to apply too much of a compound her body didn’t require…
“Is there a problem, doctor?” Pierce asked.
I winced, and then became glad my head was turned away from him. “No, just. Looking for it. Ah, here we go.”
