Book of Love (35 page)

Wes still hadn’t looked me in the eye.

I looked back at Max. “From where?”

Max looked at Wes. “From him.”

I furrowed my brow. “From Wes? How?”

Max pulled something up on the screen, and I
saw Wes take notice. He crept up behind Max, looking closely at the
picture. His whole demeanor changed, as though he had seen the most
amazing thing in the world. I squinted, trying to see for
myself.

“
What is that?” I
asked.

Max sat back. “It’s an endangered frog from
Brazil. A dart frog.”

“
A dart frog?” The screen
displayed a small black and yellow frog.

“
Tribes used to use their
secretions to poison darts that they’d then employ against their
enemies. But more importantly, it was also used to rid their
enemy’s of the devil inside them so that it wouldn’t haunt the
tribe after the enemies death,” Max explained.

I nodded. “So, we’re going to use it on
Greg?”

Wes finally looked at me. “No, Jane. We’re
going to use it on your sister.”

Wes’s voice was surprisingly deep and raspy.
It was clear it had been a while since he spoke.

I was confused. “But won’t
that kill her? Hence the whole
kill the
enemy and rid it of the evil ghost
thing?”
My voice was louder now.

No one answered me.

“
Max?” I
pressed.

He sighed. “It
could
kill her, but if
we leave her the way she is, she’ll be as good as dead. If Greg
gets what he wants then you’ll never know your sister as the girl
you once loved ever again. She will be lost forever.”

I swallowed. “But how do we do it?”

He scrolled down the page. “There are few
animals that can withstand the poison, such as this one…” He
pointed to the screen which displayed a new image. “The Amazon
ground snake. Wes will have to use the poison from the frog, but
also the immunities from the snake, which he’ll pass to Emily. Wes
will have added immunities to the poison because he also
technically supplied it, though it will have some residual side
effects on him in a human state afterward,” his voice trailed.

“
Like what?” Wes
snapped.

Max laughed. “Nothing you’ll hate. The
secretions of the dart frog have some benefits to man in variable
degrees. Their poison can actually be used as a very powerful pain
reliever, two hundred times stronger than morphine. You’ll feel the
effects of that.”

“
You
mean, I’ll be
high?”
Wes looked shocked, but there was a hint of
delight there as well.

“
Pretty much.” Max nodded.
“I know the whole thing sounds complicated, but getting the demon
out of her will help her body to naturally build immunity against
it.”

I snorted. “You mean the devil in her is
like the flu?”

Wes laughed.

Max rolled his eyes. “If that makes it
easier to understand, then yes.”

I sighed. “Well, how soon can we do this? My
mother is finally realizing that Emily hasn’t been around much, or
rather at all, so it’d be great to get her back rather soon. I keep
lying, but I don’t know how much longer that’s going to work.”

Max stood from the chair and walked over to
me. He sat beside me and took my hand. I heard Wes groan and look
away.

“
We’ll do this today,
Beautiful. Can you handle missing school?”

I heard Wes grumble again.
“Of course she can. It’s her
sister,
not some stupid doctor
appointment. Besides, it’s Friday. Who in their right mind would
pass up an extended weekend?” He said it under his voice, but we
heard it anyway.

I nodded, ignoring him.

Max traced my hand with his fingers. They
were soft despite how long he’d been living. I eyed Wes, now angry
that he was here. I wanted to be alone with Max. I saw Max smile;
he had heard me. I smiled back, meaning for him to hear me. Wes was
pacing. I gave Max a look, asking with my thoughts if Wes could
also hear what I was thinking. He shook his head. I smiled,
thinking of our kiss in the woods. My chest warmed.

Wes:

I felt her heart—I felt
that it had no feelings of warmth toward me, just him. Max calls
her
beautiful?
Why hadn’t I thought of that? This was torture. I could
handle knowing it was happening from a distance, but being in the
same room was impossible. Did he not respect the fact that I’d
loved her—
still
loved her maybe? It was sick. He was a
bazillion
years old!

I thought about what he’d told me—the fact
that he’d saved her. I pursed my lips together, further angry
because that meant I owed it to him in some way. The truth was that
if it weren’t for him, Jane wouldn’t even be here. I hated having
to team up with him, I hated being friendly. But who said I had
to?

I turned, seeing they were now grinning at
each other, their hands performing acts I know they’d rather do
with their bodies.

“
Can we get this over
with?” I couldn’t stand it anymore, but my words didn’t seem to
affect them. I grumbled, thinking there was only one thing I could
do. I thought hard, and just as I’d hoped, Max’s attention was
pulled from Jane and he frowned at me. My lip lifted in a half
smile.

Take that, lover
boy,
I teased mentally.

My thoughts were filled with the memories
from this summer—filled with images of that night when Jane and I
had shared something special. I hung the image on the walls of my
mind like a favorite picture, knowing it would keep Max focused on
more important things.

Max continued to glare, dropping Jane’s hand
and taking the hint. He didn’t seem smug, but I felt it inside
him—somewhere deep. I clenched and released my fists, over and
over, trying to hold the animal in me at bay. Max stood, pointing
back to the frog on the computer screen.

“
Can you manage
that?”

I snorted, rolling my
eyes. “Can I
manage
that?” I let one laugh pass my lips. “Piece of
cake.”

Before the words could even make it to their
ears, I’d shrunk to the floor, now a tiny frog. Max’s clothes sat
in a pile around me like a nest. I sat in the neck hole of the
shirt. I looked down at my bright blue hands, figuring I’d liked
blue better than yellow and black.

Jane gasped. I felt smug.
I bet her little angel couldn’t do
that.

Max knelt beside me, taking something from
his pocket. “This might hurt a little,” he warned.

I could take it. Who did he think I was? He
lowered a large stick toward me, which had I been bigger, was no
more than a toothpick. He scraped it across my skin and I winced.
It did hurt, but I hid it, glancing at Jane for affirmation. Her
face was all shock and awe.

“
Okay, thanks.” Max stood.
He placed the toothpick in a small clear container, fastening the
lid.

“
So, where does the snake
come in? I still don’t understand its purpose.” Jane
asked.

Max walked back over to the computer, his
fingers grazing over the keys in a blur, pulling up a new image.
“Now, Wes, change into this. It’s just for practice so you’ll know
how to do it in the future.”

I hated being compliant to his wishes, but
it was for Emily’s sake. I had a hard time seeing the screen from
my position on the floor, but I was able to see the snake’s head,
and from there the rest was rather self explanatory.

I changed quickly, finding the absence of
arms was less annoying than I’d expected. My torso felt powerful,
and I sat up as tall as I could. Max backed away from me, a wary
look in his eye. Jane hadn’t noticed it, but to me it was
unmistakable. He hadn’t made a look like that the whole time I’d
known him.

Max cleared his throat.
“
Uh…
perfect,
Wes. You got it now.”

I narrowed my eyes, wondering what his
apprehension meant. Was he afraid of snakes? I laughed
mentally.

Max lifted his chin in the air, his frame
puffing. He glared at me, enough to show that he was acting
tough.

I laughed again, this time hissing slightly.
I saw Max’s features tighten. I relaxed, lowering back to the
ground. As amusing as it was to see him squirm, it was time for me
to get back to being human. Mostly because I could see that Jane
was beginning to notice the clash between Max and I, and I didn’t
want her to get annoyed and blame me.

I looked at them both, and Max understood
what I was thinking.

“
Turn your back, Jane,” he
stated as he too turned away from me.

Like it mattered if Jane
saw me naked,
I thought.
She has before.

I saw Max shift his weight uncomfortably,
still bothered by the images I’d tortured him with. I quickly
changed back, grabbing the jeans and shirt off the floor. I pulled
on the jeans, fighting with the button.

“
Okay, you can all look
now,” I announced.

I hadn’t put my shirt back on, but that was
how I’d meant it to play out. I wanted one more chance to irritate
Max, and then I swore to stop. Jane turned back, looking at me with
a noticeable hint of awe. I held the shirt in my hands, twisting it
as though I was struggling to put it on, though that was hardly the
point. Max’s face was less than impressed.

Beat that, Max.

There was a scratch across my arm where Max
had taken the poison. The mark was about twelve inches long and
bleeding lightly. I used Max’s shirt to blot the bleeding. Jane was
still staring. I winked at her, causing her to crinkle her nose and
look away from me. I laughed to myself, feeling her heart beat just
a little bit faster.

“
Thanks,”
Max added with
sarcasm, referring to the spots of blood on his shirt. “You can
keep that.”

I finally pulled the shirt on, displaying
the blood stains as though it were a trophy.

“
So, now what?” Jane
continued to press forward.

Max shook the toothpick in the bottle. “We
need to stab her with this.”

“
Stab
her?” Jane gasped. “With
a toothpick?” Her eyes narrowed in disbelief.

I tilted my head. “Yeah, sure. I’ve been
stabbed by a toothpick before, why not?”

Max gave me a strange look, probably
wondering how in the world I’d been stabbed by a toothpick. The
memory came back to me, an embarrassing one. Max laughed under his
breath. I was dumb for bringing it up.

“
Actually, Wes. That was a
joke.” There was a flash of challenge and delight in Max’s eyes.
He’d gotten me back.

I pressed my lips together, embarrassed.

Max let his amusement fade. “Now that you
know how to be the snake, when it comes time, you’ll need to turn
into the snake, ingest the poison, and bite Emily. This will do two
things: give her immunity to the frog poison from the snake, and
also help her to retain the antidote from the frog. It’ll knock her
out pretty good, but in a few days she should wake up.”

“
A
few
days?”
Jane huffed. “I don’t have a few days to lie to my mother!
You don’t understand what she’s like!”

Max looked a little stumped, but that
quickly washed away. “I guess I can help you with that. I’ll just
charm her.”

Jane’s expression was wary. “Like Greg did
to Emily?” she challenged.

Max smiled. “Sort of. She’ll be fine,
though. Nothing invasive, just a little imagery block. It won’t
harm her.” He walked up to Jane, his hands trailing down her arms,
her face melting.

I shook my head, aggravated.

“
I
promise,
Beautiful.
She’ll be fine.” His voice was smooth, even
seductive. I hated the fact that I’d noticed. I shivered with
disgust.

“
So, how do we find her?”
Jane’s eyes never broke from Max’s.

“
She’s going to be with
Greg.” Max shoved his hands in his pockets.

“
Well,
gee. Thanks,
Captain
Obvious
,” I mumbled, a little bitter about
the mental war Max and I had having turned against me.

Jane finally stood from her bed. “Where will
that be? At your house?”

Max looked perplexed. “Yes, but not the
house you know, Jane—a different house.”

Max:

Jane looked further confused. “A different
house?”

Just thinking about the house caused chills
to run down my spine, if that was even possible. “Yes, the house
where Greg killed my whole family, or tried to. It’s not far.”

Wes was looking at me with interest now, and
I felt a little less guilty. I knew I’d taken his whole life away
from him, or at least that was what he thought of when he looked at
Jane and me. He hadn’t heard my whole story yet, but I could tell
he’d suddenly found something we could have in common. His parents
had left him, and mine were murdered. We were both orphaned.

“
Sorry, Max. I didn’t mean
to bring that up.” Jane had her head bowed. “I just figured the
house no longer existed, considering the fire and all.”

I exhaled, thinking that we didn’t need to
dwell on the facts of my sad past. We needed to get to Emily,
before she became a sad past.

“
Let’s just go,” Wes said
it for me, changing the subject.

I looked at him, but he was already on his
way out the window. His surprising show of pity was a new
development. Perhaps our similar past had been the ticket all
along. Perhaps I should have confided in him sooner.