Theo looked like she was going to cry. Her entire body trembled, and her eyes darted from Booker to Trinket, growing wider with every second.

"Trinket, my dear, would you mind giving me a hand with this lock?" Booker asked as he tried to elbow it into place.

Sighing, Trinket pushed herself away from the desk and turned the lock while Booker moved further into the room with Theo. "Booker, look at her. She's terrified," she said, motioning to the girl. "Was it really necessary to go about it like this?"

"How else was I supposed to gain an audience with her?" he asked, stationing himself by the bed. "She's proven to be very elusive and evasive."

Theo's eyes flickered to the bed. She burst into sobs, the sound muffled by Booker's hand.

"Oh, no, Theo, it's not as bad as that, really," Trinket said, rushing over and sitting on the edge of the bed. She offered the girl a sympathetic smile and tried to wipe away her tears, but her touch was met with a violent flinch. "Theo, I promise, we only want to talk. We aren't going to hurt you."

Her reassurances did no good, and the girl's legs gave out beneath her. Booker kept her upright, but he rolled his eyes at her hysterics. "Theo, I assure you, my intentions are not depraved," he said. "I simply have some questions for you concerning a subject that you seem less than eager to discuss, which is why we had to resort to this deceitfulness. I apologize for putting you out so, but if you would promise not to scream and to at least hear us out, I would release you and swear to do you no harm."

Theo's wet eyes wandered about the room, perhaps searching for some means of escape. But after a while, she let out a sigh and nodded. Booker dipped his head down to peer at her face.

"You promise? No screaming?"

She nodded again.

He exchanged a look with Trinket before moving Theo over to the writing desk. He eased her into the chair, his hand still clamped over her mouth. Kneeling before her, he met her eyes with a stern expression.

"Remember, no screaming. All right?"

After another nod from Theo, he took a deep breath and released his hold on her. She sat still in the chair, gripping the seat as her chest heaved from what Trinket was sure was an attempt to keep back tears.

"Better?" Booker asked.

Theo nodded.

"All right then," he said, rising slowly to his feet as Trinket joined him. "I have some questions about someone I think you may know. Someone named Victoria?"

Theo's eyes flickered to Trinket. "I know Victoria is not your cat, Theo," Trinket said as kindly as she could.

"Is Victoria a friend of yours?" Booker asked, drawing the girl's attention back to him.

"Not exactly a friend," she said at last, a tremor in her voice.

"A roommate, then?"

"Yes, something like that."

"Is she living with you?"

She shook her head. "No. She was only with me for a week or so. Maybe less."

"When did you last see her?"

Theo squirmed in her chair and met Trinket's eyes once more. Trinket tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn't seem to do anything to quell the girl's trepidation. Taking a shuddering breath, Theo looked down at her feet.

"I don't remember," she said softly.

"I don't need an exact day," Booker said. "Just a guess. An estimate."

She shook her head again, refusing to answer.

"Maybe using some important event as a marker will help you to remember," he suggested. A smug smile pulled at his lips. "Such as, was it before or after the vampire attacks began?"
Flinching, she tightened her grip on the seat of the chair and stared down at the floor.

"Ah, that seemed to jog a memory, didn't it?" Booker said. "Was it before or after you were seen cowering before the dead body of your roommate, Omer? You remember Omer, right? The man whose blood was smeared on your wrist? The same blood that was oozing out of every—"

"Booker," Trinket hissed.

He stopped immediately and took a step back, allowing her to approach Theo. The girl's trembling had seized her entire body so that she nearly shook out of her chair. Trinket knelt before her and placed a gentle hand on her knee. Theo flinched at her touch. Despite the knowledge that the girl was only about a year younger than her, it was hard not to see her as a frightened little child, too afraid to even meet her eyes.

"Theo, I know you're scared," Trinket said softly. "We're not trying to get you into any trouble. We're just trying to find Victoria so that we can help her."

This caught her attention. She looked up. "Help her?"

Trinket nodded.

"You can help her?" she said.

Hesitating, Trinket cast a glance at Booker who shrugged and motioned for her to continue. Turning back to Theo, she smiled and gave her knee a squeeze. "We're going to try our best."

Taking a deep breath, Theo let it out and began to talk. "I met Victoria here in the Clocktower. She woke up in one of the rooms, not knowing where she was or how she had gotten there. The more people tried to question her, the more upset she got, and she came close to getting thrown out on the street. But I felt bad for her, so I volunteered to talk to her and try to coax the truth out of her.

"That's when she started to tell me her story. About how these terrible people are after her, trying to get information out of her, and how she's been running for years. She said she'd taken refuge in a church, pretending to be a nun, but the bad people burned the church down, killing everyone inside. Can you imagine that? Setting fire to a church?"

Trinket averted her eyes. What kind of lies had Tory fed her? And were they just lies she had fabricated to get Theo to help her? Or did she actually believe the absurd stories she was spinning?

"You didn't think these stories were a little far-fetched?" Booker asked.

"At first I did. But then she showed me proof." Curling her lips back, Theo pointed at her teeth. "Her metal fangs."

"How are those proof?"

"She said the bad people who are after her had been performing experiments on her, trying to turn her into some super-intelligent spy or assassin or something. The fangs were only the beginning of the experiments. She managed to escape before they did more."

Booker lifted his eyebrows but didn't raise any further objections. "So after the fire in the church, she ended up in a room here?" he asked.

Theo nodded. "Yes. She passed out from the smoke and then woke up in one of our rooms. She wasn't sure how she got here. Maybe a good soul took pity on her. Anyhow, her story was so moving that I felt I couldn't just send her off with nothing to her name. So I offered to let her stay with me until she figured out what to do. We have so many people living in our little rented room that I didn't think anyone would notice an extra body for only a week. But Omer did. When he found out I had snuck her in, he insisted she owed special payment."

Swallowing hard, Theo closed her eyes.

The old man's unbuckled belt.

"He attacked her?" Trinket asked.

"Yes," Theo said, opening her eyes again. "He tried to force himself on her, and Victoria panicked and bit him. In the neck. With those metal fangs."

The memory of Omer showing up at the house with those two puncture wounds on his neck flashed through Trinket's mind.

"He went running, screaming about a vampire. And then Victoria took off. I tried to go after her, but I couldn't find her. Omer came home, and I avoided him as best I could. But then one day, as I was headed to work, he came stumbling over to me, covered in blood. It was coming from his eyes and his nose and his ears—from everywhere."

A shudder ran through her body, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she wrapped her arms around herself. Trinket rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but the girl seemed to be reliving the gruesome moment.

"It was horrible," she said, her eyes still closed tight. "And then I saw the bite marks on his neck. They were bleeding, too. And he was babbling on and on about how I did this to him, how I invited a vampire into our house, how I set a monster loose in the city."

Her eyes shot open, and she caught Trinket's wrist, leaning in towards her. "I swear, I didn't know she was a vampire," she said, her voice hitching as tears filled her eyes. "I didn't think they existed. I thought I was helping someone who was being wronged. I swear, I didn't mean to do this."

"It's not your fault, Theo," Trinket reassured her.

"And then that shopgirl was attacked, and then she died, and I realized this was all my fault. I should never have fallen for Victoria's stories. Like you said, they were so far-fetched. But the way she told them. She was so convincing. So sure of herself."

Trinket understood. Tory did speak with great conviction, and while Trinket knew better than to believe her stories, someone who wasn't privy to her mental condition might be persuaded to accept them as truth. Especially someone like Theo who, though sweet and compassionate, seemed to be a tad naïve.

"I tried to find her," Theo continued. "I thought that if I could talk to her, I could find a way to keep her from hurting anyone else. But I have no idea where she went. And even if I did find her, I don't know if she'd trust me after what happened with Omer. She probably thinks I'll turn her into the police. Which I suppose I should. I just . . . I don't know . . . I . . ."

She dissolved into tears again, and as Trinket tried to comfort her, she glanced back at Booker. His eyebrows were drawn together, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared off into the distance. He must have sensed her gaze, though, as he snapped back to reality and gave a small sigh.

"Thank you, Theo," he said. "You've been incredibly helpful."

Drying her eyes, she asked, "Are you going to try to find her?"

"We're giving it our best shot."

"So you can help her?"

Booker hesitated, but when he met Trinket's hard stare, he nodded. "Yes. Yes, so we can help her."

"Then you're not a police officer?"

"No, I am most certainly not."

Relief washed over Theo's face. "Good. I mean, I know Victoria is hurting people, but I think she's just scared. I don't want her to get locked up. Or worse."

Trinket smiled and patted her arm. "I think you're right, Theo. We'll do what we can to find her and help her. Right, Mr. Larkin?"

Meeting her hard stare once again, Booker nodded in agreement. "Yes, we will. And I hope that if you happen upon any more evidence, you'll let us know."

"I will. Mr. Larkin, was it?" Theo said.

"Yes. If you ask around, it will be easy to find me. I'm a well-known doctor here in Tinkerfall."

"Notorious is more like it," Trinket said.

Booker smiled and inclined his head. "Thank you, my dear assistant." He turned back to Theo. "And thank you, my dear, for taking the time to speak to us. Again, I'm sorry we had to do it this way. I hope we didn't frighten you too much."

Theo shook her head and rose to her feet. "No, it's fine. I just hope you can find Victoria and help her. I don't think she's really a bad person."

Fishing through his pocket, Booker pulled out a handful of coins and gave them to the girl. "For your time."

"Thank you, sir," she said, staring down at the money in disbelief.

"And I don't think I need to add," he continued, leading her to the door and opening it, "that prudence would be wise in this situation. There are others who are interested in your friend, and not because they want to help her. You both could be in grave danger if the wrong folks find out what you know."

Theo nodded. "I understand, sir. I'll be cautious."

Smiling, Booker dipped his head and bade her farewell before closing the door and turning back to Trinket. She sat herself on the writing desk and he lifted his eyebrows and let out a long breath. "Well, that was interesting," he said.

"Do you think anything she told us will help you find the vampire?" she asked.

He shrugged and leaned against the door. "All we really got was a name, if it was even her real name."

Hmm, should you tell him?

Could lead to more questions.

Sucking in her lips, she resisted the urge to confirm Tory's name.

"But I believe that any information is good information," Booker continued, pacing over to the writing desk. "And now we have another ally who may have a better chance of finding this vampire than we currently do."

Trinket felt another twinge of guilt, but she forced a smile. "Well, now that that's done, shall we head home?"

"What? You're not interested in spending another romantic night together in the Clocktower?"

He gave her a teasing smile, but rather than lighten the mood, it made her pulse race, and she found she could not tear her eyes away from his lips. Noticing the change in her demeanor, his smile faded, and his own gaze wandered between her eyes and her mouth. She swallowed hard as he rested one hand against the writing desk, leaning in towards her. Waves of warmth and anxiety rushed through her body, and her stomach tied itself into frantic knots. He drew nearer, his face coming dangerously close to hers. If she wanted to, she could move forward just a little further and brush her lips against his.

And, oh, did she want to.

Just a little closer.

That's all it would take.

Just a—

A dull bang shook the wall by the bed, pulling them both out of the feverish trance they had fallen into. It was followed by a groan and another bang, this one harder than the first, causing the headboard to shake.

"What was that?" Trinket asked as a whimper came through the thin wall.

"Either someone is being murdered or a night flower's customer is getting his money's worth," Booker said. He met her eyes and gave a soft smile. "Probably best to take our leave now, eh?"

She jumped as another bang rattled the bed. "Yes, please, before they come through the wall."

They returned downstairs and left the key to the room with one of the serving girls. Theo was nowhere to be seen, but the crowd in the alehouse had grown significantly in the short time since they had gone upstairs, so she was likely busy serving customers.

"I feel like we're making some great memories in this establishment," Booker said as they stepped outside and made their way home.

"Great memories? You call kidnapping a young woman and terrifying her to tears a good memory?" Trinket said, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Any memory I make with you is a good memory, if I may say so."

He glanced down at her with a gentle smile that made her heart flutter. "You flatter me, Mr. Larkin," she said, turning her eyes away so that he wouldn't see how flustered his compliments made her.

"It's not flattery, my dear. If it were flattery, I would spout poetry about how your eyes are as bright as a beautiful blue sky. Or how your lips resemble the blush of a ripe peach. Or how your smile fills me with more excitement than does the fresh corpse of a recently deceased vampire victim."

She gawked at his last comparison, and he chuckled.

"But I'm a scientist, not a poet," he said.

"Clearly," she mumbled, turning her attention back to the road.

There was a long silence before he cleared his throat. "Ah, Trinket, you know—"

He was cut off when someone stumbled into him, nearly knocking both of them over. Cursing under his breath, he turned to the man as though he were about to pick a fight. But then he stopped and clamped his mouth shut. Trinket peered around him and held back a gasp when she caught sight of a snake tattoo peeking out from under the inebriated man's bowler hat.

Viper.