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Mimi noticed that, White Vote or not, he was already their leader.
"We shall stay the installation as Warden Force wishes," Forsyth said smoothly. "I have no desire to assume a role that not everyone agrees is mine. And I too am distressed by Charles's disappearance. We shall wait."
One by one they popped back into the proceedings at the auction room. Mimi realized she was still holding her hand up, as she had been in the glom.
The auctioneer gave her a brilliant smile. "And Portrait de Femme (Francoise Gilot) goes to... the beautiful young lady in the front row!"
She had just bought a Picasso.
ER 37
Schuyler
They were in Sydney when it happened. Right in Chinatown, in a little apothecary shop that sold the organic green tea that Schuyler liked to drink in the morning. The trembling began in her legs, then her arms, then her whole body was convulsing and she fell to the floor, dropping the tin she was holding as she writhed and thrashed against the cold linoleum tile.
"Stay back!, it's okay'she's... she's epileptic!" Oliver said, pushing everyone away. "Just give her room to breathe! Please! It'll pass."
It was strange for Schuyler not to be able to control her body, to find it was in revolt against her wishes, almost as if it had been possessed by an evil spirit. She felt as if she were watching herself from a distant place, as if this was not happening to her, but to another girl, who was lying down while her arms and legs moved jerkily, and she frothed at the mouth.
"Sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered when it finally stopped. The shaking had ceased, but even if her limbs weren't moving anymore, her heart was still beating a mile a minute.
"It's okay. You're okay," Oliver said, gently helping her to her feet by giving her his shoulder to lean on.
"Here... water," the shopkeeper said, bringing a paper cup to her lips. Schuyler was glad for the kind eyes of the man and of the other customers. She kept leaning on Oliver as they walked out of the shop and to the bus stop, where a bus back to The Rocks was already waiting.
"This was a bad one," he said, as they paid their student fare and found seats at the back.
He was being kind. It was probably the worst episode she'd experienced. The massive headache, the frothing, the way her tongue had almost choked her... What had Dr. Pat said during her last visit? That the vampire strength was a gift, but in her case was also a burden. Her human body was treating the transformation as a disease, as something it wanted out of her....
"Are you sure you're all right?" Oliver asked again, as Schuyler leaned forward with her head in her hands.
"I'm okay," she said. 'really I am." It was the last thing she said before she fainted.
* * *
Back at the hotel, and feeling much better, Schuyler sat on the little balcony outside their room, wrapped up in a bathrobe. Inside the tiny kitchenette, Oliver was putting the final touches to his curry. He brought out a steaming bowl and set it in front of her with a spoon. They had both learned to cook while on the run. Oliver's specialty was an Indian bananaand-chicken curry, while Schuyler liked to make interesting concoctions out of pasta and whatever she could find in the fridge. (Sometimes Oliver said they were too interesting.)
"Thanks," she said, gladly accepting the warm bowl of yellow curry and rice. She lifted a spoonful to her lips and blew on it before eating, so it wouldn't scorch her tongue.
Outside, sailboats and cruise ships dotted Sydney's harbor. The ocean was a deep sea-green, not unlike Jack's eyes, she thought, then stopped herself. She would not think about him, or what he was doing, or if he was missing her too. She focused on her food. Oliver was watching her through the sliding glass door.
He had that look on his face, and she knew what it meant. He walked out, set a cup of tea next to her, and sat on one of the plastic chairs.
"Sky, we need to talk."
"I know what you're going to say, Ollie, but the answer is no." She took a sip of the tea. Amazing that even with everything that had happened, Oliver had still managed to buy a tin. He really was a good Conduit.
"Sky, you're not being reasonable."
"I'm not? They're going to put us in jail, or whatever they do to people like us." Schuyler shrugged. She knew the punishment for evading Conclave justice: a thousand years of Expulsion. Your spirit locked up in a box. But what if she wasn't immortal? What would they do to her then? And what would happen to Oliver?
"You heard what Jack said. The Conclave has bigger problems than the two of us right now. Besides, maybe this time they'll believe you. The fire at the H'tel Lambert was all over the papers, and the European Conclave is up in arms'they have witnesses who saw Leviathan! They can't deny it anymore."
"Even if they believe me now, they won't let our actions go unpunished. You know that better than I do," Schuyler pointed out.
"True, but that was when Charles Force was Regis. No one is leading the Conclave right now. They're frightened and disorganized. I think it would be safe to go home."
"Frightened people make the worst judgments," Schuyler argued. " I don't trust an organization that would make policy out of fear. And how about you? You're a traitor too, you know. What about your parents? They'll go after them."
