"Am I toote? How is she?"


    Uriah didn''t even bother with the water in his hand-didn''t wait for Calliope''s answer —he broke into a run, heading straight for the hospital room. Seeing Mavis lying there, so quiet and still, disappointment flickered across his face. Yet, watching her peaceful breathing, he allowed himself a small measure of hope. At least, she wasn''t in any immediate danger.


    As long as Calliope was here, he believed, Mavis would wake up.


    "It''s not toote,” Calliope said. She nced at Uriah''s hand. “You got bitten too?" Reflexively, Uriah tucked his injured hand behind his back, as if to hide it from sight.


    He opened his mouth to deny it, but Calliope was already tossing a small jar of pills in his direction.


    "Take these. Your case is simpler than Mavis''s-one dose should sort you out."


    "Now get cleaned up, and keep an eye on Mavis. Stay with her, talk to her. It''ll help here around."


    She turned away, already focused on her next task. "I''ll need to use yourb for a while I have to extract some serum."


    Uriah took the pills, murmuring his thanks and nodding stiffly. He hesitated, as if considering what to say, but in the end, he stayed silent.


    Calliope went to work in theb. Extracting the serum and preparing the antidote for Mavis took hours. When she was just finishing, she heard Damien''s voice outside.


    She stepped into the courtyard to find Damien disheveled, in ill-fitting clothes that clearly weren''t his-locked in a heated argument with Uriah''s men. They didn''t recognize him and were refusing to let him in.


    "Calliope!" The moment Damien spotted her, his eyes welled up with sheer relief. "I''ve finally found you! Thank God, you''re all right!"


    Uriah''s people nced back at Calliope, realized she was their VIP, and backed off immediately.


    Damien hurried over. "Calliope, are you okay?"


    “I''m fine. But you—what on earth happened?” Calliope eyed his appearance suspiciously; even his clothes were wrong.


    "Don''t ask," Damien sighed. "Ran into a gang of petty thieves-they took the lot, even the shirt off my back. I, uh... ''borrowed'' these from someone''s clothesline."


    He let out a dramatic groan. "At least


    that was the worst of it—well, actually... He suddenly remembered. "That''s not true.


    There another problem. Calliope, I. need your help maybe ever Mr Stewart''s. This needs more muscle than I''ve got."


    "What''s going on?" Calliope''s eyes narrowed.


    "I came here with Nigel," Damien exined, sheepish. "He heard you''d traveled out here worried about you wanted toe so he could keep an eye on things. I tagged


    along-hitched a ride, basically."


    "But where is he?" Calliope nced behind Damien, brows knitting. Nigel was nowhere to be seen.


    He''s, uh... at a wedding,” Damien muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking anywhere but at her.


    “A wedding?” Calliope gave him a bewildered look. "Whose wedding? What are you talking about?"


    "He ran into ck Spider," Damien said with a wince. "Turns out, ck Spider took one look at him and fell head over heels, decided then and there he wanted to marry Nigel..."


    "Oh, and before I forget-ck Spider is a guy. And honestly... not bad looking, as far as it goes."


    "But that''s not the point, Calliope! Nigel''s being forced into this! He''s not going willingly!"