I had no idea where Max had put Bella, but she wasn't in any of the guest rooms on the upper floor. A quick check of Max's room revealed it empty. I suppose, given the carnage of empty ice cream boxes and drained beer bottles we'd left there, it was no kind of environment for a patient.

I was about to try the rooms downstairs when I noticed the imposing double doors to Marcus's room were open a crack. The brass key with its heavy tassel, which Max usually hung from his bedpost, dangled from the keyhole.

"Now, what are the chances that got there by itself?" I mumbled, easing the door open a bit farther.

I'd never been in this room, and though I'd never met Max's sire, the moment I peered in the place screamed Marcus. Stern, heavy furniture; ugly, masculine colors; scratchy-looking, expensive fabrics. No wonder Max kept it locked up at all times.

The room was dim. A bedside lamp with a gold shade and beaded fringe provided muted, warm light. Bella lay in the center of the bed, dwarfed by the antique monstrosity. The huge canopy nearly touched the ceiling, and I estimated there would be room for tour people on either side of her. Max sat with her, holding her limp hand in his.

For a minute it looked as though he would lean forward and kiss her forehead. I cleared my throat, so he wouldn't go all "emotional shut-down Max" on me when he noticed I was there. "Knock knock." who's there?" he asked with a note of black humor in his voice. It you say banana, I'm going to hit you."

I walked slowly into the room, feeling somehow criminal for invading this private sanctuary. On the nightstand, in dark wood frames, sat an assortment of snapshots of Max. It was an uncomfortably intimate thing to see. "She's out again?"

He nodded. "But she's still breathing, if you couldn't tell from the snores."

I dutifully took her pulse and monitored her respiration, timing it by the ticking of the ornate gold clock standing in the corner. "She's going to be fine. Whatever the Oracle did—"

"Don't. Not around her." He positioned her hand on her chest in a way that made her eerily resemble a corpse.

"If there's anything else you need—"

Max waved a hand dismissively. "Go. If she wants to do this again, it's not like the two of you will be able to stop her. And I think if she makes a return appearance, Bella's gonna need a lot more than CPR to help her."

"Don't talk like that" I begged quietly. "Listen, we can talk about this tomorrow night. Right now, we all just need some time to think. But this isn't a lost cause."