Page 35 of Tainted Blood

“That’s not terrifying at all,” I mumbled.

“Dago… I’ll need to ask Isaiah about him. I only know a few things about that group. They’re too outwardly violent for my taste, but outwardly violent doesn’t inherently mean they have done anything wrong that I should know about.”

“I heard about the werewolves. You clearly knew that story.”

“It was one of those tales everyone knows. It led to new tensions between werewolves and vampires. His arrogance in trying to tell me how much I needed to look out for you upset me, and I took a cheap shot, bringing it up the way I did. I don’t believe I coddle you, but… if you feel I’m over-protective, please tell me.”

“I think you’re well-meaning and looking out for me, and nothing has been too much for me yet. You know the dangers better than I do, so I have to trust you. Plus, I don’t want to be alone with any of these vampires, so making sure that doesn’t happen is also a priority.”

“Are you sure? I know you have been frustrated with certain things.”

“I’m frustrated being a young vampire and how that means I can’t be normal like everyone else. I can’t be trusted alone with humans, and when my eyes turn red, everyone scatters. I don’t have that part of my life back, but that’s not your fault. That’s my control issues, and the only person who can fix them is me.” Sighing, I looked up at the large mansion. “Everyone else here is wandering the halls as they please. I have to be escorted places, and I bet that annoys you.”

“It doesn’t annoy me at all. In fact, I enjoy your company more than that of anyone here, including Isaiah.” He hummed thoughtfully. “I’ve never watched a movie in this building or with any vampire here. I have never discussed a book with anyone here, outside of Isaiah. I don’t tell them what I read because I don’t care to have that conversation. I have never enjoyed a drink with them and talked about the now seemingly inane way we must dress for these social events. I have never trained one of them to fight, and I certainly don’t spar with them. I have been in the world with them for thousands of years. If I couldn’t tolerate the idea of living with you or spending so much time with you, we wouldn’t be doing those things.”

“What do movies and books say all the time? Stuff about bonds forged in war. There are a lot of those quotes out there,” I said, trying to shake off how good it made me feel to know he really did have something different with me than anyone else. This dark, self-loathing, solitary man enjoyed my company when he didn’t even like most people enough to get to know them, even when he was forced to.

“There are several quotes about that, yes,” he agreed. He opened the door and held it for me. “Thank you for coming with me so I could hunt.”

“It was weirdly educational,” I admitted as I walked in, him on my heels. “The rules, how fast it was, how competitive some were… Maybe next time, I’ll try just to say I’ve had the experience.”

“I’ll tell Isaiah,” he said with a smile. “Now, let’s get changed and go…mingle.” The distasteful way he said that last word resonated with me.

“Mingling is awful.”

“We’ll stick together, and hopefully, it won’t go as poorly as it did last night. I don’t have high hopes, but at least we can suffer together. Bonds are forged not because of the war, but the shared experience.”

16

We changed, and I went with another simple look with slacks, not seeing any reason to bring out a dress. I had a weird feeling if Rupert was around, he would tell me this was the perfect moment for a dress because I would be spending most of the night in the lounge, but I figured trying to relax around people I didn’t know meant I should be comfortable. Alexius was straightening his blazer when I presented myself in an entirely black outfit.

“Do you think Rupert would think me presentable?” I asked, lifting my hands.

“Certainly.” Alexius fiddled with a cufflink while he inspected me as I had asked him to. “He would want you in a dress, but he wouldn’t find anything wrong with what you’re wearing.”

“I thought as much, but I don’t want to be uncomfortable all night.”

“It’s better that you feel secure in what you’re wearing. You’ll feel more confident, therefore, you’ll act more confident.” He finished fiddling with his cufflink as he leaned on the side of the couch.

“I wanted to speak to you before we went into the public eye again. Now that everyone is here and settled in from yesterday’s travel, we need to focus on what we’re here to do. We need to listen carefully to who is doing what. Do people have new allies or have recently lost some? Conall mentioning Edwin is an example of things we need to hear and be mindful of. At any point, someone can reveal they know too much, and that will give us a clue. Or they can reveal they are completely in the dark, and we might be able to strike them off the suspect list.”

“Like Isis?” I asked, thinking about how she was able to deduce so much so quickly.

“Exactly, and while I would like to trust her, I’m going to watch her carefully from here on out, as well as Kamose and Nailah.” He started fiddling with the other cufflink.

“Clearly, I have set us at a disadvantage because I have spent several centuries avoiding getting close to many here and trying to stay out of their many problems. Isaiah will be able to fill us in on some details when we have a chance to speak to him privately without it being noticed, but even he doesn’t know everything. I pressed him for some information before we attended, but when you’ve lived as long as we have, it’s hard to know what will be important to something and what isn’t.”

“I get it. It’s a needle in a haystack situation. A million points of data, and you have to know which one is the right one. For all we know, our best piece of evidence could have been something that seemed benign five hundred years ago, and no one noticed it at the time.” Frowning, I crossed my arms. “Where do we even start?”

“Isaiah has spies in many nests around the world. They’ll help us by feeding him information, but for every spy he has, other Masters and Mistresses have their own. Even vampires from smaller households or ones who have been living alone like me have the potential to have spies. Spying is allowed so long as spies aren’t caught. If they are, their lives are forfeit. It’s an open game that many of the powerful play with each other. This means it’s not unlikely that information has gotten to ears that would seem impossible. It also makes some secrets very hard to find.”

“If you know everyone has spies, you work harder to keep your secrets,” I mumbled, nodding at the logic.

“Exactly. As for where we start, we’re information gathering. We’re looking for pieces of the larger puzzle. I know the person who threatened you is here, and by now, they must have shaken your hand or introduced themselves. I want you to be extra watchful for anyone who might try to get you alone or threaten you in a subversive way. Or at all. There's no appropriate reason for any vampire here to want to be alone with you.”

“You know, during the hunt, I was thinking that being the center of attention, having everyone want to pick me apart and figure me out, isn’t really helping. They all have ulterior motives, so how are we supposed to figure out the one who emailed me versus any of the others?”

“It’s certainly not in our favor, but keep your eyes open tonight. Now that we’ve gotten through the first night, everyone will be catching up and into more… business. Some of these vampires might see each other occasionally through the year if they live near each other, but many only see each other at these functions. Discussions will be going on… Let’s say, for example, Marcus wants a change of pace. Isaiah would use this function to speak to someone like Kamose about allowing Marcus to spend some time in Cairo, either attached to the nest or with permission to live alone in the city. Could it have been a simple phone call? Yes, but we’re talking about the most powerful and influential vampires. They’ll want to discuss these things in person.”

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