Page 54 of Tainted Blood

“That’s… yes. I believe that would be a good use of this particular enchantment. No need to get more samples from dangerous supernaturals if they could enchant containers to keep them usable for research.” Alexius lifted two more swords out, seemingly weighing them in his hands, looking over their edges and a good number of other things I didn’t really understand the purpose of.

“How do they work? Could you empty one and refill it with other blood?”

“I’ve owned two in my lifetime and no, not as far as I’ve ever seen. The blood is placed first, and while it is still fresh, the witch or fae will enchant the container to keep that blood. They’re single use in the sense that they can only hold blood from the same exact person for as long as the enchantment may last. Magic feeds off other magic. Witches pull power from themselves and the world around them. We pull our more magical abilities from the inherent power of the blood we consume. These enchanted bottles? They very slowly pull power out of the blood they hold. That’s why they have expiration dates. It’s not just the power and skill of the person creating the enchantment, but also the power of the blood inside.”

“Supernatural blood would keep longer than human blood,” I said, nodding as I processed this information.

“That’s the catch. I see your mind working. You want to know if I could keep human blood like this. I would certainly like to, but a human’s natural power isn’t enough for the spell.”

“You’ve owned two. What were they?”

He was silent for a long time, continuing to pull out the weapons he had hidden in the suitcase, which was really just a weapon case.

“Forget I asked. That was wildly inappropriate.”

“The first was a small sample of werewolf blood to help me on an investigation into some disappearances. The werewolf gave it willingly. The second was fae blood from Lyra. I kept it for a time before handing it off to Jacob, who I’m certain destroyed it or gave it to Isaiah to be destroyed. She was trying to convince me to rekindle our relationship, but I didn’t want to be bought. I also didn’t know what fae it came from or if it had been willing.”

I bit my tongue, not wanting to ask more about his history with Lyra. It wasn’t my business… but Ireallywanted to know. Alexius seemed to think the conversation was over as he picked out two of the weapons he had brought and put them on the coffee table between us.

“This one will strap around your right calf, under your pants.” He lifted it up, then reached back to grab several straps. It was a dagger, barely five inches long with a small hilt. It seemed tiny in his hand, which made me wonder if he’d brought it for me. He put them back down, then lifted the longer one. “This one will be at your waist. It’s a simple gladius, a short sword, but it will give you something if you need it.”

He helped me put them on, his hands swift as he handled my leg to place the dagger. I was lucky I didn’t wear something more form-fitting with my pants. The dagger wasn’t completely invisible underneath them, the fabric catching the hilt, but it was relatively hidden if someone just glanced at me. He was slower getting the belt for the gladius and its sheath, his fingers grazing over the skin above my pants a couple of times.

“I can do it,” I murmured, knowing that if I had recently fed, I would have blushed.

“I know how to position it.” He kept going, getting it buckled, then slid the sword into its sheath. “I need to make sure it’s properly fitted. I won’t send you out there with weapons that aren’t properly secured.”

“Okay, okay,” I said quickly, not wanting to press the issue. He was overprotective. He didn’t treat me like I was glass, but he was always thinking about where I stood versus the other vampires and the rest of the world. Sometimes, it came off as sweet that he would think about my safety and needs, but other times, it was smothering. I wasn’t sure where this particular instance was on that scale.

“Now that we’re ready, we’re going to start in the other wing at the far end of the hall and work our way back to our suite. Once we have everything, we’ll make a simple inventory before handing it all over to Isaiah.”

“We’ll need labels or sticky notes from someone, but yeah, that’s not hard to do. Let me check our office.”

It was only the second time I had walked into the office. I could find sticky notes and a couple of pens easily. The sword felt awkward at my waist, and my right leg felt odd from the extra weight. Neither blade was heavy, but I noticed them just enough for it to be impossible to forget they were there. When I came back out, we were ready to go, and I followed him to our first suite. Galla gave us no argument.

“I brought nothing and have nothing to hide,” she said, stepping aside to let us do our search. She didn’t follow us either, not caring what we looked at. We turned over everything but didn’t destroy the room. If we pulled up a cushion, we put it back. I saw that she didn’t have many electronics in her space, only her phone and a charger for it. No laptops, no borrowed computers already set up. Just the phone that was off when I tried to see what her notifications were because she wasn’t in the room. She traveled light, though, with all of her nice clothing in two suitcases.

“Thank you,” Alexius said as we walked out only fifteen minutes later.

“I won’t get in the way of justice,” she said, inclining her head before shutting herself back in the suite.

“Are all the Ancients positioned at the ends of the halls?” I asked, looking over the room assignments again. Galla was the one closest to the exit on this side, with Ka as her only neighbor. Ramman and Samas were across from him. Lyra was on Ka’s other side. Our wing was similar, with Idir as our neighbor, and Sheba across from Idir. Taj was supposed to be on the other side of Idir, but he hadn’t arrived, leaving that room empty.

He nodded as he opened the door to Ka’s suite. We searched it, finding nothing of note, even personal items. Ka had brought one suitcase and nothing else.

“I’m beginning to think we overpacked,” I pointed out.

“Compared to many of the others my age? Yes, we did, but we’re not in the same position they are. We’re too close to Isaiah and the center of our community to be so lax, no matter how much I try to distance myself from it all.”

“You don’t seem like them, you know. The other really old vampires. They feel… ancient, but you seem more modern. Like they’re stuck in whatever time they left, but you kept moving forward. A middle ground between them and someone like Isaiah, who embraced all of this.” I thought about it as we moved through Ka’s space, double-checking since the search went so fast because he owned nothing or at least had brought nothing. “I guess it makes sense since you’re close to Isaiah, and Jacob was part of all of this in his own way. They haven’t talked about anyone they’re close to.”

“Most of us who survived from the most ancient times didn’t Turn many, if anyone. I don’t think Ka or Galla have ever sired anyone. I only sired Jacob, but he was an influence of great power. He was a social man who could be friends with anyone, always smiling and trying to help. People were drawn to him, which exposed me faster than some of the others. Lyra is more like me. She likes the younger vampires because they respect her age and power but let her thrive in the social environment.”

“I guess only you could call the two-thousand-year-old leaders in the building younger vampires, huh?” I went to the door, convinced we weren’t going to find anything. “Makes me feel like an infant.”

“You’re an adult, only a fragile one in comparison to the rest of us,” he said, putting pillows back on the couch before joining me at the door. “You won’t always be fragile.”

“Have you ever wondered why we grow in power as we get older?”

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