Page 59 of Tainted Blood

“Did I do all right?” I asked Alexius again once we were alone.

“You need to focus more on the heartbeat once the feeding has begun to make sure you don’t make it too weak. Some of this is experience, knowing how long you need to feed and keep the human healthy. It’s a fine balance. The thirst will never truly be gone, but you learn to find the point where you can ignore it completely. I feel the ache of it even when I don’t need to feed.”

I nodded, wanting to hear more.

“Aside from that, your willingness to let go was a testament to your own strength of will and character. Thank you for not making me fight you.”

“Is Mikey going to be okay?”

“He’s going to sleep for a long time and eat a large meal when he wakes up. He won’t be on the rotation for a week to let him fully recover. It’s similar to humans, who can’t donate blood every day. He’ll befine.” Alexius pulled away, his jaw clenched. “Just fine.”

“That’s good. He was a nice guy, and hey, he’s going to get paid for this,” I said as I stood up. “Time to get back to work, right?”

“Yes, back to work.” He walked out, and as I followed, he was already striking up a conversation with Isaiah. “Can we set up everything Everly needs in our office? I don’t want to leave her across the building if anything happens.”

“Can do. Marcus, will you direct some of the humans to do that for them? Put it as a priority. I want it done in no more than an hour. We’re losing the night.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll get on it now, then start the search across the estate for the missing cambion blood.” Marcus walked out.

“Alexius, what do you plan to do? I assume you have something you want Everly to look at if you want her back on the security footage.”

“I want her looking at the hallways for others during the attacks. Preferably, we’ll be able to make a map of where all the vampires were while it was happening. I’m going to assist Marcus and that team looking for the blood before something else happens. I was hoping we would have it in hand by now, but clearly, someone else is at play now.”

“While you’re looking, Everly will put together the map of everyone, and we might find out where the blood went…” Isaiah nodded, then looked at me. “Do you need another person helping you with that?”

“It would make things faster, but… is there anyone we trust?”

“No.” Alexius’s growl stopped Isaiah from saying anything, his mouth hanging open. He recovered smoothly, a tight smile spreading across his face.

“Alone with you? Not at all,” he said.

26

With three hours until dawn, I found myself sitting in the office of the suite, once again looking through footage from around the mansion. There was an immense amount covering several hours from multiple angles over the entire estate. I adjusted my settings, knowing I could track the footage at four times the speed to get more done quickly. The first thing I tried to do was figure out more about our mystery human, so I printed out a second copy of his appearance to use as a reference. I had only gotten a glimpse of him the first time I found him, and I wanted to know more about that moment. I found the initial place he had appeared in the footage, groaning to find he had entered and left the hall using a staff door, meaning I couldn’t tell who he worked for.

Unless he actually came with Ramman and Samas, but they didn’t check him in or something… But why would they have a secret human wandering the grounds? I don’t think either of them planned for this to happen.

I kept watching, hoping he would return. I watched as Ramman and Samas left their suite, the place where I had started the last time to go backward. This time, I didn’t change to different footage. I kept watching, knowing how the rest of the night had gone. I watched how quickly the metal doors slammed on the emergency exit and closed everyone in the building.

I refused to be distracted, so when the door opened, I saw Alexius’ and Marcus’ reflections and didn’t bother to say anything as he came closer.

“Has there been any progress?” Alexius asked, standing behind me.

“No, not for me. The mystery human has been using staff hallways. I haven’t seen him since that appearance, but I’m watching, hoping he reappears. He delivered something to Ramman and Samas, so… I don’t know. It’s a feeling. I think he’ll come back around to it. I just don’t know when, and there are hours of footage to get through.” I was still watching as I explained, seeing a second silhouette appear.

“Can I see the human?” Marcus asked. “I’ve been working with them all night. If I’ve seen him, maybe I can tell you where that was and narrow it down for you.”

“Um. I gave a picture to Isaiah, but I printed this one.” I lifted the picture, not moving my eyes from the screen.

“And you need to figure out where the blood might have gone,” Alexius reminded me, not condescending, but certainly a boss trying to focus priorities.

That must be why these two are here. They’ve been doing the search around the estate and probably hoped I was about to find something to help.

“Yeah, this guy just… bugs me. Maybe it’s my bias. Humans don’t wander around vampire nests without being accounted for. That’s a good way to die.”

“I haven’t seen him anywhere.”

“Were you in the lounge from the moment you arrived?”

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