October 2010

Stephen and Giovanni paged through the books in Tenzin’s library, looking for any further connections between Geber’s research in the elixir manuscript and existing alchemic practices in the far East. They had been looking for any precedent for the attempt to stabilize vampire blood for human consumption, but had found none.

“Did you see this?”

Stephen handed Giovanni a book. “It was written in the eighteenth century, comparing Aristotle’s theory of aether and the traditional fifth element in Indian alchemy. A contact mentioned it years ago and told me it might be worth looking into. This is the first copy I’ve found. Might be relevant.”

“I hadn’t seen it, thank you.” Something caught Giovanni’s attention. “What contact?”

Stephen shrugged. “Someone in Rome.”

Giovanni frowned, but continued working.

The two vampires had come to an uneasy truce in the time they had spent together in the library, and Giovanni was forced to acknowledge that Beatrice’s father cared for her deeply, even though he had left her for so many years. Stephen De Novo was as open and honest as Giovanni could expect, and he found himself looking forward to seeing the man more with each passing day.

In addition to his deep love for Beatrice, Giovanni could also see how much Stephen cared for Tenzin, though he still could not classify their relationship. Since it was Tenzin, he accepted that he probably never would. Whatever had drawn his old friend to Stephen, they seemed to care for each other, and Stephen had grown immeasurably more powerful as a result. His already keen mind had been sharpened, and the vampire seemed to have a photographic memory for detail. Giovanni wondered if he was seeing a preview of how Beatrice’s fascinating mind would develop after she had turned.

If she had to turn. He still held out some hope that the elixir might negate her need to give up her mortal life, though they still disagreed on the subject. He knew, far better than she did, the sacrifices that vampire life called for, and he would spare her if he could.

“Giovanni, have you given any more thought to why Lorenzo might want this?”

He looked up from his book. “What? The elixir?”

“Yes.”

He took a slow breath. “Money is the most obvious answer. If this was made viable and could be marketed in the health industry, he could become tremendously wealthy. And since your daughter stole the majority of his fortune, I’m sure that is attractive.”

“I still can’t believe she did that.”

Giovanni smirked. “I can.”

“And she still has it?”

He shrugged. “We don’t talk about it all that much. She’s a very canny investor, and I know she and Caspar cleaned it through mostly legitimate channels, so she’s extremely rich now. I believe they invented a wealthy uncle of some sort.” He looked up with a wry smile. “Congratulations, you have a dead brother.”

Stephen laughed. “She gets that from my father, I think—that deviousness. My father would have been an excellent con man if he hadn’t been such a good Catholic.”

“She talks about him occasionally. I know they were very close.”

A wistful smile crossed Stephen’s face. “I deeply regret not being there at the end of his life. I hate that Mom and B had to deal with that alone.”

Giovanni paused, thinking about all the friends he had lost through the centuries. “That is the way of the world, De Novo. People die. Their loved ones continue on.”

“But my daughter won’t die, will she?”

He looked up, meeting Stephen’s brown eyes. They hadn’t changed when he was sired. They looked exactly like Beatrice’s.

“No, she won’t.”

“Would you stay with her? If she had wanted to remain human?”

His heart gave a quick beat. “I would have stayed with her as long as she would have allowed me.”

Giovanni saw Stephen nod. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

They continued working together and Giovanni could hear Beatrice arguing with Baojia down the hall in the practice room. She stormed outside, but he also heard Baojia follow her. He forced himself to remain in his seat, knowing she was well-protected on the palace grounds, even if Lorenzo was lurking. They had argued more than once about what she perceived as his “hovering.”

“There could be another reason that we’re not seeing.”

He turned at Stephen’s soft voice. “What? For why Lorenzo wants the elixir?”

“Yes.”

“There’s much we don’t know, so his motivations could be endless.”

“I still think there is something we’re not seeing about the effects. I agree with Tenzin.”

Giovanni leaned back in his chair. “I’m also curious how he thinks he might produce it. He would need reliable immortal blood donors, and he can only create water vampires, so he must have some plan for that.”

“And he would need a lab to create the elixir once the formula was decoded. It wouldn’t be easy. My contact in Rome—”

“Who is this contact you mention?” Giovanni had noted it before, but now, he went on alert.

Stephen only shook his head. “I don’t know, to be completely honest. It’s someone that found me years ago when I was still running from Lorenzo. There was a note in my hotel room in Warsaw when I came back from the National Archives. It just said, ‘I’m here to help.’ I was terrified at first, thinking that someone had found me and would reveal me to Lorenzo, but he always seemed to step in at exactly the right time to help. Since then, he has left me information at hotels, or sent it to my address in Brasilia. Tips about research. Clues leading me to Geber’s other work. It was all… rather friendly, to be honest. I came to think of him as a friend, even though I really didn’t have any way to contact him. I haven’t received anything since I’ve been here. The last communication was the mention of Elder Zhang’s name.”