“But Geber—Jabir noticed it?” Giovanni asked.

“He was fascinated by the science of us. By the properties of our blood and what it could mean. He was the one who wanted to stabilize it for human use.”

Beatrice shook her head. “And you all agreed? Didn’t you have any reservations?”

Ziri shrugged. “Not many. We all had our own reasons for wanting it. Saba thought it could be used to heal humans. She has always been a healer. Arosh thought that somehow it could be used to conquer bloodlust and grant him independence from needing humanity, even as food. Kato had taken a lover who refused to turn, though he was very attached to the young man. He hoped to make him immortal with it.”

“And what of you?” Giovanni asked him. “What was your agenda, Ziri?”

“I was curious,” he said.

Beatrice said, “Curious?”

The old wind vampire chuckled. “I believe that it is not a condition you are unfamiliar with, Beatrice De Novo.”

Giovanni pinched her waist and smiled. “No, indeed not.” He pulled her under his arm and turned his attention back to the story. “So, you all agreed to help Geber in his research. And you were successful?”

“That, I’m sure we can all agree, is debatable. Jabir did stabilize the blood. It took years, but the formula appeared to work. He had tried it on several servants who were diseased and it had proven to be useful for healing. As for the bloodlust, we weren’t as certain. And we were all very cautious. It was your grand-sire”—Ziri nodded toward Giovanni—“who eventually tried it. His lover, a very kind and loving young man, was ill. A wasting disease, probably some kind of cancer. But it was spreading and Kato became… strangely emotional. He forced his lover to take the elixir, then drank from him. He said if the young man did not live, that he did not care to, either. It was shocking to us, to risk himself for a mortal, but it was his choice, after all.”

All three vampires were riveted on the old immortal as he spoke. “And then what happened?” Beatrice said.

“We thought it was a success. The young man, Fadhil, grew strong again. Kato drank his blood and claimed to need no more. He claimed he was no longer thirsty. That he no longer felt the pull of hunger or the burn in his throat.”

Carwyn asked, “So why didn’t you all try it? If it appeared to be a success, why not?”

Ziri cocked an eyebrow. “Kato was in love with this human. In raptures over the possibility that his lover could live forever, and he would no longer have to feed from humans. The best of all worlds. No sacrifice. No trade-off. The rest of us… we were more cautious. I wanted to give it time. Perhaps, I thought, in one hundred years, if the human was still living, perhaps then I would try it. I left shortly after the initial tests. I was bored in Kufa and needed to travel.”

Giovanni said, “But how did it end? Why did you deceive the world about Kato? What happened to him?”

“I received a message from Saba a few years later. She did not say much, only that Arosh and Kato had gone away. That she was taking Geber’s research for further study and that I should not try to replicate it or drink from any human that had taken the elixir. She said—and this is how I know it is very dangerous—that she had killed all those who had been test subjects. There were dangers. She said that Arosh had asked her to spread the word that he and Kato had killed each other, and she wanted my help in spreading the rumors.”

“And you agreed?” Giovanni was angry. “Without asking for more information? Without confirming—”

“What would I confirm?” Ziri broke in. “Who would I ask? Saba only tells you what she wants you to know. Arosh? I had no idea where he was at the time. And, most importantly, I trusted my friend. If Saba said this was necessary, then it was. We had been friends, the four of us, for thousands of years. If she asked me to spread this rumor, it was for Arosh and Kato’s protection.”

Giovanni stood and paced. He was angry with the vague picture that Ziri had painted. Angry that he knew so much… but still not enough. Why did Lorenzo and Livia want this elixir? No one even truly knew what it did.

Beatrice said, “Well, if it did to Kato what it’s doing to Lucien—”

“Lucien?” He spun toward her. “Lucien who?”

“The Thracian, Gio,” Carwyn said gently. “Tenzin found him in Bulgaria. He’s drunk from an elixired human and there’s something very wrong. Whatever is happening to him seems to be weakening him dangerously.”

Giovanni looked at Beatrice. “What has happened while I was gone?”

She looked embarrassed. “Well, I was going to fill you in, but… two days, you know?”

He couldn’t argue with her. Catching up on news hadn’t even crossed his mind. He heard Carwyn snort as Giovanni sat next to her and pulled her onto his lap.

Carwyn muttered, “Haven’t you two done anything besides shag this entire time?”

Giovanni shot him a look. “Two days.”

“Fine, but yes, since you didn’t know, Lucien Thrax is staying at the Rome house, and he’s not well. Tenzin is with one of the Chinese delegations. You and I are going to go off looking for two supposedly dead vampires so we have some sort of proof that Livia is trying to… whatever she’s trying to do. And your wife and Ziri are going back to Rome to keep an eye on the court and find out if Livia actually has any of the elixir like the rumors are claiming.”