“Giovanni is not in any danger until Livia has felt out the city. She’s insecure right now, has poured millions of Euros into something she’s pinning her hopes on.”
“Oh?” Was it this elixir that everyone kept mentioning? The vampire empress of Rome certainly had the means, but what was her motivation? Purely financial?
“Taking your friend prisoner was not a smart move, Carwyn. We both know it. It leaves her looking rash and unstable. Not to mention that Giovanni’s wife has built quite a reputation.”
“She’s earned it.” He saw Beatrice enter the library, still hollow-eyed from the shock of Giovanni’s arrest.
They had stumbled into a viper’s nest in Rome. What was supposed to be an information gathering trip had turned into open confrontation. Lorenzo had appeared. Giovanni had been arrested. And it was all over a book.
But not really. He was positive the elixir the book contained the formula for was the reason for the escalating violence in Ireland. He had a feeling that this was a far bigger problem than even Giovanni or Beatrice realized. And if they thought that finding it and destroying the secret formula was going to work, they were delusional. Carwyn was well acquainted with secrets. He’d held them for a thousand years. Big secrets and little ones, he heard them all. And secrets had a tendency to wiggle their way out of the shadows until they were the center of attention.
“I’ll talk to you later, Emil.”
“I’ll call when I have more information.”
Carwyn walked over to Beatrice, sat down next to her, and put an arm around her shoulders. “Do you remember that night on the beach years ago? Right after you had moved to L.A.?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was hoarse.
“We were watching fireworks, and you cringed every time the waves crashed.”
“I remember.”
“And now you could control the ocean itself.” He felt her tense up and pulled her closer. “That problem seemed huge then. But now, as an immortal, water is your ally.”
She sighed and put her head on his shoulder. “What are you trying to say?”
What was he trying to say? He looked at Beatrice’s dark hair and couldn’t help but think of Brigid. The two women looked nothing alike, but they were still two of the strongest young vampires he’d ever met. And both had overcome so many challenges.
Carwyn said, “The things that seem insurmountable in the moment have a way of working themselves out.”
“Like false imprisonment?”
He snorted. “Yes. And crazed Roman she-devils.”
“Missing manuscripts.”
“Thousand-year-old commitments that you struggle to let go.”
She jolted up. “What?”
“Nothing. Tell me more about this elixir.”
Beatrice narrowed her eyes at him, but launched into an explanation of the alchemic formula developed in the Middle East in the ninth century. It had been developed by the alchemist, Geber, who was trying to find a way for humans to ingest vampire blood. The formula was supposed to allow humans to heal the same way vampires could. It was intended for healing. To prolong life. But it had other, perhaps unintended, effects, as well.
He turned when he heard a stumbling in the hall. Lucien Thrax walked into the library, almost turning over a Chinese vase that stood near the door.
“Careful now, Doctor. You know how our friend gets about his pretties.”
That provoked a small, amused sound from Beatrice, and Lucien smiled as he walked toward them. Lucien had been one of his son’s dearest friends. A kindred spirit who had roamed the world, searching for better ways to heal humanity. But the vampire had also drunk from an old lover who had taken an early form of Lorenzo’s elixir and was experiencing strange symptoms.
“How is everyone this evening? Any news about Giovanni?”
“Emil is still poking around. He’ll be a good ally for you to cultivate, B.”
“I’ll keep it in mind. Lucien, how are you feeling tonight?”
Carwyn motioned to the chairs in front of the fireplace. Something about Ioan’s old friend was off. He had to sleep far more than what was normal for an earth vampire of his age. Lucien lowered his lanky body onto a chair and pushed back his shaggy brown hair.
“I am still unwell,” he said. “Which is very strange when I have been living for as many years as I have.”
“Any word from your sire?” Carwyn asked. Lucien’s sire, Saba, was the oldest vampire Carwyn had ever heard of. An ancient woman from the Ethiopian highlands, she was also a renowned healer. All earth vampires could probably trace their roots to Saba. Perhaps all vampires could. If anyone could understand the mysterious “Elixir of Life,” it would probably be her.
“No word so far. I had to send a messenger, of course. And there’s no telling where she is.”
Beatrice asked, “Do you think she’s heard of the manuscript?”
“If she has, she’s never mentioned it.”
Carwyn ears perked up. He heard Beatrice’s nephew, Benjamin, calling from downstairs that she was needed.
“Better go.” She kissed his cheek before walking to Lucian and patting him on the shoulder and darting out of the room. “He’s a bit lost without Gio.”
So was she, but Carwyn didn’t mention it. He wondered whether Brigid would ever worry about him the same way that Beatrice worried about Giovanni.
“They’re still looking for a book,” he heard Lucien muse.