A Shade of Vampire 81 A Bringer of Night - Bella Forrest Page 0,17
of his neck. “They make a very good point. The only reason why we’re still allowed to be here is because of how useful we made ourselves in the collective effort to stop the Black Fever.”
And we’d come so far with the day-walking protein. It would be a shame to lose it all. “Amal, do we really need to be here in order for you to complete our main project?” I asked, trying to approach this new problem from all possible angles.
Amal nodded once. “We need constant blood samples from the Aeternae—fresh blood, to be specific—until we can manage to separate, modify, and replicate their protein. Annoyingly enough, said protein decays within days. We’ve tested numerous blood samples. It just dies out without its original host.”
“Ta’Zan made it work in Derek. Once we manage to make it work inside a vial, at least, we’ll be okay. We’ll be able to replicate it because it’ll be based off the original blood,” Amane said. “So yes, we need to be here, and we need the Aeternae to keep pumping their blood into our Petri dishes.”
Leaving Visio sooner rather than later was not an option. Crap.
“We’ll keep this Black Fever issue to ourselves, then,” Derek said, his brow furrowed. “I don’t like deceiving them, but it’s our best chance at completing our main task.”
“And you can test the Black Fever… molecules, or whatever those black star thingies are, with swamp witch magic until we figure out a way to get you access to some mazir,” I replied. “I doubt Petra will make a reliable source, though.”
“What about Valaine?” Amane asked. “She seems different from the others. Kinder. Warmer. Friendlier. I think we might be able to convince her to discreetly collaborate with us.”
And in the meantime, they could continue gathering samples from the quarantined Aeternae, and maybe find a way to slow down the Black Fever’s progression. We needed to make ourselves seem useful over the course of these next few days, at least until the day-walking cure was complete.
“We’ll take more blood samples from the sick Aeternae and try some swamp witch healing magic on each batch,” Amal said, as if reading my mind. “If we can slow it down, it’ll be considered noticeable progress.”
Our situation on Visio was clearly more complex than any of us had imagined at first. Nothing was what it seemed. Not even the damn day-walking protein in the Aeternae’s bloodstream. They hadn’t evolved. They’d been made, somehow. Almost overnight. The Black Fever wasn’t a friggin’ fever, either—it was a curse. The Rimians and the Naloreans weren’t all that happy with the Aeternae occupation. Factions like the Red Threads and the existence of blood slave trading proved that much.
And Acheron and Danika didn’t actually have the firm grip over their empire they’d claimed to have so many times before. Zoltan Shatal was evidence of that. We had our hands full and then some, but we needed to tread carefully if we were to get everything we wanted—including justice for Nethissis. I found a sliver of comfort in knowing that GASP was ready to intervene if we needed them, but I was terrified of the prospect of another war, especially with a species like the Aeternae. Violence didn’t need to be the answer here.
We could achieve more if we played it cool, if we were cunning and resourceful. I trusted Derek and the rest of our crew to pull such a thing off, especially once Esme and Tristan were also briefed on these developments. We had to be careful going forward. Extremely careful.
Derek
Danika stayed with Sofia and Thayen up on the terrace of their private quarters, joined by several event organizers in charge of putting the Rain Festival together. With their summer over, the Aeternae were preparing for the Visio version of fall—the rainy season, when thunderstorms and monsoon-like events manifested across the continent. They celebrated each change of season with a festival, and this one in particular was adored by the Rimians and the Naloreans.
It honored the harvest, which marked the end of summer. Exquisite breads were baked, and fruit tarts came out of the brick ovens, steam rolling outward and carrying delicious aromas all over the empire. These were all things I hadn’t been able to appreciate for a very long time, but I could still allow myself a deep breath, enough to let the hint of wild apple tart fill my lungs and remind me of my human days.