“But you said this was not just for humans,” Giovanni said, leaning forward over the table. “What did you mean?”
“I mean that one of the vampires that drank from a human who had taken the elixir only had to drink once.”
Beatrice frowned. “Drink once for what?”
Stephen looked at her, spreading his hands across the table. “I mean, he only had to drink once, Mariposa. He drank once in the year of testing.”
She still didn’t understand what he was trying to say. “And then what?”
“And then he didn’t have to drink again,” Tenzin said. “At all.”
She turned to Giovanni in shock. His face was completely frozen.
Beatrice said, “What? At all? As in, he drank once from a human that had taken this elixir, and he didn’t have to drink any more blood in the entire year of testing?”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Stephen said. “He drank once, ate the amount of food he normally would have, and never had to take another drop of blood.”
“There’s something we’re not seeing,” Tenzin said. “Gio, I can see the look on your face, and I know what you’re thinking, but this is not a cure for bloodlust. It’s not. There’s something—”
“But what if it is, bird girl?”
Beatrice didn’t think she had ever heard him sound more vulnerable.
Despite his pragmatic views on vampire life, she knew it still bothered Giovanni every time he had to feed from a human, even a criminal. It made him feel barbaric, like a parasite. When they were together and she received pleasure from him, it was one thing; but he couldn’t drink from her all the time, it simply wasn’t healthy. That was why he bought donated blood, even though it affected his health.
“It is not the answer. There’s something we’re not seeing here.”
“But what if it’s true? What if—”
“Then why would your son want it?” Tenzin shouted. “Why would he kill for this? He has no need of eternal life, and he has no compunction about drinking, or even draining, humans. He’s no kind of humanitarian, so why does he want it so badly? I’m telling you, there’s something here we are not seeing!”
They broke into a heated argument in Mandarin that Beatrice couldn’t follow, while Stephen watched, occasionally glancing at her as if she might know what to do. Tenzin and Giovanni had both risen to their feet and showed no signs of stopping.
“Enough!” Beatrice finally said, standing to join them. “This isn’t something we can solve tonight. Even I can tell this book needs more investigating before we all run out and drink the Kool-Aid, so to speak.”
“That’s why it’s still at the monastery,” Stephen added. “Zhang wanted his oldest student and Lu’s monks to take a look at it. Their knowledge of alchemy, particularly plant alchemy, which is what the formula required, is far better than my own.”
“Or even mine, to be honest.” Tenzin stepped away from the table. “Now, I’m going to find Baojia. I want to talk to him about training Beatrice. B, take him away and calm him down, will you?”
She could hear Giovanni growl next to her, but he didn’t feel hot, so she wasn’t overly concerned. She glanced at her father.
“Um… Dad—”
“I’m going to the library; then I’ll be in the Great Hall,” Stephen said. “I’ll talk to you both later.”
He slipped out of the room, and she and Giovanni were alone. He stared at her with the most tender expression she had ever seen.
“Tesoro, if this means—”
“We don’t know what it means yet, Gio. And we don’t know if we can trust this information. There are too many unknowns.”
He put a warm hand over her heart. “But, if you didn’t have to give up the sun, if you didn’t have to be a slave to your own hunger to be with me forever…”
She drew him down for a gentle kiss. “There’s still a lot to think about, love.”
He nodded, but pulled her into his arms, wrapping her up in his warm embrace as she tried to think past the feeling of dread that still churned in her gut when she remembered Tenzin’s warning.
Beatrice had to agree. There was something they weren’t seeing.
“I don’t trust that damn formula,” Tenzin muttered as they practiced late that afternoon. Beatrice was still astonished by how comfortable she was in the middle of the day. Though she couldn’t go out in the sun, the ancient vampire showed not a hint of reduced strength, although Tenzin claimed that flying wasn’t a very good idea.
They were taking some time off from heavier sparring to concentrate on tai chi forms.
“I don’t really want to talk about the formula any more right now, if that’s okay. I think there are too many questions.”
“Thank you for being skeptical. It’s a relief. I was worried that you were going to go crazy at the possibilities, and I’d have to restrain you both. I don’t trust it.”
Beatrice moved deliberately, focusing on the slow movement of her limbs and the steady rhythm of her breathing. “I’m skeptical of anything that seems too good to be true, and this formula falls into that category. Why are we doing basic forms again? And why are we doing them even slower than normal?”
“Because, when you turn, my friend…” Tenzin moved in front of her and started to mirror her in the “push hands” technique she employed when she wanted Beatrice to slow her movements. The technique always made Beatrice feel as if she was moving through heavy water.