I lifted my head from the woman's throat and sighed.
I had been draining at least one mortal every night since I my resurrection, but it wasn't enough. However, the effort it took for Hina to bring them to me and then dispose of the bodies was too much.
Especially given the reason I was needing so much was due to my tattered Meridians wasting the blood.
I had to do something soon. Killing this many people was a risk. Normally I would rarely need to drain a mortal completely.
Strangely, mortal heartblood didn't seem to make a difference to my Bloodline. The heartblood of vampires had proven to be stronger and more potent. But taking their heartblood meant I couldn't drain the rest of their blood first.
It was vexing.
I had to kill one mortal and one vampire every night just to reach the point I was at now. My Bloodline's veins had indeed grown. At the point it connected to my lower heart, the vein was almost an inch thick. And instead of hairline threads there were now thick ropes running through my body.
My stamina had increased, and I no longer felt as exhausted as before. I was still inclined towards sluggishness in the last few hours of darkness before dawn, but it was bearable for now.
On top of that, my physical strength and speed felt greater.
It was an improvement.
But I still felt something was missing. Instinct told me there was something I needed to do to unlock my Bloodline's true potential. I just didn't know what.
I had not chosen to hunt a vampire this night. I had seen no more gain to my Bloodline from heartblood the night before.
The trigger, then, had to be something else.
Something internal.
"Master?" Vela stood in the library's doorway.
"Hmm?"
"You have a visitor, Master."
Something in her tone made me lift my head and stare at her. She had her hands behind her back and though she was trying to remain calm, she looked rattled underneath.
"Who is it?"
"It's the immortal man who came before."
"Count Saint Germaine?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. You distrust him?"
"I…"
"You can speak."
"He's just very strange."
"He's an alchemist," I said with a slight smirk. "He's brewed more than one too many potions with quicksilver in them. It makes them all strange. I was one, too, before my transformation."
"Really?" Her eyes brightened as she learned something new. "That's not on the forums!"
"I imagine there's a lot about my life which is not on your forums," I said. I tapped my head. "Unfortunately, a lot of it is also not known to me yet. A little returns here and there, though. I know only that I knew him before my transformation. I believe I owe him a debt, though he claims to know nothing of it. Is he alone?"
"Yes, Master."
"You can let him through."
The little Count strode into the library, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye as he scanned the bookshelves once more. He paused before taking a seat. "I don't know whether to laugh at you, or cry."
I held up a copy of Vampire Academy which I had been reading. It had, by the note within, been left here by Susan Farrow who had first read it when she was only 12. It had left a deep mark on her. "Despite its content," I said. "I am learning much about this modern world. If nothing else, I am beginning to understand my Renfields…"
"Yes." He dropped an amused chuckle. "They're a singular bunch. But you always did attract the oddest servants."
"I value loyalty over anything else."
He settled back in his chair, his eyes glittering as he steepled his fingers in front of his chin. "I was wondering if you had managed to make any Bloodstones yet."
"I haven't tried," I told him with a shake of my head. In truth, I hadn't even opened the book he'd left with me. "I am still tempering my body."
"Ah." He looked disappointed. "I don't mean to push, but I am just very excited that you are back. No one else has ever learned how to make them. The market for them now is… lucrative."
"I sold one with barely any red in it for over thirty million last year."
That number would have shocked me a few days ago.
"If I start making them again, the price will drop significantly."
"Perhaps." He showed me a sly grin. "But we could make an immense profit in the first year. Especially if we release them slowly."
"You wish to be broker?"
"It would be convenient for us both. I have the connections already, and I'm almost certain you're not looking for any attention right now."
I nodded, conceding his point. I definitely wanted to remain in the shadows for now.
"Hmm. I will look into it."
"Are you sure you don't need any assistance?"
"I don't believe so."
He eyed me critically for a moment. "You appear healthier than we last spoke."
"I am recovering."
"Always so inscrutable," he muttered. "Alright, Count. I will send across some books anyway. I am unsure what your library is like, but I have my doubts your Renfields could collect anything too useful. Rest assured they are not valuable in a monetary sense. You will find a lot of the information is easily available. However, I've isolated those which I think will be practically useful. It will save you wading through the ocean of junk. Also, there's been changes since you were, well, inconvenienced. Who knows? Perhaps the lastest advances in biochemistry will provide you with some breakthrough."
"You're most generous," I said, offering a bow of my head. "I am not so much cautious as tired. This recovery is slow."
"I'll include a copy of something I worked on a few decades ago, then," His shrewd eyes glittered. "It's a study of vampire anatomy. It might be helpful."
I smiled, lifting a hand. "Are Bloodstones really this important?"
"I was on the verge of something," he admitted, leaning towards me and lowering his voice. "Something great, I'm sure of it. But the key ingredient was Bloodstones, so my research has stalled. While I will no doubt sell the first of them for profit, I will return to my experiments afterwards. Truthfully, I hadn't ever expected to finish this work. But your return has… excited my enthusiasm for it again."
"Ah," I said, understanding now. The fervour in his eyes was enough. "Then I will put more effort into it."
"I can't tell you how much I'd appreciate it."
A sudden thought cracked through my mind, and I had to suppress the impulse to blink. "Do you still dabble in gems?"
"Sometimes. Why? Is there something you need?"
"Perhaps a garnet," I said, holding my hands about ten inches apart. "About this size."
"That's a big garnet," he said thoughtfully. "Necromancy?"
"An experiment."
"I think, I can arrange it. There'd be a cost, of course. A gem that size is… a challenge."
"Let Vela know what you need."
"Very well." He seemed to relax a little. "Will you seek revenge? On your Brides, I mean?"
"What do you think?"
"I think you will." He pursed his lips. "Could you wait a year, though?"
"Is there a reason?"
"Well, they lead the Five Clans," he said. "Who else can pay so much for Bloodstones? When you kill them, the clans will fall apart and no one will be able to afford the prices I plan on charging…"
Had he always been so greedy?
I searched my memories, but the pieces revealed nothing of him acting in such a way.
A man like him, though, wouldn't be poor. He couldn't be.
"Immortality is expensive, Count," he said, seeming to read my thoughts. "You'll discover this soon, I think."
I smiled, yielding to his experience. He'd lived in this modern world longer than I had.
When he left, I considered his words thoughtfully. Thirty million dollars sounded like a mountain to me, but I already knew the running costs of the tower I was living in. Built originally to house the Renfields, it was now mostly empty. Their apartments untouched.
If it wasn't for money which was buried in investments all over the world, we would be struggling. Vela had claimed we had no troubles, but if Count Saint Germaine was right…
"Hina?"
A shadow peeled away from the wall. "Yes, Master?"
"Vela mentioned there is a company managing our finances. I wish to speak to their representative."
"Yes, Master."
As she dipped out of the library, I pulled out the book he'd left for me and looked at it again. I had written this. A long time ago. I recognised my hand in it.
Unfortunately, I had coded it and couldn't remember the key.
Nothing is easy, I thought.
I would need to go to the library below. While Count Saint Germaine might expect it to be full of simple tomes, it was actually the entire contents of my own castle in Transylvania. Renfield himself had looted it before my Brides could return from Berlin. Thankfully, he hadn't kept my books with his records when the second world war reduced Berlin to rubble.
Thinking about the little man brought his sharp feral features to my mind.
He was truly an ugly little thing.
An odd and deviant creature, prone to fits of madness.
But I knew this tower and everything in it weren't my legacy. Not truly.
They were his.
How could I hope to reward such loyalty?