Chapter 5 #2
She considers the question carefully. "I was a phlebotomist and blood bank technician.
Worked at the hospital for six years. Eight years ago, my younger brother was killed by a vampire.
Drained and left in an alley in Midtown.
The police wrote it off as a mugging gone wrong, but I knew better.
I had to identify his body. The puncture wounds on his neck weren't from any needle I'd ever seen, and no mugger drains a body of that much blood.
I make puncture wounds for a living. I know what they're supposed to look like. "
Her voice is steady, but there's old pain beneath it.
"I started investigating on my own. Used my access at the hospital to pull records on similar cases.
Found a pattern of victims going back years, all with the same type of wounds, all in the same neighborhoods.
I started staking out those areas at night.
Asked questions I shouldn't have been asking.
" She pauses. "Turns out, when a human starts poking around vampire hunting grounds, word travels fast. One of Konstantin's people found me before I ever found him.
He was going to kill me to keep me quiet.
"Maximus stopped him. Saved my life. Then he made me an offer: he'd been running a blood network for decades, but it was becoming too large for him to manage alone.
The contamination crisis was starting to accelerate.
He needed someone who understood blood banking, medical screening, donor health, someone who could professionalize the operation and scale it properly.
Someone who had reason to want this to work. "
She pulls up historical records, newspaper clippings about unsolved murders, patterns of disappearances. "I'd spent my entire career managing blood supplies. This was the same work, just… different clientele. And it meant my brother's death could lead to something that prevented other deaths."
"So you have the skills and the motivation," I say quietly.
"Exactly. Maximus doesn't hire people just because he feels sorry for them. He hired me because I'm qualified, and I'm invested in making sure this system works."
"Even with the 'voluntary-conditional' donors?" I ask.
Elena's expression tightens slightly. "Especially with them. Those people have options now that they didn't before. Is it perfect? No. But it's better than Konstantin's people draining them in alleys and leaving their bodies for their families to find. Like they did with my brother."
I understand the logic. Doesn't mean I'm comfortable with all of it.
"Come on," Elena says, standing. "There's someone I want you to meet."
She leads me to a medical room where a woman in her thirties is having blood drawn by one of the medical techs. The woman looks healthy, relaxed even.
"Celeste, this is Monica. She's been one of our donors for three years."
Monica smiles. "New vampire?"
"New to the network," I confirm.
"Elena runs a tight ship. You're in good hands." She doesn't seem afraid at all. "I donate twice a month, make enough to pay my rent and student loans, and the health benefits are better than anything I could get working retail."
"You're okay with vampires drinking your blood?" I ask.
"Honey, I grew up knowing vampires were real.
My grandmother was a donor back in the seventies, before things were organized like this.
She had scars all over her neck from messy feeding.
This?" She gestures to the neat IV setup.
"This is civilized. Plus, I get regular health screenings, dental coverage, and I'm building savings.
It's a better deal than anything else available to someone like me. "
After Monica leaves, I turn to Elena. "Is everyone that comfortable?"
"Most. We screen out people who seem afraid or coerced. Fear affects blood quality, adrenaline, and stress hormones can cause contamination issues." She checks her watch. "You should probably get back. Marcellus wanted to talk to you about security protocols."
I find Marcellus in the security center, a room filled with monitors showing every angle of the compound. He's studying footage from last night's attack, his expression grim.
"You wanted to see me?" I say from the doorway.
He doesn't look away from the screens. "Maximus trusts you. I don't."
"I gathered that."
"You've been a vampire for eight months. You have no connections, no history in this city, and suddenly you're in the inner circle." He finally turns to face me. "That's either incredibly good luck or incredibly good planning."
"You think I'm a plant."
"The timing is suspicious. You start asking about Maximus all over the city. He tracks you down. You nearly die from contaminated blood. Convenient excuse to need his help. He brings you here, and within twenty-four hours, we're attacked."
"You think I signaled them somehow."
"I think you're either an enemy asset or you're dangerously naive. Either way, you're a liability."
I step into the room, keeping my hands visible and non-threatening. "I understand your suspicion. If I were in your position, I'd feel the same. But I'm not working for Konstantin. I don't even know who he is beyond what I've heard in the last day."
"That's what a good plant would say."
"True. So what do I need to do to prove myself?"
Marcellus studies me for a long moment. "Time. Consistency. One mission isn't enough. I need to see that you're loyal when it matters, when there's something to lose."
"Fair enough."
"And if you betray us," he says quietly, “if you're working for Konstantin or anyone else, I will kill you. Slowly. Maximus may be willing to see potential in you, but I've seen too many people betray him over the centuries. I won't let it happen again.”
“He saved my life once,” he continued, “two centuries ago, when I was a fledgling abandoned by my maker, half-feral from hunger. He gave me purpose when I had nothing. I won't let anyone destroy what he's built, and I won't let anyone hurt him.”
There's weight in his words, personal history that explains the fierce protectiveness.
"Understood," I say.
He turns back to the monitors. "The vampires who attacked last night weren't random thugs. They were trained. Professional. And they knew exactly where to hit, the donor coordination offices. That suggests someone gave them intelligence about our layout."
"An inside leak?"
"Possibly. Or extensive surveillance." He pulls up different footage showing the perimeter of the compound. "We sweep for bugs weekly, check for magical scrying, and monitor all communications. But Konstantin has resources. If he wanted to map this place, he could."
I study the attack footage. The way the vampires moved in coordinated pairs. The precision of their breach point. The fact that they targeted records specifically.
"They weren't trying to destroy the network," I say slowly. "They were trying to steal information about it."
"Correct. If Konstantin can identify our donors, he can compromise them. Turn them, threaten them, or simply kill them. Cut off our supply without direct confrontation."
"So what do we do?"
"We accelerate the security upgrade Maximus has been planning. Biometric locks on all sensitive areas. Additional cameras. More security personnel." He looks at me directly. "And we figure out who leaked our layout. Because someone did."
A chill runs down my spine. "You think there's a traitor in the compound."
"I think it's the most logical explanation. And until we identify them, no one is above suspicion." He pauses meaningfully. "Including you."
Before I can respond, an alarm sounds, different from last night's breach alert. This one is lower, more urgent.
Marcellus is on his feet immediately, checking monitors. "Perimeter sensors. Something triggered the north wall detection."
"Another attack?"
"No. The sensors are designed to detect magical signatures. Someone is trying to scry the compound." He's already moving toward the door. "Stay here. Watch the monitors. If anything changes, alert me immediately."
He's gone before I can argue.
I sink into the chair he vacated and study the monitors. Dozens of camera angles showing empty corridors, secure rooms, and the grounds outside. Everything looks normal.
But normal is deceptive. Twenty-four hours ago, I was dying in an alley.
Now I'm in the inner circle of a vampire lord's operation, surrounded by people who half-believe I might be working for the enemy, learning that the clean blood keeping me alive comes from a system built on moral compromises I'm not sure I can accept.
Marcellus thinks there's a traitor in the compound. Elena lost her brother to the chaos Maximus is trying to prevent. And I'm sitting here with access to everything, trusted by someone who shouldn't trust me yet.
I don't know if I made the right choice in accepting Maximus's offer.
But I'm here now. And the only way forward is through.
I watch the monitors and wait for whatever comes next.