“Why did you seek me out? Is this about Xavier?”
“Yes and no. I was hired by him to find out why all of the donors were making the vampires sick.”
He flinched. “It’s so awful. Despite what people think, we actually care about our vampire lords. They take good care of us. And, the bite only hurts momentarily.”
“I believe you. Now, all of you are followers of The True One.”
“Yes, we actually met one of the followers randomly. She runs a bakery.”
“Leia.”
“You know her?”
“She took me to my first meeting.”
“You never forget your first meeting. My life changed that day. It was almost as momentous of an event as joining Xavier’s house was.”
“How did the rest of the donors join?”
“When I met with His Highness, he encouraged me to share with my fellow donors. He said it would be good for them and it gave us the opportunity to teach our vampire masters. If we all followed the same religion, then, they would be curious to learn what had captured our interest. We have very little interests and hobbies. Most humans and supernaturals feel uncomfortable around us, so we tend to be very isolated. But here, no one treats me like that. His highness said no one had to know that we were blood donors. For the first time in years, I have friends that aren’t donors. And it’s like having my family back. I love my fellow blood donors, but in some ways we compete for Xavier’s attention and affection, so there is always an undercurrent of competition. It’s hard to feel too close to someone that you compete with.”
“Have you heard of the Ceremony of Unity?”
His hand snaked out, gripping my arm tightly, “Don’t tell anyone you know of it. How do you know about that? It’s something only vampires and donors know about.”
“What?”
“Don’t speak of it again.”
“Listen Morgan, I know about it because I went through it here at the Institute.”
“There are no vampires that follow The True One. You must have confused something else with it. No one here would know about it, let alone how it works.”
“Maybe it’s something different.”
I told him about the cleansing and purifying process, as well as the ceremony.
“Oh my, this is very bad. Do you know why this is a sacred and secret ceremony?”
“Well besides, it being dangerous to give anyone your blood and you don’t want people to know about this secret ceremony?”
“It’s not just that. Everyone knows about blood magic and why blood shouldn’t be shared. But, this ceremony is like a blood oath of sorts. It gives power over the person and their magic. Whoever drinks the blood has access to that magic. It can also be put into an amulet or other type of charm, but that’s less common. We trust our masters and they trust us, but it’s also a guarantee on our part that we won’t harm them with our magic.”
That was a lot to process. And it all sounded bad.
“Why does it mean you won’t be able to hurt them?”
“Because this also makes the person immune to the donor’s magic,” he said.
“Is it limited to how many different types of magic you can be immune to?”
“Not as far as I know. Xavier has charms made from all of our blood. But the master of each donor only has access to his donor.”
They had my blood and could use it. I needed that blood back.
“Listen, I need you to get word to Xavier. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes. You have me worried now.”
“Tell him what I revealed to you. Tell him that if I do not show up in the next twenty-four hours, to go to Sterling and tell him where I am and that I need help. Can you remember all of that?”
“Yes, but what can you do?”
“Don’t underestimate me. I can do plenty. Oh, and the incense is addictive. It’s what is poisoning the blood donors. Tell him that you all need to stop using it and need to find someone that can purge it from your blood. It may leave a taint. And, expect a bad withdrawal.”
“You mean we really are to blame for hurting our masters?” Tears streamed down his face. “We’d never do this intentionally, you must believe that.”
“Xavier will understand.”
“He may think we are too much work and that it’s easier to find new donors.”
“I don’t agree. Please be careful.”
“I will. We’ve been gone too long already. Isa should be back soon,” said Morgan. “I’ll leave now to pass your message to Xavier.”
“Wait, there is one more thing. Find Emma Lynn. Tell her I have a way out and that she’ll be out soon.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
“Thank you.”
We barely made it out of our plant barrier before Isa rounded the bend in the trail.
“Oh, I finally found you. I thought I’d been to this part of the gardens, but I didn’t see you here.”
“We’ve been here the whole time. You’d have seen us and we’d have seen you,” I said.
“Very well. It’s time for the sermon. Are you coming with us Morgan?” asked Isa.
“Unfortunately, I cannot. I have an errand to run for my boss. I’ll be back soon though,” he said before hurrying away.
Isa and I left soon after to attend another sermon.
I was distracted during the sermon and went to the bathroom while they were collecting the blood, so I could avoid spilling my own. I returned just as the sermon was ending. Whew.
“Marty, you missed one of the these most important parts of the sermon. You didn’t do your offering. Let me try to catch one of the disciples,” said Isa.
“It’s okay. I need to talk to His Highness. He can take my offering then, right?”
“I suppose. It’s just not the way we normally do it.”
“I’ll
