- Stacy -

I regretted not being able to stay with Bridget until she woke up. Being a high priestess comes with responsibilities after all. At least Priscilla would be here with her.

I thought about what she said last night, brushing a hand through her hair. Bridget wasn’t content to just receive from others. In fact, that seemed to be the source of her distress. She wanted to contribute.

“Priscilla,” I quietly called.

“Yes, Lady Stacy.”

“Prepare a maid dress for when she wakes up. Offer her to become a maid.”

“A maid?” Priscilla asked, a thin smile forming on her lips. “Are you sure, Lady Stacy?”

I nodded. “I believe it may do her some good. Be sure to guide her well.”

Priscilla bowed, accepting my instruction, and I donned my robe to start my work for the day.

But before I go… I hadn’t fed on Bridget the previous night, so I was pretty hungry. I threw my arms around Priscilla. “I need a snack,” I whispered in her ear. She smiled, baring her neck to me. Good girl. I took a sip of her blood, and I now I was ready.

It was my turn to lead the dusk ritual, so I headed into the hall of Haimorrha. There was a boar prepared for me to slaughter. I picked up the ritual dagger and opened the holy book, reading from the scripture. I’d actually had this line memorized, so the book was more for looks.

“Dear lord of blood Haimorrha, we offer the blood of this beast to thee. Bathe in its essence, and grant us strength and eternal life.”

I ran the dagger along the boar’s throat, and it let out one last pained squeal before life left its veins. Blood rolled down the brass contraption that held the beast, where it settled into two distinct receptacles. One was a goblet, which I took and used to bathe the statue of Haimorrha. Blood rolled down the contours of his body, pooling as his feet. The other container was carried away by a group of acolytes to the hall of blood, where it would be prepared for consumption.

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I looked over the priests observing the ceremony. Dante was missing. As a high priest it was unusual for him to be absent during the ritual unless he had a mission, and to my knowledge he didn’t.

I closed the ritual with another oath from the scripture, and Dagon took over from there.

Normally I would take a seat on the floor to join the other priests in witnessing the rest of the ceremony, but not this time. I wanted to see what Dante was up to. Just kidding, I didn’t really care what he was doing. I just wanted to harass him some more.

The first place to look for him would be his quarters.

I knocked on his door and waited. There was no response. One of his servants should be around at least. Where were they?

I placed an ear to the door, and heard a muffled voice. Clearly someone was home, but it didn’t sound like they would be able to let me in.

“Haimorrha, please excuse my intrusion upon this vile worm’s hole,” I said a small prayer before turning my body to mist and slipping through a gap in the door.

Mist form was a very rare gift from Haimorrha. I was one of very few vampires to be graced with it.

I rematerialized on the other side, looking around. The place was messy as always. Bloodstained carpets, discarded clothing, torn bandages, overturned chairs, and a few odd sex toys and torture implements littered the floor. You’d think his servants would do a better job keeping the place clean, but I knew better. He just didn’t care. No matter how hard they tried to keep the place decent, he would just trash the room all over again.

I pushed open the door to the bed chamber, the source of the muffled voice. This room was similarly trashed as well, and there was a shirtless young man with scars and fresh cuts covering his chest tied to the bed. His mouth was gagged with a cloth. I didn’t recognize him, so he wasn’t one of the servants. A slave perhaps?

Dante seemed to have a peculiar method of feeding. Sure cutting the chest instead of the neck was less likely to be fatal, but that had to be painful.

It was best not to mess with his possessions too much, but I wanted some information. I ungagged the man and flashed my eyes at him. Charm Humanoid. A gift that helps people warm up to me and listen to my commands. It was more effective on people of low standing with the gods. The more favored they were, the more protection they had.

The man’s body stiffened, then relaxed. “I have a few questions for you,” I told him.

“Yes, Miss Vampire,” he answered obediently. Judging by his manner of addressing me he didn’t seem to be from around here.

“Do you know where your master is?”

He shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

“Then do you know anything else that might be useful? Any idea what he might be up to?”

He took a moment to think, then replied. “I heard him speaking with his servants. About someone named Stacy, and… Bridget. An immortal, apparently.”

How the hell did he learn that? Was he spying on us? The little worm.

“One last thing,” I told the man before leaving. “I hope you’ll be kind enough to not mention to your master that I was here.”