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He woke covered in cold sweat. The fire had burned down to embers and all of the torches had gone out, leaving the room in near-pitch blackness. Sebastian grabbed a log from the pile and placed it on the embers with strips of shredded bark. His body trembled while he gently blew on the embers until the bark caught flame, and then the log.

As the flames hungrily ate the outer layers of the log, their light and heat grew to fill the room. Sebastian sat back on his heels and allowed the fire to warm him. The chill from the dream seemed to have remained embedded in his bones even after waking, though honestly it probably came from sleeping on the stone floor.

He added a second log and stood to check on Isabel. She still slept, though her face looked pained. Sebastian pressed his hand gently to her brow and frowned when he felt her burning up. “Again?” he murmured, his eyebrows scrunching together with concern. “How have you grown so fragile?”

At least here, Sebastian had something he could do. He put his cloak back on and left the room, ensuring it was locked before he hurried down the hallway. He wound through the maze of passageways until he came to the coven’s main living quarters. The clock on the wall told him it was nearly six pm.

A dozen vampires lounged within the massive room on skillfully carved and upholstered sofas and chairs. Their eyes turned on Sebastian and filled with surprise. “You’re here and it’s not even the Eve, Sebastian?” asked a blonde woman with red, almond-shaped eyes and a thin frame. “And you’re wearing your robes! Have you finally gotten over your feud with Victor?”

“Perhaps. Have any of you seen Josephine?”

The blonde woman pursed her lips and shook her head. “Ah. You’re just here to make Josephine use her magic to spell more potions for that mortal wife of yours. That makes more sense. What I don’t understand is why you haven’t just bitten her and been done with it, yet. Surely that would be easier than finding your pet human over and over again.”

“You think I haven’t tried that, Azaia? Every life I try just in case it will work this time, but she is immune to my venom. And I don’t understand how or why!” He pressed his fist to his forehead and took a deep breath to remain calm.

Azaia looked at Sebastian with confusion all over her face. “A human immune to our venom? I’ve never heard of such a thing! Does Victor know?” Sebastian nodded and Azaia relaxed slightly. “Well, then, I suppose it’s strange, but nothing to be worried about. She’s probably down in the kitchens preparing the next batch of medicines for the shop. You wouldn’t believe how much humans pay this century for medicines that actually work!”

“After seeing a hospital bill from this era, I don’t think I’d be surprised at all.” Sebastian shook his head and departed, heading for the kitchens with a prayer that she’d be there playing on his lips.

And for once, the fates shone on him. That, or she spent so much time in the kitchens that looking there for her was nearly always going to work out. Josephine’s cheerful whistling welcomed him to the portion of the keep he so rarely visited. “Little sister,” he called out in greeting, and the short woman paused her motions to look up.

“Sebastian!” she exclaimed. She pulled the gloves from her hands and ran to him, and wrapped her arms around his torso. “It’s so good to see you home and wearing your robes!” She gave him a squeeze and backed away, straightening her own robes and flicking away a few specks of greenery. Her eyes focused on his face for a long moment, then she nodded. “I see. You’ve run out of potions for Aurora, haven’t you? Don’t worry. I’ll whip up some more for you right away. Come, sit down. Tell me about life! It always sounds so much more exciting than life here at the keep.”

Sebastian chuckled and sat down on one of the bar stools. “Her name is Isabel, this time. And I don’t know that living alone in a crumbling castle in a tiny town nobody has heard of counts as interesting.”

“It sounds like the setting of a fascinating novel to me,” Josephine said as she pulled a handful of glass vials from a drawer and carefully placed them upright in a wooden stand. “Maybe you should try being a writer, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if your creative mind took to it.” She moved farther down the counter to stir a pot that softly boiled on the stove. It smelled of menthol and lemongrass.

“I don’t know about that. I’ve never felt particularly eloquent.” Sebastian leaned on the counter and watched Josephine pull a small bottle from her pocket and put one drop of the contents in each of the vials she had set up. She then moved the rack over to the pot and began spooning the yellow liquid into the vials and capping them with a piece of cork.

As the yellow liquid hit the bottom of the vial, it hissed and spit, turning a deep red before fading to clear. Josephine watched them carefully, nodding when each dose settled. She held the bottle up to her face and frowned as she swirled the clear liquid inside. “Hm. Almost out of venom. I guess I’m going to have to harvest some more soon…blah.”

Sebastian shot her a sympathetic look and stood from his chair. “Just make sure you eat first. Remember what happened back in 1243?”

“I try not to remember,” she replied, shaking her head. “But yes, I’ll have Remus or someone hunt for me. Sometimes my magic is so frustrating…being unable to hunt because my venom works differently than everyone else’s makes me feel so much weaker than the rest of you.”

“Don’t think of it that way! Think of all the humans you’ve helped with your venom’s magic. Unlike the rest of us who must cause harm to survive, you’re able to give back. I can hunt for you this evening, as thanks for the potions. I have to go out and get some food for Isabel anyway. She’s so weak this cycle already. I can’t let her go hungry.” Sebastian walked around the counter and opened a drawer full of syringes. He put a handful of them in his pocket and gave Josephine a kiss on the forehead.

Josephine blushed and gestured to the finished potions. “These are ready, then. Does she…remember us all yet? I’ve missed her too, you know.”

He shook his head and sighed. “No, not yet. But as soon as she’s feeling well, I’ll bring her down here for a nice meal. Maybe seeing you will jog her memory. You’re always as thick as thieves when you’re together.” He began piling the potion vials into a padded box from another drawer and paused when a sudden warmth appeared in the center of his chest.

The pendant was being activated. “I have to go. She must be awake.” Sebastian put the last two vials in their place, closed the lid, and hurried out of the kitchen toward his quarters. The glass clinked as the tops of the vials tapped the wood of the box in his haste.

It took only seconds for Sebastian to cross the keep using his vampiric speed. He carefully cradled the potion box against his side while he unlocked and opened the door. A smile crossed his face when he saw Isabel curled up under the blanket, stroking the cat’s back. “You had me a little worried you needed me,” he said softly as he closed and locked the door behind him.

Isabel looked up with heavy-lidded eyes and a pale white face. “So it does work,” she murmured. “I don’t feel good…”

“I felt that you had a fever, so I’d gone to get you some medicine.” Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed and pulled one of the vials from the box. “This is going to taste vile, but it will make you feel better pretty much instantly.” He pulled out the cork and extended the vial to Isabel, who looked at it suspiciously. “It’s the same medicine I gave you back in Vernazza.”

That seemed to reassure her. She took the vial and brought it to her lips. It contained barely a mouthful of liquid, which she struggled to swallow before exclaiming, “Yuck! Why didn’t the last one taste that bad?”

“Because it was in tea loaded with spices,” Sebastian laughed, watching the color return to Isabel’s cheeks. He put the box on the dresser and settled in to lean against the headboard. “Feeling better?”

Isabel nodded and yawned. “Yes. That stuff is magic, whatever it is. But now I’m really hungry.”

“It’s exactly that: magic,” Sebastian replied with a smile. “And I suspected you might be. I have to go out to get some food, though, because it has been centuries since a human lived in the keep. Are you okay to stay here and sleep while I go out? Or you can go down and meet Josephine. She’s the one who makes these potions, and she is dying to see you again.”

She considered her options for a long time, chewing on her cheek as she thought. “I’ve already spent a lot of time in this dark room,” she finally replied. “Will I be safe with Josephine?”