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which I have thrived belongs to a classification of animal, which have lived so deeply undercover in plain sight they have yet to be discovered. I suppose, for argument’s sake, we can call them vampires. They’ve accepted that as their official title anyway, regardless of the misconceptions it brings.”
    “Why don’t they just come out? It worked on HBO.” Those fuckers ran for office.
    He shook his head. “They would become test subjects before they would become citizens. You know this.” His face changed, and it seemed sad. “The emergence of the genre in the last few decades provided the perfect cover. Ensuring not a soul on Earth would be the wiser, a handful of ingenious entrepreneurs created this façade claiming to be vampires, recruiting eager humans to ensure proper cannon fodder, exposing the truth to only a select few. The plan ran without a hitch…well, perhaps a few hiccups, but overall perfection. In addition to the growing following, the community had built its own rules and had begun to police itself even on the lowest level. That was until a snarky little reporter started snooping around and brought prying eyes into the situation.” He cocked his brow at me as if to make it clear he was referring to me. “Eyes which could bring all we’ve built crashing down around us.”
    “I won’t publish this.” In all of his dodging, it had never occurred to me he was just as afraid of me as he was Malcolm. “I won’t,” I promised. I meant it.
    “Thank you,” Cyrus said cordially a second before Dominika sighed and left the room. I couldn’t tell if she was bored with the conversation or pissed that Cyrus had spilled the beans. I looked at the clock on my phone. “What they are is something I can’t explain scientifically. After so many years in their presence, I can tell you, just like humans, there are the good and there are the bad. Marienne Poisson was one of the bad. I can only imagine what centuries on this planet do to one’s moral compass.”
    Made sense. After just a few months with the tip of the iceberg I was dealing with, I’d nearly lost all emotional depth. Except maybe rage. “If not blood, then what?”
    “Energy. Everything in the universe is made of energy. Humans conduct a hundred watts of it just by living.”
    “What are their powers? Are we talking flight or just mind fucks?” I was pulling out every piece of vampy info I’d ever seen. Trust, but verify.
    “Neither. Just as with humans, talents take time to progress. With that many years’ practice, anyone could master anything within physical reason.”
    “One man’s reason is another man’s chaos,” I mumbled to myself.
    “See it as you will,” he shrugged.
    “So, this energy is what allows them to stay alive indefinitely?” I tried to squeak out as much information as I could before I had to book it.
    “Everything is finite. They are no different. They die, in time. Some fight it, like Marienne, taking their survival to extremes. With the amount of blood and the possibility of more cells.” He called them cells like he was CIA. “I can only imagine there are others with a similar agenda.”
    “The blood is supposed to keep them alive?”
    “Not forever, but for a while. Old blood lacks energy. I can only assume that’s where Azelie and her brother came in, somehow replenishing that. Drinking isn’t a necessity. Marienne was likely keeping her centuries’ old milky skin youthful by simply bathing in it. It’s not common, but I have heard of that tactic over the years. I can’t guarantee their motives, only my theories. “
    “If that’s true, there are more people out there collecting blood. Killing people.” My stomach sank. There had been too much death. All for some Oil of Old Bitch live-forever cure-all? Fucking snake oil salesmen murdering for a buck and a wrinkle-free smile.
    “I’m afraid so. If that’s the case, that is.”
    “I have to protect myself.” He nodded. He knew what I