Belladonna

twenty-three

The next evening Cass again pretended to take the mandrake draught, and again poured it out when Piero wasn’t looking. She hadn’t waited for him to return to his chambers the previous night—after seeing the vial of her own blood, she’d fled back to her room, needing time to puzzle through what this meant. Not only was he draining her blood, but he was saving it.

Now she lay awake, expecting him to sneak back into her room with his needle and syringe. Turning on her side, Cass stared at the dark curtains that blocked every drop of starlight that might have squeezed through the shutters. The whole house seemed shrouded in a haze of sleep. Even the malevolent presence she sometimes sensed lay dormant. Everything was quiet.

Perhaps she was just finally healing. Perhaps all the flashes of foreboding were connected to her fevers, which were finally going away. The ache in her arm was fading, and for the first time since Piero had rescued her, Cass felt well enough to realize just how alone she was.

And then she heard the door to her bedroom creak ever so softly as it swung open. Her whole body went tense, and her heart battered itself against her ribs as she thought of what she would say to Piero, how she might defend herself against him and his bloodletting. Her stomach roiled as she thought about the vials of blood that stood in neat rows on Piero’s shelf. But she quickly realized that the dark form creeping across the floor wasn’t Belladonna’s physician.

“Falco,” Cass said. Her heart was still pounding, but for a different reason. “Did you find it? The Book of the Eternal Rose?”

“No.” His hair fell forward as he leaned down to brush his lips against her forehead. “But the entire villa seems to be empty. I thought we might sneak into Bella’s chambers and do a little investigating.” He winked. “It’ll be like old times.”

Cass sat up so quickly that her head went fuzzy and the room began to rotate. “You have the key?”

Falco held up a tiny scalpel, which Cass knew he sometimes used in his painting. “Who needs a key?” he asked. He dropped the instrument into his pocket and took both of her hands in his.

Cass waited for the dizziness to fade and then let Falco help her to a standing position. The floor was ice beneath her. Her left leg wobbled as she slid her feet into the dyed leather shoes she had worn to Belladonna’s birthday party. She cursed under her breath, tightening her grip on Falco’s hands until her legs felt steady.

“Do you think you can make it?” he asked. “I could go and search alone, but I might not find anything, and I know you won’t be satisfied until you see for yourself.”

“Just go slow with me,” she said sharply. So Falco still didn’t believe her and was doing this only to appease her, or maybe to prove she was wrong. Well, she would be the one proving him wrong. Cass knew the book was in Belladonna’s chambers.

Falco lit a candle from her washing table, and with Cass leaning slightly upon him, the two stepped through the doorway into the hall.

The house was dark and quiet. Falco led her down the long corridor toward Belladonna’s chambers, holding the candle out in front of her so that she might navigate the occasional statue or pedestal shrouded in blackness. Beside her, he moved as if he needed no light at all, as if he’d spent his entire life walking the halls of this villa instead of just the past couple of months.

Something tugged at her ankle, and she raised a hand to her mouth to stifle a scream.

“What is it?” Falco pulled Cass in toward him, his other arm out as a barrier between her and any possible threat that was lurking in the dark.

She looked down and realized it was only a braided tassel on the edge of an Oriental rug that had gotten caught on her shoe. “Nothing,” she whispered. Shaking her head, she freed herself from the tassel and continued down the corridor.

Carvings of Venus, Victoria, and Diana looked out from the wide arched door that led to Bella’s chambers. Cass leaned forward to press her ear against the wood. The room beyond was completely silent, but what if Bella was simply asleep?

“You’re sure she’s not here?”

“I saw her leave with a group of men not long ago,” Falco said.

Cass’s mind filled in the details he didn’t. A group of men from the Order.

She held the candle while Falco made quick work of picking the lock. He grinned crookedly in satisfaction when the mechanism disengaged with a telltale click. Pocketing the scalpel, he pushed open the door.

Resting her free hand on Falco’s lower back for support, Cass followed him into the room. The flickering flame illuminated only a small circle of the darkened chamber, but again Falco moved around with ease. He took the candle from Cass and toured the room while she stood just inside the doorway.

“Here we have the bed.” It was a giant canopy bed made of dark wood, with long shimmery turquoise flaps that hung loose over the mattress. Falco pushed aside one of the flaps and lifted the pillows so Cass could see there was nothing beneath. He ducked down and peered under the frame. “Nothing on the floor.”

“What?” Cass had stopped listening for a moment. Even in the dark she could see Falco’s latest painting of Belladonna, the one of her springing forth naked from a rose, hanging on the wall opposite the bed. Cass forced herself to look away. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and she could clearly identify the outline of a washing table, a dressing table, and an armoire.

Falco turned a corner into the large adjoining bathroom. It was empty except for a pair of mirrors and a circular bronze basin for bathing. “See, there’s nothing here.”

Cass returned to the main chamber. “What about the armoire?”

“I think she keeps it locked,” he said.

Cass remembered Belladonna’s silver bracelet with the keys dangling from it. “So then work your magic again,” she said.

Falco frowned across the room at the tiny golden padlock that glimmered in the faint light. “It’s a much smaller lock. What if I break it? Then she will know someone was in here. I could lose my position.”

“Falco,” Cass hissed. “Who locks up their clothing? There’s obviously something important in that armoire.”

“My position is important,” he muttered. “And if you cared for me, you’d think twice before asking me to risk it over some crazy conspiracy idea.” But he crossed the room to the armoire and held the candle next to the lock.

“I am not crazy.” Cass realized she had curled her hands into fists. Her fingernails were digging crescent moon impressions into the flesh of her palms.

Falco jiggled the lock and the metal twisted apart.

“That was fast,” Cass said.

He turned toward Cass, his face a mask of worry. “I didn’t do anything. The lock was already open.”

Cass tugged on the armoire’s handles, and the doors swung open. She didn’t care who had unlocked it. She only cared what was inside. Both halves were lined with shelves. “Hold the light for me,” she said. Energized, she began at the top, feeling behind each hat, each folded bodice and skirt, each silken chemise. Nothing. She moved to the other side. Cuffs. Collars. Strings of pearls and jeweled hair clips neatly laid out on a bed of velvet. And then, an empty shelf.

Cass grabbed the candle from Falco and held it next to the shelf. She could see a faint outline of dust, with a clear spot in the middle. A large, rectangular clear spot. A spot that might fit a sheaf of papers, or a book.

“It’s gone.” She couldn’t keep the despair from her voice. Her heart shriveled inside her. “Someone beat us to it.”

Falco raked a hand through his hair. “What’s gone? There’s nothing there, Cass. That’s probably just the shelf where she keeps whatever she’s wearing right now.”

“Is she wearing something rectangular?” Cass pointed out the lines in the dust.

Falco shook his head, but didn’t respond. He shut the armoire and rethreaded the padlock. He tried to close it, but couldn’t. “Whoever opened this before us seems to have stripped the mechanism.”

“You believe that someone broke in here, but you don’t believe me about the book?” Cass felt the sudden urge to reach out and shove him. Why was he being so stubborn? She hadn’t disbelieved any of the story when Luca had told it to her.

A board creaked above their heads. One of the servants was awake.

“Let’s get out of here before we get caught.” Falco took Cass’s arm and led her out into the corridor. He locked the door. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll walk you back to your room.”

“I don’t want to go to my room,” Cass said. She pulled away from Falco. “I need to find that book. Perhaps someone took it out to add pages to it. I’m going to keep searching.” She knew it was pointless, hopeless, that whoever had stolen the book was long gone, but she couldn’t just let Falco tuck her into bed. Luca was going to die. Didn’t Falco understand that? “Why don’t you believe me?” she whispered, her voice breaking apart at the end.

Falco punched the wall lightly. “Do you know how many commissions I’ve gotten since the night of Bella’s birthday party? Five. And some of them are for multiple paintings. She’s changing my life, Cass. I realize she’s friends with de Gradi, but that doesn’t mean she’s involved with his experiments, or even if she is, it doesn’t mean they’re doing anything wicked.” He stroked the side of Cass’s face with the back of one hand. “You were attacked by dogs. You’ve been feverish and sedated. I’m not judging you for believing some nonsense about an Order or a book, but—”

“It’s true!” Cass slapped his hand away from her and stepped back from his reach. She wanted to punch the wall just as Falco had. “There is an Order, and there is a Book of the Eternal Rose, and when I find it, it will probably be full of horrible things about your precious Belladonna.” She was practically screaming, but she didn’t even care. Tears pushed at the backs of her eyes. “And after I use it to save Luca, I will let you see it so you can see just how wrong you were.”

Falco’s jaw tightened. “I feel sorry for you, Cass. But eventually you’re going to have to accept the fact that da Peraga is going to die.” His eyes flashed dark in the flickering candlelight. “Sometimes I wish that day would hurry up and get here, so that I could have my starling back.”

Cass stumbled backward like she’d been slapped. The candle wobbled in its holder and then tumbled to the floor, bathing her and Falco in darkness. “You bastard,” she whispered.

“Cass.” Falco seemed to realize he had gone too far. “What I meant—”

“I don’t care what you meant.” She pointed away from herself, confident Falco could see her gesture in the gloom. “Just go. Now.”

“Fine.” His voice was ice. “I need a drink anyway.” He spun on his heel. A few seconds later Cass heard his footsteps thundering down the main staircase. The front door opened, and then slammed shut.

Cass’s body slid down the wall until she sat crumpled in a heap on the stone floor. She tried to hold in the tears, but couldn’t. Her body shuddered with sobs as she thought about what Falco had said. How could anyone be so cruel? Luca would never say such a thing. Luca would probably tell Cass to forget about him and go be happy with Falco if he knew of her feelings. Cass sniffed. For the first time, she wished Falco could be a little more like her fiancé.

After her sobbing began to subside, she wiped at her eyes and then turned toward her bedroom at the far end of the hallway. It seemed impossibly far away. And she had meant what she said about continuing to search for the book. Even though she knew it was gone, her only other choice was to resign herself to the fact that Luca was going to die. She really would go crazy if she gave in to that line of thinking.

Suddenly, the hallway brightened, just slightly. Cass blinked hard, wondering if she was imagining it, but then she heard the front door fall shut with a soft click. Falco must not have gotten that drink after all. Perhaps he was coming back to apologize. She swiped at a few leftover tears and then used the wall to get herself back on her feet. She padded to the top of the staircase to see if it was indeed Falco returning.

But it was Piero who was skulking around the lower level. Cass watched as he set something on the side table—it looked like a chalice of some sort—and then slipped into his room. He was back in the hallway a moment later, with a cloak hanging over his arm. He stopped just inside the front door to fasten the garment around his clothes and lift the hood. The flowing fabric obscured every inch of his body. Piero grabbed the chalice and ducked back out into the night. Where had he come from at such a late hour? Where was he going?

Cass crept her way down the staircase a half step at a time. Forcing herself to hurry, she made her way to the foyer and peered outside. The moonlight clearly illumined Piero, heading across the lawn, his black robe flapping in the breeze. Wherever he was going, he was going on foot.

She glanced around the foyer. A pair of cloaks hung from hooks. No doubt they belonged to some of Belladonna’s servants. Cass snatched the one closest to her and slung it over her shoulders. It was ridiculously large. The sleeves dangled over her hands; if she put up the hood, it would surely cover her entire face. Gathering the excess fabric in her good hand, she headed out the door.

Ducking down behind one of the giant flowerpots to catch her breath, Cass watched as Piero crossed the road and headed into the field of tall grass that led to the church. The night air pierced her lungs, sharpening her senses. Her pain was still there, a faint pulsing in her bandaged arm, but her legs felt steady. Cass took a deep breath, stood up, and followed him.

She hurried as best she could past the grove of trees on her left. Yellow eyes. Running. Hot breath. Her legs buckled as the memory of the dogs almost undid her. Locked door. Teeth. Blood pooling on stone. She breathed in crisp air and kept going. The road was damp, and her feet sank slightly into the mud as she crossed it. Then she started through the field, wincing as an occasional nettle pricked her through the thin soles of her leather shoes. A short line of carriages stood off to the side of the church, the horses stamping their feet occasionally. The drivers were clustered in a tight circle, talking quietly and passing around a flask.

When Cass was about twenty paces from the church, a pair of hooded figures appeared around the far side of the building. She bent low in the tall grass, hoping the black cloak would help her merge seamlessly with the night.

The two people kept their heads ducked as they murmured to each other. Telling secrets, Cass thought. Secrets she desperately needed to know. Almost like a single entity, the two forms disappeared into the church.

If Cass put up the hood on her cloak, could she pass for one of the robed guests? It was worth a try. Another figure, body obscured by loose fabric, entered the church. There was a meeting going on, perhaps a meeting of the Order of the Eternal Rose.

Cass tiptoed up to the wooden church door, the door that had remained firmly closed when she had so desperately needed sanctuary. Fear swelled inside of her. She was positive that the door that had just allowed the mysterious hooded figures to enter would stick fast when she tried to enter. Exhaling deeply, she curled the fingers of her right hand around the cold black handle. The door easily opened under the pressure of her hand. She pushed it just a crack and peered inside.

The entrance hall was dark.

Cass said a silent prayer and slipped inside. As her eyes adjusted to the blackness, she noticed a faint red glow coming from the direction of the altar. Wisps of incense smoke curled in the air. The sweet, flowery smell reminded her of Palazzo della Notte. Was there a connection? There the attendees had worn masks. Here everyone wore hoods draped low.

The robed figures had all taken seats in the long wooden pews. Cass slid into the very back row, which was empty. Pressing her palms together, she bowed her head so that a casual observer might think she was deep in prayer. She peeked out from beneath the hood of her cloak.

The church was cross-shaped, its high, arched ceiling covered with peeling frescoes. Someone had pushed the main altar back against the wall and dragged a large baptistery carved with angels and roses into the transept—the area where the two arms of the cross intersected. A lone figure in black rose up from the first pew. The lithe form almost seemed to float as it stepped gracefully into the baptistery. Cass didn’t see the ripple of holy water. The baptistery pool was empty. Or was it? The faint light, the smoke—Cass couldn’t trust her vision from the back of the room. She slid to the end of her pew and made her way slowly up the side aisle, keeping her hood pulled low. She ducked into an alcove where she could get a clearer glimpse of the proceedings without being seen.

The pool was indeed empty. If the figure were to be baptized, where was the water? And why not do it on a holy day instead of secretly, in the middle of the night? Cass was struck by the most horrible thought: that she was about to witness the baptism of a vampire. But then the figure loosened the belt of its cloak and flung the garment to the floor of the chapel. Cass barely stifled a gasp.

It was Belladonna. And she was naked except for her silver bracelet and a pendant that hung down between her breasts—a six-petaled flower inscribed inside a circle.

A deep murmur ran through the crowd.

“Witness the power of young blood.” Belladonna turned a slow circle. “As most of you know, I just celebrated the fortieth anniversary of my birth.”

Cass nearly choked. Fortieth? Impossible. It was what she had originally thought, but that would make Belladonna almost twice as old as she looked. Cass stared at her, both horrified and fascinated by her nakedness, at her milk-pale skin and soft curves.

Cass’s eyes drifted, coming to land on the tiny stump of middle finger on Belladonna’s left hand. Had Belladonna really reawakened from the dead? What if the story was wrong, and Bella hadn’t been in a deep sleep? What if Belladonna really was a vampire?

A pair of hooded figures—men, clearly, by their broad shoulders and stiff gaits—approached the baptistery. Belladonna’s body relaxed, and for a second Cass thought of what she had seen at the Palazzo della Notte. Her cheeks went hot. Perhaps the Order was just about sex, some noble-class alternative to a brothel.

Belladonna turned to the hooded figures and kissed each of them. One nearly lost his hood as she wrapped her lean arms around his neck. Cass caught a glimpse of high cheekbones and blond hair. It was the butler, Signor Mafei—she would have sworn to it.

The two men at Bella’s sides each raised a silvery chalice in the air.

“Behold,” Belladonna called out, “an offering in the name of the Eternal Rose.” The men tipped the containers, and dark, viscous liquid poured down over Belladonna’s hair, splashing off the angles of her elbows and spattering the marble basin of the baptistery and sending an occasional droplet out toward the floor.

Blood.

Cass could smell it. She instinctively drew back, but the cloaked figures leaned forward as a group, murmuring and moaning, arms outstretched. They were reaching for Belladonna.

No. They were reaching for the blood.

Cass felt as though she might be sick. What was happening? Her vision went momentarily dark. She couldn’t faint—not here. She took a deep breath and the room came back into focus. She stared at the ruby liquid as it spattered off Belladonna’s skin, as the black-robed figures clamored for it. Could it be her own blood the mob was fighting for? Some of it, perhaps. There was too much to have come from a single person—unless someone had been drained completely dry.

As the last drops of blood poured from the chalices onto Belladonna’s bare shoulders, the people grew quiet again. The glistening fluid began to darken and coagulate on her skin, masking half of her face, obscuring one of her breasts as if she were wearing a dress that had been partially torn away by a madman.

Belladonna raised one spattered arm to her face and inhaled deeply. She dragged her wrist across her mouth, licking her lips.

“Divine,” she said. “I can sense the power. Who is it I am tasting?”

“The young Tatiana de Borello,” a man said. Cass recognized Piero’s voice. “Sadly, the humors in her blood were of inferior quality. I saw to it that she passed away just an hour ago.”

Tatiana de Borello. Cass had heard the name before, at Belladonna’s afternoon tea. Tatiana was the young noblewoman one of Bella’s guests had asked about. Cass shivered, remembering how everyone—even Madalena—had seemed hypnotized as Belladonna described the girl’s illness.

Belladonna reached out and touched her fingertips to Piero’s hooded face. “Certainly the blood of someone so young will have some beneficial properties.”

She turned back to address the masses. “Devoted followers of the Eternal Rose. We are increasing our efforts and drawing nearer to the creation of an Elixir of Life. Once we have created a pure specimen of the fifth humor, we will be able to produce enough elixir for all of us.”

A ripple of excitement moved through the crowd. Then a man burst out, “From what, exactly, are you creating this magical pure specimen? And what of your sister chapter, your loyal supporters in Venice? Will there be no elixir for us?”

Cass knew this voice too. Her heart stopped. Angelo de Gradi.

Belladonna’s face twisted into a frown. “I have been telling you for years, Dottore, that the fifth humor can be procured only from the blood. Not by slicing away at livers or spleens. My own father, who dedicated his life to seeking out the research of those before him, made this clear before his death. His words are inscribed in the Book of the Eternal Rose. Have you never gotten a chance to review its pages?”

Cass sucked in a sharp breath. If someone had stolen the book, Belladonna didn’t yet know it was missing. Could de Gradi have taken it?

“I have, but—”

Belladonna silenced de Gradi with a wave of her hand. “Blood is, as you know, difficult to obtain, and sadly there seems to be great variation among our subjects as to its quality.” She narrowed her eyes. “But we will succeed.”

Apparently the Order believed in the fifth humor, and in Florence they were going as far as to steal blood from the living for their research. The parties at Palazzo della Notte suddenly made perfect sense. Attractive men luring lonely and bored women away from their husbands. Drugging them. Drawing off their blood and sending them home weak and confused, marked as victims.

Belladonna gestured to Signor Mafei to help her with her cloak. He draped the garment over her shoulders, and she cinched the belt around her waist. “And yet, Dottore, you still persist in your barbaric methods of trying to extract humors from the tissue of the dead. Wasting time. Wasting blood. What makes you think we here in Florence owe you anything?”

Cass’s head was spinning. Angelo de Gradi hadn’t purchased corpses to study anatomy and improve medical techniques. He had been cutting up bodies to try to create the fifth humor.

“Begging your pardon, Bella, but the dead have always been in good supply, and far more compliant than the living,” de Gradi said. “I should like to observe young Dottor Basso’s persuasive techniques. Then again, perhaps there is safety in tradition. Wasn’t the Order almost destroyed from within during your father’s time at the helm?”

Belladonna stared at him coldly. “You would do well to not speak ill of my father, Angelo.”

De Gradi backed slightly away from the baptistery pool. The rest of the Order members still encircled him closely, perhaps hoping there might be a chance to bathe in his blood if he kept talking.

“Did not Signor Dubois donate generously to your cause while he was living here in Florence, back when you were just a girl?” de Gradi asked. “Was it not his gold that helped pay for your physicians?”

“Joseph’s money did not go as far as you presume,” she said. “And I no longer need his fortune.” She tugged on her belt again. “One can only imagine what he might squander the elixir on. Imagine, eternal life for Venice’s finest courtesans.”

The group tittered, and the tension seemed to ease.

“Bella,” de Gradi said, almost in a playful tone. “Rather than talk of finances, perhaps we should talk of common interests. Does not the Book of the Eternal Rose say it was a Venetian woman from whom your father once isolated a near-perfect specimen of fifth humor?”

Belladonna raised an eyebrow. “Are you implying the women of Florence are inferior to the Venetians?”

“Not at all.” De Gradi bowed. “Your beauty makes such thinking unimaginable. I was merely suggesting that the purest fifth humor may come from a Venetian bloodline. If the good Dottor Basso would share his notes, Signor Dubois and I could continue your research in Venice.”

“I’ll consider your proposal,” Belladonna said, with a wave of her hand. She stepped out of the baptismal pool and spread her arms wide before the crowd. “Brothers and sisters, what is left is yours.”

Cass watched in disbelief as the hordes of robed figures leapt from their seats. They pressed forward, crawling into the baptistery, clawing at the smears of dried blood, even rubbing their faces against the sides of the marble pool. Hoods were falling, and Cass knew that if she got closer, she might be able to identify some of the members writhing around in the baptistery.

But she was revolted, and could not force herself any closer to the blood fest.

Belladonna strode down the center of the church, with Piero and Signor Mafei flanking her. With her, Cass knew, lay additional answers. Discreetly, she ducked out of the alcove and headed down the side aisle, straining to make out what Belladonna was saying.

“It’s disgusting, don’t you think?” Belladonna asked. She paused at the threshold to the entrance hall, gesturing again at the crowd. Cass tucked herself back in the corner of the nave, keeping her hood pulled low. “The way people lose control over a little blood.”

“It’s only natural.” Piero shrugged. “You yourself know the benefits of fresh blood. To what else can we attribute your exquisite youth and beauty?”

“I don’t claw and fight to get at it,” Belladonna pointed out.

Piero’s voice seemed to contain a smile. “That is because you have your faithful shepherds to bring it to you.”

“If the magistrates of Florence were witness to this, the whole Order would be strung up as vampires,” Signor Mafei said.

“Convenient, isn’t it?” Belladonna said. “The Church and their obsessive worry about the undead. A most opportune way to hide our tracks and dispose of our unwanteds. Poor girls. They can’t even defend themselves without admitting to what they think happens at our decadent little parties. And their husbands and fathers would likely execute them for those crimes as well.” Belladonna smiled. “Grazie a Dio for lust and fear. Without them our work would be much more difficult.”

Signor Mafei opened the church door, and wind rushed in.

Cass realized she was shaking violently. She pressed her body against the wall of the church. Everything was starting to make sense. The Order of the Eternal Rose was using the city’s fear of vampirism as a cover for stealing blood. They were extracting humors from the blood and attempting to create the mythical fifth humor, long rumored to be instrumental in extending human life.

But apparently not all blood worked. It had to possess a certain quality. It had to be the right blood.

Angelo de Gradi had suggested that it might have to be Venetian blood.

No wonder Piero had been draining her.

And what if her blood didn’t contain the required properties? How much time did she have before the remainder of her blood would be taken forcefully from her? How long before it was Cass, and not Tatiana de Borello, who was being poured over Belladonna’s perfect skin.