“I don’t get how a vampire could in reality be deprived of blood for so long,” Aisha continued. “I can’t imagine why he or she would not have at least been able to procure some animal blood.”

Uma shrugged. “I don’t know how the original Bloodless came to be. That’s a mystery yet to be unraveled.”

“Back to the topic of killing them,” I said to the witch, eager for a change of subject. “Please tell us more.”

“Yes,” the witch replied. “If you want to kill one of these, I believe that you will need a razor sharp blade—sharper than what you tried using— and you will need to sever the body in several spots… for example, chop off the head, sever the midriff, and perhaps also the legs. I’m afraid that I’m not aware of the extent of their bodies’ healing capabilities, but they certainly do not appear to be as fast as a regular vampire’s.”

Another silence engulfed us as the three of us glanced over Braithe’s form again.

I wished once more in frustration that Uma could just tell me what ideas she’d come up with regarding a cure. I could hardly bear to look at Braithe like this. I just wanted him back. I wanted Hans back. I wanted all of them back. I wanted my life back. Is that really so much to ask for?

“Well,” Aisha muttered, interrupting the quiet, “that’s what this specimen here is for. We can test your speculations right now.”

Before either the witch or I could react, the jinni had shot toward the counter where Uma had left the knife. Swiping it, she shot back to the examination table.

I wanted to scream at the jinni to step away, but I managed to restrain myself. Such a reaction would be far too much of a giveaway.

“Wait, Aisha,” I said, fighting to adopt a steady tone of voice. I reached out and closed my hand around hers and gently pushed the knife downward.

“For what?” she snapped.

“We don’t even know if Uma has finished with her experimentation on this one yet,” I said, the words flying from my lips as I thought of them. “Shouldn’t we ask? She might have more things to explain to us first.”

Aisha turned on the witch. “Well, do you?”

“I do, actually,” the witch replied calmly. She walked over to Aisha and took the knife from her hand. She set it back down on the table behind her. “In fact,” Uma continued, “I would rather that we don’t kill this one in particular. I’m in the process of a number of experiments. I’ve already pumped his body with a couple of potions.”

Aisha grumbled, but didn’t insist. I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“So how exactly do you propose that we storm the ship?” I asked. “We need a lot of sharp blades. That’s it? Couldn’t you use your magic to get rid of them?”

“Yes,” Uma said, “I could certainly attempt to slice through them with my magic. As you noticed when I stunned this one with a spell, they aren’t instantly receptive to witch magic—at least, there’s a small delay, which is another reason to have you by my side assisting me. I’m still not quite sure as to why a delay is there, that’s something I have yet to find out… How many did you say were on that ship?”

“I haven’t counted exactly,” I admitted, “but it looked like there were over sixty… at least. They might’ve even reached some other island by now and turned more vampires to join them.”

“All right,” she said, standing up and walking over to a counter in the corner of the room. It was only now that I noticed a steaming black cauldron on full heat. She stood before it and stirred it with a large ladle. Picking up a glass vial, she tipped a spoonful of dark gray liquid into it before bringing it over to us. “This is a tranquilizer I’ve managed to develop in the past few hours that I believe will work on these creatures.”

“Okay…” I murmured, eyeing the concoction.

“I will equip you with blow darts tipped with this potion. You have to shoot the dart into the creatures—preferably their throats, although other parts of the body will do—and make sure that it penetrates the skin. The poison should cause their bodies to go into paralysis for at least two or three hours. So when we arrive at the ship, after I have singled out a few to keep for my own research, we will start work on the creatures. I suggest that the first thing you do is try to slice them in three places as I have described simply because this is the fastest method. But if you’re finding yourself in a particularly difficult situation, use one of the darts to tame them first.”

I breathed out. “Good,” I said. I liked the idea of the paralyzing darts. Knowing that I was equipped with them would definitely offer some reassurance when down there fighting with those lethal creatures.

“Will there be a delay in this potion getting through to them?” I asked.

“A delay of a few seconds,” she replied. “I already tested the potion on this creature here. I brought him out of my paralyzing spell and then shot him with one of the darts—in the throat.” I scanned Braithe’s neck, where the skin seemed to be particularly thin and almost translucent. “You won’t see the mark now,” Uma added. “It’s had time to heal. Anyway, the potion took approximately five point five seconds to take effect on him. Then he drifted off into a deep slumber.”

“What’s all that blood on your apron?” Aisha asked the witch, wrinkling her nose.