The Elemental Mysteries: Complete Series (137 page)

He grabbed her chin and laid a hard kiss on her mouth. “Since when is my woman afraid?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not afraid.”

“Good.” He stood and straightened his collar. “You’ll love Rome. And since Kirby and Desiree can come along with Benjamin, we’ll all have a grand time. Tenzin will... she’ll put up with it for your sake. Try to persuade her not to kill anyone.”

“Hmm.”

“What now?”

“Just thinking. We’ll need to figure out something about accommodations. We’re going to be there for three months and there’s six of us, so—”

“We have a house in Rome. It has plenty of room.”

Beatrice blinked. “We do?”

“I have a large house in Rome, an estate outside Florence, and a smaller flat in Milan. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“Anything else?”

“That’s all that I have in Italy. I have a few other places scattered around Europe.”

Beatrice paused. “Was that on your husband profile right under your ability to burn pasta? Because, I’ll be honest, anything after the description of your sexual skills I just skipped over.”

He burst out laughing and tossed a hand towel at her. It hit her in the face.

“Hey!” She flicked her fingers and a spray of water crossed the room, soaking him.

“Thanks for that.” He stripped off the wet shirt.

“Aha! My devious plan worked; you’re naked again.” She grabbed his hand as he walked past and pulled him into the tub.

“Tesoro?”

“Yes?”

“Are we going to accomplish anything tonight?”

“Probably not.”

Hours later, he managed to pull himself away when Ben resorted to calling their room, threatening to steal the car to drive himself to practice. Though Giovanni was agreeable to that scenario, Beatrice was not. She muttered something about “stupid teenage drivers” as she pulled on her practice clothes and left the room, blowing him a kiss over her shoulder.

He wandered down to the library on the first floor, where he had shipped most of his uncle’s collection of books, letters, and artwork. He had expanded the original library during the year they had been in Chile and added a pool house, as well. All the windows had lightproof shutters, which allowed Beatrice to have use of most of the house during the day. He had spared no expense making sure their home suited his wife’s somewhat unusual needs.

Just as he was sitting down with a collection of letters between Girolamo Benivieni and his uncle, Giovanni Pico, the phone rang. Looking at the clock, he realized it was probably Carwyn calling before dawn.

Giovanni picked up the phone. “Hello, Father.”

“That would have been awkward if it was Livia.”

“You know she never uses the phone. She can barely stand using the postal service instead of uniformed messenger.”

“And yet she does love her fancy lights and indoor plumbing.”

“No one can ever claim she was anything but an aristocrat.”

“So, speaking of your mummy—”

“Please, don’t call her that,” he said with a wince. Carwyn only chuckled. “Ever. I’m serious.”

“Fine. Speaking of the Roman she-devil, when will you be there?”

He rolled his eyes. Carwyn had always had a clear disdain for anything having to do with Rome. The Welshman barely put up with his own friends at the Vatican, who had known about the priest’s existence for centuries, and he delighted in making snide remarks about the arrogance of ecclesiastical and military empires.

“We’ll be there at the beginning of May. Will you be joining us?”

“Will Tenzin be there? And the boy?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to miss out on the party. I’ll see you there. I could use a visit with a few people in red bathrobes anyway.”

That was unexpected. Carwyn usually avoided Vatican City if possible. “Oh? Anything I need to know about?”

“Just some... personal details. Collar-type things you’d have no interest in.”

The priest was being uncharacteristically cagey, but Giovanni let it rest. He knew if his old friend wanted to share, he would. Carwyn had few secrets, but those he did have, he kept very close. Giovanni decided to change the subject.

“How’s Deirdre?”

Carwyn paused. “She’s doing well. As well as can be expected. She’s keeping busy. Has quite a few projects she’s juggling at the moment.”

“Good.”

“And how is your wife?”

“Doing extremely well. She’s practicing with Ben and Tenzin tonight, though I believe she’ll be training with Baojia again in the near future.”

“Oh, you must be thrilled.”

“I can... appreciate his usefulness.”

Carwyn only laughed. “And the bloodlust? How’s she doing with that? Any slips?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t seem to be a problem. She still feels it, from what she says, but her control is so good you wouldn't know it was ever a problem. She’s extraordinary.”

“Well, that’s no surprise.”

“I suppose not; she’s always performed beyond expectations.”

“Speaking of things I don’t need to know about...”

Giovanni snorted. “Aren’t you amusing?”

“Sometimes.”

He frowned. Something was bothering his friend. “Are you sure you don’t have things at home you need to take care of? We’d all love to see you in Rome, but it’s not necessary if you’re busy.”

Carwyn paused. “I’m sure. I’ve been here too long as it is.”

“Where are you? I thought you were calling from home.”

“No, I’m in Ireland.”

“Still looking through Ioan’s library? If he’s the doctor that Stephen mentioned in the journals, it’s possible that they were in contact. Have you looked through his letters?”

“Deirdre has. I’ve been through his library, and so far, there’s nothing. Nothing about the research that Lorenzo tortured him over, either. In fact, anything related to vampire blood seems to be gone, though I know he had at least one book that he wrote, detailing its uses in treating humans. Deirdre is quite certain that no one has been in their library except their immediate family and nothing seems disturbed. I’ve been writing letters to the rest of the family and his other colleagues to see if he lent his work to anyone, but as you can imagine, the list is fairly long.”

“I hate to pull you away if you’re needed there. Are you sure—”

“Yes, I need to get away from here for a bit.” Carwyn sighed. “I’ll see you in Rome the beginning of May, Gio. Keep out of trouble and say hello to B for me. I need to go.”

“You’re acting strange.”

The priest laughed. “When do I not act strange?”

Giovanni scowled. “Fine. Keep your secrets.”

“Just following your excellent example. I’ll see you in a month or so.”

“Good night, Carwyn.”

“Good night.”

He hung up, but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Carwyn had lost much of his normally affable demeanor since Ioan’s death, and Giovanni knew that witnessing his family’s grief was even more wrenching than his own. Reminding himself that Lorenzo still walked the earth, free to hurt others, he dove back into research. He pulled out the letters and turned to one dated 1488, written from Benivieni to his uncle when they were in Paris.

“My dear Giovanni, I saw the odd Signor Andros in Rome last month. He was speaking with the Moor who is visiting with the governor on some trade issue. He really is a most strange gentleman. I cannot ascertain your preoccupation with him...”

Chapter Three

Los Angeles, California

April 2012

In the four years since Ben Vecchio had lived with his adopted uncle, it wasn’t unusual for him to pinch himself to make sure he was awake. It wasn’t when he saw his uncle dart by so fast that his eyes blurred or noticed his aunt’s new fangs peek out of her mouth. The fact that he had been adopted by vampires no longer fazed the young man. No, it was the mornings he woke in a warm bed, surrounded by the sounds of family and signs of comfort that he pinched himself.

But pinching was the last thing he needed to do to remind himself he wasn’t dreaming when it came time for practice with Tenzin.

“I’m going to keep beating you up until you get this,” Tenzin said as she punched his shoulder. “You’re horrible today. Very distracted.”

“Hey.” He scowled and threw up an arm, instinctively blocking the strike she aimed at his face. “Can we take a break and watch them already? It’s kinda hard to concentrate.”

“What? Them?” Tenzin glanced over her shoulder at Baojia and Beatrice as they practiced with the new swords that Baojia had brought. Ben snuck in a quick jab to her knee while she was turned.

Tenzin’s leg buckled and she looked back with a smile. “Good. Opportunistic is good. Fine, we can watch them for a while. I’d better make sure that vampire doesn’t slice her up before Gio gets here anyway.”

Tenzin walked over to the wall opposite the weapons training area in the industrial building. When she’d moved to Los Angeles, she had bought the nondescript complex off Allen Avenue and gutted it, turning the majority of the large area into her own personal training studio. She had shipped many of her own weapons over from somewhere in China, and now Giovanni, Beatrice, Tenzin, Ben, and currently, Baojia, used the large space to work out and train.

Beatrice and Baojia were sparring in the corner, Beatrice using the curved
dao
she usually trained with, while Baojia used the twin blades of the
shuang gou
he had brought to introduce into her training regimen.

“Why isn’t she using them?” Ben asked. “I thought she was supposed to be learning.”

“Watch and learn. He’s showing her how to defend herself against them before he teaches her how to attack. Watching Baojia use them will be the most effective way for her to learn.”

The longer Ben watched, the more he could see the wisdom of it. Initially, Beatrice was cautious, weaving and ducking away from the other vampire, darting in occasionally with a quick thrust of her saber, but mostly, dancing around him. He saw Baojia hook the swords together in one swift movement, sweeping the blades over his head and then down toward Beatrice’s legs as she jumped to escape the broad reach of the wicked edge. He swung them around like a chain or rope, and the double-sided blades cut through the air, lethal from all angles as they sought their target.

Ben frowned. “He wouldn’t actually hurt her, would he?”

Tenzin only shrugged. “He won’t cut her head off. He’s more careful than that. If he slices her up a bit, well... that’s just part of training.”

Ben had a feeling that his uncle might have a distinctly different attitude about the whole matter, but that was probably why Giovanni rarely joined them when Beatrice was fighting. As cultured and calm as his uncle usually was, Ben had witnessed his rare fury once when he thought Tenzin had attacked his wife too fiercely. The flames from his outburst had singed the hair off Ben’s forearms from ten feet away. Beatrice was furious, but Giovanni only snarled and told Ben to run faster next time.

Secretly, Ben thought it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen.

“How long will it be before she’s really good with them?”

“Watch her now,” Tenzin murmured. “Watch, boy.”

It irritated Ben that Tenzin always called him “boy,” but he supposed he couldn’t really say anything about it. Even if she only looked a few years older than him, he knew she was the oldest vampire he would probably ever meet. The funny thing about Tenzin was she still acted like a little kid at times. Beatrice said it was because she was so old and didn’t get out in the modern world all that much, but Tenzin was still amazed by weird stuff like TV and cars. She hated cars, but she liked the television. She really loved going to the movies, and she and Ben had fallen into the habit of going to see one at least once a week. She liked 3D pictures the best.

Tenzin reached over and whacked his arm. “Boy, are you watching?”

“My name is
Ben
,” he grumbled, but turned his attention back to Beatrice and Baojia. He could see what Tenzin meant. Beatrice was no longer simply reacting to Baojia’s attacks, she was now actively attacking him, spotting tiny opportunities to throw the other vampire off balance, or make his grip on the
shuang gou
waver.

“Oh, wow,” he whispered as they picked up speed. Soon, both vampires were whirling in an almost sickening blur, whipping around each other, jumping and leaping, while the blades caught the glint from the overhead lights. Finally, Ben had to look away. He was starting to get motion sick from the speed of their movements.

“Ah... ah...” From the corner of his eye, he saw Tenzin lean forward and laugh. Ben chanced a look up, only to see Beatrice standing in front of Baojia. She had taken one of the
shuang gou
from him and held it, along with her saber, at the other vampire’s neck as he was pressed against the wall.

“And she’s got him,” Tenzin said. She turned to Ben with a grin. “Did you see? She’s very good. No one will stab her again.”

As soon as she said it, he saw the flicker of sadness in her grey eyes. Tenzin quickly looked away as Ben watched the expression drain from her face.