“Tesoro,” he murmured, and she immediately turned to him, reaching out a hand to grasp his own. “I am…” He smiled, at a loss for words, overwhelmed by love and pride.
“I guess I’m still a librarian, huh?” She gave a crooked smile. “Thanks for giving me the library, by the way.”
Giovanni shook his head. “It’s yours. Of course it’s yours.”
She pulled him closer, but only squeezed his hand, mindful of the attention of the milling vampires around them. “It’s ours.”
They both spoke to Lu Dongbin for a few minutes. The elder was sending a group of guards the next night to retrieve the book, which would then be given into Beatrice’s care. Giovanni urged him to send more guards than he thought necessary, but Lu seemed confident that, though Zhongli was disappointed, he would control Lorenzo while he remained on the island.
Beatrice was pulled away by one of Zhang’s administrators, as Giovanni tried to persuade Lu. “I have confidence in the excellence of your guard, Elder Lu, but I do not trust my son. I do not doubt the honor of the Elders, but it is not like Lorenzo to give up like this.”
Elder Lu only smiled. “I do not wish you to worry. I will send double the guards. The book will be quite safe.”
Giovanni was not satisfied, but knew he could not press the issue without offending the elder. He nodded and retreated to Beatrice’s side. She was still speaking with Zhang’s administrator.
“—a most excellent resolution, Miss De Novo. Elder Zhang considers it an honor that one so close to his aegis, and a close friend of his daughter, has been given this distinction.”
“Please tell Elder Zhang thank you for all the help. I’m really glad I could be part of the resolution in this situation. And I’m very pleased to assist the council.”
Ever the politician, Giovanni thought. Though it all seemed very casual, Beatrice continued to amaze him with her instincts. She seemed to have a gift for knowing exactly what people were looking for and how to offer them what they wanted while still getting her own way in the process. He congratulated himself again on persuading her to become his wife. He felt a tug on his arm and turned to speak to another administrator, this one belonging to the Immortal Woman, Elder He.
When Stephen, Tenzin, Beatrice and Giovanni finally returned to their quarters an hour later, all pretenses dropped.
“Shit! I am not happy about this.” Beatrice pulled at her collar. “I know he has a back-up plan. What the hell is Lorenzo up to?”
“Agreed,” Tenzin said. “That was far too easy; he is planning something.”
Giovanni said, “We all agree Lorenzo is going to try to steal the book, correct?”
Every one of them nodded.
“The question is,” Stephen asked, “is he going to try to intercept Lu’s guards? Or try to take us on directly?”
Tenzin said, “He’d be a fool to take us on directly unless he has a private army we don’t know about.”
Beatrice asked, “Is there any way he could find the monastery?”
Tenzin shook her head. “I don’t think so. All the Elders know where it is, but if anyone revealed the location, their life would be forfeit. I can’t imagine Zhongli taking that chance.”
“But you know where it is, don’t you?” Stephen asked.
Tenzin snorted. “Of course.”
Giovanni rolled his eyes and sat at the table, pulling Beatrice onto his lap and tugging at her collar while Stephen and Tenzin argued about something under their breath.
He felt his wife relax a little bit. “You’re very covered up in all this, Tesoro.”
“Watch it now,” Beatrice said as she snuggled into his chest. He could feel the tension begin to drain out of her shoulders. “Don’t start getting handsy with the honored scribe.”
He chuckled and nipped her ear with his fangs. “Do I have to call you Mistress Scribe now?”
“Only if you’re really good,” she whispered.
He smiled before he captured her mouth in a kiss. “I sent Baojia out to see what he could learn from the guards. They gossip like old women.”
“They do, huh? Do—” She broke off, and they both turned toward a commotion in the hall. Baojia stormed into the room carrying four swords and scabbards. He tossed Tenzin her curved scimitar, a jian toward Stephen, and a dao to Beatrice. She stood and caught it instinctively. Giovanni could already feel the fire teasing along his collar.
“What’s happened?”
“Lorenzo left the island over an hour ago with a large group of Zhongli’s guards. They were flying and left fully armed. We need to go. Now. It’s already getting close to dawn. They will have a head start because they are only carrying one and the rest are flying, but we may be able to catch up if we take the plane. We can have the pilot fly us to…” Baojia looked at Tenzin, who actually looked speechless.
“Nanping,” she whispered. “How could he… The monks. All the monks are there.” She reached back and grasped Stephen’s hand.
“The word from the guards is that Zhongli has a human mistress who has refused to turn,” Baojia said. “He will do anything to keep her, including fund Lorenzo in his search for the elixir. Including revealing the location of Lu’s monastery.”
Giovanni’s fangs burst forth along with the fire that he smothered along his neck. He rose to his feet and began to pace.
Beatrice sent a cooling mist toward him. “So Lorenzo is going to take the book from the monks?”
“He is on his way to the monastery right now. Hurry up.” Baojia tossed the odd straps toward Giovanni, who caught them. “I’ve adjusted these so we should be able to swim with them fairly easily.” Baojia walked over and began to buckle the scabbard around Stephen as Giovanni helped Beatrice with hers. “We have to—Tenzin!”
The small immortal had rushed out of the room.
“She’s gone to tell Zhang,” Stephen said. “He must be told of Zhongli’s treachery. And Lu will need to be told, as well. Zhang can send some immortals to help.”
Baojia shook his head. “They’re going to be too late. We’re going to be too late unless we can get on that plane before dawn.”
Giovanni walked down to the library to call the pilot of the plane in Beijing. He and Tenzin would fly while Baojia, Beatrice, and Stephen swam to the mainland. They would just be able to make it to Beijing before dawn; then they could fly during the day and land in Nanping by nightfall. With any luck, they would make it to the monastery within a few hours. When he returned to the meeting room, Tenzin was speaking.
“—and they have already taken Zhongli before the council. They found the mistress, as well. My father has sent out his guards in pursuit of Zhongli’s, but even he admits they are not as fast, and they will have to rest during the day. We are even farther behind.”
“We won’t be by evening,” Giovanni said, striding into the room. “I’ve already contacted the pilot. He can have us in Nanping in six hours. Where do we go from there?”
Tenzin paled at the mention of the plane, but straightened stoically. “Up the Nine-Bend River. I will fly you, but the rest will have to go by river.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Baojia said. “I haven’t spent much time with Beatrice in the water, but—”
“I’ll be fine,” Beatrice said. “I’ll keep up.”
Giovanni nodded. “So we’ll fly to Nanping today while we rest. By nightfall, we’ll be headed upriver. If we’re lucky, we’ll beat them there.”
Baojia snorted. “I don’t think we’ll be that lucky, but we may just get there in time.”
At that grim statement, the room fell silent. Giovanni could only imagine what Lorenzo would do when he arrived at the monastery. He had little respect for vampire life, and none when it came to humans. If he would defy the council of the Eight Immortals to retrieve Geber’s manuscript, he was capable of anything. Giovanni felt for Beatrice’s hand, and she looked up at him with frightened eyes.
“We have to go now,” she said. “We’re running
out of time.”
Chapter Nineteen
Nanping
Fujian Province
China
November 2010
Beatrice woke with a burning in her throat. She rose from the bed in the plane, baring her fangs as her eyes darted toward the door. In a heartbeat, she had the handle half turned and Giovanni at her back. He locked an arm around her throat and threw her on the bed.
“You’re up early.” He fell on top of her, pinning her to the mattress and pulling her mouth to his neck. She struck hard and fast, the thick taste of his blood slaking her instinctual hunger, though it didn’t kill it completely.
“Shhh,” he soothed her, stroking Beatrice’s hair until she was calm again. As soon as she was thinking rationally, she took a deep breath, only to be hit with the unremitting scent of sweet human blood. She could even hear the pump of the pilot’s heartbeat, though she realized, for the first time, that the bloodlust was not overpowering.
“Where are we?” she grunted out after she took one last draw from Giovanni’s vein.
“A small airfield outside Nanping. Tenzin says it’s the closest to the monastery, but we will have to go upriver. It’s an hour and a half until sunset, so we can’t leave the compartment.”
She felt like weeping. “So I have to smell the pilot for another hour and a half?”
“Shh,” he whispered again. She buried her face in his neck, sealing the bite marks she had made and trying to block the smell of human with her mate’s own, smoky scent. “If it helps, Tenzin is more miserable than you. This is her first time in a plane, and I’m surprised she hasn’t peeled the walls off yet, despite the threat of sunlight.”
She tried to laugh, but it only exacerbated the burning.
Giovanni continued, “You’re beginning to wake earlier and earlier. Just like your father and Tenzin. You’re awake ten minutes earlier than last night, and that was ten minutes earlier than the night before.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that unless something changes, soon you will need as little sleep as Tenzin and your father. Maybe only a few hours.”
“But that’s less than you!”
“I know.” He did not sound displeased. “That’s means your amnis is already very strong, and growing stronger by the day. This is good. Eventually, you won’t need sleep at all.”
It also meant that for a good portion of the day, she would be without the support she had come to depend on from her husband. If Giovanni was not awake to distract her or stop her, Beatrice feared what she was capable of.
As if reading her mind, he spoke in a soothing voice. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out. Perhaps your father can stay with us for a time, or Tenzin. One night at a time, Beatrice. Don’t borrow trouble.”
“Okay,” she whispered, burying her face in his skin again.
“Let me up, and I’ll get you some blood. That will help your thirst. We have some in the main cabin, I was just about to get it when you woke.”
“Have someone block the door.”
“Of course.” He rose and paused over her, examining her eyes, which were still hazy with hunger.
She gripped the sheets and nodded. “I’m fine. Go.”
Giovanni rose, pulled on a pair of pants, then darted out the door in the blink of an eye. In a few seconds, he was back with three pints of blood, cool, but still smelling fresh. He tossed one to her and she caught it with one hand, piercing it with her fangs before she sucked it dry. By the time she was finished with the third bag, she realized that, though the pilot’s blood still called to her, with some effort, she could think around it.
“How long?”
“Will the bloodlust last?” He took the bags from her, placing them on the small bedside table before he slid next to her. He wrapped a steadying arm around her waist. “If you progress the way I expect you to, within a year, you’ll be able to be around people with ease as long as you feed when you wake.”
She took a deep swallow, still distracted by the burning sensation at the back of her throat, though the ache in her gut had been satisfied. “That’s not too bad.”
“It will pass more quickly than you can imagine.”
Beatrice closed her eyes and bit her lip. “Unfortunately, the next hour and a half is going to be torture.”
“Well, we can’t leave the secured compartment until the sun falls, which means we have no way of making the pilot leave until then. I’m afraid there no escaping the scent, but…”
She looked up to see a smile teasing the corner of his lips.
“What?”
He leaned down to nip at her ear.
“Let’s see if I can’t distract you, hmm?”
Though she had to admit Giovanni did an excellent job distracting her, there was also a hint of desperation to their coupling. She knew they would be plunged into the most dangerous race she could imagine as soon as the sun crept below the horizon, and she had no idea what to expect. Her dao sat propped by the door in the sling that Baojia had fashioned that would allow her to carry it while swimming.
She lay across his chest in the last minutes before sunset. “Am I going to be distracted by humans while I’m in the river?”
He frowned as he ran his fingers up and down her back. The water had been drawn to her skin as they made love, so his hot fingers left trails of steam where they touched.
“You’ll be fine. The water will help your control. And I doubt there will be many humans in the river after dark. I’ll tell your father and Baojia to watch out for you. Any animals should be fine, they won’t smell as appealing.”
“I don’t want to slow anyone down.”
“The key is to let your amnis connect with the water the way it wants to, then allow it to move you upriver. It will be instinctual, so don’t try to control it too much. Just let it happen. The way you move already and the way you fight, I think you’ll be very fast as long as you allow yourself.”
“Okay.”
“But I’m going to tell Baojia to swim as fast as he can. If you fall behind, Stephen will stay back with you. I’m sorry, Beatrice, but the priority—”
“Is the monks.” She nodded. “I understand, Gio. They’re defenseless against Lorenzo. Of course they’re the priority.”
They both fell silent then, and Beatrice’s eyes darted to the clock that hung on the wall. They had ten minutes till sundown.
“We should get dressed,” she whispered.
He held her tight to his chest for a moment before he pulled her up and kissed her. They stared at each other for a few more minutes before she rose from the bed. Beatrice focused on the task at hand, pushing the still-present scent of the human to the back of her mind. Giovanni watched her dress in a slim pair of jeans and a tight T-shirt that would not drag in the water.
“Beatrice.”
She looked up. “Hmm?”
“I love you.”
Her breath caught, and her heart gave a quick thump. “Don’t say that like you’re saying goodbye.”
He frowned and shook his head quickly, but she could see him blink away a red gleam in his own eyes. He rose and dressed in the black combat pants he wore when fighting and nothing else. Though the pants were fire treated and would usually stand up to his element, any other clothing would be nothing but ash, so he did not waste time with it. Giovanni strapped a curved dagger to his thigh and he was ready. He helped her buckle her sword onto her back, making sure she could easily draw it to fight.
Five minutes.
She began to feel a pressure in her chest. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
He moved to stand in front of her. “This is no longer sparring. These vampires will kill you, and you must not allow that to happen,” he murmured. “There will always be war. It is your job to survive it. No matter what. That is your victory, do you understand?”
Beatrice nodded, staring at his chest and wishing she could bury her face in it to avoid the coming bloodshed. Giovanni
grasped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. He did not look at her with the soft eyes of her lover; he wore the fierce expression of a soldier.
“You must survive, Beatrice. Do you understand? Do not sacrifice yourself for any other. Do not be meek in battle. Do not hesitate to kill anyone that threatens you. Eliminate them swiftly and without remorse. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
A desperate light came to his eyes and his hands tightened on her jaw. “Do you understand?” he asked again.
She reached up and put her hands over his as she stared into his eyes. “Nothing will keep me from you.”
They stared at each other for a minute more before Giovanni pressed his lips to hers in a single, fierce kiss before he drew back and reached for the door. He pulled it open and everything seemed to happen at once.
They rushed into the main compartment. Tenzin had the door open and waiting for them. Baojia streaked out, followed by Stephen and Giovanni carrying Beatrice in a headlock as they passed the human in the cockpit. As soon as they reached the deserted runway, Tenzin sealed the door, eliminating the alluring scent of blood; then she grabbed Giovanni and took to the sky in one sweep. Giovanni and Beatrice’s fingers touched for only a second before he disappeared into the night.
Beatrice turned to Baojia, but the vampire had already bolted toward a thick stand of forest calling, “This way!” as he ran.
Stephen grabbed her hand, and Beatrice ran at full speed for the first time in her immortal life. Her heart pounded in excitement. The wind rushed around her and, if she had been human, it would have stolen her breath. She squinted her eyes, closed her mouth and ignored the swarm of insects she swam through as she and her father rushed to keep up with Baojia. She could only assume he had been briefed during the plane trip and knew where they were going.