A Fall of Water (6 page)

“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 Signore 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.

“Nope,” he said, teasing. “That’s my fake aunt, toughest vampire around.”

Tenzin turned back to him with a smirk. “Now, you’re just asking me to beat you up again.”

“What?” he scoffed. “You’re a little girl. What kind of—okay, ow!” Tenzin pounced on Ben and twisted his arm behind his back. “Ow,
ow
... Tenzin, I was joking.”

“‘Little girl?’ You are an infant.”

“I’m not going to be able to practice if you take my arm off. Ow!” His eyes rolled back until he heard a swift, whooshing sound. Suddenly, her grip loosened.

“Please don’t damage the boy, bird-girl. He whines when he’s in too much pain.”

Ben rolled on his side to see his uncle’s leather dress shoes by his face.

“Hey, Gio.” He looked up at Giovanni’s amused face.

“What did you say to piss her off?”

“I called her a little girl.”

His eyebrow cocked, and Giovanni glanced at Tenzin, who had flown over to speak to Baojia and Beatrice as they were putting the weapons away.

“You’re a brave fool, Benjamin.”

Ben snickered and took the hand his uncle held out. “You should have seen B. She was awesome. She totally beat Baojia with the hook swords.”

“Excellent.” Giovanni smiled. “I am almost sorry I missed it.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m glad I still have all my hair, so thanks for keeping away.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

Ben’s eyes darted away. “Oh... you know, just gonna head home and maybe hang out for a while. I got a history test on Monday. Stupid French Revolution stuff. Nothing major, but...”

“Ben, I can hear your heartbeat; I know you’re lying.”

He huffed. “I’m just... sheesh, man. I don’t ask you what you’re doing every hour of the day.”

“Are you meeting a girl?”

“What?” Ben’s face reddened. “No, I’m not.”
This time.

Luckily, Giovanni must have decided that Ben was lying about his true intentions because he just grunted and leaned toward the boy. “Be careful. Be respectful. That’s all I require. And be in your bed by morning.”

“I’m not—never mind.” Let him think he was going out to meet Heather or Brianna. Ben walked over and picked up a towel, wiping the sweat from his forehead before he walked to the small locker room to wash up. “Whatever. I’ll see you guys later.”

Ben showered, grabbed his helmet, and walked out to his scooter. At fifteen, he was still breaking the law by riding it, but Giovanni and Beatrice both turned a blind eye since their schedules and his were so screwy, and Caspar was getting older. Besides, Ben just felt weird making Caspar drive him around when he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. With his height and his deep voice, Ben had never attracted attention riding the stripped-down Honda Ruckus, and he always kept it on surface streets. He couldn’t wait till he was sixteen, and he could finally get Beatrice’s old motorcycle.

Ben made a show of riding off, only to double back and wait in an alley, watching for his aunt and uncle to exit the building. He saw Baojia and Tenzin leave. Baojia walked toward a parked car with a driver in front, and Tenzin ducked toward the back of the building before he saw her small form take to the sky in a blur.

Still, he waited.

Ben didn’t know why, but recently, the idea of how Beatrice and Giovanni were feeding was starting to bug him. Did they feed on random strangers? Criminals? He was starting to entertain crazy notions of them stalking gang members in dark alleys like modern day superheroes, and he knew he was being ridiculous. He felt awkward asking, so he decided that the easiest way to find out would be to trail them when they went out. It was Friday night, and he knew they would feed, because both of them always looked flushed on Saturday, and Beatrice usually slept a little during the day, which she rarely needed to do.

Ben waited in the shadows until he saw them walk out, hand in hand. They were on foot, so he left his scooter in the alley and prayed that no one would bother it. He followed behind them as they turned the corner and headed toward a clutch of storefronts. They must have walked a mile, both of them strolling at a human pace, chatting and laughing together like any other couple out for a date. Beatrice had her hand tucked around Giovanni’s waist, and his hand occasionally reached up to play with the ends of her hair. Ben envied the easy love he saw between them and wondered if he would ever find someone that loved him like that.

No matter
, he thought with a grin. There was plenty of time for that and plenty of interested girls in the meantime.

Ben saw them turn a corner and walk toward a bar where a loud group of what looked like college kids gathered on the patio outside, drinking and smoking. They paused across the street, then looked at each other. Giovanni gave Beatrice a small nod, and they crossed the road.

“What are you doing?”

Ben almost fell over when he heard the voice at his ear.

“Dammit, Tenzin!” he gasped and spun around. “You scared me to death!”

“Why are you following your aunt and uncle?”

“I’m... not. I’m not following them. I’m just...” He cleared his throat and stared into her skeptical grey eyes.

She looked across the street, then back at him. “Yes, you are. And you are a bad liar.”

“You know, I’m actually a really good liar unless I’m talking to a vampire who can hear my heartbeat.”

She shrugged. “Well, it’s too bad that half of your family are vampires then. Why are you following Gio and B?”

“I’m just... I was just... worried.”

“About?”

“Them. You know, with all the danger and... stuff.” He was flailing. Ben could charm his way out of practically any situation imaginable. He could charm the harshest teacher at school with a flash of his smile. He could get any of the girls to do his boring homework for him by batting his long, dark lashes, but Tenzin...

He sighed. Tenzin was uncharmable.

She waited, standing with preternatural stillness that seemed to wrench the truth from his gut.

“I’m just curious, all right?”

“About?”

“How they... you know...”

She furrowed her brows. “Are you one of those strange boys who likes to watch people do personal things? A ‘Peeping Tim?’”

“Tom! It’s ‘Peeping Tom,’ Tenzin.”

“Oh, and you are one of them?” She didn’t look disgusted, just curious as she cocked her head to the side.

“No!”

“Then why are you following them?”

“I’m just curious about... the eating thing.”

“About what?”

Ben flushed to the roots of his hair. “The eating—feeding thing, you know? Who do they eat from? What do they... I mean, do they kill people? Do they... I don’t know!”

She scowled. “They don’t kill people. Why do you think they kill people?”

“I don’t think they kill people.”

“But you just said—”

“I’m just curious, okay?”

“So why don’t you ask them?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems rude.”

Tenzin curled her lip. “It’s rude to ask them, but following them is not? You are a very odd boy.”

“I’m not—”

“Come on.” She waved at him and started walking back down the street. “I’ll walk back to your bicycle with you.”

He frowned and started to follow her. “It’s not a bicycle, Tenzin.”

“It has two wheels, doesn’t it? Bi. Cycle.”