The Elemental Mysteries: Complete Series (111 page)

He kept laughing and pulled her onto the bed as she tried to walk past. “Did he ask if you wanted to play with his sword?”

“Stop,” Beatrice said as she began laughing, too. Soon, they were wrestling on the bed and he had her arms pinned above her head so she had to stop slapping at him. “I’ll have you know,” she said, gasping, “I told him that I only liked European spears.”

Giovanni burst into laughter again and leaned down to kiss her. His head fell forward as he buried it in the crook of her neck. “Beatrice, I’m not jealous.”

“Why not?”

He lifted his head and met her mouth, stealing her breath when he kissed her. “Because no one,
tesoro mio
, will ever love you the way that I do. Of this, I have no doubt.”

A sweet smile spread across her face. “No?”

“No.”

The next evening, Giovanni passed Baojia in the hallway. The water vampire nodded at him politely. He paused. “Baojia?”

“Yes?”

He turned toward the water vampire. “I just wanted to thank you for all the time you have spent training Beatrice.”

“I am at her disposal.”

“I have never been able to quell my protective instincts enough to train with her as she deserves, but I know she is progressing, and it pleases me. I also know you usually do not train humans.”

Baojia curled his lip. “I’m not doing it as a favor to you, di Spada.”

“I know. I appreciate it nonetheless.”

Giovanni saw Baojia smirk a little. “And she has good things to say about her weapons practice?”

“
Weapons
practice?” Giovanni nodded. “Oh yes. She quite enjoys weapons practice.”

Baojia’s eyes narrowed. “Yes… she’s very skilled.”

Giovanni chuckled and continued walking. “You really have no idea.”

Chapter Ten

Mount Penglai, China

October 2010

Despite the slow pace of life on the island, time seemed to slip away with a whisper. It had been three weeks since Lorenzo made his appearance, but Beatrice had scarcely noticed. Her nights were occupied training with Baojia, and her days were occupied with Tenzin or her father, who had absorbed Tenzin’s ability to stay awake almost effortlessly through most of the day. Stephen scarcely needed sleep, so the long separated father and daughter spent hours hidden away in the library of Tenzin’s quarters, getting to know each other again.

Other than her training, Beatrice’s nights were spent with Giovanni. He was doing his utmost to keep her occupied during any hours Lorenzo might be active, keeping her away from the practice room, as well.

“Come back to bed.”

She rose from the silk pillow, intending to take a quick shower at nightfall before she met Baojia for practice with the sword. She’d taken an afternoon nap and woken to Giovanni’s lips again.

“I need to go practice.”

He stretched with a lazy smile and hooded eyes, knowing what the slip of the silk sheet did to her as it crept down his sculpted chest.

“
Tesoro mio,
” he purred, “come back to bed. You’re not dressed yet; we have time.”

His hand crept out, fingers slipping around her thigh as he drew her back to the luxurious bed.

Beatrice allowed herself to be pulled. “I know what you’re trying to do, possessive vampire.”

“Yes?” he asked as he laid a kiss along her bare hip. “What is that?”

“You’re trying”—she sighed and gave in, falling into the curve of his arms—“to distract me.”

“How am I doing?”

“Very, very well.” She gasped when he ran his fangs along the curve of her shoulder and his hands teased her body, sparking as they pulsed with amnis. Beatrice leaned her head to the side and moaned when his tongue teased her pulse.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint.”

They decided to make use of the luxurious marble tub much, much later.

Tenzin watched Beatrice as they practiced.

“You’re getting much more limber.”

“Thanks.” She panted as she executed a complex series of kicks and punches from the wushu technique Tenzin’s father had developed hundreds, maybe thousands, of years before. Her legs were aching, but she reveled in the stretch in her hamstrings as her leg lifted in almost a full split.

“Maybe Gio’s libido
is
good for something.”

“Tenzin, please!” Stephen called from the side of the practice room where he was studying.

“Your ears are just as good as mine!”

Beatrice may have unconsciously held the pose longer than she intended. Tenzin ignored the crimson flush on her face and batted her leg down to the floor.

“Let’s work on flips.”

“Tenzin.” She shook her head. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to do most of those until I turn.”

“You can still practice. Don’t be lazy.”

Beatrice heard Stephen snort. “Why don’t you give her a break so she can help me with this Latin passage?”

“Lazy De Novos!” Tenzin stormed toward the door. “Fine, take fifteen minutes while I go find someone to eat. And, Stephen, don’t pretend you need her help.”

Stephen only looked up and winked at Tenzin before she left the room. Beatrice grabbed a towel and a glass of water before she sat down next to her father.

“Do you really need help?”

“No.” He grinned. “I’m not even reading Latin. This is a Greek manual on alchemy from Alexandria. Have you learned any classical Greek yet?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s so dense.”

“You’ll learn fast enough when you put your mind to it. Especially after you turn.” He glanced up, and a serious expression blanketed his eyes. “You’re sure about it?”

“What?” She patted her face with the towel. “About turning? Yeah. I mean, Gio and I… well, you know we’re serious, and I wouldn’t commit myself to him without being sure about the vampire thing.”

“But do
you
want it? Or is it just because of him?”

She leaned back against the cool wall. “Dad, I know you’re being the good dad here and looking out for my interests, but you realize that there’s no way I can answer that, don’t you?”

“Why?”

She frowned, trying to think how she could explain. “I have no idea what my life would be without him. Without all this. I can’t even imagine. This is reality now. My dad became a vampire through no fault of his own. I was drawn into it by virtue of being your child. And no.” She held up a hand. “I won’t allow you to apologize. It’s not your fault either.”

“I still feel guilty.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, get over it. Life happens. You were taken. I was targeted. I met Gio. We fell in love. We have a family. I wouldn’t have said this even a year ago, but… all this happened for a reason. God, fate, destiny. Somehow, it was meant. Our lives are so intertwined, I can’t even imagine it any other way at this point. And I want it.”

She leaned forward and grasped her father’s cool hand in her own. “Do you understand? I know there are sacrifices. I know there are limitations. I still want it. I’m tired of always being the one that needs protecting.”

Stephen looked at her for a long moment. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Tenzin told me exactly what you’d say. She says you’ll be an extraordinary vampire. Greater than me, no doubt.”

Beatrice smiled and shook her head, still patting sweat from her face. “I have no illusions. I know I’m still going to be the slow one.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” He chuckled and flicked his wrist, and she felt a cool spray of water at her back. “There, that better?”

She closed her eyes and grinned. “Much. Thanks.”

“Controlling water does come in handy occasionally.”

“You’re really powerful now, aren’t you? From exchanging blood with Tenzin?” She saw him glance away and squirm in discomfort. “I’m not asking about… anything, really. It’s none of my business, I know. I just… I’m happy that you’re stronger now.”

“I am,” he said quietly. “I’m very strong. Tenzin has been… well, she’s—”

“Back.” Beatrice turned when the door opened and Tenzin strode in. “And you need to practice your flips, lazy De Novo.”

She wrinkled her forehead and turned back to her father.

“Don’t look at me,” Stephen said with a smile. “You said you didn’t want to be protected.”

Beatrice stuck her tongue out at him, but Stephen only laughed.

“You really… I have to…” Giovanni cut her off by sinking into their kiss. They were tangled in bed, and he was distracting her again. He moved over her, his iron arms boxing her in as he kissed down her body.

“Beatrice,” he whispered before muttering something unintelligible in rough Italian.

“I really need to learn that language.” She sighed as her eyes rolled back.

“Hmm.” He lifted his mouth and gave her a wicked smile. “I’ll just switch to another language you don’t know then.”

“I’ll catch up with you eventually.”

“You don’t need to catch up.” He moved up her body so he could whisper in her ear. “Just stay. Stay with me. Stay here.”

“I can’t… oh”—she arched her back in pleasure—“stay here forever.”

“Yes, you can.”

Giovanni set about proving why staying in bed with him really
was
the best plan, but he was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

He looked up with a snarl and sped naked to the door in the sitting room. She heard it open.

“Go away,” she heard him say before he slammed it shut.

Beatrice sat up in the bed, covering herself with the sheet. He walked back in the room and dove into the bed.

“Who was that?”

“No one,” he said before he pulled the sheet away.

“Giovanni!”

He rolled his eyes and lay back on the bed, pulling her on top of him and running his hands through her hair. “That was your fencing teacher.”

“Baojia?”

“Yes.”

“You slammed the door in Baojia’s face?”

“Yes.” He obviously didn’t consider this rude or unusual as he began investigating the freckles that dotted her cleavage. “He’s probably standing out in the hall now if you want to tell him something,” he said before his mouth returned to her skin.

She rolled off of him. He only sat up and tried to pull her into his lap.

“Sorry, Baojia,” she called loudly, knowing he would be able to hear. “Sorry my… Giovanni is a rude vampire.”

“Fine.” Beatrice heard his muffled reply from the hall as she hid her face in her hands. “I’ll be in the practice room when you escape his clutches.”

Giovanni gave a satisfied laugh, but she slapped at his shoulder and pulled away, standing to walk to the bathroom so she could take a shower.

“What?” he called out, still laughing.

“You can’t keep me occupied every single hour that Lorenzo is awake. I have things I need to be doing.”

“Yes,” he said as he lay back on the bed, stretching his legs. “I can think of several right now, in fact.”

She shook her head and shut the door, only to hear it open as she stepped in the shower.

“I really need to go practice, love.” She felt him run the ginger-scented soap over her back.

“Consider this a warm-up,” he said as he ducked under the water.

Her face was still flushed when she finally made it to the practice room.

“Sorry,” she said when she spotted Baojia in the corner of the room.

“No need to apologize. We practice on your schedule.” He stood and handed her the practice
dao
, which had become her favored weapon for practice. She hadn’t switched to the full-weight weapon yet. Soon. The thin steel blade curved wickedly in the lamplight, and she began her regular warm up routine, spinning and thrusting in the style Baojia had taught her.

He made quiet corrections to her form before he grabbed his own weapon and began demonstrating a new series of maneuvers. He rarely spoke, and the vampire’s near silent instruction became a kind of meditation, focusing her mind as her muscles memorized the intricate steps.

They practiced almost silently for another hour before she spoke again.

“He’d prefer it if I never left our quarters after dark.”

Baojia gave a quiet laugh. “I can’t blame him for that.”

“No, really, he doesn’t like me being out when Lorenzo might be around.”

“Are you sure that’s his only motivation?” he teased quietly.

“Haha. Men.”

Baojia laughed again. “Like I said, I can’t blame him for that.”

He came to a halt and she followed his lead, standing at relaxed attention and mirroring his stance. “Were you my woman, Beatrice”—his eyes darted down to her mouth—“I would hardly let you leave the room.” He grabbed her
dao
, brushing a finger against her wrist as he took it from her suddenly limp hands. “For safety’s sake, of course.”

He walked calmly over to the wall of weapons, placing both sabers back in their cradles before he looked over his shoulder with a smile.