Authors: Elizabeth Hunter
“Do you want me to sing to you?” he asked softly.
“Just sleep. Having you here is enough.”
“Try to rest, Tesoro.”
She smiled and buried her face in his chest. She felt him drift away into a bone-deep, contented sleep. Beatrice watched him for hours, wiping at the tears that fell down her face and drinking in the sight of him, determined to make it last.
“Why does chamois blood taste so much better than other goats? It’s not sour at all.”
Giovanni shrugged and continued field-dressing the dark-skinned animal they had hunted the following night.
“The meat is very good. I know the right way to cook it. You will like it.”
Though Gavin had the house stocked with blood and there were many towns nearby, Giovanni had wanted the exertion of the hunt, so they had slipped away from the balmy edge of the lake to run miles north into the mountains. Giovanni enjoyed the fresh, dry air of the Southern Alps and Beatrice enjoyed Giovanni. All she had to do was catch a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye, and she smiled.
He wore some of the clothes Gavin had at the house, small on him, but still better than the rags he’d worn away from the castle. One look at the shredded tunic he’d thrown on the dock, and her rage against Livia had bloomed again.
“Come.” He held out his hand after washing his hands in a small stream. He made a small satchel from the shirt he had worn and carried the best cuts of meat down the mountain for them to share. She grinned at her shirtless husband carrying the game they had just killed. There was still a drop of blood at the corner of his mouth.
“You know, I feel very frontier woman right now.”
He laughed. “This is how people got food for most of history. It is good to know these things.”
Beatrice wrinkled her nose. “Well, when the coming zombie apocalypse hits and there aren’t any more grocery stores, I’ll just let you take care of the hunting and the gathering, all right?”
Giovanni laughed again and sped down the game trail they had followed. It was a clear night and the moon was full. She could see the distant lights of the town as they came down out of the hills, enjoying the stretch of her legs as she ran. As they approached the small road that led back to the house, Giovanni slowed to a human pace, so as not to attract attention. “Beatrice?”
“Mmhmm?”
“Why did you tense up when I talked about going back to Rome? Do you think she will be able to capture me again? Are you afraid?”
“No! No, I don’t—”
“She surprised me last time.” He halted on the path and narrowed his gaze. “I was not on my guard. You should not fear that I will be taken again. I do not make the same mistake twice.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not afraid that she’ll take you again.”
“No?” He frowned and started walking, muttering under his breath. “You have lost confidence in me. You fear—“
“Gio, you can’t go back to Rome.” She halted in the middle of the trail. “I mean… at least, not yet.”
His nostrils flared in anger. “I am going back to Rome.”
“No, you don’t understand—“
“I understand that you no longer think I am strong enough to protect those under my aegis.”
Her jaw dropped. “What? That’s not—“
“But I will. Do you know what I have planned for that Roman bitch? Would you like to hear it?”
“Stop, Gio. That’s not what I’m talking about! I know you’re strong enough.”
“Obviously you don’t, if you think I’m going to hide from her.”
She clutched at her hair, frustrated and angry that the argument had devolved into her husband thinking she lacked confidence in him. “Giovanni, it’s not that we can’t go back.”
He picked up the bundle of meat he’d dropped and stalked down the trail ahead of her. “Damn right, it’s not. I may live quietly now, but there’s a reason—”
“
You
can’t go back.”
He halted again, slowly turning until he faced her. “What did you say?”
Her heart thundered, and she felt tears run down her cheeks. “I said,
you
can’t go back. I have to, but you can’t. Not yet.”
His eyes flared, and he stepped toward her. “This is… what? Some plan you’ve come up with?”
She swallowed and nodded tentatively. “Yes. Me and Ziri.”
“Ziri?”
“And Carwyn. And Tenzin, too.”
“And this plan involves you going back to Rome and me… what? Staying here safely tucked away?”
“No.” She walked toward him. “We need you to find someone. Two people, actually.”
He stepped back, and a blank mask fell over his face. “So, you will return to Rome and I—”
“Carwyn, too. He’s going to go with you.”
“But you won’t.”
Beatrice shook her head, and her heart fell in her chest when he took another careful step back.
“So, we would separate again?”
Her throat felt frozen, but she nodded with effort.
Giovanni’s eyes were glacial. “Unacceptable.” He turned and sped back to the house.
“Gio!” She called after him, but he did not turn back. She walked at a human pace, knowing that he needed time to think.
When Beatrice got back the house, he had put some of the meat away and was cooking two thick fillets over the built-in grill in Gavin’s kitchen. He must have heard her walk in, but he did not turn around. Her nose twitched at the scent of the savory meat.
“Do you know why I don’t often care to eat roasted meat, my wife?”
She had always suspected, but it wasn’t something they talked about. “Why?”
“Roasted meat has a distinctive aroma, doesn’t it? Something about that combination of flesh and fire.”
“Gio—”
“Strangely enough, the smell of human and vampire flesh is not that different. Well, not that most would notice. The essentials are the same. Flesh. Fire.”
She cleared her throat and bit her lip. “I’ll take your word on that.”
He nodded. “Good. You
should
take my word on that. Do you know why?”
Beatrice whispered. “Because you’ve killed many—”
“Hundreds, Beatrice.” He threw a bloody knife across the room where it lodged in a wall. “I have killed
hundreds
. Yet, apparently, my wife and my closest friends only think that I am capable of fetching someone for their little plan.”
“You’re the only one who can do it.”
He sneered and shut off the grill, tossing the meat onto a plate. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. Carwyn or Tenzin could easily deal with finding—”
“Arosh.”
His eyes widened. “Wh—what did you say?”
“Arosh,” she whispered. “We need you to find Arosh.”
He shook his head, anger forsaken for confusion. “He is dead, Beatrice. The fire king has been dead for centuries.”
“He’s not.”
He crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter. “I think you had better explain.”
“Arosh was one of Geber’s four. It was Ziri, the Numidian. Saba, the Aethiop, Arosh, the Persian, and… Kato, the Greek.”
Giovanni shrank back when he heard the last name. “Kato?”
“Yes, Kato.”
He rushed over and clutched her shoulders. “Kato, the ruler of Minos. King of the ancient sea.
Kato
is the Greek? You are telling me that the water vampire that Geber used… is my own father’s sire?”
“Yes.”
“He is not dead as I was told?”
“No. Ziri will explain it to you. There’s still a lot I don’t understand.”
He let out a harsh breath. “And you want
me
to go find two of the most ancient and deadly vampires to ever walk the earth? Two unopposed rulers of the ancient world, thought to be dead for centuries?”
“They’re not dead,” she whispered. “And we’re pretty sure we know where you and Carwyn need to look. Ziri will be here in two days to explain it all.”
The harsh expression fell from his face. “Two days?”
She nodded, and he pulled her to his chest.
“Two
days
, Tesoro?”
“It’s all we can afford.”
“I just got you back. You cannot ask me to—”
“Tenzin and I need to be back in court in that time. Livia won’t be able to prove anything, and Ziri will vouch that I spent the last few days at his estate examining some books, but any longer than that…” He wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his chest. “I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered. “I don’t ever want—“
“Shh.” He stroked her face and rocked her as the tears slipped down her face. “We cannot do this.” He framed her face and brushed back the hair that had fallen in her face. “You must come with me. If we are going to find these immortals, then at least we should be together.”
“Someone has to stay back in Rome, Gio. We think she may already have the elixir. Rumors are starting to circulate, and I—”
“But
two days?
”
His lips began a frantic race as he held her tighter. Her eyes. Her cheeks. His hands tilted her face toward him before he attacked her mouth. He inhaled her gasp and lifted her in his arms, walking them to the counter where he set her on the edge. He paused and wove his fingers into her hair as he looked at her with a haunted stare. “How can I leave you again?”
“Gio—”
“How can I leave my heart?” He ducked down and pressed a kiss to her neck. “My love?” His hands drifted over her shoulders. “My life? Beatrice, how?” He buried his face in her neck and pulled her closer so she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“I don’t want this either.”
Their desire was a desperate, frantic call. He lifted her and walked to the bedroom where he slowly slipped off her clothes, letting his fingers memorize the texture of her skin. His mouth followed every dip and curve, and she held back tears when he lay down next to her and let his head rest on her abdomen, wrapping his arms around her hips as he whispered her name over and over.
She pulled him up and rolled them over, so she rested on his chest. “Some day,” she whispered. “We will come here when things are peaceful. And we will swim in the lake every night.”
“Yes?”
She sat up and spread her hands along his chest, tracing the line of his arms until her hands met his. She nodded and knit their fingers together.
“Yes. And we will buy a boat and you will teach me how to sail it.” Her fingers were enveloped by his warm hands, and she felt his thumb stroke the back of her palm.
He whispered, “How do you know I can sail a boat?”
“You can do everything.”
A sad smile crossed his lips for a second. “And you will show me the strange contraption you have created to use the computer.”
“And you’ll finally be able to check your own e-mail.”
He twisted their arms around, so that Beatrice was curled on her side facing away from him and his arms encircled her. “And I will make love to you every night in our boat.” He kissed along her shoulders, and his hand drifted over her hip.
“And you will read me Giuliana’s sonnets and sing me beautiful songs,” she whispered. The tears slipped down her face as he lifted her thigh and slid into her. He pressed her back to his chest and kissed the side of her neck. She leaned back into his embrace and turned her face to his, kissing his lips as he made love to her.
“And you will make me laugh.” He smiled against her mouth and his hands stroked her breasts, her belly, the soft skin at the juncture of her thighs. “And tease me and remind me not to be so serious. And not to burn the food.”
She laughed, but it turned into a sob as pleasure collided with the heartbreak of losing him, even for a little while. “And in a hundred years, when we get sick of each other—”
“I will never tire of you,” he said frantically as he approached his own release. “Never.”
“We’ll take separate vacations.” She knit their hands together again, wrapping his arms across her breast. “And then—”
“I will find you!” He gasped as the climax rolled through him and his arms banded around her. “I will find you, Beatrice. Wherever we go—”
“We will find each other,” she cried out, and he turned her so that she was sheltered in his warm embrace. Beatrice felt him press a kiss to her hair.
“We will find each other.”
Chapter Seventeen
Lake Maggiore, Switzerland
June 2012
Giovanni spread his arms across the back of the couch in the lake house study. Beatrice sat next to him, nestled into his side, still reluctant to stray too far from the comfort of his presence. They had spent two days wrapped in each other, both avoiding what he was now beginning to suspect was their inevitable separation. The ancient wind immortal, Ziri, took a chair opposite him and his wife, and Carwyn sat near the fire, looking grim.
“Ziri, thank you for coming. Please, explain. Particularly about my grand-sire.”
Ziri folded his hands in his lap. “Your grand-sire, Kato, is alive, as far as I know. My friends and I deliberately misled the immortal community regarding his death. I don’t know his condition, and we don’t know how the book came into
your
sire’s possession, but that is why you must find Arosh. Only someone who rivals him in power will stand a chance of getting close enough. And Arosh will have Kato with him.”
“I understood that Arosh is the one who killed my father’s sire. He and Kato were legendary enemies.”
“Yes, of course they were. For many years they battled each other for land, resources, power… that is why they became such close friends.”
Beatrice leaned forward. “You’re going to have to explain this part a little more clearly to me, Ziri.”
The old vampire smiled. “You must understand that this was the age of empires. The pale shadows of empires that came later, the Greeks, the Romans, the Roman church, none of them
truly
understood empire as we did. Zhang, before he changed his name to be civilized, ruled the East with his Golden Horde of vicious immortals and their people. Arosh held Zhang back at the gates of the Western world. Saba, the most ancient of us, kept her peace in the flourishing African highlands. I ruled the deserts, and Kato… Kato ruled the waters. We were rivals. Enemies. Our power kept each other in check. There was death and conquest, but there was balance, as well.”