A Fall of Water (31 page)

“Yeah, I remember reading about her in the journals.”

Ziri smiled. “He was always so careful with his language in those. Careful to conceal what we were and what we were doing. I’m very impressed you and your father figured them out.”

“I doubt we would have had we not known about vampires already.”

“True.” Ziri sat back in his chair and stroked his chin in a thoughtful manner. “I do wonder how Livia and Lorenzo were able to interpret them so quickly."

“Gio thinks that there were notes that the monks made that Lorenzo stole when he ransacked the monastery. He said that Fu-Han had made progress.”

“That was Zhang’s old apprentice?”

“Yes. Giovanni said he had figured it out. Lorenzo must have taken his notes.”

“Interesting.”

“But Gio also said that Fu-han told him right before he died that there was something Lorenzo would not understand about the elixir.”

Ziri cocked his head. “What? What wouldn’t he understand?”

Beatrice shook her head. “He didn’t say. He just said something about the fifth element. Not even Gio knew what the hell he was talking about. There are only four elements.”

Dez piped up. “No, there’s not. There’s five.”

Beatrice’s head swung around. Dez was still sitting at the desk, and her eyes were glued to the monitor. Lucien was sitting to her left, studying the screen intently. He turned in his chair to address her.

“Dez is right,” Lucien said. “The four elements are more philosophical than scientific. There are consistencies and variations across history. While four elements were named in ancient Western tradition, Aristotle added a fifth,
aether
.”

“Aether?”

“The essence. The…
aether
. It’s hard to explain. Aristotle described it as that which the heavens were made of. The eternal elements. All earthly elements are, in reality, unstable. They can be changed in many ways. Aether, the essence of the eternal, could not.” Lucien smiled. “Call it what you will. The soul. The spark of God. Eternity. Aether is that which does not change.”

“That’s not science.”

Lucien chuckled. “My child, God has existed long before science. He created it, after all.”

“The fifth element was more prevalent in the East, Beatrice.” Ziri broke in. “The ancient Babylonians had five elements, the sky being one, which you could relate to the Greek concept of aether.”

Lucien continued, “Hindu philosophy and Bön have five elements as well. Bön has always held a fascination for Eastern vampires. Its study is what Tenzin’s father is so well known for—well, that and bloodshed. Bön names five elements: fire, earth, wind, water, and space. The philosophy says that everything is related to these five elements. The four earthly elements influence everything about an individual, with the fifth, the space or aether, tying all things together.”

“So, there
are
five elements.” Beatrice nodded. “Okay, but how does that relate to the elixir of life? What could Fu-han have found?”

Ziri shrugged. “Who knows? The four earthly elements are all that truly pertain to our biology. There are no
aether
vampires. None possess a fifth power.”

“What element is the most common?” Dez asked, looking up from the computer. “Just curious. Are there roughly the same number of all the different vampires around?”

Beatrice shook her head. “Not fire. Fire vampires are pretty rare, right Ziri?”

“Yes, I would say that there are roughly the same number of wind and water immortals. Earth vampires are more numerous.”

Lucien said, “We do like our big families.”

Dez patted Lucien’s hand. “That must be why you guys are so easy to hang out with.” She laid a hand on her swelling abdomen. “Family oriented.”

Lucien watched Dez with a warm gaze. The human and the vampire had bonded over Dez’s pregnancy, which was progressing with no complications. Matt had arranged an Italian midwife and hospital for his wife, but Dez also had the benefit of an immortal doctor on call. Lucien had been a healer for thousands of years and had grown very fond of Dez.

“How are you feeling, my dear?” He held a hand out. “May I?”

“Of course!”

Lucien placed a hand on Dez’s stomach. Beatrice felt her fangs descend involuntarily and tried not to growl.

“Relax, Beatrice.” Lucien glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

She took a deep breath. “I don’t know why that keeps happening. You’re her doctor, for goodness sake. I’m so sorry.”

Ziri spoke. “It’s instinct. It’s natural for you because you consider Dez under your aegis. It’s nothing to be concerned about. It just means that you will protect her and the baby.”

“Aw.” Dez winked at her. “I knew you were gonna be the best auntie.”

Lucien smiled. “Have you felt the quickening?”

“Huh?”

“The baby. Have you felt the baby move?”

“Oh, yeah! Just a little. It kinda feels like bubbles.”

“You’ll feel more and more. He’s very active.”

Dez sat up straight. “It’s a boy?”

“I’m not sure,” Lucien said with a smile. “Extra strong senses, remember? No vampire ultrasound. And I can’t smell the little one. He or she is very well protected in there.” Lucien gave one last pat to Dez’s little rounded belly. “Aren’t you,
bebe
? Stay nice and snug until it’s your time.”

Dez melted. “Lucien, you are a big vampire sweetheart.”

“Please don’t let that get out. Well, you can tell my mother. She would laugh.” He winked. “And this vampire sweetheart is exhausted, I better—”

Deirdre blew through the door in her typical, abrupt way. “I need to leave,” she stated.

Beatrice sat up straight. “Everything all right?”

The redheaded vampire nodded. “Everything is fine. But there is nothing more I can do here. I need to return to my family.”

“Oh.” Dez stood and walked toward her. “I’m going to miss you!”

Lucien said, “You need to leave tonight?”

She nodded as she embraced Dez. “Matt has been looking for a ship that could carry me back. There is one leaving out of Genoa in the morning, but I’ll need to leave tonight. Soon.”

Beatrice glanced around the room. Ziri was unmoved. Dez was disappointed, but Lucien looked… lost.

“Deirdre," he said.

Deirdre’s eyes swung toward him and she held out a hand. “Lucien.”

And Beatrice suddenly recognized the anguish in his voice. The two friends had known each other for hundreds of years. Lucien and Deirdre’s husband had been the closest of friends and colleagues. And Lucien didn’t think he would see her again.

Deirdre walked over and embraced him. “You must not think this way, my friend. You must not.”

“I do not know if I will see you again in this life.”

Blood tears touched Deirdre’s stoic face as Lucien enfolded her in his long arms. “Do not make me say good-bye to another loved one, Lucien. Whatever this is—”

“It is not goodbye. Not really, Deirdre. You and I both know this.”

Beatrice just tried to hold herself together. At times, it was easy to see the mystery of Geber’s manuscript as academic. It was a research project. A problem to be solved.

But it wasn’t.

She watched the friends say good-bye, and her mind flashed back to her father’s anguished face as he faced off against Lorenzo on the banks of the Nine-bend River. The scattered bodies of the monks in the Wuyi Mountains. The memory of the woman before her, wailing on the ground as she mourned the loss of her mate.

It would never be just academic.

The memories of loss were still fresh as Beatrice made the journey to Castello Furio later that night. Deirdre had left for Genoa. Dez and Matt had finally collapsed in exhaustion. They were both working day and night, trying to help solve the mystery and keep track of Ben while Giovanni was gone. Lucien had also taken to his bedroom. He’d had a bad spell after Deirdre left and drifted in a kind of fugue state he couldn’t seem to wake from. It was happening more and more. Ziri and Beatrice had helped him to bed before Ziri flew ahead of her.

The last place in the world she wanted to be was Livia’s castle, but there was a party that night in honor of the Chinese delegation that Tenzin told her she needed to be present for. After all, she had been named a scribe of Penglai, so she gritted her teeth, took a quick drink from the clueless driver, and headed out of Rome.

As they pulled up to the castle, she could see the glittering lights in the olive trees and the bevy of guards that only seemed to grow with each passing week. Whatever Livia was planning, she was gathering more and more guards. Beatrice debated, but left her shuang gou in the back of the car, tucking a few daggers into her boots, and another in her waistband before she walked through the gates.

The grounds were glittering with immortals and humans dressed in festive red outfits in honor of the Eastern guests. Beatrice was wearing her uniform of black jeans and a T-shirt. She still enjoyed flouting Livia’s snobbish fashion sense. Plus, it was easier to hide knives in jeans and a T-shirt than a cocktail dress.

“Beatrice!” Donatella Conti called her name from across the lawn. Beatrice nodded and walked over. In the weeks since she and Emil had made their tentative alliance, Donatella had proven invaluable. Beatrice knew now that the seemingly frivolous manner of the immortal hid a very keen mind and a vicious loyalty to her husband and his interests. Donatella had cultivated Beatrice as her new pet in the Roman court, and most of Beatrice’s communications to Emil were channeled through her.

“What are you wearing, my friend? What are you doing to me? Jeans?”

“I’m just not into dresses, Donatella.” The Roman vampire leaned over and kissed her cheeks in greeting while Beatrice whispered, “The better to hide weapons, my dear.”

“Oh, Beatrice.” Donatella winked. “You just have to use your imagination.” Scanning the woman’s skin-tight designer gown, Beatrice had to really use her imagination to figure out where Donatella could be hiding anything.

“So, what’s the gossip tonight?”

“Oh, she’s saying she has some big announcement she wants to make.”

“The Chinese delegation still playing nice with her?”

“As far as she knows, yes.” Beatrice had learned through Tenzin that the small trade group, which was headed by Elder Lu’s son, may have been there for business reasons, but quietly, they were supporting Beatrice and Giovanni’s plan to destabilize Livia’s power base. The Roman aristocrat had finally pissed off enough of the wrong people.

“Cool. We need to keep her happy until we hear more from Gio and Carwyn.”

They strolled through the crowds arm in arm, whispering to each other. “Any news?”

Beatrice and Tenzin had told no one outside of their small circle where Giovanni and Carwyn were headed. And no one other than their closest allies really knew who they were looking for.

“We received some information from the factory in Bulgaria.”

“Oh?”

“Which is shut down, by the way.”

“Good to know.”

“There was one shipment, which our sources do say contained a successful sample of the product.”

“Coming to Rome?”

“Headed here, but hopefully it will be detained.”

“Excellent.”

“I’ll keep you informed, but in the meantime—”

“Ladies.”

Donatella and Beatrice both turned to look at the interruption.

The gall.

Lorenzo leaned casually against a stone pillar, watching them and holding two flutes of champagne. He held them both out. Donatella took one, but Beatrice only glared.

“Donatella, you are looking delicious this evening.”

“Oh, Lorenzo.” She let out a tinkling laugh. “You are too kind. And stupid. You are very, very stupid.”

The vampire only cocked a blond eyebrow. “Oh?”

Donatella quickly covered the venom in her voice with a layer of honey. “To not have noticed my friend, of course! My beauty is nothing to her bold style. I am learning from our young American friend. She is so fearless.”

When Lorenzo opened his mouth, Beatrice could see his fangs descended behind his full lips. “I’m well aware of Miss De Novo’s fearlessness. She is a rare treasure, indeed.”

“Your sire is a lucky man, Lorenzo.”

That was bold.
The disappearance of Giovanni Vecchio was the giant, blood-red elephant at all of Livia’s parties. It seemed by mutual unspoken agreement that no one spoke of it. His name was not even mentioned except behind closed doors.

Or by his wife, of course.

She narrowed her eyes at the blond murderer who taunted her with his presence. “Oh, Lorenzo has always been jealous of Giovanni, haven’t you, blondie? Giovanni’s always had more class. More power. More… well, just more.” She let a smile cross her lips.

“Are you sure of that? After all, you’ve never really explored your options, have you?”

“My grandma told me I don’t need to taste piss to know I’m drinking wine.”

Lorenzo only offered her a sympathetic look. “How is your family, Beatrice? I was so sorry to hear about Stephen’s disappearance. Tragic.”

The rage burst forth. “You fucking bastard! You know—” She cut herself off when she felt Donatella’s arm restraining her.

“Come, my friend, let us find more pleasant company. I have a companion with me who would be to your liking, I think. His blood is very rich.”

Beatrice relented at Donatella’s touch. Lorenzo lifted his glass of champagne in a silent toast. As he brought it to his lips, Beatrice reached out and forced the liquid in the glass to expand, shattering the champagne flute at Lorenzo’s lips and opening a small cut at the corner of his mouth. He smiled and reached up with an elegant finger, swiping at the cut and holding the finger out to her.

“Care for a taste?"

She turned her back on him and walked away.

The night wore on, and she managed to find Tenzin, who was crouched on a corner of one of the towers, pouting.

“Tenzin, come down.”

The small wind vampire glared at her and floated to the ground.

“If I don’t kill something soon, I’m going to go crazy.”