There seemed to be a murmur of agreement around the hall. Baojia chuckled.
“Clever imp,” Beatrice heard him whisper.
“What?” she asked, leaning toward him. “Is there going to be some kind of trial or something? What are they going to do?”
“Oh,” Baojia nodded, “there will be a trial, but not now.”
“Why not? Why—”
“Alas,” Zhang stood, once again speaking in English and glancing at Beatrice. “It appears that Honored Elder Lan has departed the hall. If only I had known, I would have asked our fellow Elder to stay. Lan was departing on a journey of some kind. Of course, I did not question the Elder’s plans.”
“What?” Lorenzo hissed before glancing at Zhongli and falling silent again. There was a murmur of dissatisfaction from the right side of the hall where Zhongli’s allies had congregated, and many vampires seemed to be searching the hall for Lan’s small, white form.
But Beatrice knew the elder would not be found; Lan’s earlier appearance in the inconspicuous grey robes suddenly made more sense. For whatever reason, Lan had delayed Zhongli and Lorenzo. To what end, she had no idea, but as she looked around the room, she realized that Tenzin, Giovanni and her father looked pleased, and Lorenzo and all the vampires on the other side of the room looked annoyed.
That was probably a good thing.
“We cannot decide this matter without Elder Lan,” Zhongli conceded in English. “Lorenzo, you may remain at the palace as my guest until his return. All here”—he glared at the six elders surrounding him—“will guarantee your safety upon this sacred island. And to Elder Zhang’s guests.” He turned to Tenzin. “And to yours, Mistress Tenzin, we will guarantee safety as well.”
Giovanni stood casually in the center of the room. He nodded toward Elder Lu and Elder Zhongli in the center thrones. “No one under my aegis would doubt the honor of the Eight Immortals. We stay here at your leisure.”
After that, the hall turned back to the business of the night and hummed with energy again. Lorenzo was whisked away by Zhongli’s entourage, and Tenzin walked over to speak to her father, leaving Stephen and Giovanni in the center of the room, both wearing completely blank expressions. Finally, her father nodded to Giovanni and brushed past him, walking toward Tenzin, who reached her hand back to grasp his.
Beatrice wondered whether she was just noticing, or whether they were now being more open, but the intimacy between the two was apparent. They almost seemed to circle each other, reacting instinctively to the other’s movements as they passed through the room and out one of the side doors, leaving her alone with Baojia.
Giovanni was speaking with one of Zhang’s people in a low voice, and the room began to swirl around her. She turned to Baojia, who was watching her. His steady, silent presence remained at her elbow as she felt her exhaustion begin to creep up. She gave one last look at Giovanni, who was still deep in conversation, before she raised her eyes to her silent guard.
“Can we go now?” she asked.
Nodding, he took her arm and led her toward the back doors, where other vampires and human servants were exiting the hall and dispersing through the palace grounds.
“I will wait outside your room until Giovanni can join you. You should get some sleep.”
“Will Lorenzo—”
“Do not worry about Lorenzo.”
“You know,” she said, shaking her head, “I’m pretty tired of people telling me that when he’s kidnapped me twice.”
Baojia pulled her to a halt near the base of a large white limestone rock dotted with tiny shells. He stared at her for a few minutes, and she was beginning to squirm under his steady gaze.
“Giovanni is embroiled in this,” he finally said. “He has many roles to play in this game. I respect that.”
Beatrice frowned. “What are you trying to say?”
“I have one role to play here, Beatrice De Novo. I have one objective and one purpose. I was entrusted with your safety by your grandfather, my sire. I have one job, and it is you. So I tell you, do not worry about Lorenzo.”
He stepped closer, and the same flare of emotion she had seen earlier in his eyes leapt out again. Her heart began to beat more quickly, and a faint heat rose to her cheeks. Baojia’s eyes never wavered from hers, and she forced herself to tear her gaze away before she continued walking toward her room, his ever-present footsteps trailing behind her.
Mount Penglai, China
September 2010
G
iovanni gritted his teeth as she left. The fact that Baojia had been the one to comfort her in her distress had not escaped his notice, even as he stood watch over the hall. His need to claim her had been overruled by caution, but he wasn’t pleased.
“Doctor Vecchio? Did you have any other questions?”
He turned back to Zhang’s administrator. “None. As long as Zhang can spare the extra security to make sure Miss De Novo is fully protected through the daylight hours, I am comfortable remaining on the island.”
The old wind vampire gave a respectful nod. “You honor us with your presence. And your support of Zhang’s interests will be remembered.”
“Thank you, Quan. Your master’s offer of protection will be remembered, as well.”
“Is there anything else?”
“I will return to Tenzin’s quarters at this time. I have some phone calls to make. I understand there is a phone connection on the island now?”
“Yes, a custom satellite system was installed last year. There are insulated phones that connect in each wing of the palace. I believe Tenzin does have one.” He leaned in a little closer. “The connections, of course, are shared. One must always keep that in mind.”
In short, don’t say anything on the phone that you don’t want spread around the palace. Giovanni received the veiled message with a quick nod before he took his leave from Elder Zhang’s efficient administrator.
He walked across the grounds, glancing toward the opposite side of the compound where Lorenzo was carefully sheltered within Zhongli’s entourage. He gritted his teeth and kept walking.
What was the wind immortal’s purpose? Why would he invite the water vampire to Penglai? Had his jealousy and paranoia of Tenzin finally reached its limit?
Elder Zhongli Quan may have been the second-ranking political leader of the Eight Immortals, but the old wind vampire had long been insecure of his position and suspicious of Tenzin. Zhang’s daughter dwarfed him in age and power, and it was only her disinterest in politics and her desire to avoid her sire, which kept her from attaining a position of leadership in the hall of the Elders. She could have had Zhongli’s throne with a flick of her small wrist, but had always been quite vocal that she had no desire for it.
Had her recent activities on Giovanni’s behalf caused suspicion that Tenzin had taken an interest in political life? If it had, he regretted it. He’d had no quarrel with Zhongli in the past, but now, the wind vampire was an enemy.
He was mentally running through the web of alliances within the council as he entered Tenzin’s quarters. He immediately turned down the hall to check on Beatrice. As he passed their room, he saw Baojia sitting on a bench, reading, nearby.
He looked up briefly. “She’s sleeping. She was exhausted.”
Giovanni came to a halt. He had nothing to criticize, even though an instinctive protest at the vampire’s presence wanted to leap to his mouth. The water vampire was doing the job his sire had assigned him, and as much as Giovanni may not have liked the interest Baojia showed his woman, he knew that Beatrice was safe under his care.
He finally nodded. “I have some calls to make to Southern California. Do you know where the phone is located?”
“It’s in the front library. You have to put it on speaker phone to use it, even with the insulation for the wiring, so be careful what you say.”
“Has Ernesto been informed?”
“I told her I wouldn’t leave the door until you returned, so no.”
“I’ll make my calls and be back shortly.”
Baojia shrugged. “It’s morning there anyway, so I can only talk to his secretary. Take your time.”
Giovanni frowned. “I’ll be back shortly.” He turned and walked toward the small library just off the main sitting room. The walls in Tenzin’s rooms were all decorated simply, with pale paint, sparse wall hangings, and a few wood screens. It suited her while still being formal enough for her father’s tastes.
He passed Nima in the hall, and the old woman nodded in his direction. Her face, as always, was set in a pleasant expression that concealed the calculating mind he knew she possessed. Nima had been in Tenzin’s company for so long, she was almost like another half of his friend, though Tenzin took care to not place the old woman in any position she feared could be dangerous.
No, Nima had always been carefully protected. As the old woman continued down the hall, he turned to watch her slow gait. Giovanni had always assumed that Tenzin and Nima had been more than merely companions at one point, and he wondered what Nima thought of her mistress’s involvement with Stephen. Giovanni had to wonder himself.
He walked into the library; there was a small man working; a servant of Zhang’s was dusting the books.
Giovanni spoke quietly. “You may leave now. Shut the door.” The man bowed silently and left.
He spotted the phone and walked over. It was a speaker unit, as Baojia had said, in some sort of bulky, protective case with a stylus sitting next to it for dialing.
The fact that there was any phone on the island was a huge advance. For thousands of years, Mount Penglai had been cut off from the modern world, with electricity only coming in select locations fifteen years before, and most correspondence was still sent by courier. The human population of the island was just as isolated, though all stayed by their own desire, as far as he knew.
He quickly dialed Matt Kirby’s number in Pasadena.
“Hello?” The connection was slightly delayed.
“Kirby, it’s me.”
“Gio?” His tone was cautious. “How’s everything?”
“Going well.”
In a manner of speaking
. “How are Caspar and Isadora?”
“Enjoying the gardens here, which look amazing. They’re both enjoying the house and the weather. Dez and Isadora are thick as thieves and are spending a frightening amount of time shopping lately. They miss your girl, though. Give her our love.”
“I will. And how is the puppy?”
Though Lorenzo knew of Ben’s existence, the knowledge that Giovanni had adopted a human child was not widespread, so he and Matt had agreed that, if lines were not secure, Ben would only be referred to as Giovanni’s “puppy.”
“Active as always. His obedience classes are going well, but he still has discipline problems occasionally.” They had enrolled Ben at an exclusive school used by many of the human families under Ernesto’s aegis and others involved in the immortal world. Some of the students boarded there, though Ben lived at home. Most importantly, it was private, and the security met Matt’s stringent requirements.
“Any accidents in the house?”
Any fights with Caspar or Isadora?
“Nothing serious.”
“Well, give him a scratch behind the ears from me.”
“Will do,” Matt said. “Anything new there? Was everyone there that you expected?”
Was Stephen there?
“All the expected players. Beatrice was pleased. And then we had some unexpected company tonight.”
“Oh?”
“Yes.”
“The one I thought?” Matt had been convinced that Lorenzo would make an appearance while they were in the East; Giovanni hadn’t been as sure. Luckily, “I told you so” wasn’t Matt Kirby’s style.
“You may have mentioned him.”
“Do we need to make adjustments?”
Did Giovanni need Matt to fly out?
“It’s not anything I’m not equipped to handle. Things seem secure on our end. I just wanted to let you know.”
“Thanks. I’ll take appropriate precautions.” Realistically, if Lorenzo was in China, it was unlikely that he or his associates would target Giovanni’s family in Southern California. Still, it never hurt to be cautious.
“Thank you, Kirby. Please give my regards to everyone.”
Giovanni wanted to talk to both Ben and Caspar, but it wasn’t smart to advertise his human attachments. They were simply too vulnerable. Sending greetings through Matt was the best he could do.
“I will,” Matt said. “Take care, and say hi to B for me.”
“I will.”
He hung up and immediately called Carwyn in Ireland. The priest was staying with Deirdre and helping the widow cope with losing her mate. He was also looking through Ioan’s library in the hopes that it would reveal some sort of clue why he was targeted.
Lorenzo’s child had confessed that his master had tortured Ioan while questioning him about vampire blood types, and Giovanni wondered whether Ioan had somehow stumbled into the mystery of the elixir, or whether there was some other reason Lorenzo had wanted the information from the doctor.
“Carwyn?”
The tricky delay caused him to talk over the priest when he answered, “Hello?”
“Carwyn, it’s me.”
“Gio, are you there?”
He frowned. “Yes, it’s me.”
“Are you calling from Penglai?”
“Yes.”
There was a crackling pause. “When did they get a phone? Also, the connection is horrid.”
Giovanni chuckled. “I’ll let them know. It’s fairly recent.”
“Have the finally put bathrooms in that crazy palace?”
“Yes, even showers.”
“Will wonders never cease?” He heard Carwyn laugh. “And how’s the ancient and drafty one? Has she killed anyone yet?”
“Not yet, but we haven’t been here that long.”
“She’s got time, then. Excellent. Is the food still awful?”
“Even you would have trouble eating it.”
Carwyn laughed again. “And has her dad been there?”
“Stephen
is
here, Father.”
There was a long silence on the line. Carwyn was one of the few people that knew how much finding her father had meant to Beatrice. His voice was slightly hoarse when he spoke again. Or, it might have just been the connection.