Tenzin locked Beatrice’s swords in position and pushed. Her face was inches away, and Tenzin could smell the salt-and-copper tang of grief and anger.
“I took him to the most powerful vampire I knew,” she said quietly. “The only one I knew I had leverage over. I could not gamble with his life or his eternity. Even when I had to crawl across stone on my hands and knees to beg for him.” Tenzin pulled the swords closer. “You, of all living beings, know what that means to me.”
Beatrice’s face was blank. There was still anger, but there was also pain and confusion. “Why?”
“Why do you think?” Tenzin asked. “He is mine.” She shoved Beatrice back, releasing the tension holding their swords hostage. “You are my dear friend and Stephen’s own blood, but if you try to drive a wedge between us, Beatrice De Novo, our friendship will end and your eternity will be forfeit to my rage.”
Tenzin threw her sword on the ground and left the room. There was nothing else to say. She had no other argument, no silver tongue. Beatrice would cool her anger or they would have war. Ben was standing on the edge of the practice arena, leaning against the wall.
She walked out the door, and he followed her in silence.
When Ben led her to the guesthouse, she followed him. Though Tenzin’s instinct was to take Ben and fly to safety, she fought it. This was his home. This was his territory. He would stake his claim to it—and to her—or he would become a stranger.
When they walked through the door and into the light-safe quarters, she spoke. “Benjamin, I was not trying—”
“No.” He turned and put a single finger over her lips. “She provoked that. You did nothing wrong. And honestly, that was like a year of passive-aggressive bullshit boiling over.”
Tenzin rose to him and took his mouth with hers, capturing his lips as he wrapped his arms around her. Her hands found the dark hair at his nape, and she twisted her fingers in the curls, tangling herself into his body; she wrapped her legs around his waist.
He didn’t carry her but rose in the air with her, floating them through the unfamiliar house and into a room muffled by heavy drapes and deep carpets. She heard the door shut behind them, and sound became muffled and thick. They were in a cave-like room designed to hide sound and light.
Ben came to rest on the wide bed piled with pillows and down blankets. She felt cool cotton touch her back. His hands slid beneath her tunic and lifted up. She fell back into the pillows and looked at him.
He was so beautiful to her. She found herself staring at the pattern of muscle across his torso, the defined dips and curves. She imagined the muscle beneath the skin, the blood coursing through his human body that had filtered down to every cell, building him into a creature of light until the darkness—
“Stay with me.” His fingers on her jaw. “Tenzin, stay with me.”
Her eyes refocused on his face. “Do you see the space within us?”
“I don’t think anyone sees things the way you do.” Ben’s smile was soft as he lowered his body over hers. “No space now.”
The temperature of his skin matched hers, and when his fingers touched her body, stroking along her skin or delving into corners that made her senses shudder, she felt the infinite space of his amnis twisting within hers.
He took her mouth again, and the pleasure of flesh touching flesh made her fangs lengthen, nick his skin, where the blood welled and reached for her tongue.
“Mmmph.” His groan was only pleasure. “Take it.”
She wanted it.
“Take it, Tenzin.” Ben slid his full lower lip along the length of her fang, piercing the skin until the scent of his blood overwhelmed her mind.
She latched onto his lip and pulled hard, feeling his erection rise and press against her thigh. She twisted as he removed her leggings, aching for his penetration. Fangs, cock, blood. She wanted him in her. The need to consume overwhelmed her self-protective instincts.
You are mine.
You are mine.
You are my own.
She pulled away from his mouth and sank her fangs in his neck as Ben penetrated her body. Tenzin bit harder and he cursed, pressing her teeth harder into his flesh as his hips drove into her. Sensual pleasure and bloodlust took over her mind; she was a creature of touch, sound, and taste, twisting under him as he drove them both toward climax.
“You didn’t take my blood.” She lay in the curve of his arm, languid with pleasure and thrumming with the energy from his blood. “Are you hungry?”
“I’ll drink before dawn.” His fingers were busy braiding a strand of her hair. “Are you going to grow your hair out again? I miss your braids.”
“I will, but it will take a long time.”
“I can wait.”
He was avoiding the topic of her blood.
Tenzin supposed she was also avoiding it.
“Beatrice is going to forgive you,” Ben said. “She loves you. She loves me. She knows I’m happy with you.”
Most of the time. He still went into dark periods every now and then. She still had to distract him from staring into eternity too closely. Ben was wrestling with the same question that plagued all new vampires at some point in their life: What did life mean when it lasted forever?
For most vampires, they didn’t hit that point of self-reflection until decades into immortal life, but Ben had always been precocious. He’d also had more than ample time as a human to debate the question.
He never wanted this.
The sly, whispering voice that haunted her often reared its head in the most peaceful of times, like now, when her lover was caressing her shoulder and trailing kisses along her skin.
“I love you. And I will learn to love this life.”
When the voice came, she remembered Ben’s words from months before, when he’d finally embraced her and embraced immortal life.
She turned in his arms and faced him. “I believe Beatrice will forgive me. I told her you were mine and that trying to drive a wedge between us would end our friendship.”
Among other things, but Tenzin decided to leave those out for now.
He brushed his fingers along her cheek. “I’m happy with you. I’m excited about the new project. Life in New York is good. She’ll come around.”
“We may need them for this project. I just don’t want everyone to be uncomfortable or walk on toadstools while the two of us are around.”
Ben was trying not to laugh. “Do you mean walk on eggshells?”
“It’s not toadstools?”
He shook his head. “Eggshells.”
“But what difference would walking on eggshells make? Eggshells would already be broken.”
“But toadstools makes sense?”
“They are mushrooms and would be crushed if you stepped on them. Obviously that makes more sense.” Ugh. English was so annoying.
“I’ll let everyone know.” He lifted a strand of her hair. “And no one is going to walk on eggshells or toadstools. I’m telling you, I know my aunt. She’s going to get over this.”
“I am glad you are so confident.” She glanced around the room. “This is a vampire sex room.”
Ben blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Look at all the soundproofing. This is where they put the guests so they don’t have to hear them having sex.”
Ben closed his eyes. “And let’s be eternally grateful for that.”
“I don’t know why you care. It’s not like the two of them don’t copulate like rabbits every chance they get.”
“Shhhhhh.” He closed his eyes and pushed her face into his chest. “Don’t you feel the dawn coming? Pretty sure I do. Let’s get ready to sleep. Night night. Or… day day? That sounds so wrong.”
Tenzin still hadn’t told him she was sleeping some days. With the amount of blood she’d taken from him that night, she’d definitely sleep for an hour or two at least.
And she’d tell him about it. Eventually.
She knew why she was reluctant even though she�
�d resolved to be more open with him. Keeping secrets felt safe. Baring them felt like a leap in intimacy that could threaten everything: Ben’s happiness, her new life, the delicate balance they had reached.
He needs to know, Tenzin. Don’t make the mistakes I have. Don’t try to hide the truth from the ones you love even if you think it’s for their own good.
5
The following night, Ben and Tenzin walked to the house at nightfall. He felt rested and newly refreshed. It wasn’t only his body but his mind. The conflict between Beatrice and Tenzin—the two women he loved most in the world—had been festering. And while nothing felt healed, Ben thought that perhaps the wound had been lanced.
“You feel better,” Tenzin said. “You rested well.”
“I did.”
“You’ve been restless while you’re sleeping, which is unusual for a new vampire.”
“I’m not that new anymore.” Ben didn’t like thinking about it, but he’d been dreaming. And lately, most of his dreams featured him and Tenzin dying violently in a burst of flame flung from the Fire King’s hands.
So they were much closer to nightmares than dreams.
“You know, sleep can be weird and I’ve had some of your blood, so maybe that changes things.” He wanted to change the subject. “Did Sadia come to visit you during the day?”
“Yes. She brought a makeup set and sunglasses so we could” —Tenzin frowned at the memory— “take ‘fancy pictures.’ I was very unsure of what she meant and made the mistake of agreeing.”
Ben barely kept from laughing. “Please tell me someone took pictures of that.”
“I am fairly certain Dema took many, despite my threats.”
Task one for the night: find Dema and obtain Tenzin’s fancy pictures.
“So does Sadia have a future as a makeup artist?”
“I have worn various cosmetics over the years for different cultural and court reasons. I was confused by her choices, but I am probably not the best person to judge. There was a lot of glitter. And she had trouble putting it on my eyes.”
He bit his lip hard. “I’m sure it was beautiful.”
“I’m sure it was ridiculous, but Sadia was delighted and that was the important thing. Do you know her father has her memorizing Virgil already?”
Ben opened the french doors leading to the living room. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not.” He could hear the family gathered in the kitchen, as per usual. “Do you want to go in for dinner or go up to the library?”
“Library.” She rose and brushed her fingers over the rise of his cheekbone. “You need time alone with your family.”
“They’re your family too.” He caught her fingers before she floated away.
“Which means I understand that certain members of it might need space.” Her smile was fleeting but content.
Ben let her go and entered the dinner chaos that erupted at nightfall in the DeNovo-Vecchio household. He jumped in with no fanfare, cleaning Sadia’s face, taking out the garbage, and setting dishes on the table. He listened as disparate factions shared details of the day and waited for opinions, questions, and ideas.
As the meal wound down, he made his exit with his uncle next to him.
“I’m going to get the slides ready,” Giovanni told his wife. “Maybe ten minutes?”
“I’ll get Sadia to bed then,” Beatrice said. “She has classroom in the morning.”
Ben escaped before Sadia’s whining could gain volume. “Tuesdays?”
“Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.” Giovanni climbed the stairs with Ben following. “She needs human interaction with other children.”
Ben nodded. He’d already been savvy enough to keep secrets by the time Giovanni had adopted him at twelve, but small children must be a different challenge entirely. “So her whole school—”
“Designed for day-people only,” Giovanni said. “She’ll transfer to your alma mater when she’s older, but for now she assumes everyone has vampire family. There’s no way she could go to a typical school.”
They entered the library, and Ben saw Tenzin lounging on a sofa near the fireplace.
She turned her head to look at them. “No Beatrice?”
“She’ll be joining us shortly.” Giovanni walked over and sat near Tenzin. “You realize she knows how much you care for each other?”
“Of course.”
“And this is mostly a function of maternal—”
“It’s completely expected, my boy.” Tenzin sat up and waved a careless hand. “Don’t feel like you need to apologize.”
“I’m not apologizing.” Giovanni glanced at Ben. “She loves you both.”
“I know that.” Ben sat next to Tenzin, desperate to change the subject. “What do you think about Tenzin’s proposal?”
“About finding the bone scroll and keeping it in our library?”
Ben said, “You already have Geber’s alchemy manuscripts. What’s one more dangerous threat to the vampire world?”
Giovanni and Beatrice had a secure and discreet library in central Italy, off the beaten track and guarded by a crusty ex-priest from the Vatican, a research librarian, and numerous human, vampire, and electronic guards. It was available for scholars who petitioned for entry, but only at Giovanni and Beatrice’s discretion.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Giovanni said. “But I’ll be honest: if this thing actually exists—and it actually does what the myths say—I don’t want anyone to have it. Not us, not you and Tenzin, not the Elders at Penglai.”
Ben said, “You think it should be destroyed?”
“Vampires are powerful enough. I know immortals who can pull water from the cells of a living human, leaving them a writhing husk. And that’s one powerful vampire controlling one element. You think someone like Saba or Arosh needs control over all four?” Giovanni shook his head. “Some things shouldn’t exist.”
“I don’t agree,” Tenzin said. “And I will tell you why: I don’t think it’s as simple as we are thinking. I think there is another key to this myth. Otherwise, I believe it would have been found before.”
Giovanni said, “Are you talking about the blood of Mithra myth?”
Ben asked, “What blood of Mithra myth?”
His uncle raised a finger. “Let’s wait until Beatrice gets here. I don’t want to have to explain all this twice.”
“That reminds me, I was supposed to video-connect Chloe so she’s not in the dark.” Ben rose and walked to the large desk with various electronics that had been modified for vampire use. “I gave her a summary of what’s going on last night, and she wanted me to beam her in if we went over more stuff.”
“Beam her in?” Tenzin frowned.
“I’m just going to put her on video, Tiny. I’m not actually going to transport her here. Though that would be convenient.”
“Though possibly a bit shocking for her,” Tenzin said. “And Gavin would likely have issues with you manipulating Chloe’s molecules.”
Five minutes later, Ben and Tenzin’s human assistant, Chloe Reardon, was visible on a computer monitor from New York, Beatrice was back in the library, sitting marginally closer to Tenzin with significantly less glaring, and Giovanni was back in professor mode.
“I’m so excited!” Chloe’s voice chirped from the computer. “This is the first time you guys are doing a big project in Africa. We’re going, right? I am so excited. You better be going and you better be bringing me.”
Tenzin stared at the computer. “Are you excited because your ancestors were African?”
Chloe cocked her head to the side. “Really? Did you put that one together yourself?”
“But as a Black American, you are far more likely to be related to people in West Africa, and we are going to East Africa.”
“Whatever, Tenzin. I won’t be the only Black person in the room for once. Hush and let me have my joy.”
Ben coughed to cover a laugh. “Chloe, I can’t lie, most vampires not in Saba’s clan steer
clear of the continent to avoid pissing her off; that’s the only explanation I have for taking this long to visit. But did I hear Gavin is going to be in that neck of the woods anyway?”
Chloe nodded, her curly dark brown hair bouncing around her ears. “Yes. He’s going to be in Nigeria though. He’s opening a club in Lagos with a new partner. He’s cautiously optimistic and said something similar about not pissing off Saba, so I know what you guys are saying, but I’m still excited.”
“Then let’s get to the details.” Giovanni was eager to start class. “Chloe, Ben gave you a summary?”
“Creepy scroll made from vampire bones that’s supposed to make the owner capable of controlling all four elements,” Chloe said. “Did I get that right?”
“Yep.” Ben pointed to Giovanni. “And you just mentioned something about a blood myth.”
“Yes.” He put the picture of the old man with the beard up again. “There are some stories related to the myth that say Ash Mithra created this scroll so that only his own children could use it. That’s why you’ll hear sayings about the blood of Mithra in some circles. It’s kind of vampire shorthand for saying someone was sired into a lucky situation.”
Beatrice frowned. “I’ve never heard that before.”
“Neither have I,” Ben said.
“I have,” Tenzin said. “But it’s a really old saying.”
Chloe asked, “So what does the blood of Mithra mean though? Does that mean vampires this guy sired, or like his human bloodline?”
Giovanni smiled. “Very good question, Chloe. We don’t know. We don’t even know if this is true, but if it were talking about his human bloodline, that would probably be quite vast. Much like Beatrice’s great-grandfather, Ash Mithra was renowned for the massive clan of human family he kept to serve him. They were rumored to be originally from the Land of Punt, which was an ancient trading partner of Egypt on the Horn of Africa. Stories say they were wildly wealthy gold traders who moved north, becoming prominent in Arabia, then Assyria and Persia.”
The Bone Scroll: An Elemental Legacy Novel Page 4