“As dangerous as Arosh already is,” Tenzin said, “and you want him to recover this object of power? What are you thinking, Beatrice?”
“I’m thinking about my daughter!”
“There are many daughters in the world.” Tenzin stepped toward her. “Are they expendable? Should they be subject to the whims of an unstoppable tyrant because you are afraid for your child?”
“Fuck you,” Beatrice said. “She’s not a guinea pig for your experiment.”
“It’s not an experiment,” Tenzin said. “And you are endangering our mission here if you leave.”
“I don’t care,” Beatrice said. “You and Ben are phenomenally powerful.” She looked at Giovanni. “Let’s just get it out in the open, shall we? You’re far more powerful than we are. Even as young as Ben is. It’s obvious, okay? You don’t need us for this.”
Ben looked away. He was embarrassed to even think it, but he knew Beatrice was right. Some instinct had told him the same thing months ago, and he still battled the feral instinct to consider Giovanni a threat.
“Powerful amnis is not a substitute for experience, training, and age,” Tenzin said. “Obviously he’s more powerful than you, but Ben still has many years before he would match Giovanni in combat.”
Ben looked at his uncle, whose expression had shifted from worried to amused.
“Tenzin,” he said. “There isn’t going to be any combat.” Giovanni walked to Beatrice and put two hands on her shoulders. “And I think we should stay.”
Beatrice’s jaw clenched. “Why?”
“Because Ben and Tenzin need us.” He kissed her forehead. “And because Sadia is fine. She was only irritated that she didn’t get her pizza. Didn’t you hear her? She wasn’t scared at all, and if Dema told her they were hiding from bad guys, she’d probably be excited.”
Beatrice put her hands over his. “Gio, they followed her. They know who she is.”
“They have always known who she is, tesoro. From the minute we set foot here, they have tracked us. But as Dema said earlier, now we know who they are. We are more prepared now, and Zain and Doug have agreed that one or both of them will accompany Sadia any time she leaves the house. If anything, this was a warning.”
“Or a blunder,” Tenzin said. “I suspect Arosh will not be happy with his humans.”
Beatrice narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Revealing themselves reveals him,” Tenzin said. “He’s searching with Saba, but he’s following us.” Tenzin smiled. “This is more good news.”
Ben said, “You don’t think he knows where it is?”
“They went north, but they are keeping an eye on us here,” Tenzin said. “I don’t think they have a clue. I suspect we are far ahead of them.”
Giovanni led Beatrice to the edge of the fountain and sat, pulling her next to him. He put his arm around her and hugged her closely. “Tell us about where you went tonight.”
“It was the closest site that Liya pinpointed,” Ben said. “But not the most promising. We are going to the second site tomorrow night.”
“And what do you think is there?” Beatrice asked.
“We’re hopeful,” Tenzin said. “This is one of the sites that is more remote. There is no church nearby. Nothing but a small village on the side of a mountain. And according to Liya’s report, local legends say there was once a palace at the top of the adama.”
“Adama?”
“Like a mesa,” Ben said. “Kind of. A flat-topped mountain. They were popular places to put castles, treasuries, storehouses.”
“Prisons,” Tenzin muttered.
They all looked at her.
“What?” she said. “There were a lot of royal princes in this country. They couldn’t all become the king.”
25
They spent the last minutes before sunrise reassuring Beatrice and Giovanni that they knew what they were doing, wouldn’t put the family in danger, and had everything under control before they retired to their light-safe day chamber at dawn. Ben barely had time to take a shower before the sun hit the horizon and he drifted closer and closer to oblivion.
He heard Tenzin showering as he floated in the liminal space between waking and sleep. To his ears, the shower sounded like rain, and he flashed back to the night she had flown through a storm, carrying his body with a sword run through his midsection.
“I wish I could kiss you one more time. I really wanted one more dance.”
“Shhhhh.”
He remembered the sensation of pain in his midsection and the hot tears that wet his face as the storm raged around him.
“I didn’t want to die yet.”
“I know. You won’t.”
He didn’t want to die, but he could only imagine eternity if she was in it. In the moments before he slept, he knew there was more. She’d told him about the sleep to distract him. There was something more stopping her from being his mate.
There was always something more.
Tenzin finished her shower and wrapped a towel around her body before she walked through the bedroom, but Ben was nearly out. He could only watch her, his lips moving silently as she floated around the room.
There is something more.
We are something more.
But all he saw was black.
Fire everywhere, scorching his body, blackening his skin. He desperately looked at his surroundings.
Red rock everywhere, a long channel of carved stone dug into the earth. Moonlight reflecting on microscopic particles in the volcanic rock, the walls around him glittering like stars.
The heat came first, a dry suffocating heat like the desert night in the middle of August. The wind came second, sucking his breath as it concentrated around a shadowed form in the distance.
The fire came last.
It swept down the channel of rock, licked along the stone floor, and tumbled over him, seeking to devour.
“Benjamin!”
He woke with a hand at his throat, sitting straight up in bed and gasping for air. Iron-hard fingers dug into the sides of his neck.
“Ben!” Tenzin pulled his hand away. “You’re choking yourself.”
He gasped. “Fire.”
She let out a breath. “You were dreaming about Arosh again.”
Yes. Yes, he was. Even her reassurances the night before hadn’t changed his nightmares. “How can we beat him?”
She didn’t say anything at first. Tenzin rose and went to the bathroom, returning with a washcloth she put against his throat. “The surest way to win a war,” she said quietly, “is to avoid one.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I mean we have to forget about Arosh. The bone scroll is in Saba’s territory. All we have to do is convince Saba that the scroll is better in our possession than in Arosh’s. If we do that, then we’re in the clear. The Fire King won’t be able to touch us.”
“He’s been her companion and lover for how many thousand years and you think she’ll go for that?”
Tenzin pursed her lips. “Was Saba Arosh’s lover? Yes. His companion? Also yes.” She took the washcloth from his neck. “Also his rival. Also his enemy. Don’t be too quick to classify what they are, Ben. It’s very hard to explain it in human terms.”
“I get that, but…” He still had a hard time believing the world’s oldest living vampire was going to choose a known thief and assassin along with her newly sired partner as guardians of an ancient object of power and immortal ambition.
“I know.” She sat back on the bed. “That’s why we need Giovanni and Beatrice to stay.”
“They make us look less like thieves?”
Tenzin lifted her shoulders in the world’s slowest shrug. “I mean… I would like to disagree with that, but it’s probably true.”
He fell back on the bed, grabbing her around the waist so she snuggled under his arm. “Tell me about your dreams,” he whispered. “When you dreamed, was it about the past?”
Please don’t let it be a
bout the past.
“I dream about flying.” She looked up. “I dream about you. So far, no nightmares.”
His arm around her tightened. “Good.”
Ben couldn’t imagine sleeping after a century of consciousness. “How does it feel?”
“Peaceful. But I also worry. I went to Tibet after I left you in Penglai that last time. I felt safe there. I dreamed.”
Ben played with a strand of her hair, sliding it between his fingers while he imagined what dreams must taste like after so long. “Does your father know?”
“No one knows but you.” She looked at him. “No one needs to know.”
“I would never tell.” He kissed the top of her head. “Not a soul.”
After the night before, Daniel asked for a reprieve in earth moving. “I’m not going to lie,” he said. “It took more out of me than I expected. If I started again tonight, I might not be able to be as precise.”
Tenzin was in favor of going without Daniel. Ben was not. After not a little bit of debate and one offer by Chloe to deep condition her hair, Tenzin relented and spent the evening in the compound, relaxing with Sadia and Chloe.
Daniel and Ben decided to relax by the fountain and enjoy a clear sky filled with stars.
“If I’m honest,” Daniel said, “when Beatrice told me about this, I was tempted to invite you to Loch Ness to search for a great swimming monster as well.”
Ben couldn’t stop the smile. “Are people that skeptical that the bone scroll exists?”
“Skeptical?” Daniel shook his head. “Try incredulous. It’s a mad idea, Ben. Our amnis can’t connect to all elements; that’s the nature of amnis. And the idea that a single vampire could have the ability and not find some way to take over the world is unrealistic.”
“Maybe Ash Mithra decided to hide the scroll because he realized it was so dangerous.”
“If Mithra believed that, then why didn’t he destroy it?” Daniel asked. “According to vampire mythology, Ash Mithra was the most accomplished scholar of the ancient world and the most accomplished wind vampire. Greater than Ziri. Greater than Zhang. Why create an object like that and then turn it loose on the world?”
“Maybe he didn’t mean to?” Ben said. “Maybe something happened to it, or maybe he thought it was destroyed and someone didn’t do their job.”
Daniel was still shaking his head. “Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but a large part of me still believes we’re running a fool’s errand, my friend.”
“Maybe we are,” Ben said. “But the last thing anyone needs is Arosh getting his hands on it and having even more power. So if we can keep it from him, then we’re not wasting our time.”
They left the following night for Amba Guba, another flat-topped mountain north of Lalibela. This site was well away from the human village and church, an isolated hilltop overlooking the human settlement in the distance. They landed in the middle of a rain shower, and Ben immediately looked for shelter. They would be able to do nothing while it was raining.
“There were caves on the side of the mountain,” he said. “Let’s fly down there until this passes.”
Ben lifted Daniel and held the arms of the lanky vampire as they flew up and over the edge of the mountain, searching for an isolated cave. Ben could smell fresh smoke coming from one cave overlooking the human village, so they flew to the other side and found one that faced a narrow valley.
“Here,” Tenzin said. “I don’t smell any humans here.” She glanced over the edge. “They’d have a difficult time finding this place.”
“I’ve seen people make homes and churches on the side of cliffs in this country,” Daniel said, shaking the water off his jacket. “I wouldn’t assume anything.”
Daniel’s warning meant Ben wasn’t surprised when he went to make a fire at the mouth of the cave and saw smoke marks on the ceiling. “Looks like Daniel was right.”
“I’m always right.” He settled against the cave wall, his jacket wrapped around him, and began to dig through his pack for snacks. “This is a good-size cave. Depending on how long this storm lasts, I’d rather spend the day here than try to fly back with all the rain.”
Tenzin settled on the ground next to Ben. “I agree. This is an easily defensible position and a good prospect for a treasury according to Liya’s information. It’s worth spending the time here.”
Ben shrugged. “Hey, I’m not going to argue. This storm looks pretty heavy, so the last thing I want to do is go flying around in it.” He didn’t hate rain as much as Tenzin did, but it was still uncomfortable to fly in it. “We can wait. And…” He looked up and around the cave. “I know I’m not an earth vampire, but Daniel may be able to poke around the mountain from here, right?”
Daniel sat up and his eyes were bright. “Not a bad idea at all, Benny-boy.”
“Please don’t ever call me that again.”
“Right.” Daniel rose, put his hands on his hips, and looked around. “This is typical sedimentary stone…” He muttered something about density and other geological stuff that made no sense to Ben. “I’m going to explore the back of this place a little more.” He turned. “I’ll let you know if I’m going in.”
“I would say be careful for bears, but lions are probably a greater risk,” Tenzin said.
Daniel spun around. “Lions?”
Her eyes were alight with mischief. “Don’t they like caves?”
“I don’t think there are any lions in the vicinity,” Ben said. “There are lions in Ethiopia, Daniel, but I don’t see any herds of zebras or gazelles around here, do you?”
“Right.” The earth vampire nodded. “Excellent point, old man.”
“Nope.” Ben shook his head again. “Don’t like that one either.”
“Dammit, I need to figure some nickname for you. Calling you by your name just seems so formal.”
“You could call him your life coach,” Tenzin said. “I did that for a while.”
“Did he like it?”
“Yes.” Tenzin nodded. “Very much.”
“No. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like being her yoga instructor either.”
“Oh, no kidding? I didn’t know you were a yoga instructor.”
“I’m not.” He glared at Tenzin. “Daniel, weren’t you going to explore?”
“Right.” Daniel started to undress. “Don’t mind me. Just need less clothes to work my magic.”
Tenzin and Ben watched Daniel disappear into the back of the cave wall; then Tenzin turned to Ben. “That’s what she said.”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “Took too long to say it.”
Tenzin sighed. “Humor is very complicated.”
26
Tenzin watched Daniel melt into the rock wall of the cave. There was no other word for it from her perspective. He didn’t tunnel, as she was used to seeing from his kind, and she forced herself to admit his amnis was far more subtle than his personality would seem to imply.
“How does he do that?” Ben’s voice was incredulous.
“How do you make the air bend to your will?”
“Honestly, some days I don’t know.”
“It’s instinct,” she said. “That is something no one can measure before they embrace immortality.” She thought about what the earth vampire had expressed at the previous site. “He loves the earth. That’s part of it.”
Tenzin could say she loved the air, but that didn’t truly express what she felt for it any more than saying she loved Benjamin expressed what he was to her. The words were like a child babbling in the face of their first sunrise. Incoherent and inadequate at best.
He might think that her reluctance to accept him as a mate put a lie to that, but it was that acceptance of who he was to her that made her pause. He did not understand epochs. How the world changed and people with it. He did not understand the layered strata of feelings that shifted subtly over time like the inevitable rising and falling of the earth or the endless wind in the upper atmosphere. There were currents of f
eelings he could not imagine yet.
But he would. And with luck, she would be there to witness it.
“How long do you think he’s going to be in there?” Ben asked.
“I imagine as long as it will take him to explore the mountain.”
“So it could be a while.”
“Yes.” She settled into a crouch against the rock wall and picked up two stones, tossing them in the air in a rhythmic pattern that amused her.
Ben slumped against the opposite wall. “I should have brought a book.”
She smiled. “You are so like him.”
“Who?
“Giovanni.” She met his eyes. “He was always impatient.”
She never knew how her comparisons would strike him. Sometimes his erratic feelings were tiring, but mostly they amused her.
This time he smiled. “You know, I used to complain sometimes when I was a kid that I was bored, and he’d always tell me, ‘Ben, you should have brought a book.’”
“He’s not wrong. When I want to be amused, I usually bring something to read. But sometimes I simply want to be.” You’re too young to understand that.
“I don’t understand that.” He shifted. “What do you do for fun in Tibet?”
She smiled. That was an unexpected question. “I have a garden that I love very much. It’s nothing like the garden in New York. Everything will grow in a greenhouse, but not much grows that high in the mountains.”
“But a few things.”
“Yes, a few things. And I enjoy tending them. Sometimes I’ll fly down into the valley and work in the fields there. The humans always seem to like that.”
“What?” He smiled. “You just go down and like… weed their gardens or something?”
“Yes. I enjoy that. Or sometimes there will be a shepherd out with animals at night and I’ll talk with him. It’s usually the boys. They like telling me about their school or their friends. In the past few years, they have had mobile phones too, and I don’t like that as much. The boys on their mobile phones just play computer games.”
The Bone Scroll: An Elemental Legacy Novel Page 19