“You’ve held it in your own hands,” Saba said. “You’ve felt its power.”
“But that doesn’t tell me if it actually will let me control all four elements,” he countered. “Do you know—?”
“I told you, I do not know if it works.” She spoke carefully. “I do know that Mithra spent two thousand years writing the scroll. I know that he claimed to have mastered the discipline of a practice that would give him control of all four elements.”
“He claimed?”
“Mithra was… an interesting friend.” Saba’s eyes drifted away from Ben. “If anyone could train their mind to master the four elements, it would have been him.”
Tenzin wondered what kind of obsessive vampire would choose to spend thousands of years trying to master all four elements.
She was a little bit afraid she was going to find out.
Ben persisted. “So this isn’t a… spell? Or some magic—”
“It is a map, Benjamin Vecchio.” She glanced at Giovanni. “I believe you have learned to read maps, have you not?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a map quite like this.”
Her eyes returned to him. “Oh no. You definitely have not. But as Tenzin stated, I have named you as Mithra’s heir. The scroll is yours to study for as long as you may need to study it to discover its secrets.”
Ben sat back in his seat. “That sounds like the project of a lifetime.”
“Indeed,” Saba said. “Of many lifetimes. Which you have now.”
Tenzin was still focused on practical matters. “You have named Ben the heir of Mithra. And have you have made this clear to your fellow elders?”
Saba nodded. “Arosh and Ziri are on their way back to Alitea. They have matters to attend in court that have no bearing on my personal territory.”
And Arosh hadn’t told Saba anything about Desta’s belongings. Apparently.
This presented an opportunity in Tenzin’s opinion. An excellent opportunity.
“Being that the scroll was in your territory for centuries,” Tenzin said, “and left in the safekeeping of your human kings, it is yours to give. And you have done it.” She turned to Ben and smiled. “So she has no need of an exchange.”
Ben’s expression told her he didn’t approve. “That’s not what we agreed to, Tenzin.”
“My daughter has told me of the recovered items you gave to her,” Saba said. “On behalf of my people and their history, I thank you.”
“Good.” Ben was still staring at Tenzin. “That’s great to hear. Tenzin, did you want to add anything to that?”
She shook her head slowly. “I think we’re settled. Like you said, let it go.”
Ben pursed his lips. “I don’t think that’s what I meant.”
“Literal meanings can be so limiting, don’t you think?” She glared at him. Think of the pretty crown. Think of the beautiful book. “I think if you consider everything we returned to Hirut, we’ve given far more than we’ve been given, and that’s always a good place to be.” Tenzin tried to make the most virtuous expression she was capable of.
She wasn’t sure she succeeded, and Ben was clearly not convinced.
“A better place to be is a place without secrets.” He turned to Saba. “Saba, Tenzin and I have found Desta’s crown.”
Damn it!
Well, it was almost worth giving up the beautiful crown to see the shock on Saba’s face. Almost. Tenzin offered her a smug smile as Ben explained more.
“We also found one of her illuminated books in a private collection in San Francisco,” he said softly. “We confirmed the authenticity of the book with Lucien. He says he remembers his sister painting it. I promise you, I would not claim these things if we weren’t sure we had the right pieces; that would be cruel.”
Saba still hadn’t spoken. She opened her mouth, then closed it.
Tenzin looked away. She’d enjoyed surprising the unflappable queen of the vampires, but the sheer maternal longing in Saba’s expression was too intimate to view.
“How can you be sure?” Her voice was hoarse.
Tenzin glanced at Saba’s red-rimmed eyes and looked away again. “We matched the crown to a sketch that Lucien gave us. It was found in the secret collection at the British embassy in Addis.”
“We think it might have been part of the treasure looted at Magdala,” Ben said. “It had been kept with—”
“Show it to me.” Saba stood and her chin rose. “I will tell you whether it was Desta’s or not.”
They led her to the library, where Giovanni and Beatrice stood behind the large library table. Giovanni opened a velvet-lined box with Desta’s polished crown while Beatrice placed the devotional manuscript on a padded wedge and opened it.
Saba stared with a frozen expression, saying nothing. Tenzin could see the stories flashing behind the ancient woman’s eyes and tried to imagine what she was seeing in her mind.
Was she remembering the daughter she had chosen and nurtured for centuries honored with riches and glory? The gifted artist, her talent a cry of joy to the God she worshipped?
Or was she seeing the ashes and hearing the screams of a beloved child’s death?
“The manuscript in particular,” Giovanni said softly, “is a testament to Desta’s obvious talent as well as her training. While she painted this devotional in the style typical of iconic Ethiopian artists in the late Aksumite period, the depth of color is, I think, most telling. It lifts the manuscript beyond what were the normal standards of Orthodox iconic art into pieces that are truly profound.” Giovanni flipped the manuscript to a page where the Virgin Mary held the infant Jesus. “I believe she used your face for the inspiration to this piece.”
Saba nodded but still said nothing.
Ben reached for the manuscript and slid it toward Saba. “You must have been very proud of your daughter.”
Saba reached for the crown and held it between fingers that had clung to survival far longer than Tenzin could even imagine. She turned it in her hands, examining every part of it.
Saba turned and met Tenzin’s eye. “When they took her from me, I was inconsolable.”
“You ended an empire to avenge her death.”
“I wanted to do worse.” She closed her eyes. “I would have done worse. Love is a dangerous gift.”
“And yet you survived.” Tenzin nodded at the manuscript. “As did your daughter, in her own way.”
Saba looked at Ben. “The bone scroll is ash and dust to the gifts you have given me. I find myself in your debt again, Benjamin Vecchio.”
“There is no debt.” Ben smiled a little. “Maybe just… try to let me live my life from now on. No more chess games.”
Saba narrowed her eyes, then looked at Tenzin. “He doesn’t understand.”
“No, but that’s part of what makes people like him. It frustrates my father too.”
Ben looked between them. “What are you talking about?”
Tenzin continued, “I will consult with Zhang and send something official from Penglai.”
Saba nodded. “Very well. I’ll expect your messenger.” She opened the box where Desta’s crown had rested, placed the manuscript inside, and set the crown on top. Then she handed the box to Gedeyon, who was also looking at it tenderly.
“Desta’s legacy is going home,” Saba said. “I will give the crown to Hirut, who is of my daughter’s line. The manuscript I will keep for myself.”
Ben said, “We’re very happy to be able to bring them back to you.”
Saba spoke to Tenzin. “Where are the men who stole these things from our country?”
“Dead,” Tenzin said. “Long ago. We stole them from their ancestors.”
“Good.” Saba nodded. “That is good.” She looked at Beatrice and Giovanni. “I wish good fortune on your family, son of Kato.”
“I thank you,” Giovanni said. “Good fortune on your people, Saba.”
“A self-serving wish.” She looked around the room, and a smile touched her lips
. “You are all my people. Every single one of you.” And without a backward glance, she walked out of the room and out of the house.
The front door shut and Saba was gone.
Epilogue
The flight back to New York was quiet. They’d left at the end of a long day, stopping in Addis to refuel before they headed to Dublin, where they would drop off Daniel and Chloe, who was meeting Gavin in the city. Then they’d stop in New York to leave Ben and Tenzin at home.
The scroll that had caused so many problems would be joining the archives in Italy for a while. After much deliberation, Ben had decided to let Giovanni and his librarians try to reconstruct the unknown language of the original text while Ben did his own work learning Ge’ez and coming to grips with what could be a centuries-long task of exploring Mithra’s work.
Since the mother of the vampire race had given the scroll to Ben, Giovanni didn’t think that he or the scroll would become a target for opportunists. That and the general incredulity about the artifact itself were the best protections they could hope for.
Giovanni and Beatrice had briefly entertained the idea of staying in New York for a couple of weeks, but Ben’s reaction must have persuaded them that over three weeks of family togetherness was quite enough.
Ben wanted Tenzin to himself. He was starting to understand her need to escape from the world. He didn’t want to see anyone. He wanted to wave at Arthur—who’d been good enough to feed their birds and water their houseplants—and then not see a living soul other than Tenzin for a month.
She lounged against him, a tiny powerhouse bursting with manic energy from being on a plane for so long.
He tugged her hair. “How do you travel to Tibet?”
“Not in a damn plane,” she muttered.
“No, tell me. It’s really far to fly over the ocean. Do you go north?”
“Yes, I travel to Alaska and then across that way. That way I avoid ocean storms too. I have found a quicker route over the Pacific, but it’s not as comfortable.”
“It sounds cold though.”
“It is.”
His eyes were drooping shut. “I think we’re headed into the sun.”
She nodded and brushed his hair off his forehead. “Let’s go to our room.”
“Sounds good.”
They entered one of the narrow bedrooms that had been added to the plane when it stopped being just Giovanni’s plane and became a family vehicle. Ben lowered the bed and folded it out from the wall. It was a tight squeeze, but then again, vampires weren’t exactly restless sleepers.
While Ben was getting the bed ready, Tenzin engaged the lock and used the small basin to wash her face. Then they both slipped into comfortable clothes to sleep.
Ben pulled Tenzin into his arms. The temperature in the plane was cool, and Ben knew she’d start complaining about the overly filtered dry air soon.
“Guess what?” he asked.
“You’re not really tired,” Tenzin said. “You just wanted to have sex.”
“You’re very perceptive.” His fingers found the edge of her shirt.
“Well, you are very transparent.”
Tenzin lifted her arms, and Ben pulled the shirt up and over her head, his eyes already fixed on the gentle rise of her breasts and the tattoos rising to frame her hips.
“You are so beautiful.” His voice was barely over a whisper, but she heard it.
“Benjamin—”
“Take off my pants.”
Her hand was already in them. “I don’t know. My hands are nice and warm in here.”
“I’ll make you warmer.” He kissed along her temple and down her jaw, teasing kisses under her jaw until she was squirming and her grip on his erection tightened.
“Careful.” His voice was tight. “You’re going to want to play with that later.”
Tenzin’s hand slid out of his pants and around to the small of his back as she used her feet to hook around his waistband and push his sweatpants down.
“So fucking flexible.” He kicked off his pants and rid her of the panties that were interfering with his view. “Tenzin—”
“Ben.” Tenzin lay on her side, their bodies aligned as she placed a long, soft kiss over his heart. “I realized something when we were in Lalibela.”
“That I’m your mate?”
She looked up. “What? How did you—?”
“I can feel you, Tenzin. Even though we haven’t been sharing much blood, it’s there. I feel everything about you.” He slid his hands down to cup her bottom. “I can feel when you’re happy. When you’re irritated. When you’re kind of wary, like you are right now.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “If that’s not mating, I don’t know what is.”
She was frozen in his arms.
“Your secrets are safe with me, Tiny. They always have been. Always.”
Her mouth dropped open, as if she was going to say something, but after a moment her mouth spread into a broad smile, her curving fangs glinting in the low light of the cabin.
“Ben?”
“Yes?”
She nuzzled along his throat, licking the warm skin over his heartbeat. “I think we finally figured out what to call you.”
Mate. He pressed her face into his neck and smiled. She would call him her mate. “Yes.”
She pulled away from his neck and looked into his eyes. “Yes?”
“Yeah.” He smiled, and every part of him felt alive. More alive than he could ever remember feeling. “I want your teeth.”
“Good. I definitely want that too.” She didn’t make him wait. She rolled on top of him, her legs straddling his hips as he surged up, grinding into her heat.
Tenzin bent down and bit.
Her fangs slid into his neck and her lips pulled against his skin. He could feel it again, the twisting amnis that spread through his bloodstream, curling around his own elemental energy until the air in their small cabin whirled and whipped them into a frenzy, knocking bottles from the shelves and tossing books and papers around the room.
Tenzin pulled her mouth from his neck, licking the blood from her lips and pulling him up until his mouth was just over the rise of her breasts. Tenzin pushed his face toward the soft flesh and held him there. Ben cupped her in his hand, pushing her flesh up and teasing the nipple until she was twisting in his arms. Then he bent down and sank his fangs into the delicate skin.
She gasped, and he pushed his hand against her mouth to quiet her. She gripped it and bit down on his wrist. Hard. Ben had to stifle a groan when he entered her.
Their joining was fast, desperate, and as silent as they could make it. Ben sincerely hoped that the ambient noise in the aircraft masked the muttered curses he made as he came. Tenzin had turned his arm bloody, trying to mask her cries.
She collapsed on his chest, and her fangs grazed his nipple.
He flinched, his body overly sensitized by the violent crash of their elemental energy and blood sharing.
Tenzin’s face was glowing. “How much time before we land in New York?”
“Over twelve hours.” Ben glanced at the clock. “But I’m going to be passing out pretty quickly here. We’re headed into the sun.”
She pouted. “Oh, I forgot that was real and not just an excuse to be alone.”
“Right.” He was already feeling the afterglow turning into languor. He settled Tenzin against his side, stroking the nape of her neck and the fine hairs on her skin. He could feel everything.
Everything.
“Hey, Tenzin?”
“We need a humidifier,” she muttered. “Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a water vampire, but air this dry isn’t natural.”
“Isn’t the air dry in Tibet? We should go to Tibet.”
“It’s dry, but it’s a natural dry. And we should definitely go to Tibet.”
“Right.” He kept stroking her skin. “Tenzin?”
“Yes?”
“There’s something on the floor in my… pants. In the pocket of my pants,” he said. “
I have something shiny for you.”
He could feel her excitement when she reached down to find it, then her confusion.
“Ben?”
He smiled, just waiting for her to start protesting.
“What is this?”
He glanced down; her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was glaring at the beautiful gold piece he’d found in an old jewelry store in Addis.
“Don’t you like it?”
She scowled. “It’s a ring.”
“Yep.” He smacked a kiss on her forehead. “It’s a ring.”
“I don’t believe in marriage, Benjamin. We’ve spoken about this before, and I thought you understood—”
“Did I ask you to marry me?”
Her eyes were still suspicious. “No.”
“No.” He closed his eyes. “Do you like it?” It was a gold ring and it was far simpler than most of the jewelry she collected, but he liked it because he thought it was something she’d actually wear. The crown of the ring mimicked a small circular shield, and the center was dominated by a deep red ruby. “It’s a shield,” he said. “With a ruby.”
“I know what it is.” She was still frowning. “And I like it.”
Of course she liked it. She had a fondness for rubies, though she claimed to love all gemstones equally. But Ben could tell she loved her rubies the best. “So if you like it, wear it. It should fit on your left hand.”
“I thought this wasn’t a marriage ring.” Her tone said gotcha! “Why the left hand?”
“Do you usually carry a weapon in your left hand?” He yawned a little. “If you do, then put it on your right.”
“Oh. I suppose you’re correct.”
You suppose? Ben opened his eyes a crack and watched her slide her new ring onto the third finger of her left hand.
Exactly as he’d planned.
He closed his eyes, feeling the pull of the sunrise. “Does it fit?”
Of course it fit.
“Yes.” She sounded surprised. “It does.”
“Oh good.” He kept his voice casual. “I found it at an antique store, you know? But I figured we could always get it sized to fit you if you liked it.” Ha! Yes, he put a ring on her. Ben knew she didn’t want marriage, but at least this way he could stake a small claim.
The Bone Scroll: An Elemental Legacy Novel Page 29