The Elemental Mysteries: Complete Series (115 page)

She spent hours staring into the bright garden and never closed her eyes.

When she felt the soft touch on her shoulder, she turned to see Nima standing with a cup of cardamom tea. Though she had hardly spoken to the woman in the weeks they had been at the palace, her quiet human company was welcome. She sat next to Beatrice on the ground, surprisingly flexible for one with such a wrinkled face. Her dark eyes looked over the sun-lit grounds.

“I have painted many gardens for Tenzin over the years,” she said in quietly accented English, “but it’s never exactly the same.”

“There are photographs.”

Nima nodded her silver-grey head. “Yes.”

“Still not the same, though.”

“No.”

Beatrice sniffed, swallowing the lump in her throat, before she gave up and let the tears fall down her cheeks.

“Sorry,” she sniffed again.

Nima just smiled. “I understand the grief.”

“But I know I’m ready.”

“Tenzin said you would be. That was one of the reasons she asked me to be here. I don’t usually like to leave the mountains.”

Beatrice frowned, curious why Nima’s presence was important, until she looked into the old woman’s eyes and understood the quiet sadness that lived there.

“You said no, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” she breathed out.

“And I regret it every day.”

“But why—”

“By the time I really understood the regret, my body was old. I would not choose it now. It is not vanity, simply… not what I wish for eternity.”

“Was she angry?”

“Yes.”

“But you are still together.”

Nima smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“Someday, she’ll watch you die.”

“And that is the sadness I live with.”

Beatrice swallowed the lump in her throat. “So I’m making the right decision?”

Nima smiled. “I can’t tell you that, but I think you already know.”

Beatrice looked over the sun-washed garden again and closed her eyes. “Yes, I know.”

“It is still understandable to grieve.”

“Thank you for being here.”

“You’re welcome.”

Nima tucked her feet under and sat next to Beatrice as the sun rose to the apex of the sky. The two women sat silently in the sunlight, listening to the chirp of the birds and the buzzing bees. They watched the wind tease the orange, red, and purple leaves from the trees, and the clouds drifted across the sky, their slow-moving shadows falling across the earth.

It was close to three o’clock when Beatrice rose, helped Nima to her feet, then walked inside, shutting the door to the sun for the last time. She walked down the hall to the practice room to find Tenzin sitting there with her father. She looked into the storm-grey eyes of her friend.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t.” Stephen shook his head. “I can’t drain her, Tenzin.”

“It has to be you. That’s what needs to happen. Her fate lies with water, not air.”

“I can give her my blood. I just can’t
drain
her.”

Tenzin scowled. “You’ll be very weak if you don’t.”

Stephen still shook his head. “I can’t do it.”

Beatrice put a hand on her father’s arm. “Tenzin, is it that important who drains me? As long as I have Dad’s blood to turn, right?”

“Yes, but his amnis will be drained from giving you his blood. I don’t like the idea of him being so weak.”

“Then you can give me some of yours later. And I’ll feed after,” Stephen said, “but you cannot ask me to drain my daughter to the point of death.”

“Fine,” Tenzin rolled her eyes. “I’ll probably need the strength when he wakes, anyway.”

Beatrice shuddered at the thought. “He’s going to be furious. Tenzin, I’m sorry for anything Giovanni—”

“Please,” she said. “It’s not like he can hurt me. This is one of those situations where it is better to ask forgiveness than permission. Besides, he knows it’s coming.”

“That’s not going to make him any less angry.” She felt a churning in her gut as she remembered his plea before he fell asleep. She felt like she was betraying his trust, but she also felt as if she had no other choice.

Tenzin grabbed her arm. “Are you ready? Really?”

She nodded. “Okay, dirty details time.”

“Fine. I’ll drain your blood, you’ll probably pass out, but your father will feed you his. It won’t be instinctive for you to drink from him at first, but don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get enough. He’ll be able to use amnis to make you swallow the blood until you latch on.”

She bit her lip. “And I won’t remember any of it?”

“Probably not much. I’ll use my amnis to keep you from struggling. Your body will fight the blood loss instinctively, so it’s better if I use it to keep you calm.”

Beatrice hated the thought of that, but agreed it was probably for the best. “Okay. What happens after that?”

Tenzin and her father exchanged a look. “Your body will go through quite a few changes at first. The first couple of hours it will expel anything from your digestive system. But you won’t be awake for that.”

“Oh,
ew
.” She took Tenzin’s hand. “I want you to promise me that you will not let Giovanni be here when all that stuff is going on. One, gross. Two, he’ll freak out.”

She shrugged. “I’ll be able to keep him away. Once it’s done, he’ll understand.”

Beatrice thought Tenzin might have been a bit overconfident on that one, but she didn’t have much choice but to trust her. “Okay. Then what?”

“Your body will shut down for about twenty-four hours, or until first dark. Then you’ll wake up and be a vampire.”

“Am I going to be hungry right away?”

“Not immediately, but definitely the first night.” Tenzin just shrugged like it was no big deal.

She sighed a little and saw her father’s mouth quirk into a small grin.

“And?”

“What? We’ll find someone to feed you. It’s not a big deal. There are lots of bowing people around.”

“Um… that’s not exactly… can I have donated blood at first? I don’t want to drain anyone.”

Stephen was quick to reassure her. “We won’t let you kill anyone. We’ll make sure you have some fresh blood, but you will need a lot.”

“How much?”

Tenzin said, “About a person’s worth.”

Her mouth fell open. “That much?”

“Just at first. The first year or so, you’ll have to drink a few cups every night and then you’ll need much less.”

She began to feel her heart rate pick up. “Don’t let me kill anyone. I… I can’t—”

“You won’t.” Tenzin reassured her. “We’ll have you fully stocked with fresh blood that hasn’t been preserved. No preserved blood for a while. You need the fresh stuff to be strong. Animal will do if you must, but human is always the best.”

“Okay.” She nodded. “Okay.”

“Any other questions?”

“What will it be like? At first?”

Tenzin frowned. “I don’t really remember. It’s been a long time. Stephen?”

Stephen took a deep breath. “You’ll feel very overwhelmed. All your senses will be heightened. Your hearing will be better. Your sense of smell. You’ll feel the electrical currents almost like a web around you. This place is ideal because there is so little electricity, it won’t be as overwhelming as—”

“Oh!” Beatrice gasped.

“What?” Stephen looked at her in panic. “B, you can change your mind at any time, you don’t have to—”

“Yes, she does!”

He glared at Tenzin. “No, she doesn’t.”

“She really does.”

“Stop.” Beatrice held out a hand. “Don’t fight. I’m just… It’s silly. I just realized I won’t be able to use my computer anymore.”

Tenzin rolled her eyes. “Is that all?”

“Yeah,” she frowned and felt her father reach over to squeeze her arm. “That’s all.”

For a moment, the unexpected grief welled up again. She felt childish to feel grief about something that seemed so inconsequential, but it wasn’t. Then she remembered the feeling of helplessness she’d had again when she woke the night before, weak and shivering from another attack. She thought about her conversation with Nima in the garden and about the flicker of grief she saw in Giovanni’s eyes every time he looked at Casper.

She didn’t want to be vulnerable. She didn’t want to leave Giovanni.

She was ready.

“I’m ready.”

Beatrice looked up and realized they were waiting for her. Her father stood and pulled her into a fierce embrace.

“I love you, kiddo. It’s going to be fine.”

“I’m glad you’re here, Dad. This is the best thing. Right? I mean, you’re my dad.”

“Yeah,” he smiled, and his eyes crinkled just like she remembered as a child, “I’m your dad.”

She whispered, “And you always will be.”

“Yep.”

“Sentimental De Novos,” she heard Tenzin call. “The very angry, territorial fire-vampire will be waking up very soon. If we want this to happen, we need to do it now.”

Beatrice nodded and went to sit on the grouping of low cushions in the corner of the room. Stephen sat across from her, and Tenzin sat to her left and pulled her hair to the side. She gave her a full, fangy grin. Beatrice cocked her head at an angle.

“Okay, drink up.”

“I have to say, you do smell delicious. I kind of get why he wants to keep you.”

Beatrice frowned. “Tenzin, please don’t make me feel any more like dinner than I already do.”

Her friend laughed long and hard. Finally, Beatrice did too. Then Tenzin reached over and stroked Beatrice’s hair back from her face, and the soft look she occasionally allowed herself peeked through.

“It will be all right. Relax.” Beatrice could feel the amnis start to creep across her skin as she stared at Tenzin. Her father held her hand and she allowed the soft brush of her friend’s influence in her mind. She closed her eyes and listened to the hypnotic voice.

“Meditate. Just like we practiced. Calm. Let yourself relax.”

She drifted, focusing on a picture of Giovanni she held in her mind. It was the single-minded look he gave her sometimes. When he was angry. When he made love to her. When he killed for her. It was the look that told her she was the center of his world.

“I am your balance in this life,” she whispered to him, even though he was not there. “In every life.”

Her eyes flew open when she felt Tenzin’s fangs strike.

Beatrice could feel her body jerk once at the attack before Tenzin’s influence drifted over her limbs and caused her to fall still. She could still feel her father holding her hand, and her senses were on alert, but she couldn’t speak, nor could she move.

She was paralyzed. Cut off from reaction to the fierce attack her mind fought against, but her body was powerless to stop. Tenzin’s bite wasn’t painful, but her vicious, curled fangs buried themselves in her artery and Beatrice felt her heart race at the unwelcome intrusion. It was as if her body had been forced into a whirlwind, and she knew there was no escape. The blood rushed to her head as she felt the hard draw of Tenzin’s mouth at her neck.

Drums beat in her mind. It was nothing like the soft, drugging bites that Giovanni took. It was hard. Violent, no matter how Tenzin tried to reassure her. Her mind began to scream ‘
No
’ as she felt the life drain out of her.

It wasn’t quick.

‘There are an average of ten pints of blood in the human body,’
she heard the echo of her high school biology teacher in her mind as her thoughts scattered.

Ten pints.

Twenty cups.

How long would it take to drink that much water?

But blood was thicker than water.

Or whiskey.

How long had he known he would sire her?

Did he know?

Who knew?

Was that why?

Her heart pounded. A ringing grew in her ears.

Her mind began to flash, and the lights danced across the room.

A sunrise.

Her grandparents slow dancing in the living room.

Her father reading her a bedtime story in a purple-painted room.

Hiding in a tree to read
A Little Princess
.

Sunset on Galveston Bay.

The pictures flashed like an old film reel.

Her father. Webs in the living room. Grandma’s swollen eyes. Hands twisted in rage. A knife at her leg. His pale face in the streetlamp. Grasping hands.

Books lined the walls of her mind, all falling open to different pages.

“There’s a position open at the library.”

A pair of vivid green eyes.

“What’s your real name?”

The taste of whiskey filled her mouth.

“That was for me.”