As the phone’s vibrations ended, she clasped her hands together, squeezing hard, wishing this aircraft would land. Thankfully, it didn’t take long. As Christian had promised, they were soon on the ground. After some moments of wrangling, she found herself outside, following the others across hard pavement toward a long, low building.
The air was colder than in Venice, but she still burned. She held her palm open toward the midafternoon sun. As a strigoi, her skin would be blistering, burning to ash, but it seemed the holy blood protected her. But not completely. There remained enough darkness inside her that the sunlight still stung. She withdrew her hand and tilted her face down, shading her features in the shadows of her wimple.
Rhun noted her reaction. “You’ll grow accustomed with time.”
She frowned. Even the daytime was not wholly open to a Sanguinist. Such a life was one of constant accommodation and pain. She longed to shake loose such restraints and limitations… to be truly free again.
But not yet.
She followed the others into the airport terminal. She scowled at its unsightly utility, impersonal, gray, and white. Men in this modern age seemed frightened of color.
“May I have a moment to wash the dust from my hands and face?” Elizabeth asked Rhun, seeking to find a private moment to return Tommy’s call. “I found the journey most disorienting.”
“I will take her,” Sophia offered. The small woman spoke a touch too quickly, displaying her distrust.
“Thank you, Sister,” Elizabeth said.
Sophia led her down a side hall to a many-stalled bathroom and followed her inside. Elizabeth crossed to the sink and washed her hands in the warm water. Sophia joined her, splashing water on her face.
Elizabeth used the moment to study the dark-skinned woman, wondering what she had been like before becoming a Sanguinist. Did she have a family that she left behind in the passing of years? What atrocities had she committed as a strigoi before taking the holy wine?
But the woman’s face remained a stoic mask, hiding whatever pain haunted her past. And Elizabeth knew there must be something.
We are all haunted in our own ways.
She pictured her son, Paul, remembering his bright laughter.
It seemed the passage through life was but a gathering of ghosts. The longer you lived, the more shadows haunted you. She stared at herself in the mirror, surprised by the single tear coursing down her cheek.
Rather than wipe it away, she used it.
“May I have a moment by myself?” Elizabeth asked, turning to Sophia.
Sophia looked ready to object, but then her face softened, seeing the tear. Still, she glanced around, plainly looking for windows or another exit. Finding none, she touched Elizabeth on the arm, then retreated. “I will wait outside.”
As soon as Sophia was gone, Elizabeth retrieved her phone. She left the water running to mask her voice and quickly dialed Tommy’s number.
It was answered immediately. “Elizabeth, thanks for calling back. You caught me just in time.”
She was relieved that he sounded calm. “Is everything well?”
“Well enough, I guess,” he said. “But I’m so excited that I get to see you soon.”
She frowned, not understanding. The boy could not know that she intended to join him as soon as she could escape these others. “What do you mean?”
“A priest came by. He’s taking me to Rome.”
She went stiff, her voice going hard. “What priest?” Her mind was on fire, struggling to comprehend this news. It was unexpected and felt wrong, like a trap. “Tommy, do not—”
“Hold on,” Tommy said, cutting her off. She heard him talking to someone in the background, then he was back. “My aunt says I have to get off the phone. My ride is here. But I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He sounded so eager, but dread filled her.
“Do not go with that priest!” she warned, her voice sharp.
But the line went dead. She dialed his number again, pacing the bathroom. The phone rang and rang, but he did not answer. She clenched a fist around the telephone, imagining reasons why they might have taken him.
Maybe they were whisking Tommy to safety because of all of the strigoi attacks.
She cast this hope aside, knowing the Church had no interest in the boy any longer.
So then why were they taking him? Why was Tommy suddenly important to them again?
Then she knew.
Because of me.
The Church knew Tommy was important to her. Someone was taking control of the boy, intending to use him like a pawn, a way to attach a leash around her neck. Only one priest would use such an innocent boy as leverage. Even imprisoned, that villain must still be exercising his power.
Cardinal Bernard.
She slammed her fist against the mirror. It shattered outward in rings from the point of impact.
Elizabeth glanced at the door, knowing Sophia waited out there. It was a rash act, one born of rage. But if she was to save Tommy, she must be smarter. Before Sophia came in to investigate, she turned off the water and hurried toward the entrance.
As she exited, Sophia eyed her suspiciously.
Elizabeth straightened her wimple and brushed her hand down her rosary. A tingle of pain crossed her fingertips from the silver. She used that sting to steady herself.
“I… I believe I’m ready to continue,” she said.
They returned to the others.
Erin had a map opened on her phone, another wonder of this modern age. “We’re not too far from the old palace. Most of the alchemy labs are in its shadow.”
“The laboratory that we seek is not there. We must go to the town center, by the Orloj,” Elizabeth said, intending to bide her time.
I will wait and watch.
Her time would come.
As would Bernard’s.
Erin hiked her backpack higher as they headed toward the terminal exit, very conscious that she carried the Blood Gospel over her shoulder. She worried that she should have left the book in Rome, where it could be locked up safely, but with the book bound to her, she refused to let it out of her sight.
It felt like a part of her now.
Ahead, Rhun walked alongside the countess, as graceful as a panther in his dark jeans and long black coat. Elizabeth, in turn, glided with a measure of command in her step. The two made a handsome couple, and a pang of jealousy struck Erin with unexpected force. It surprised her. Did she want to be the woman at Rhun’s side, even if such a thing were possible?
She looked up at Jordan. His blue eyes scanned the room, always looking for danger, but his shoulders were down and relaxed. Golden stubble covered his square jaw. She remembered the scratchy feel of those whiskers against her stomach, her breasts.
Jordan caught her looking, and she blushed and looked down at the floor.
As they stepped out into the cool afternoon, Elizabeth shifted her wimple to better cover her face. Rhun’s jacket was hooded, but he didn’t bother to pull it up.
Erin leaned toward Christian. “Why does the sunlight seem to bother Elizabeth more?”
“She is new to the cloth,” Christian explained. “I don’t know if it’s simply the passing of time or the many years of penance, but I do know that Sanguinists become more inured to the light as they get older.”
“How could you not know exactly how it works?” Erin asked, surprised by the Sanguinists’ lack of curiosity about their own nature. “You can’t check your brain at the door. What’s wrong with finding out what’s been done to you?”