She turned and saw him standing in the doorway. He looked at her with grim eyes, and she held out her hand. He crossed the room, took it, and pulled her next to him, stretching out on the small bed as he enfolded her in his arms. They lay silently, watching the stars for a few minutes before he spoke.
“I’m glad you’re here, but I wish you hadn’t come.”
“Not an option,” she murmured as she stroked his forearm.
“Beatrice-”
“If you’re so worried, train me.”
“I’ve never studied judo.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” He snorted and she looked over her shoulder. “What?”
“Train you? To fight vampires?”
She shrugged. “I know I’ll never be as strong or as fast-”
“Or have keen senses, or control an element.” She leaned down and bit his arm. “Ow!” He laughed. “Do it again.”
She scowled. “Hush. I just mean, something is better than nothing. And it’ll give you something to do until Carwyn comes back.”
“What? You want to do it now?”
“What did you have in mind to pass the time?”
He raised a speculative eyebrow. “Well…”
“Yeah,” she snorted. “Right. I have a feeling the house mom wouldn’t be too keen on that idea.” She nodded toward the door where she had no doubt Sinéad’s ears were tuned toward them. “Otherwise, she’d probably have put us in the same room.”
“True. I still-”
He sat up so quickly she almost fell off the bed.
“Carwyn’s here,” he said before he flew down the stairs.
Beatrice sat up and looked out the window, where she could just see the red hair of the priest as Giovanni embraced him at the edge of the road. She saw a blur streak by them both and the front door slammed shut. In the next heartbeat, a tall warrior of a woman stood in front of her, examining her with burning, blue eyes.
“Are you Giovanni’s woman?”
Well, Beatrice almost said, it’s kind of complicated. She thought better of it when she saw the fierce expression on the woman’s face.
“I’m Beatrice.”
“Your scent is unfamiliar.”
“I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
“You didn’t.”
“Oh.”
Deirdre seemed to take a step back. “I am Deirdre Mac Cuille. You are welcome in this house as long as you mean no harm to my own. You’ll forgive me if I’m not a proper host to you.”
Though she knew Ioan was Carwyn’s blood relative, Deirdre looked like his daughter in every way. She shared the flaming auburn hair of the priest and stood at an impressive height. The planes of her pale face were regal as she stared down her nose.
Beatrice shook her head. “No, of course you wouldn’t be. I’m so sorry about your husband.”
Deirdre cocked her head. “He is not dead. Save your condolences, girl.”
Just then, she heard a rushing on the stairs, and Giovanni appeared next to Deirdre in the doorway. They nodded toward each other, and Deirdre departed, leaving Beatrice staring in her wake.
“She’s kind of scary.”
He nodded. “Yes, she is. You would be too, if…well, if it was someone you cared about,” he said quietly.
She looked at him standing in the door, and the wave of emotion almost overwhelmed her. She stood and walked to him. “If it were you,” she whispered, knowing he could hear. “I’d be that way if it were you, Giovanni.”
He said nothing as she slipped down the stairs.
Carwyn was far from the cheerful vampire she remembered from his last visit in May. She sat with him in the large farm kitchen as he ate the steak Sinéad had cooked for him. He tore into the bloody meat, not waiting for anyone to join him and barely speaking to her. Various members of the family, human and vampire, milled around him, but no one spoke.
“Carwyn,” she heard Giovanni’s voice as he walked into the kitchen. The crowd around the priest parted at his voice, and he came to sit beside his old friend. “Where’s Deirdre?”
“She was in the garden for a bit, trying to scent him, but she couldn’t pick anything up. They must know they’re blood-bound and are keeping him away from open earth. I believe she’s feeding right now.”
Giovanni lowered his voice. “Human? I know she doesn’t usually, but-”
“Yes, human. One of the farmhands. She knows she needs the strength.”
“And you?”
Carwyn glared at Giovanni. “I’ll not change who I am because of a madman. I cast no judgment, but-”
“For God’s sake, Carwyn-”
“Do not take His name in vain among my people, di Spada!” the priest roared, standing up from the table and meeting Giovanni nose-to-nose as they squared off against each other.
“Fine,” Giovanni spit out, “but I’m going to feed, as well. I’ve no interest in principle over survival.”
Giovanni stormed out, leaving Beatrice gaping at them both as Carwyn sat down again, staring at the half-eaten meal in front of him. The humans and vampires in the kitchen dispersed and Beatrice sat silently, at a loss for what to say.
“I’m truly an ass sometimes, aren’t I?” Carwyn finally muttered.
“He’s worried about you. And I think he feels guilty.”
“Why?” He began eating again. “I’m the one that agreed to help him get you back. Isn’t it my fault? Oh, wait, you’re the one we rescued, so maybe it’s your fault.” Beatrice felt tears spring to her eyes as she watched the surly vampire. “No…not your fault, after all, you were only targeted because of your father, so perhaps it’s Stephen De Novo’s fault after all.”
“Carw-”
“Or,” he finally looked up at her with a fierce expression in his blue eyes. “It’s the fault of the man who kidnapped my son. Yes…” He nodded and took a gulp from the mug that Sinéad set by his elbow. “I’m sticking with this being Lorenzo’s fault. Because that’s the vampire I’m going to kill if I don’t get my Ioan back.” He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, smearing it across his jaw in an ominous red streak before he continued inhaling his food.
“What are you doing?”
She turned to see Deirdre walking toward her in the garden as she practiced her tai chi forms in the twilight. They had been in Wicklow for a week with little to no change in the situation. Giovanni and Carwyn had gone to Dublin the night before to meet with the leader of the city, and she had stayed in Wicklow with Deirdre, who refused to venture far from her home, worried that more of her family might be targeted.
“It’s tai chi. Martial arts. I study in L.A.”
“It’s quite beautiful. Why is it so slow?”
“Sometimes it’s faster. But Tenzin told me when I practice forms, I should concentrate on the flow of energy and meditation so my movements are precise. It’s relaxing that way, too.”
“Tenzin?” Deirdre said. “How very…interesting.”
She frowned as Deirdre sat next to her on the grass, taking a deep breath and sinking her hands into the soil of the garden that overlooked the green valley. Stands of trees lay in the creases where streams cut through, and a small herd of deer broke into a run as they scented danger at the edge of the forest. Beatrice could hear the sharp bark of the dogs and the lowing cows as the farmhands brought them in for the night.
She continued with her forms, moving slowly and trying to let the tense waves of energy from Deirdre wash over and around her. She heard the vampire take a deep breath.
“Why did Carwyn say you were trying to scent Ioan? Isn’t he too far away?”
She saw Deirdre smirk at her out of the corner of her eye.
“You don’t know much about vampire relationships, do you?”