A scroll that purported to show vampires the secret of controlling every single element at once. He couldn’t even fathom it. He’d seen the havoc one single ancient could create if they lost their temper. Arosh, the fire vampire purportedly searching for the bone scroll, had leveled cities and wiped out civilizations according to his uncle.
There was no way on earth that vampire needed to be able to control the wind, the earth, and water too.
Why would she want him to? The whispering voice stopped Ben in his tracks. Saba was the biggest, baddest vampire in charge. Why would she want Arosh to find a scroll that could make him more powerful than she was?
He doesn’t have it yet.
Tangled thoughts crowded his mind as he entered the house. He was immediately greeted by Zain, who handed him a glass of water and a bottle of blood-wine.
“Figured you’d be parched by the time you got here.” He slapped Ben on the shoulder. “It’s a lot dryer here than in Addis.”
“I can feel it.” His skin felt tight and his throat burned. “Tenzin?”
“Already exploring your digs on the second floor.” Zain nodded toward the stairs. “The rest of the humans and vampires are settling in. Dema and I just waited up for you two. Figured you wouldn’t want to land in an empty house.”
“Appreciate it.” He lifted the bottle of blood-wine. “I’ll take this up. You two get some rest.”
Zain yawned. “If the churches don’t wake us up. The priests start praying early here.”
And broadcast it on loudspeakers through the town. Ben had discovered that little trivia fact in Addis. Luckily, vampire sleep wasn’t disturbed by much, so the subtle sounds of early morning chants had been his brief but peaceful companion every time he drifted to sleep for the past week.
Ben walked up the stairs, feeling the comfortable hum of amnis from his aunt and uncle below his feet. Dema was speaking softly, heading toward the wing of the house where Sadia must be resting, and Ben felt Daniel’s vibrant energy coming from upstairs.
He found the man on the second floor, sitting on the ground and looking out over a narrow valley.
“This is beautiful,” Daniel said. “Places like this? They’re so beautiful.”
“All the wild?” Ben looked out over the dark valley, and it felt untamed to him. The wind whipped around the rocks and licked over the rivers in the distance, bringing the scent of green growing things, dust, and humanity.
“It’s not the wild.” Daniel shook his head. “It’s the harmony.” He put both his hands down, placing them on the raw stone that made the house. “People have lived here for so many centuries. They carved holy places into these rocks, used the rock to build shelter and make roads. It’s all connected, you see?”
Ben couldn’t see, but then, he wasn’t an earth vampire. “I guess it’s a little like the Native people in the southwest, right? They made their homes out of mud brick and rock, right? That’s why Santa Fe is so unique.”
“It’s a little bit like that, but there’s something here that’s so deeply…” Daniel sighed with a smile on his face. “…loved. The earth here is loved deeply. It’s an extraordinary feeling.”
Ben smiled, and for the first time, he really saw Carwyn in Daniel. The earth vampire had helped raise him and had one of the biggest hearts Ben had ever known. But Daniel, on first impression, came across as whimsical and flighty.
“I’m glad you’re with us.” Ben patted his shoulder. “You clearly love people, and you love the earth. That means you’ll take care of both.”
A shadow crossed Daniel’s eyes. “I haven’t always taken care of people,” he said. “Not the way I should have.”
Ben looked at him and remembered Dema’s knife against his neck.
Dema doesn’t pull a knife on people unless they’ve earned it…
“So change.” Ben leaned against a stone pillar and looked at the man. “Be a better person. A new person if you need to. God knows I never wanted this life, but I’m managing.”
Daniel turned to him. “You’ve taken to it well.”
“That’s what you do when there are people in your life who love you,” Ben said. “You manage, you adapt, even if it’s not what you planned.”
“You’re a good vampire, Ben Vecchio.” Daniel smiled. “Quite an excellent one, in fact.”
“If I am, it’s because of Beatrice and Giovanni.”
“And Tenzin.”
Ben smiled. “Always Tenzin.”
He could feel her in the distance, floating in the air and rolling with the breezes that licked up from the valley floor. “I need to go,” he said. “Don’t get careless.” He nodded at the brightening horizon. “We’re going to need you soon.”
Daniel grinned. “So are you going to carry me, or will it be the little one?”
“Uh…” Ben laughed a little. “You don’t want her to carry you,” he said. “Trust me. She will bitch about how much you weigh the entire flight.” He walked up the stairs, letting her amnis pull him.
Ben could see her in the distance, just as he’d pictured, floating in the night wind and staring up at the stars overhead. He joined her, drifting toward her in the darkness, knowing she could feel his approach.
She reached out and tangled her fingers with his. “The stars.”
“The quiet.”
Tenzin let out a long breath and closed her eyes. “I love this place.”
It seemed that everyone did. “Is it the elevation?”
“Yes. And the wind. The air currents. The stars. The silence. The air smells like pepper trees. Did you catch it?”
“I do now that you mention it.”
“This is peaceful.”
“I’m glad.” He let his body float toward her, turning his head when he got close.
She turned her deep grey eyes to him. “Hello, min khar.”
“Hello. Did you find our room already?”
“Yes, it’s light safe and has a very nice bed.”
He winced a little. “So it’s as stiff as a wooden board.”
“Like I said, it’s very nice.”
Tenzin’s love of very firm mattresses always amazed him. It wasn’t that he couldn’t sleep on hard mattresses. He was a vampire; he could sleep on rock if that’s where he landed. But Tenzin didn’t sleep. She actually chose to spend her hours of waking meditation on surfaces that could be used as a building foundation.
He twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. “Are we starting tomorrow night?”
“No.” She pursed her lips. “I promised Chloe and Sadia we would spend our first night here. We’ll start searching the following night.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t a bad idea; it was just that Ben was feeling the pressure. Arosh, Saba, and their cadre weren’t taking time off to socialize and see the sites. “Do you think if Arosh finds the bone scroll we’ll get any warning, or will we just get wiped off the planet in a wave of elemental power?”
She turned her head and brushed a kiss across his lips. “So doubtful, Benjamin. The elders of Alitea are just as fallible as the elders of Penglai. Trust me; they only act all-knowing to keep young ones in awe.”