Giovanni frowned. “Explain more.”
“I can see the elements. Gold matter, silver water, the red fire that eats everything and spits it out again transformed. But the space between everything is dark, Gio. The space between all things… It’s beautiful, and that space feels like it’s mine, you know?” He put a hand to his chest. “I can see it. And feel it. And… manipulate it.”
Giovanni stared at him. “You can see the space between earth and water, and that’s what you can manipulate?”
“I can feel it the same way you feel fire. The same way that B can feel water.” Ben shrugged. “I don’t know how, I just can.”
“You’re talking about amnis at an atomic level, Ben.” He looked at the ground, then up again. “There are those who will consider it a threat.”
“I know. I wasn’t thinking. I just knew I needed to stop Myung, so I did.”
Giovanni nodded slowly. “Then you’ll handle it. Whatever comes. You’ll handle it with Tenzin beside you.” He let out a slow breath. “I love you, and I can’t imagine a better mate by your side. The two of you… It was meant to be. Everything in your life confirms it.”
Ben closed his eyes. “Please, for the love of God, don’t tell her that. Her ego is already out of control.”
Giovanni laughed and picked up a plate of sweet bread.
“Thank you.”
He turned to Ben. “For what?”
Ben shrugged. “Just for everything.”
His uncle smiled. “Good thing I gave that little pickpocket a chance to prove himself.”
“Yeah.” He smiled a little. “Sometimes all a thief needs is a second chance. To make something of himself. To make something new.”
Giovanni handed Ben a plate of bread. “And don’t forget: everyone needs something sweet of their own to look forward to.”
Ben thought about his sister squealing over sharp objects, his aunt desperately trying to lock up her sword collection, and his mate who gleefully fed the madness.
Ben pressed his lips together to keep the laugh from escaping. “I don’t know if I’d call them traditionally sweet, but… they’re definitely ours.”
Thank you for reading Ben and Tenzin’s newest adventure! I promise, there will be more in the future.
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If you haven’t experienced the Elemental Covenant series, you can find more information on my website. The next paranormal mystery featuring Brigid and Carwyn is Bishop’s Flight, coming Summer 2023.
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And for more information about all my work, please visit, ElizabethHunterWrites.com.
Look inside: Paladin’s Kiss
Enjoy this preview of the Elemental Covenant series! Saint’s Passage, Martyr’s Promise, and Paladin’s Kiss now available at all major retailers in ebook, audiobook, and paperback.
Brigid saw the flashing blue lights in the side mirror, and her fangs dropped. She turned to her husband, who was driving the van. “I told ya it was a speed trap.”
Carwyn glanced to the side, then at the rearview mirror. “I was barely over the limit.” He pulled over onto the rough gravel shoulder. “I’ll do the talking, wife. You have a habit of rankling law enforcement.”
Brigid glanced at the three unconscious humans in the back of their converted Volkswagen van. “Can’t imagine why.”
The back of her throat burned when she smelled the humans behind their vehicle. The men passed out behind her stank of alcohol, methamphetamines, and sour sweat. It was easy to ignore their scent, but the officers behind them?
They smelled like dinner.
“He’s sitting on the hood of his car,” Carwyn muttered. “No respect for the schedule of others.”
“It’s a tactic to make us nervous.” Brigid narrowed her eyes as she watched her side mirror. “They definitely think we’re carrying drugs. Second one out of the car.”
“A camper van with California plates driving through rural Louisiana in the middle of the night?” Carwyn smiled as the man who’d been perched on the hood of the cruiser started to walk toward them. “I can’t imagine why they’d think drugs were an issue.”
She cranked down the van window and saw the outline of a second officer eyeing her window with interest in the flashing lights from the other side of the police cruiser.
“Tá dhá cheann acu.” There are two of them. She spoke in Irish, unwilling to give any information to the humans. “Second one is staying back.”
Carwyn glanced in the mirror. “Noted.”
“Má chuardaíonn said an carr…” If they search the car…
“They won’t.” He was wearing a black button-down shirt dotted with bloodstains. He carefully buttoned it up to the neck.
Brigid frowned. “What are you doing?”
He quickly folded a receipt and stuck it in a cup holder, then fiddled with his collar. “Keeping us from having to incapacitate any more humans tonight.”
She rolled her eyes and sat back, her eyes continuing to flick to the side mirror where it looked like the second officer had lit a cigarette.
Gimme.
Brigid stared at the glowing tip of the cigarette, the fire that lived under her skin pricking her to act; she pushed it back with practiced resolve.
Not tonight. Not here.
The human officer approached Carwyn’s window, and the scent of his blood made Brigid’s mouth water. She needed to feed, and not the blood in the drug-laced veins of the humans in the back of the van. This one smelled like he believed in clean living, mother’s cooking, and wild game.
Delicious.
The police officer finally sauntered to the window. He was a human in his early forties if Brigid was guessing correctly. He looked tired and a little worn-out.
Putting in the hours. Brigid recognized the expression. Punching the clock. This officer was sick of night shifts and bored to tears.
He cleared his throat and spoke in a broad Southern accent. “Evening, sir. Do you happen to know how fast you were going?”
It was as if her husband turned into a pile of friendly Jell-O instead of the mountain of muscle he was. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Officer!” The Welsh vampire laid on a thick Irish accent.
Brigid snorted and covered her mouth, turning it into a cough.
Carwyn continued, “I do believe I was going eighty kilometers an hour, was I not?”
The officer frowned. “’Scuse me? Where y’all from?”
“Oh shur, we’re from a humble Catholic mission in Ireland. I’m Father Cormac, and this is Sister Mary Clarence from the Sisterhood of the First Miracle in Kerry.” He motioned toward her. “Sister Mary Clarence, wave hello to the nice Garda.” Carwyn turned back to the officer. “She can’t speak, sir, as she’s recently taken a vow of complete silence.”
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the wee donkey, she was going to kill him when this was over. Brigid leaned forward and waved.
The human frowned. “From… Did you say Ireland?”