“How many do you use regularly?”
She shrugged and rolled again so she was flying above him. “Define regular.”
He looked up. “If you were roaming around? Maybe once a year.”
“Oh, then I only have five. New York, Shanghai, Venice, Tibet, and Fes.”
“Fes?”
“Very few automobiles in Fes. I like it. I bought a house there only five years ago.”
Ben muttered, “I had no idea.”
Tenzin flew in front of his face, her eyes glowing. “I am telling you so many things, and I’m not worried about killing you! Chloe will be very impressed.”
Ben couldn’t stop his smile. “Good to know. So tell me about these vampire embassies.”
She floated to his side again and rolled in the wind. “I don’t know if other courts have them, but Penglai has bought property in cities around the world so that anyone in the court who needs access to a safe place has one in what might be hostile territory.”
“And there’s one in Rome?”
“There’s one in all the major vampire capitols.”
“So… Paris? London? Nairobi?”
“Of course. Buenos Aires, New York, Winnipeg.”
“Winnipeg?”
Tenzin looked at him like he’d taken a blow to the head. “Where else would you put the vampire capital of Canada?”
“I mean, obviously Winnipeg,” Ben muttered. “Don’t know what I was thinking.”
“So we can stay in the safe house in Rome if you want,” she said. “Or we can stay near the Pantheon. I’m sure we’ll be safe either place.”
Ben sensed this was more about Tenzin than him. “Which place would make you feel more comfortable?”
She looked over her shoulder. “The Penglai house.”
“Then why don’t we stay there?” He sidled up to her and slipped an arm around her waist. “I don’t mind.”
“Fabia was very angry with me; I don’t want to needlessly provoke her.”
Ben had to smile. “New Year’s resolution?”
“I think Chloe would be proud that I’ve done as well as I have.”
“So is that why you don’t want to stay at the Rome house? Fabia’s my friend. She wants me to be happy.”
“I think she is in love with you. I don’t think she realized it before, but she is.”
“I don’t think so.” He looked at her. “Fabi will be fine. I’m more worried about you and Beatrice.”
“Beatrice has a right to be angry.” Tenzin settled under his arm like a bird beneath a wing. “She wanted to change you herself. Her or Giovanni.”
Ben couldn’t dispute her, because that was probably a part of their anger at Tenzin. Maybe a big part.
“I will admit,” he said, “when I considered the idea, I always thought it would be one of them.” He took a deep breath. “And if that happened, I would be angry, but I would have you, and we’d work through it together. No matter what, I’d have you.”
She floated up to his face and framed his cheeks with both her hands. She leaned forward and kissed him, lingering at his mouth until her amnis rose in his blood and he felt their connection like a thousand invisible threads binding them together.
Tenzin holding his hand in Rome, while Ben grieved the first time he’d taken a life.
Tenzin next to him while he piloted a truck of rotting vegetables through China.
Dancing through a sweltering summer night in Venice.
Laughing through an overly formal ceremony in Edinburgh.
He remembered a kiss in a cave that had almost taken his life, and a sword in China that had ended his mortality.
She had been there. For everything, she had always been there.
“If it had happened the way they wanted it” —he whispered against her lips— “I wouldn’t be flying with you.”
“No.”
Ben kissed her again. “So I think things happen for a reason, even if we don’t see the purpose at the time.”
Tenzin smiled. “You really are Giovanni’s son.”
41
The safe house in Rome was not fancy, but it was nestled into a particularly green space bordered by the Tiber River and the Circus Maximus. The location was probably chosen because it presented the best balance of the elements that could be found in Rome, though Ben thought it also might have been because of the gelato place on the corner, which rivaled the one by the Pantheon in excellence.
Of course, it had been a while since Ben had gorged himself on gelato, so he decided that when Giovanni, Beatrice, and Sadia arrived in Rome, the best place to meet them was at Sadia’s favorite cremeria near the Pantheon.
“Tenzin!” Sadia ran toward her favorite vampire, holding out her arms. “You’re here! You’re really here!”
Tenzin leaned over and grabbed the small girl, lifting her into a hug before she set her on her feet. “And you are very tall now.”
Sadia huffed out a breath in the cool spring night. “Yeah. I am.”
“Hi, gremlin.” Ben felt like a whole lot of chopped liver.
“Hi.” She hugged him around the waist and lifted her arms. “Piggyback ride.”
“Are your legs not working?”
She threw her head back. “Pleeeeeease? I was on the plane for so long. Forever and ever.”
Ben rolled his eyes; then he lifted his little sister and put her on his back before he walked over to Giovanni and Beatrice.
Giovanni was smiling with everything on his face. His mouth. His eyes. Even his hair looked happy.
Beatrice was smiling with her mouth, but her eyes looked concerned.
“Hey, B.” Ben leaned over and gave his aunt a long hug. “I’m okay. We’re okay.”
“Mm-hmm.” Her smile was tight, and her eyes kept darting to Tenzin over Ben’s shoulder. “I want you more than okay.”
He took her shoulders in his hands. “I am far more than okay.”
His aunt examined his face. She pinched his chin between her fingers and stared into his eyes for a long time.
“Mama, what’s wrong?” Sadia was hanging off his shoulders. “Voglio il gelato.”
Beatrice allowed herself to smile. “Nothing’s wrong, baby. Everything is good again.” She clapped her hands and reached for Sadia. “Stop climbing on your brother and get down. You’re a big girl, and your legs aren’t broken.” She took Sadia’s hand, helped her down, and they walked to the cremeria, which was brightly lit in the dark azure twilight.
Tenzin watched Ben and Beatrice as they chatted in line, waiting to buy ice cream for Sadia. Giovanni stood next to her, watching the evening crowd, from the elderly humans out for a stroll to the ancient vampire who sat on the wall bordering the Pantheon, trying to remain inconspicuous in the shadows of Rome.
“I can smell his amnis on you,” Giovanni said. “You’re nearly mated.”
“It’s too soon for that.”
“No, it’s really not.” Giovanni glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “Does he understand what that means? Do you?”