“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

“The elders wear white because it is the symbol of death.”

“That… doesn’t make much sense.”

He smiled again. “But they are the masters of death, aren’t they?”

They climbed the stone steps leading to the great hall, even Tenzin was oddly subdued as they made their way to the front of the room and took their place in front of Zhang’s leather throne.

The elder was already seated, looking calm and fearsome, his hair loose and long as his daughter’s. At times, it was easy to forget that Tenzin and her father belonged to a far less civilized past than the one represented by most of the sophisticated vampires of the Chinese court. With his hair flowing around him, seated on his saddle-like throne, Elder Zhang Guo looked like the ancient warlord he was. Tenzin stood behind her father, playing the loyal daughter for appearance’s sake. Even the most powerful of immortals would tremble to challenge the pair.

Giovanni glanced at Beatrice, who was taking in everything with her perceptive eyes, measuring each Elder and the people who scurried around them. Baojia stood behind her, watching, always watching, anyone that came too close. Once again, Giovanni found himself reluctantly grateful.

“Baojia, will you be able to translate for Beatrice?” he asked quietly. “I’m sure this will all be in Mandarin, and I will have to speak at some point.”

“Not if you want me to be able to concentrate on protecting her.”

“I can translate,” Stephen whispered.

“Anything you don’t want overheard, say in Spanish,” Giovanni said. “It’s not widely spoken here and will be the most secure.”

Stephen nodded as Zhongli’s guards entered the hall. The Elder was already at the front of the room, but the guards ushered Lorenzo between them. Giovanni scoffed when he saw his son wearing scholar’s robes like their own. Though the pursuit of knowledge was far from a priority with him, Lorenzo was nothing if not a master of appearances. In that way, Giovanni supposed Lorenzo truly had become Andros’s heir.

Giovanni was curious about the company he was keeping. There were eight guards around Lorenzo, all wind vampires from the look of their robes, which bore the milky moonstone associated with the wind element. Eight. A lucky number, particularly when associated with business. He had a feeling that the selection was not without calculation. All the Elders were superstitious, but none more so than Lorenzo’s host, Zhongli Quan.

Little by little, the hall filled, until eventually, every elder was on his or her throne and their entourages filled the room in front of them. Energy buzzed, the collision of electrical currents charging the air. The torches and lamps that lit the room flickered, and a soft wind brushed through the crowd. Everyone was there and waiting.

Except for Elder Lan.

Giovanni exchanged a look with Baojia, who only shrugged. “No one’s surprised, are they?”

Suddenly, every head turned when a laugh rang from the back of the room, and a high-pitched voice called out, “Are you all waiting for me? How amusing!”

The childlike elder tripped into the room with a huge smile adorning his or her face. Just as Lan passed them, Giovanni saw the elder pause for only a fraction of a second. Lan caught Beatrice’s eye as she stood next to Giovanni and gave her a playful wink.

Giovanni looked down at Beatrice, then back to Lan, who had already moved up to the throne at the front of the room. Beatrice looked up at Giovanni with an expression of equal confusion.

“What the hell did that mean?” she murmured in Spanish between clenched lips.

“Tesoro… I have no idea.”

Chapter Seventeen

Penglai Mountain, China

November 2010

“There’s still something I’m not getting about this,” Beatrice whispered to her father in Spanish as the formal greetings of the court began. Each elder was standing to greet the assembled vampires and most of them seemed highly impressed with their own voices.

“There’s a lot about this that I don’t understand,” Stephan whispered back.

“Why did he agree to this?”

“Who?”

“Lorenzo,” she said. “Why did he agree to this? Everyone seems to be sure that the Elders will either vote for Gio or tie, both of which leave Lorenzo at a disadvantage, so why did he ask for this trial?”

Stephen shrugged. “Perhaps he didn’t plan for it. When he made the request, it was right after Lorenzo discovered he had no claim over me. Maybe it was not well thought out.”

“I’m not buying it,” Beatrice whispered as the Immortal Woman began to speak. Like Lan Caihe, He Xiangu was not as long-winded as the rest of the council. Thinking about her own terse mate, Beatrice wondered if it was a characteristic of all fire vampires. “Lorenzo plans everything. He may be totally different from Gio in a lot of ways, but not that. They both plan for every contingency.”

“Beatrice, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Shhh,” Giovanni turned to them and made a shushing motion as Tenzin’s father stood to speak.

“Immortal brothers and sisters of the council, I would take this opportunity to introduce an immortal sired in my household these past weeks. Most of you know the dear friend of my only child, Tenzin, was turned by my daughter’s mate in my home. We welcome you to our honored company, Beatrice De Novo. Daughter of water, mated to fire. Kinswoman of Don Ernesto Alvarez of California. Honored friend of my house and learned scribe.”