He watched Stephen’s shroud until the turn of the river took it out of sight, then his eyes sought his mate. She was standing in the shallow water, watching with dark eyes. He could see the longing in them, and he knew that she felt the call to follow him, to lose herself within the soft embrace of her element. He sent a silent plea to her, willing her eyes to turn toward his.

She was poised on the riverbank. One foot on the muddy ground and the other sunk in the water. Finally, her head turned, she looked at him, and he felt her return. Beatrice climbed from the edge, and he caught her in a tight embrace.

“I want to go home,” she whispered. “There is nothing here. Take me home.”

“We will leave tonight.”

Beatrice pressed her face into his chest as Giovanni watched Tenzin walk toward them. His friend stopped and spoke a few words to her father in the old language, then walked to them. Beatrice turned, and Tenzin put one hand on her cheek, wiping the tears that stained it as she pulled Beatrice toward her, laying a soft kiss on her forehead and whispering in her ear before she stepped back.

Tenzin met Giovanni’s eye, nodded once, and took to the air, silently disappearing into the black shroud of night.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Los Angeles, California

November 2010

“Where is she?”

“A small airport outside of Chino. It smells more like cows than people there.”

“And she’s alone?”

Giovanni paused, looking at Beatrice’s grandfather. Ernesto’s measuring gaze bored into him. “She prefers the solitude. She asked that I lock her in while we had our visit.”

Ernesto waved a dismissive hand at him. “I will be by to visit later tonight. She will see me.”

Giovanni cocked his head. “You are welcome to try. Kirby is guarding the hangar. Call him for directions.”

“And the boy?”

“I’ve already sent him south. He’s being looked after.”

Ernesto nodded, quietly tapping the arm of the leather chair in his study where he met with Giovanni. They were sipping red wine in Ernesto’s mansion in Newport Harbor. Quiet servants scuttled about in the background, but no one disturbed their quiet conversation.

Beatrice and Giovanni had arrived in Southern California the night before to return Baojia to his sire. Giovanni was meeting with family and associates for the next two nights; then he and Beatrice would leave for Chile.

“You’ll be in South America for a year?”

“Yes.”

“And where can I reach my granddaughter if I want to contact her? I need an address of some kind.”

Giovanni smiled and avoided the question. “You may reach us through Kirby, of course. And we’ll also be making sure that Isadora is kept informed of Beatrice’s progress.”

Ernesto may narrowed his eyes, but Giovanni suspected the old vampire knew he would not get more, no matter who he was related to.

“You may be sure that I’ll be keeping a close eye on Isadora while you are away.”

Threat or promise? Giovanni suspected that for Ernesto Alvarez, it was a promise. “I’m sure Beatrice will appreciate it. As do I.”

“I’m not doing it for you, di Spada.” It had not escaped Giovanni’s notice that Beatrice’s grandfather was using his more notorious name. “Beatrice may be under your aegis—”

“She is under no one’s aegis but her own.”

“—but she is still my granddaughter. It is my responsibility that Stephen was lost, and I will not risk her. I only let her go with you now because you are her mate, and I know your reputation.”

Giovanni forced down the instinctive surge of fire that flowed under his skin and narrowed his eyes at the old man. “Let me be clear, Alvarez, no one will be allowed to interfere with my family. Particularly with my wife. She is no one’s pawn, no matter how they may care for her. Be very careful in your presumptions.”

The old man’s eyes gleamed for a moment before a smile curved his mouth. “Excellent. She has chosen a good mate in you.” Ernesto sighed and leaned back into his chair, showing his age more in the slump of his shoulders than the lines that marked his face. It was the least guarded Giovanni had ever seen him.

“How is she, really?”

Giovanni took a deep breath and tried to release the tension. “She is grieving. Her father and her sire.”

“It would have been better if I had sired her.” Ernesto waved a hand as Giovanni opened his mouth to protest. “I know you think I have my own designs on her future, and I will not deny it. She was an extraordinary human, and she will be an even more extraordinary immortal, even the Elders of Penglai recognized it.”

“She already is.”

“But now she grieves doubly for Stephen De Novo. It would have been better if I had been her father in this life.”

Tenzin’s words echoed in his mind. “She is exactly who she will need to be.”

“I think,” Giovanni began, “things had to happen exactly as they did, Alvarez. Some things happen for a reason. Even if we cannot see the purpose of it.”

Ernesto looked amused. “You have been spending time with the holy men, di Spada. That is not the rational man that I have come to know.”

Perhaps not. But Giovanni only shrugged.

“Or.” Ernesto smirked. “Has marriage softened you?”

“If it has, I’d better toughen up. Your granddaughter is not a woman, or a vampire, to be underestimated.”