Elizabeth Hunter - This Same Earth

“He’s worried about you. And I think he feels guilty.”

“Why?” He began eating again. “I’m the one that agreed to help him get you back. Isn’t it my fault? Oh, wait, you’re the one we rescued, so maybe it’s your fault.” Beatrice felt tears spring to her eyes as she watched the surly vampire. “No…not your fault, after all, you were only targeted because of your father, so perhaps it’s Stephen De Novo’s fault after all.”

“Carw-”

“Or,” he finally looked up at her with a fierce expression in his blue eyes. “It’s the fault of the man who kidnapped my son. Yes…” He nodded and took a gulp from the mug that Sinéad set by his elbow. “I’m sticking with this being Lorenzo’s fault. Because that’s the vampire I’m going to kill if I don’t get my Ioan back.” He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, smearing it across his jaw in an ominous red streak before he continued inhaling his food.

“What are you doing?”

She turned to see Deirdre walking toward her in the garden as she practiced her tai chi forms in the twilight. They had been in Wicklow for a week with little to no change in the situation. Giovanni and Carwyn had gone to Dublin the night before to meet with the leader of the city, and she had stayed in Wicklow with Deirdre, who refused to venture far from her home, worried that more of her family might be targeted.

“It’s tai chi. Martial arts. I study in L.A.”

“It’s quite beautiful. Why is it so slow?”

“Sometimes it’s faster. But Tenzin told me when I practice forms, I should concentrate on the flow of energy and meditation so my movements are precise. It’s relaxing that way, too.”

“Tenzin?” Deirdre said. “How very…interesting.”

She frowned as Deirdre sat next to her on the grass, taking a deep breath and sinking her hands into the soil of the garden that overlooked the green valley. Stands of trees lay in the creases where streams cut through, and a small herd of deer broke into a run as they scented danger at the edge of the forest. Beatrice could hear the sharp bark of the dogs and the lowing cows as the farmhands brought them in for the night.

She continued with her forms, moving slowly and trying to let the tense waves of energy from Deirdre wash over and around her. She heard the vampire take a deep breath.

“Why did Carwyn say you were trying to scent Ioan? Isn’t he too far away?”

She saw Deirdre smirk at her out of the corner of her eye.

“You don’t know much about vampire relationships, do you?”

She blushed but continued practicing.

“Doesn’t Gio tell you anything?”

“We’re not-” Beatrice faltered. “It’s not like that with us.” Yet .

“He’s in love with you. Don’t you love him? You look at him like you do.”

She frowned. “You know, forgive me if I don’t feel like getting into the details with someone I hardly know.”

Deirdre snorted. “Fine. Forget I asked.”

Beatrice pushed down her irritation and focused on the slow and steady movement of her body. She could feel Deirdre still watching her.

“Sit down and talk to me, girl. It’s not like I’ve never had this discussion with any of my daughters before. Ioan, despite being a doctor, has always been squeamish about these things. Typical male.”

“I’m well aware of the birds and the bees, thanks very much.”

“You asked how I could scent my husband, and I’ll tell you how. It’s either ask me or Giovanni eventually.” Beatrice turned and Deirdre cocked an eyebrow. “Well?”

She huffed and came to sit next to her on the grass, stretching out her sore muscles.

“Okay,” Beatrice asked, “what’s the big deal with smelling?”

Deirdre chuckled. “You are amusing. I imagine you drive him mad in the best way. He has always taken himself too seriously.”

Beatrice remained silent, at a loss for something to say to the vampire next to her, who looked younger but whose eyes held a kind of infinite wisdom she couldn’t wrap her mind around.

“You know how our kind are sired, do you not?”

“Yes.”

“When mates…when two vampires exchange blood in small amounts over long periods of time, a different bond is formed.”

“A sexual bond?”

She shook her head. “Much more than sexual. You can have sex without exchanging blood, but when you do…”

“Yeah?”

Deirdre gazed out over the valley, still digging her hands into the earth. Her mood had shifted, and Beatrice could tell she was thinking of Ioan. “Blood exchanged in love and passion for hundreds of years. Over and over until it is so mingled…”

Beatrice’s heart raced. “What?”

“We are two halves of a whole,” Deirdre whispered. “Four hundred years we have been together. That’s why I know he still lives. If he was dead, my own blood would cry out. There would be no question.”

“So, when they said you could ‘scent’ him-”

“Our blood calls to each other if we are apart. I will be able to scent him because, if even a drop of his blood touches open earth, it will call to me.”

Beatrice was silent, staring into the distance as the stars came out around them.

“I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling right now.”

Deirdre turned her head sharply. “Do you want to?”

“What?”

“You cannot look at him the way you do and not have thought about sharing this life with him.”

She felt the tears spring to her eyes. “It’s…too much. I can’t-”

“You have to.”

“Do you think so?” She remembered Giovanni had said Ioan asked Carwyn to change Deirdre when she was human. “You made the choice. Has it been worth it?”

Deirdre’s blue eyes were wells of sorrow, as if she was staring into a grave.

“I have shared his blood for four hundred years. What do you think?”

Dublin, Ireland

January 2010

Giovanni rang in the New Year watching a young water vampire twist into a smoldering pile of ash.

“He’s created all these children,” Carwyn muttered. “Almost indiscriminately. But none of them know anything.”

They were standing in a warehouse on the edge of the River Liffey that was thick with the scent of Ioan’s blood and Giovanni’s son, but other than faint brown smudges on the concrete floor, there was no sign of the missing doctor.

Giovanni pulled on his shirt after killing Lorenzo’s useless minion. “Did you call Deirdre tonight?”

Carwyn nodded as he watched Patrick Murphy’s people sweep the ashes out the open door of the warehouse.

“Gentleman,” said the solemn vampire in the three-piece suit. “We’ve come to the end of my leads. This warehouse was the last of the information my people had gleaned. We’ll still keep our ears and eyes open, of course. The loss of Ioan-”

“Has not been confirmed in any way,” Giovanni muttered, watching Carwyn pace at the other end of the warehouse.

Murphy tugged at the black curls on his head, obviously nervous. “If there is any further assistance I can offer to either of you while you are here…”

“It’s fine, Murphy,” he heard Carwyn spit out across the room. “I’ll expect your cooperation in the future, but if we’ve ended our leads here, I want to go back to my daughter.”

Giovanni tried not to sigh in relief. Though he knew Beatrice was perfectly safe in Wicklow, he still felt uncomfortable being without her.

“Boats,” Murphy said. “My best guess would be boats. Lorenzo is a water vampire, and he would have the resources to transport him by boat. This warehouse has river access, and we are not far from the port.”

Giovanni nodded. “We’ll keep you informed.”