Elizabeth Hunter - This Same Earth

Giovanni’s skin, Beatrice observed with perverse satisfaction, was still flushed from feeding from her the night before, and she noticed he seemed quicker than he had been in weeks. His amnis was stronger, as well; she wondered how much his diet of donated blood had been affecting his health.

“You want her to share your room in the basement?” Gemma laughed, cutting her eyes toward Beatrice. “Surely she will want something brighter, Gio.”

“We always share a room. We both rest better that way.” Beatrice tried not to sound smug, but she remembered Giovanni telling her years ago that no one had seen him sleep in hundreds of years, so she knew Gemma was probably included in that. She placed a proprietary hand on his thigh and smiled.

“Well-” Gemma’s blue eyes frosted. “-I’m sure that will be fine.”

“ Tesoro , if you want to rest, I will meet with Carwyn and Terry and fill you in at first dark. Gemma, will you be joining us in the study?”

“Of course,” Gemma said. “Terry always asks for my opinion. It’s what makes us such excellent partners.”

“I forgot to offer my congratulations on your engagement. You and Terrance are a wonderful couple.”

Beatrice could see the flash of hurt in Gemma’s eyes and wondered again how Giovanni could be so dense.

“Thank you. We’re very happy. I’m sure you can imagine how pleased Father is, as well.”

“Congratulations,” Beatrice added. “If you could show me to a phone, I have a few calls to make before I turn in.” She turned to Giovanni, still resting a hand on his thigh. “I need to talk to Dez, and I’ll call Dr. Stevens this afternoon.”

He frowned and reached up to trace her cheek. “All joking aside, I am sorry about your job. I never intended-”

“Oh, yes you did,” Beatrice laughed. “Don’t lie. You wouldn’t have forced the issue, but don’t pretend like you’re not pleased.”

He winked at her and tugged at a lock her hair. Beatrice saw Gemma watching them out of the corner of her eye.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m having job issues. If you could show me to a phone, it would be great.”

“Of course.” Gemma smiled politely. “Giovanni, I’ll meet you in the study. Make yourself at home. You know where everything is.”

“Of course.”

They stood, and he leaned down to place a quick kiss on Beatrice’s cheek before he stepped out of the room. Beatrice turned to her hostess, who had a hand held toward the door.

“I’ll show you to Gio’s room. We keep one for him since he visits so often. It’s almost like a second home for him.”

“I’m sure.” Beatrice smiled and tried not to grit her teeth.

“There’s a phone on the desk in his room.”

They walked down the hall, and Gemma opened a door that lead to a small landing and a set of stairs that curved down to the plush basement level of the house. Gemma walked at a leisurely pace, gliding down with preternatural grace while Beatrice felt like an awkward young girl trailing after her.

“Do tell me what dietary accommodation my cook will need for Gio. She’s stocked some of the blood type he prefers, but let us know-”

“Oh, he won’t be needing anything,” Beatrice said. “He’s taken care of.”

Gemma halted on the stairs and raised a lofty eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Very so,” Beatrice said as she stepped past Gemma and continued down the stairwell. She halted at the foot of the stairs and turned with her hands in her pockets, tapping her boot on the floor as she waited for Gemma to reach her.

“So,” she said, looking up and down the rich gold hallway. “Which room is ours?”

“Cat fight! Hiss hiss hiss ,” Dez said. “Wish I was there to see it. Damn, how do you get all these good looking men nuts about you, B? Tell me your secret.”

“My secret?” Beatrice rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. I smell good? At least Gio seems to think so. What about Matt? I thought Ken and Barbie were ready for their dream house.”

“Shut up, you smelly man-magnet. We’re not moving in together. And I’m just joking. Matt…” Dez gave a dreamy sigh. “He’s so great. He’s so fun and smart. I even met his parents at Christmas time and they’re really cool, too. I can’t believe he was into me for so long and I never knew about it.”

“Yeah, imagine that. I’ve only been telling you to ask him out for three years now. I can’t imagine what I was thinking. Who would have thought?”

“You know, some people say that sarcasm is not an attractive feature in a woman, Beatrice De Novo.”

“Luckily, I don’t give a shit about any of those people.”

Dez laughed before suddenly turning serious. “So, I’m not going to be seeing you any time soon, am I?”

Beatrice settled back into the four-poster bed in Giovanni’s chamber. It was decorated in dark burgundy and navy stripes, and rich mahogany furniture graced the room. There was an old-fashioned rotary phone on the bedside table, so she had kicked off her Docs and stretched out on the bed to call her best friend.

“I don’t think so. It’s not good. I don’t know how much Matt’s told you-”

“He told me that Lorenzo is back in business. And that he killed one of Carwyn’s kids.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, relieved that Giovanni had kept Matt informed about the danger. “I want you to make sure you’re not out by yourself at night, Dezi. I couldn’t take losing a friend right now. I’m just…” She pinched the bridge of her nose as she began to feel the tension and exhaustion catch up with her. “I feel like my life is so crazy right now. I need to remind myself that the real world still exists.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What?”

“What are you talking about ‘the real world?’ Have you been swept into another dimension? No one told me about that part if you have been.”

“No,” Beatrice frowned. “You know what I mean.” She paused, looking around the dim, windowless room. “You know, you and Matt are part of my real life and-”

Dez laughed. “What are you talking about, your ‘real life?’”

“Just all the non-vampire stuff. I know it’s kind of crazy.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Dez said. “I’m not an expert in any of this, but how is this not your real life?”

Beatrice snorted. “Maybe because there’s vampires and villains and mysterious books and constant turmoil and danger?”

There was a long pause before Dez spoke again. “You could have stayed here, B. Matt told me Gio was having him watch you and all the security he had in place and even about the water vampires you’re related to and everything-which, by the way, seems really cool, you should have told me about that-”

“What are you trying to say?”

She heard Dez take a deep breath. “You could have stayed here. None of this was forced on you. Gio didn’t drag you away with him-you went. If fact, if I know you, you insisted on going.”

Beatrice shifted on the richly appointed bed. “Yeah? So?”

“I just mean, I know you’re human and that hasn’t changed, but your world is bigger.” Dez paused. “It has been for a while. You just weren’t admitting it.”

“So, you’re saying-”

“Vampires and villains, danger and mystery…that is your real world. I mean, if you could forget all this and go back to the life you had before, would you even want to?”

“I don’t know,” Beatrice murmured.

“If it meant losing Gio? And Carwyn? Or missing the chance to find your dad someday?”

“No,” she whispered. “I’d never choose that.”

“Then I think you know what your ‘real life’ is, don’t you? It’s not the Huntington and the harmless boyfriend and a house in the suburbs.”