A Hidden Fire

“Okay.”

She wrapped her arms around Giovanni’s waist and tucked her body into his.  She still felt the strange energy that seemed to radiate from him, and she tried to calm her reaction.  She also tried not to think about the muscular torso she could feel beneath his clothes or the grip of his large hand at her waist.

“And Beatrice?”

“Yeah?”  She looked up to see him wearing a playful grin.

“You’ll never know all my superhero secrets.”

And in what felt like a quick hop, she was jerked along with him as he leapt from the floor of the elevator to the top of the steel box which hung from thick cables in the dark shaft.

“Hang on.”

“Planning on it,” she gasped.

The blue flame still hovered over them as he swung her onto his back and, using only his hands, climbed the walls of the elevator shaft back up to the fifth floor.  She held on to his neck, suddenly grateful he didn’t need to breathe.

Actually, she realized, she wasn’t sure about that.

“Do you need to breathe?”

He made a somewhat strangled noise that sounded negative, so she just kept holding tight.  Using one hand to hang onto the service ladder, he pried open the elevator doors with the other, opening them enough to swing her onto the landing.  She watched him disappear back down the elevator shaft, only to return a moment later holding his belongings.  He flicked his finger, and the blue flame returned to his palm before he spread his hand gracefully, and the flames appeared to soak into his skin.

“And that,” he commented as if he was making a remark about the weather, “is why I prefer the stairs.”

She snorted a little and smiled at him, still speechless from his clearly inhuman show of strength.  He turned back to the doors, and slid them closed with the palms of his hands before he turned back to her.

“Care to join me?”  A smile twitched the corner of his mouth.

She nodded.  “Yeah, stairs sound good.”

He opened to the door to the stairwell and held up a hand as he appeared to listen for a moment.  Seemingly satisfied, he motioned her toward the open door.

Her mind started to compile a list of reasons she should not enter an empty stairwell with a vampire, but she shoved them aside, reminding herself he’d just rescued her from an even more confined space.

“I’m doing pretty well with the not-freaking-out-thing, right?”

“Very well.”  He nodded.  “Quite impressive.”

They walked in silence the rest of the way, both of them sneaking measuring glances at each other as they descended.  When they reached the first floor, he held the door open for her again.  She hesitated, knowing somehow when she walked through the doors, she would be different—fundamentally changed by the knowledge she now possessed.

She took a deep breath and walked through the door.  Giovanni put a hand on the small of her back in a gesture she normally would have found too personal but, considering the circumstances, she didn’t mind.  They walked quickly out the front doors and into the dark night together.

“I’ll drive you home,” he said.

“That’s really not necessary.”

He rolled his eyes.  “Beatrice, I’ve just told you that mythological creatures exist, and that your father—who you thought was killed—is probably one of them.  Please, allow me to drive you home so I don’t have to worry about you crashing your car into a guardrail.”

She paused, but couldn’t think of a comeback.

“Good point.”

“Thank you.”

“You’d worry?”

His eyes darted to the side, but he continued walking.  “I’ll have Caspar pick you up in the morning in time for your first class.  I promise you won’t be late.”

She realized she would rather have time to think on the drive home anyway.  Plus, she decided she might have one or two questions for Batman’s butler.

“Fine, you can drive me home.”

“That’s my car over there.”  Giovanni nodded toward the grey Mustang near the rear of the parking lot.

“Nice.”

A small smile lifted the corner of his mouth.  “I like it.”

“I do, too.”  Her eyes raked over the sleek lines of the vintage car.  “How can you drive this if you can’t even ride in an elevator?”

“Good question.”  He shrugged.  “Older cars don’t seem to be bothered by me, though I always wear gloves when I drive.  New cars, however…”  He shook his head.  “Far too many electronics.  I can hardly ride in one without breaking it.  Caspar makes me sit in the back seat of his car now.”

“That’s got to be really inconvenient.”

“Let’s just say, sometimes, I really miss horses.”

Beatrice smirked as she sat back in the burnished leather seat of the Mustang, and she examined his face in the sporadic light of the street lamps as he started the car and backed out.  His car smelled like leather and smoke, and she realized the odd scent she often caught from him was the same as the air after an electrical storm, which suddenly made much more sense.

“Gio?” she asked after they had merged on the highway.

“Hmm?”  He had returned to his more taciturn demeanor since entering the car.

“Do all vampires do the fire thing?”