A Hidden Fire

She shrugged.  “Whatever you decide to believe today.”

Despite everything, he felt a small smile cross his face.  “I’m glad you’re here, bird girl.”

She laughed, a tinkling sound that had always reminded him of a wind-chime.  “I’m fate’s messenger this time.  That is all.  I saw her long, long ago.”

He halted near the doors, dropping her and spinning around.

“What do you mean?”

An impish grin crossed her face.  “You are right to be patient.  Where is the food? I’m hungry.  It’s very warm here.”

Giovanni sighed, knowing he would get no further information from her.  “We have to take care of Beatrice’s guards first.  Lorenzo killed them.  Then we’ll go hunting.”

She cocked her head and switched to English.  “You’re sad about the humans?”

“Yes.”

“Did they die protecting your woman?”

“Yes.”

Tenzin shrugged. “They were warriors.  That’s a good death.”

“It would have been better if they hadn’t died at all.”

They walked through the French doors and into the living room.  Gavin was on the phone again, and his eyes widened at the sight of the small woman who skipped in front of him.  He and Tenzin walked through the dark kitchen and into the courtyard with the burbling fountain.

Tenzin stopped, examining Giovanni’s face as he observed the bodies of the two humans he had hired to guard Beatrice.

“This was their fate,” she said gently.

“Tenz—”

He stopped when she held up a hand, her grey eyes pinched in sadness.

“Let’s not argue while the crows can get them, my boy.”

He sighed and bent to examine the two bodies, noting with dismay the deep gashes and bites that could never be explained to human authorities.

“We’ll take them to the country where Carwyn hunts.  I’ll call his friend so he’s expecting us.”

Tenzin nodded.  “This is good.  Then we can hunt, too.  We’ll need it.”

“He’s probably going to Europe.”

She paused for a moment and her stormy eyes seemed to swirl as he watched her.  “Your son is in Greece, I think.”

He frowned.  “Why?  Why Greece?”

Tenzin thought for a moment, but simply shrugged as she hoisted one large body to move it to the garage.  “It sounds right.”

He sighed, frustrated with her typically vague pronouncement.  “But—”

“Think for yourself instead of doubting me,” the small vampire said as she carried the guard into the garage.  “Think about the water.  You may wield fire, but you came from water, and so did your son.  Does that water mean something to him?”

He thought of his sire and the ruins of the school where he’d held them.  He remembered the stories they’d both listened to, the tales of gods and monsters.  Tenzin walked back into the courtyard, and cocked her head.

He nodded.  “Yes, it sounds right.”

Just then, Gavin walked through the kitchen door.  He nodded toward Giovanni and looked at Tenzin, who was hoisting the second body and carrying it to lie with the first.

“Is that—”

“Yes,” Giovanni said.  “It is.”

“Amazing.  I’ve heard stories.”

Tenzin flitted back into the courtyard and over to Gavin, sniffing him a little.  “Are you a wind walker, like me?”

“Well,” Gavin smirked, “not like you.”

“You get your flying yet?”

The Scotsman looked a little embarrassed.  “Uh…no, not yet.”

She shrugged and washed her hands in the fountain.  “You will soon.  And then, I think your life will change.”

Gavin chuckled.  “Well, I hope it doesn’t change too…”  He trailed off when he saw the serious look in Tenzin’s eyes.  He cleared his throat.  “Right then, I’ll be looking for that.”

She nodded and started back into the house.

“Tenzin?” Gavin called.  “Can I—”

She turned back to him with a quick grin.  “You want to see my teeth?”

He smiled a little, before he gave a quick nod.

She floated up to stare him in the face and bared her curved fangs, which resembled nothing less than small scimitars.  She grinned then darted inside the house.  Giovanni shook his head at her theatrics and the normally unflappable Scotsman’s shocked face.

“Now that is something.”

“Yes, she is.”

“And they’re always out?”

“Her fangs?” he snorted.  “Tenzin told me once that they used to retract, but she spent so much time killing her enemies her fangs forgot how to hide.”

“Really?”

He shrugged.  “Who knows?  It’s Tenzin.  She likes telling stories.”

Gavin stared off into the distance, while Giovanni stared at him.

“Well?”

“What?”

“Lorenzo?” he growled.

“Ah yes, back to the nasty business.  Shipping.  Water vamp.  Gun running and seclusion.  He’s in Greece.  Apparently, he has his own island.  Sadly, it’s probably going to take a while to narrow it down.  There’s quite a few of them.”