“Will he come after her again?”
“He’ll be recovering for a while—years from the damage I saw. With his vanity and those burns, we may not see him for quite some time.”
“But we will see him again,” Tenzin said.
He shook his head and closed his eyes in frustration.
“I have no doubt.”
“Another day, my boy. You’ll get him another day.”
He had to smile at her cheerful tone. For anyone as old as Tenzin, a few years was no time to wait.
“Is that a prophesy?” he smirked. “Or just experience, bird girl?”
She winked at him. “Maybe a bit of both. Now, let’s go find your woman.”
He tensed, simultaneously nervous and desperate to see Beatrice again.
“She’s not my woman.”
The small vampire laughed. “She will be.”
Across the island, Carwyn and Beatrice pushed through the softer soil of the northern coast and emerged from the earth. Tunneling through the sheer rock of the southern cliffs, then the softer rock of the northern hills had been one of the strangest experiences of Beatrice’s life. They had moved as if they were in a small bubble, the rock and soil parting in front of them, only to form again behind them as they maneuvered north. Every now and then, Carwyn would change direction, telling her they needed to avoid tree roots, or an underground stream. She clung to him throughout the journey, often burying her face in the back of his neck to avoid falling debris.
She looked like a cross between a monkey and a miner when she emerged, still clinging to Carwyn’s back. Beatrice slipped to the ground and both of them brushed soil from their faces and cleared their throats.
“And that’s how you travel earth-vamp style, Beatrice. Ready for that seaside cave in Hawaii yet?” Carwyn said as he coughed out dust. They walked toward the water, sitting down on the slope of a hill that led to the ocean.
Suddenly, she burst into laughter, which quickly turned to tears, the weeks of tension and fear overflowing as he put a comforting arm around her. Carwyn didn’t tell her to stop or calm down, letting her release the horror of her captivity as he held her in his comforting embrace.
Eventually, he rubbed small circles on her back as she leaned into him, her tears creating small rivulets on his dust-covered skin.
“I thought I would die there. I thought you had forgotten about me.”
“No.” He cleared his throat. “Never, darling girl. We didn’t forget about you.”
She sat sniffing next to him, trying to compose herself. She wiped the tears from her eyes, smudging her face with streaks of salty mud.
“So, what’s happening? Where do we go from here?”
“We’re supposed to meet the destructive duo here, and we’ll swim out to that boat and sail away.” He pointed out into the water and she could barely make out the frame of a sailboat off in the distance. “How well do you swim?”
She snorted. “Not that well, but I guess I’ll manage.” She looked down at herself. “I might go wash some of this dust off. I’m filthy.”
“Good idea.” They walked down the hill, Beatrice enjoying the stretch of her legs and the beautiful sloping beach in front of her.
“So, B, what’s with the all-white makeover?”
“News flash: Lorenzo is a sick, creepy asshole.”
Carwyn halted and placed a hand on her shoulder. “He didn’t—”
“No,” she shook her head. “He didn’t touch me. Just lots of mind games.”
“Gio said he wouldn’t,” Carwyn muttered.
She clammed up at the mention of the vampire who had yet to arrive.
“I think,” she paused and looked around, “I needed to stretch my eyes more than anything. I thought that room would be the last thing I’d see.”
“Welcome back,” he said with a smile.
They splashed into the water, Carwyn leaping like a dog before he stood and shook, droplets flying everywhere as he gave a joyful roar. Beatrice closed her eyes and sank down into the warm Mediterranean, caressing the tiny pebbles beneath her, letting her head slip underwater as she floated in the surf. She stretched and twisted, enjoying the natural buoyancy the ocean provided her sore muscles. Finally, she walked back up the beach and sat next to Carwyn to wait for her other two rescuers.
“Did it take you a long time to find me?”
She saw him nod out of the corner of her eye. “It took a while to narrow down the island. And then…it’s kind of complicated. You should probably ask Gio.”
She ignored his last statement. “How long has it been? I don’t even know.”
“Six weeks.”
She took a deep breath and frowned, trying to remember what day that would make it.
“It’s the last day of July.”
“Right.” She nodded. “Right. Is my grandma okay? Does she know what happened?”
“Isadora and Caspar are fine. Worried about you, but fine. Gio told them you had been taken, and—”
“But, I wasn’t taken.”
“What?”
She turned to him with hollow eyes. “I wasn’t taken, Carwyn, I was traded.”