Blood Apprentice: An Elemental Legacy Novel

by Elizabeth Hunter

  There were far more tourist traps on this part of the island, but Ben could also see the tapestry of everyday life. Animals barking behind fences and neighbors calling to each other. Two old men talking in front of the hardware store. Mothers chatting in front of the market.

  His grandmother lived nearby.

  She had a large house with a garden. Chickens and goats. She grew vegetables and canned tomatoes. She fed her neighbors, just like she’d fed Ben all those years ago. There were probably little kids sitting at her kitchen table right now, eating cookies and listening to a radio program or a TV show.

  Good. It was good she had that. It was good some people still lived that way.

  It could have been you.

  No. It could never have been him.

  He saw the sign for the visitors’ center and turned in. There were three other cars in the small parking lot, along with a truck with a familiar logo. Ben rolled down the windows, checked on the birds, and got out.

  Strolling over to the door, he turned his face to the sun and just breathed.

  Life. It was all around him.

  “Ben?”

  He turned toward her voice, marveling at his own luck.

  “Hey! Good to see you.” His cousin walked over with her hand extended. “You look a lot better. You feeling okay?”

  “Yeah.” He shook her hand. “Thanks. My uncle got me patched up, and I’m feeling a lot better. I can’t believe you’re here. I was going to ask someone in the office, but I didn’t expect—”

  “I’m usually around unless I’m jumping offices like I was last week.”

  Had it already been a week? No, it was just the weekend. He hadn’t lost as much time as that.

  Liza was in the same work uniform she’d had on when they met. In fact, she looked exactly the same. Same hair. Same clothes. Same tiny bit of makeup and simple earrings.

  That’s what it means to wear a uniform to work, genius.

  “So,” she said, “did you ever find out what happened with your flaky friend?”

  He let out a breath. Then he laughed. “Yeah. Kinda. It’s a long story.”

  Liza gave him a skeptical look. “Long story?”

  “So long. So complicated.” He waved a hand. “We’re okay. With her, I just need to manage expectations a little better, you know?”

  She shook her head. “Sounds way more complicated than I want to deal with. So what brings you to El Yunque? Is this your first visit?”

  “First, I wanted to find you and say thank you. Again.” He put his hand over his heart. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t found me.”

  “Ah, you’d have been fine. It’s not like it freezes at night around here.”

  “Still. Thank you again. And thanks for not giving me a ticket or anything for being in the park.”

  She lowered her voice. “Just don’t tell my boss and we’ll be good.”

  “Done.” He took a deep breath. “And the second thing is… I don’t suppose you know anyone who loves birds?”

  “Birds?” Liza frowned. “Like… I mean, who doesn’t like birds? Do you mean birdwatching? I can tell you some good locations if you’re into—”

  “No, I mean…” He made an arching shape with his hands. “In cages. Birds. Domestic birds. Pet birds.”

  “Oh! Pet birds? Huh. Like a parakeet or something? Um… I mean, I can think of a few people—”

  “My uncle, part of the reason he came down here was to help a friend with… his grandfather’s estate. You know, the grandfather passed and—”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “It happened a while ago.” Two nights was a while. Kinda. “Anyway, the grandfather had these two birds, and the friend can’t take them in his apartment. And he doesn’t want to just send them to a shelter.” Ben walked over to the back of his Jeep and Liza followed him. “And I don’t know why I thought of you, but I don’t know many other people who live here, and I thought with you being a park ranger and liking the outdoors and stuff…”

  “Well, I usually prefer my birds out in the wild, no offense to your friend.”

  Ben lifted the drape over the bird cage and saw Liza’s expression go soft.

  “Oh! They’re lovebirds. My mom had a pair when we lived in New York. I adored them.”

  I thought you might. It had occurred to Ben that the birds he remembered at his abuela’s house hadn’t been his abuela’s. The apartment and the birds must have belonged to Liza’s mother, the aunt he’d never met.

  “Do you think you might be able to keep them? Or find someone who would? I trust you, and you know more people around here.”

  “I’d be happy to.” She put her hands on her hips. “The real question is if I should bring them home. If I bring them home, my abuela won’t let them go. She had birds when she was younger.”

  “Well, it sounds like a perfect match. Maybe I should have asked where you live. I could have just told your grandma you sent me over with them as a gift.” That would never happen. Ever.

  She gave him a sly smile. “Sneaky.”

  Ben lifted the cage from the back of the Jeep. “So can you take them?”

  “I’ll help you out. Give me a few days to make sure I can find someone who’ll take good care of them, okay? How much longer are you in PR?”

  “At least a few days. Probably closer to a week.”

  “Okay. We’ll exchange numbers and I’ll call you if I find someone.” She raised a finger. “But don’t stick me with your friend’s birds. If I can’t find anyone, you’re taking them back.”

  “Fair enough.” He could tell by her expression he wasn’t going to have a problem. “Thanks, Liza. Thanks again.”

  20

  He spent the rest of the day driving through the open areas of the park, listening to the birds and the coqui frogs, watching families play in the river, and wondering what life might have been like if he hadn’t been so afraid.

  The sun was out, the park was busy, and Ben didn’t think once about vampires, gold, or immortal politics. He was too busy enjoying the day.

  But driving back to San Juan, the Jeep was eerily silent. It was almost a relief to get back to the rental house and find Giovanni and Tenzin arguing.

  “You’re not going underground with him again. I won’t have it,” his uncle yelled.

  “I’m not going to push myself this time. And we had no cave-ins in the drier tunnel. It was only in the muddy—”

  “I can’t believe you’re even fighting me on this. It’s not happening, Tenzin.”

  “And you think you can stop me?”

  Ben entered the living room and tossed his keys on the counter. “Hi.”

  Tenzin turned to him, squinted. “Where are the birds?”

  “My cousin is going to keep them. I mean, she didn’t say she definitely was, but I saw her face. I’m pretty sure she’s going to keep them.”

  Was he mistaken, or was there a slight tinge of disappointment on her face? It quickly cleared as indignation returned.

  “Gio thinks I can’t go down in the tunnel without biting you.”

  “So many jokes,” Ben muttered.

  “It’s not a joke. Tell him you trust me underground.”

  Ben forced back the smile that wanted to break through and cleared his throat. “Uhhh, as long as there’s not a cave-in, I trust you not to bite me.”

  Her look of indignation remained.

  Ben pointed at her. “You can’t fault my logic on this one, Tiny. Bite me once, shame on you. Bite me twice… shame on you again, but stupid me.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it.

  “I can’t fault your logic either,” Gio said. “That settles it. Ben and I will explore the third tunnel. Tenzin will wait in the cavern.”

  She spun and walked to the patio. “I hate you both.”

  “No, you don’t,” they said in unison.

  Ben ignored her as she flew off into the night. “Have you eaten any
thing?”

  “No.”

  Giovanni sat at the counter and watched Ben putter around the kitchen. He’d bought enough chicken to grill and produce to make a salad. He set about preparing a simple meal that wouldn’t be too complicated. He was trying to cook more, but he only attempted complicated dishes when Tenzin was there to observe and intervene when necessary.

  “You’re better.”

  Ben glanced up. “Pardon?”

  “You needed a day in the human world. Away from all this.”

  Ben shrugged. “Probably. I was underground for a while.”

  “You were.”

  “How do you live without sun?” Ben glanced up as he was trimming cucumbers. “I was thinking about that today. How do you do it? Human beings get seasonal affective disorder without enough sunlight. Do vampires get anything similar?”

  Giovanni took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s difficult. I can’t lie. The full moon is very bright to our eyes, but it doesn’t contain the radiation the sun does. So that’s helpful and also not, if that makes sense. Our bodies don’t react to a lack of vitamin D. And those of us who are older can stand to look at sunlight as long as it doesn’t touch us directly. Once we get to that stage, life is really quite tolerable.”

  “So only a century or so of utter and complete darkness?”

  His uncle smiled. “It doesn’t always work that way. Look at Beatrice.”

  Ben’s aunt had been sired from her own father’s blood, but that father had been exchanging blood with Tenzin, who was extraordinarily powerful and didn’t sleep at all. So much of Beatrice’s elemental strength was borrowed from Tenzin, even though Tenzin wasn’t her sire.

  “Truthfully, the sun can seem quite harsh. I prefer the moon even though I can handle looking at sunlight. You manage, Ben. When there is no other choice, you manage.”

  “And when there is another choice?”

  Giovanni was quiet for a long time. “You make the one that’s right for you. You. No one else. It’s your eternity. Your life. Not mine. Not your aunt’s. Not your human family’s. Not anyone else’s either.”

  You’re wrong. Ben didn’t say it, because Giovanni didn’t think the way he did. Not about family. “Don’t worry,” Ben said blithely. “As Tenzin will inform you, I’m incredibly selfish.”

  “And she’s a model of sacrifice?”

  “Don’t be absurd, Gio.” Ben glanced up with a smile. “She’s its patron saint.”

  Tenzin arrived back within an hour. She was carrying two bright red fish.

  Had she bought them? Had she stolen them? Had she caught them with her bare hands while flying over the ocean? Ben had no idea. He didn’t ask any questions. He just put them on the grill and said thank you. They were delicious.

  Giovanni, Ben, and Tenzin finished their dinner, cleaned up the house, and left for Camuy within an hour. Driving at night made traffic nearly nonexistent once they got out of San Juan, and since Tenzin didn’t seem to want to continue their earlier fight, the Jeep was quiet except for the beat of salsa, cumbia, and reggaeton Ben put on the speakers.

  He navigated the now-familiar smaller roads when they exited at Arecibo and drove through towns where the walls of dark greenery grew taller and taller as they approached the hills. He turned off before the entrance of the national park and drove deeper into the forest. Lights were nearly nonexistent. He rolled down the windows and let the smell of soil and growing things fill the Jeep.

  “We’re almost there,” Tenzin said. “Let me out.”

  “No,” Ben said. “I want you to help hide the car.”

  “The ranger cabin should be empty this time of day. Liza is gone. The only ones here are the regular park employees, and they won’t be around.”

  Ben glanced over his shoulder. “You can help.”

  “Fine.” She pouted.

  Such a child. She drove him crazy so many times.

  Ben pulled onto the dirt road and navigated by memory toward the parking lot where he’d parked before. Instead of pulling into it, he pulled past it and into the trees.

  “Out,” he said. “Branches and brush.”

  There was plenty of fallen brush to block the view of the already dark green Jeep. Ben, Giovanni, and Tenzin took their backpacks out of the Jeep and piled brush around it before they walked into the trees.

  “Do you remember the drop-off by the sinkhole?” Tenzin asked.

  “Yes. I’ll show Giovanni how to avoid the slide.”

  “And I’ll see you there.” She took off into the night.

  Giovanni stood looking up into the darkness. “It’s the only vampire gift I’ve ever actually envied.”

  “Not tunneling underground like a giant gopher?”

  Giovanni shuddered. “Definitely not.”

  Ben smiled. “I can’t blame you. I dream about flying. Probably everyone does that, right?”

  “I think it’s a fairly common dream, yes.”

  Ben noticed that Giovanni didn’t agree that everyone dreamed about flying. But then again, from what he could tell, most vampires didn’t dream much of anything.

  “Follow me,” he said. “It’s not far.”

  Ben took the path he’d cut the week before, ducking through the brush and occasionally warning his uncle about a branch or a root in the way. Despite it being clearer, the trail seemed longer this time, but when they reached the sinkhole, Ben was ready.

  “Okay. Here’s where we don’t charge straight ahead. Trust me on this one.”

  Giovanni chuckled. “Learn a hard lesson?”

  “Yes. That it’s a good thing I have a hard head.”

  Ben clipped on his headlamp and walked in a circular pattern until the sinkhole sloped down near enough to the base that he could jump. He could see the sky getting lighter.

  “Let’s see what’s left. We had a full setup down here, but I don’t have an extra mattress for you. Tenzin has one though, and she might not want to sleep.”

  “I’ll manage,” Giovanni said, ducking under some hanging vines. “This place is primeval.”

  Ben grinned. “I know. It’s pretty amazing during the day.”

  “The hurricane doesn’t even look like it touched it. Nothing uprooted. A few trees along the top maybe.”

  “And you haven’t even seen the best part.”

  Ben led Giovanni into the cavern where the waterfall dropped. Tenzin was already there, work lamps set up and plugged into the generator she’d placed outside.

  “The generator is off at dawn, Tiny.”

  “I know, I know. Did you want your tent warm or not?”

  Seeing as his skin was already prickled from the cold, he couldn’t argue with her logic.

  “Someone has been here,” Tenzin said. “The scent isn’t clear, but we’ve had visitors. I don’t think anything was taken, but it’s definitely been looked through.”

  Which means they might have looked through the caves. “Human?”

  Giovanni shook his head. “Vampire. And one of them was in August’s apartment. It’s familiar.”

  “Is the third cave disturbed?”

  “Not that I can see,” Tenzin said. “The other two were investigated—at least until they ran into that mudslide in cave two—but the third one didn’t have any trace of them.”

  Ben muttered, “They were looking for our trail.”

  “Yes. They only went where we did.”

  Ben recalled the book in Camino’s hand. “Gio, do you have that book of folklore handy?”

  He nodded and set down his backpack. “I secured most of the files, but I brought this.”

  Ben looked through the small journal, flipping until he saw a familiar heading around the middle of the book. There was a smudged thumbprint in dark brown near the corner.

  Blood.

  “El Diablo de Camuy,” Ben read. He skimmed the page in Spanish. “A mysterious demon with claws and long hair that snatches children who wander near the caves at night? Their bodies are sometimes
found with all the blood gone.” Ben looked up. “Definitely could be a vampire.”

  Giovanni said, “Does it say when the legend originated?”

  Ben turned the page and found a note toward the end. “First recorded by a local priest in the summer of 1743.” Ben looked up. “Holy shit.”

  “Enríquez died in late 1743. He’d already hidden the treasure at that point. His letters indicate that it had been hidden sometime in 1732, before the government started confiscating his money.”

  “He hid the majority of his wealth where no one could find it,” Tenzin said, looking around the cavern. “Smart human.”

  “And the demon of Camuy began hunting during that time,” Giovanni said, “further protecting the site where the treasure was hidden.”

  “Do you think Tomás was the priest who reported it?”

  “Possibly,” Giovanni said. “Or it was a coincidence.”

  “You don’t believe in coincidence,” Ben and Tenzin said together.

  “No, I don’t.” Giovanni wandered toward the third cave. “But it wasn’t wholly a fabrication either. There was something hunting down here. I can smell it the same as Tenzin can. That tunnel smells like the dead.”

  “And tomorrow night, when we’ve all had some rest, we’ll start digging,” Ben said. “But until then, I want to get some sleep.” He held up the book. “And I want to read a little more. Good night. Good morning. Whatever. Don’t forget to shut off the generator.” Ben unzipped his tent and took the opportunity to disappear, but not before he heard Giovanni.

  “He’s doing original document research.”

  “You’re really proud right now, aren’t you?”

  “So proud.”

  “You’re a strange man,” Tenzin said. “I don’t know why we’ve been friends for so long.”

  Ben woke after a day of scattered sleep. He wasn’t rested, but he was ready to start searching. He left his tent and found Giovanni and Tenzin sitting by the reflecting pool, both entranced by the reflection of the pink sunset dancing on the water.