“Probably not.” He shrugged. “But she’s fun. We won’t stay out too late.”
“Nothing stays open late enough to worry about,” she said. “This isn’t Naples.”
“Very true.”
The thing that delighted Tenzin most about Venice was the very thing that annoyed Ben. It was too quiet at night. There was little to no nightlife unless you took a boat out to the Lido or trolled the tourist areas along the Grand Canal. Still, he’d found a good gelato place just around the corner on the Calle de la Mandola, and there was a bar not too far from it in Campo Sant’Angelo that served a nice selection of cocktails where they could sit if they wanted.
Ruby was waiting for him when he came down the stairs. “So, permission granted?”
Ben shook his head and cocked an arm out for her to take. “Come on, you brat. Let’s find someplace you can let your hair down.”
❂
THEY were sitting in the Campo Sant’Angelo and most of the square was empty. Ben and Ruby had the place to themselves, aside from a small group of what looked like retirees who were chatting in German on the other side of the restaurant. The moon had risen and the night was warm. The wine wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either.
The company, however, was stellar.
“So tell me about vampires in Venice,” Ben said. “How long have you lived here?”
Ruby cocked her head. “Ten years now? Almost eleven, I suppose.” She grinned and the points of her fangs peeked from her lips. “I came on holiday and I never left.”
“Intentional?”
“Very much not.”
“But you’ve stayed.”
“Well, I’ve got Oscar, don’t I?” she said. “Can’t leave him. Not until he gets bored with me.”
Ben’s protective instincts pricked. “Do you want to leave?”
Ruby winked at him. “You’re adorable, you know that? It’s not what you’re thinking. But when I first came, it wasn’t under ideal circumstances. In fact, Oscar’s the one who brought me up in front of the council here.”
“So there’s a council? Not just one VIC?”
“VIC?”
Ben shrugged. “My shorthand for vampire in charge.”
“Ha!” Ruby laughed. “That’s brilliant. Yeah, there’s a council. It’s not big. For an old city, there’s not as many of our kind as you’d think.”
Ben thought for a moment. “No nightlife.”
She pointed a finger at him. “Right in one. That’s it. There’s a larger population on terraferma, but in the old city? Not many anymore. And the ones here are more like Oscar. Old, ornery, and like keeping to themselves.”
“And he’s the one who took you to them?”
“Long story, but yeah. And I’m grateful he did. What did I know about any of this, eh?” She looked around. “I would’ve turned these canals bloody if I’d had my way. Oscar reined me in. Looked after me.”
“And you work for him.”
She grinned. “Among other things. No worries, Benny. He’s not a bad sort. I’m happy enough.”
“So you’re settled here?”
Ruby snorted. “God, no. I’d love to get out. Travel the world. That’s what I was doing before I turned, you know? I’m an artist. I can’t stay in one place forever, can I?” She sipped her wine. “But I’ve got time. Gobs and gobs of it now. So we’ll see. I’m here now.”
“Well”—he took his card out of his pocket—“if you ever make your way to America—and I’m still alive—give me a call, huh?”
Ruby took the card and put it in a pocket. “I’ll do that. So you and Tenzin?”
He shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“Friends?”
“Yes,” he said. “Always.”
“She’s a bit of a legend, isn’t she? Got the creeps the first time I met her. Stories Oscar told made my hair stand on end.” She fingered her tight curls. “Even more than it is now. And that’s saying something.”
Ben smiled. “Yeah, I’ve heard a few of them too.”
A chime sounded in Ben’s pocket, and he pulled out his phone.
“The docks near San Samuele,” he said. “Sounds like Claudio’s picking both of us up there at midnight.”
“Both of us?”
“That’s what he says.” He tucked his phone away. “Maybe Tenzin went out to your place.”
“Could be.” She lifted her wineglass. “We should probably get going. I know the way.”
Ten minutes later, they walked through the twisted streets of San Marco again, their footsteps echoing in the deserted city. If it hadn’t been so empty, Ben would never have spotted their shadows as they crossed the Campo Santo Stefano.
“We’ve got company,” he said under his breath, knowing Ruby would hear. “Just passing the library now.”
Ruby’s head whipped around and back so fast he could barely see it. “Vampires. I don’t recognize them.”
Ben’s eyes glinted. “Shall we see how well they know the city?”
“Can you keep up?”
He grinned. “Not even a little.”
Ruby ran.
She kept to human-ish speed, but Ben still had the devil’s time keeping her in sight. She sped past the church on the south end of the campo and ducked right across a small bridge, almost losing him in the maze of streets.
Their vampire trackers stayed with them. They were little more than shadows, but they drew nearer to Ben, bolder than they were with Ruby. They knew he was human.
He ran past an alleyway and felt an arm reach out and grab him. Ruby pulled him next to her while Ben struggled to catch his breath.
“What?” he panted.
Ruby looked troubled. “If they were residents, I’d know them. If they were simply curious, they’d have left us by now.”
Ben heard them slinking down the street. If there had been any other foot traffic, he’d have never have heard their silent feet, but they were utterly alone. His pulse hammering, he looked toward the mouth of the alley. When he looked back, Ruby’s eyes were narrowed on the pulse in his throat.
He snapped his fingers in her face and she looked up, baring her fangs at him.
“Not the time,” he whispered.
She was right. These vampires were following them for some reason, and Ben was guessing he didn’t want to find out.
“Pretend you’re biting me,” he said, tugging her closer.
“Do I have to pretend?”
“Do it!” he hissed.
The vampires crossed the alley just as Ruby bent her head to his neck. They paused, watching them.
A low laugh and one said to another, “This one likes all kinds, eh?”
The minute Ben heard the distinctive accent of Naples, he jerked back. He met the eyes of one of the vampires from Alfonso’s court in the dim streetlamp, then he glanced at Ruby.
Oh shit.
Chapter Seven
“THEY CAN’T SEE US TOGETHER,” he said. “Ruby, they’re from Naples.”
“Got it.”
With a quick flip, Ruby climbed up the wall, the tips of her fingers clinging to the bricks before she leapt on the two vampires at the mouth of the alley. Ben drew his knife and ran for the one Ruby hadn’t landed on, cursing himself the whole time.
Man versus vampire rarely went his way.
His advantage? The vampire wasn’t looking to get away and didn’t want to kill him. Ben knew that any of Alfonso’s court seeing him with Oscar’s apprentice would be bad news.
The vampire circled him, fangs down, his head cocked curiously at the human he’d been tracking. He said nothing. His dark hood was drawn up around his face, but Ben recognized him. He recognized them both.
Ruby had one vampire’s face shoved into the cobblestones while the other circled Ben. If it had been faster, they’d both have been dizzy.
“What do you want?” Ben asked. Shit, shit, shit. Ruby could keep that one down, but this one looked old and smart. He was no match for a vampire. His
survival strategy consisted of avoiding violence and relying on charm and connections. “Does Alfonso know you’re here?”
“He sent us to watch you.” The vampire glanced at Ruby. “You keep curious company, Tenzin’s human.”
“What can I say?” he said. “I make friends easily.”
“But your choice of friends… this says much.”
“You think so?” Ben held up his hand, letting the vampire see his knife. “Listen, I’m prey, but I’m not easy prey. Is this really worth it? I met a cute girl. We went out for a drink.”
The vampire laughed. “You’re not as smart as they say if you think I’d believe—” His words were cut off with his head, which fell to the side and plopped on the cobblestones with a wet thunk a second before Tenzin landed next to Ben.
He let out a slow breath. “Tenzin. What. The. Hell?”
“I told Alfonso not to send anyone to watch us,” she said, bending down to the one Ruby held. “Is that why you’re here? To watch me?”
Ruby let go of the vampire’s throat.
“Yes,” he choked out.
“Filomena or Alfonso?”
“Alfonso.”
“Thank you,” Tenzin said graciously. “I appreciate your honesty. I will give you a swift death like your friend.”
Ben’s hand shot out. “Tenzin—”
She was already gone. She’d lifted the vampire from the ground, shoving Ruby off him, and flown straight up. Ben heard scuffling on the top of the nearest building, then quiet.
“Fuck me,” Ruby breathed out. “She is scary as ’ell.”
Ben sighed. “Yeah, she is. And she always kills them before I can ask the questions I want.”
Ruby patted his shoulder. “They died clean.”
For following orders, his conscience complained. He tried to ignore it. If Alfonso had ordered Ben dead, those vampires wouldn’t have thought twice about following those orders too. He’d seen that truth in their eyes. They could have taken Ruby with ease if Ben hadn’t been around to distract one of them. They’d have killed her and not batted an eye.
Ben looked at the wall Ruby had crawled up. “How did you do that?”
“Do what? Climb the wall?”
“You looked like fucking Spider-Man for a minute there.”
She smiled. “It’s not easy, but you could teach yourself if you want. It’s called parkour. I started studying it while I was still human. When I became a vamp… way cooler.”
“Parkour?”
“Parkour.”
Tenzin landed in the alley again, a delicate spray of blood across her cheek. She walked over, nodded at Ruby, and picked up the head and the body of the other vampire. He could see her favorite sword, a curved Mongolian saber designed for combat on horseback, strapped to her back. Tenzin never went anywhere without that sword.
“Thank you,” Tenzin said to Ruby when she landed again. “I am in your debt for protecting Benjamin.”
“Hey,” he said. “Standing right here.”
“No problem,” Ruby said. “And he holds his own pretty well.”
Tenzin sighed. “I am hoping he gets over this desire to be human. He’s much more vulnerable as a mortal.”
Ruby laughed.
“That’s enough, Tiny.” Ben looked up at the side of the building Ruby had crawled up. “What are we going to do with these guys?”
“They were both from Naples, and Oscar would have told me if anyone from Alfonso’s court had permission to enter the city. They were fair game if any of the Venetians got them anyway.”
“I’ll tell Oscar they were threatening me,” Ruby said. “He’ll smooth over anything with the council. Venetians may be a quiet lot, but they don’t like trespassers.” Ruby nodded at the roof of the building. “You can dump their bodies out in the lagoon.”
“Oh, I know a few places,” Tenzin said. “I do so love that splash. You two, get to the boat. I’ll meet you in Murano.”
❂
TEN minutes of listening to Oscar berate Ruby was more than enough for Ben. He was ready to murder the cranky old vampire. Though Oscar didn’t raise a hand to Ruby, he beat her with his voice.
“Enough,” Tenzin said. “I don’t need to be here for this. Punish your woman on your own time, Oscar.”
Oscar turned and bared his fangs at Tenzin before he turned back to Ruby. “Go to your room,” he snarled. “I don’t want to see you until tomorrow night.”
Ruby’s normally vivacious expression was gone. Her face was a mask. She looked down and nodded quietly before she left the workroom.
Ben started. “Ruby—”
“Shut up,” Tenzin said, slapping her hand against his chest. “Shut. Up. Oscar, we’re leaving.”
“I hope you like the coins,” he said, throwing his hammer down and shutting off his forge. “Because they’re the last job I’m going to do for you, Tenzin.”
“Fine,” she said. “I apologize if I caused any trouble.”
“Don’t bring that human around Ruby again.”
“Just remember I have ways of knowing,” she said in a low voice. “Never again, Oscar.”
“Out of my house!” he shouted. “And don’t come back!”
Tenzin pushed Ben out the door and down the street toward the dock.
“He is going to beat her,” Ben hissed. “Hurt her. And you’re going to just let him?”
“Oscar is not going to beat Ruby,” Tenzin said. “He’s going to shout and rail, but that’s all he’s going to do.”
Ben scrambled into the boat and glared at her as she floated in. “Oh yeah? How do you know?”
“Because he almost killed a friend of mine once,” Tenzin said calmly. “A woman who had been his lover. He lost his temper when she left him.”
Ben sat down, shocked into silence.
Ruby… He felt sick to his stomach for leaving her there.
“So I cut Oscar’s balls off and stabbed a knife through his neck.” She held up two fingers an inch apart. “Very close to his spine. His balls took a long time to grow back. He won’t hit Ruby.”
Ben shuddered. They rode in silence all the way back to San Marco, then Claudio dropped them off and sped into the night with a casual nod.
“Tenzin,” Ben said.
“What?”
“Oscar… Is that really the last job he’ll do for you?” As much as Ben might not have liked Oscar at the moment, he was a good contact. A great artist, and a discreet one from what Tenzin had said. Losing his skills would be a shame.
Tenzin frowned as if she was confused. “The last…? Oh.” She waved her hand and sat on the chair in the entry hall. “I think he says that every time we work together. This is not unusual. He’ll be fine. He’ll be doting on Ruby by tomorrow night and best friends with me when I deliver a shipment of that gold he likes as a bonus.”
“What are they?” He finally asked the question that had been bugging him ever since they left Murano. “Why would she stay with him? He treats her like a child.”
“Well, how should he treat her?”
“Not like a child!”
“But she is a child. To him, she’s a child. Oscar is not her father or her sire, but he is her superior. And her lover. In his mind, that makes Ruby his. You may not understand it—”
“I sure as hell don’t understand it, and I don’t understand why she’d stay with him when he treats her like that.”
“Ben…” Tenzin closed her eyes and sighed. “Most vampire relationships are not like your aunt and uncle’s. You should have learned this by now. There are no saints in this world. No one acts completely out of the goodness of their heart. There is always self-interest involved. Oscar protects Ruby. Cares about her in his own way. Ruby feeds Oscar and learns valuable skills from him. They both get something from the other, or it would not be balanced.”
“That doesn’t look like a balanced relationship to me.”
“He is in charge of her, but she gets his protection. It’s balanced.”
/>
“And she’s supposed to be satisfied with that?”
“They’re not mates, Benjamin. Will they be someday?” Tenzin shrugged. “Perhaps. Probably not.”
Ben sat on the chaise and reached for the bottle of wine he’d been drinking hours before when Ruby had first shown up with the gold. He pulled the cork out and drank directly from the bottle, then passed it to Tenzin.
“So how does it end?” he asked.
She took a long drink. “None of your business.”
“But—”
“Not everything comes to a happy end, Benjamin.” She reached over and patted his hand. “Remember that. We’re vampires.”
❂
BEN drove to Rome the next day. Tenzin didn’t trust the coins on the train and neither did Benjamin, so he started early, rented a junky tourist car, and made the six-hour trip on his own. He pulled into Residenza di Spada just a couple of hours before sunset and grabbed a nap before Tenzin arrived.
When he woke, he was alone, but he could see Tenzin outside his room, perched on the small balcony that overlooked the interior courtyard. He opened the window and heard the quiet buzz of city traffic, not knowing whether the clamor of vehicles was comforting or annoying.
“You’re being so well behaved,” Ben said as Tenzin floated into his room. Since he couldn’t float, he sat on the edge of the bed. “You actually waited for me to wake up this time.”
She was frowning and silent.
“What’s up?”
“How was your meeting with Filomena before you left Naples?”
“Filomena?” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as Tenzin hovered in a corner. “Good, I guess. We flirted. Nothing much happened. But she seemed pretty progressive for a vampire.”
“Instant read on her?”
He took a deep breath and lay back, closing his eyes as he thought. “I liked her. She’s smart. Doesn’t take herself too seriously. I found myself… surprised that she was Alfonso’s lieutenant.”
“Why?”
“One, she seems too independent for him. Two, he doesn’t seem like the type to have an independent thinker as his second-in-command.”
“Which tells us…”
Imitation and Alchemy Page 8
