“I don’t want to slow anyone down.”
“The key is to let your amnis connect with the water the way it wants to, then allow it to move you upriver. It will be instinctual, so don’t try to control it too much. Just let it happen. The way you move already and the way you fight, I think you’ll be very fast as long as you allow yourself.”
“Okay.”
“But I’m going to tell Baojia to swim as fast as he can. If you fall behind, Stephen will stay back with you. I’m sorry, Beatrice, but the priority—”
“Is the monks.” She nodded. “I understand, Gio. They’re defenseless against Lorenzo. Of course they’re the priority.”
They both fell silent then, and Beatrice’s eyes darted to the clock that hung on the wall. They had ten minutes till sundown.
“We should get dressed,” she whispered.
He held her tight to his chest for a moment before he pulled her up and kissed her. They stared at each other for a few more minutes before she rose from the bed. Beatrice focused on the task at hand, pushing the still-present scent of the human to the back of her mind. Giovanni watched her dress in a slim pair of jeans and a tight T-shirt that would not drag in the water.
“Beatrice.”
She looked up. “Hmm?”
“I love you.”
Her breath caught, and her heart gave a quick thump. “Don’t say that like you’re saying goodbye.”
He frowned and shook his head quickly, but she could see him blink away a red gleam in his own eyes. He rose and dressed in the black combat pants he wore when fighting and nothing else. Though the pants were fire treated and would usually stand up to his element, any other clothing would be nothing but ash, so he did not waste time with it. Giovanni strapped a curved dagger to his thigh and he was ready. He helped her buckle her sword onto her back, making sure she could easily draw it to fight.
Five minutes.
She began to feel a pressure in her chest. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
He moved to stand in front of her. “This is no longer sparring. These vampires will kill you, and you must not allow that to happen,” he murmured. “There will always be war. It is your job to survive it. No matter what. That is your victory, do you understand?”
Beatrice nodded, staring at his chest and wishing she could bury her face in it to avoid the coming bloodshed. Giovanni grasped her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. He did not look at her with the soft eyes of her lover; he wore the fierce expression of a soldier.
“You must survive, Beatrice. Do you understand? Do not sacrifice yourself for any other. Do not be meek in battle. Do not hesitate to kill anyone that threatens you. Eliminate them swiftly and without remorse. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
A desperate light came to his eyes and his hands tightened on her jaw. “Do you understand?” he asked again.
She reached up and put her hands over his as she stared into his eyes. “Nothing will keep me from you.”
They stared at each other for a minute more before Giovanni pressed his lips to hers in a single, fierce kiss before he drew back and reached for the door. He pulled it open and everything seemed to happen at once.
They rushed into the main compartment. Tenzin had the door open and waiting for them. Baojia streaked out, followed by Stephen and Giovanni carrying Beatrice in a headlock as they passed the human in the cockpit. As soon as they reached the deserted runway, Tenzin sealed the door, eliminating the alluring scent of blood; then she grabbed Giovanni and took to the sky in one sweep. Giovanni and Beatrice’s fingers touched for only a second before he disappeared into the night.
Beatrice turned to Baojia, but the vampire had already bolted toward a thick stand of forest calling, “This way!” as he ran.
Stephen grabbed her hand, and Beatrice ran at full speed for the first time in her immortal life. Her heart pounded in excitement. The wind rushed around her and, if she had been human, it would have stolen her breath. She squinted her eyes, closed her mouth and ignored the swarm of insects she swam through as she and her father rushed to keep up with Baojia. She could only assume he had been briefed during the plane trip and knew where they were going.
They darted through the thick stand of trees, dodging around tree trunks and skipping over rocks with a swift grace she tried not to think about. The less she allowed her mind to analyze how fast she was going, the easier it was. Her heart pumped, but not with effort. It was pure excitement.
Later, Beatrice would realize she had never truly understood instinct until the moment the scent of the river hit her nose. The rushing water called to her, and when she saw Baojia leap into its depths, she followed without hesitation, her father close on her heels. She had no need to hold her breath; she simply closed her mouth and let the water envelop her, keeping Baojia’s murky form in front of her as they sped up the rushing stream.
Beatrice struggled for a moment to keep up with him, trying to force herself forward under her own preternatural power until she remembered what Giovanni had told her.
“…let your amnis connect with the water the way it wants to… allow it to move you… it will be instinctual…”
She forced the thought of kicking from her mind and focused on the rush of amnis over her skin. The moment she did, it was almost as if her energy unfurled into a thousand long tendrils, spreading out in the water as it reached to push her upstream. She had no conscious thought of maneuvering around rocks or the odd raft she came across, she had only to think of where she wanted to go and her amnis reached out to bring her there.