Beatrice bared her gleaming white fangs and let her amnis churn the water in the fountain until it splashed over the edges of the stone basin.
“Sorry about that.” She sniffed and flicked the water back in. “We left a bit of a mess on the front lawn, too.”
Tenzin hushed her as they walked to the right and into the great banquet hall of Castello Furio. It looked like the party the night before had not stopped with Giovanni’s arrest. Beatrice could see Livia sitting on a plush chaise with a group of admirers in one corner. The noblewoman was dressed in another rich amethyst gown, her hair piled in a tower of curls. She looked up, and the smile fell from her face. She stood as Tenzin came to a halt and sniffed the air.
Out of the corner of her eye, Beatrice saw Lorenzo emerge from a doorway to the right with a company of guards. The guards spread along the edges of the room and Lorenzo stood behind Livia. His smiling eyes never left Beatrice. She glanced at him, then turned back to Tenzin, who stood quietly in front of the Roman. No one spoke until Tenzin opened her mouth.
“Livia.”
“Tenzin.”
“Give me Giovanni Vecchio.”
Livia curled a red-painted lip. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“In thousands of years, I’ve been called many things, but ‘ridiculous’ is not one of them, Roman dog.”
Livia narrowed her eyes and scanned the two vampires, noting their bloody clothes. “Why do you come to my house to insult me, barbarian? To kill my guards? What kind of civilized person comes to a party with bloody weapons?”
“You will give me my friend.”
“Why? Giovanni di Spada killed my husband and mate, Niccolo Andros, his own sire. I have every right to keep him as my prisoner. He is a murderer, a liar, and a thief. His own son confirms it.”
Even though the accusation had been made before, Beatrice could still feel the shock roll through the room, and her own rage mount. She glanced around at the crowd, all of whom were keeping a safe distance. No one seemed to be able to take their eyes off of Tenzin and Livia.
“I do not know the truth of this accusation, nor do I care.” Tenzin lifted her bloody saber and pointed it toward Lorenzo. “I know that you harbor a vampire who has defied a judgment of the immortal elders of Penglai Island. What have you to say to that?”
Livia shrugged. “I have received no official correspondence from that court. Who are you to speak for them?”
Beatrice could hear a few gasps around the room. Apparently, Livia was surprising even the jaded Roman population with her arrogance. From the corner of her eye, she saw Emil Conti approach with watchful eyes.
“Who am I?” Tenzin bared her fangs. Beatrice could hear the rustle of alarm spread through the room, but Livia remained still. “I am Tenzin. That is all the explanation you require.”
Livia lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? And who makes these ridiculous accusations of my associate?”
Beatrice forced back the angry words that wanted to burst from her mouth. Her fangs grew long, and she tasted blood. She glanced over at Tenzin, but the small vampire looked eerily calm as she turned her back on Livia and addressed the Roman crowd.
“This vampire who Livia favors, Lorenzo, defied an official judgment of the Eight Immortals when he stole a manuscript from their scribe, Beatrice De Novo. Further, he and his vampires slaughtered the learned monks of Elder Lu Dongbin in the Wuyi Mountains. They killed humans under immortal aegis, none of whom had provoked such an attack.”
A growing wind built in the room, lifting Tenzin as she surveyed the crowd. Beatrice looked on, unable to tear her eyes from the frightening specter of her friend wielding her power. Tenzin turned to Livia, but her voice echoed off the stone walls.
“The vampire you shelter defied the Elders, slaughtered the monks, and then...” Tenzin swooped down and grabbed Lorenzo by the throat, lifting him in the air and beyond the reach of his patroness. “Then, this bastard killed my mate.”
The reaction was instantaneous. The Roman vampires, still even in the face of Tenzin’s frightening power, began to whisper and scuttle to the edges of the room. The black-clad guards stepped forward, surrounding Beatrice, but keeping their distance from her drawn weapons.
Livia calmly walked down the steps and came to stand in front of Beatrice. She looked up with haughty eyes. “And what immortal accuses Lorenzo of this murder?”
Beatrice made sure she spoke loud enough to be heard over the rushing wind.
“I do. He killed my father and my sire, Stephen De Novo.”
Livia was silent for a moment before she burst into laughter. “Lorenzo killed your father? How predictable. And why should we believe the accusations of an angry child?”
Beatrice let a satisfied smile curve her lips when she realized the trap that Tenzin had so carefully laid. Lorenzo dropped from Tenzin’s grasp a moment before the wind vampire landed next to Beatrice. Tenzin kicked the blond vampire to the corner and stepped between Beatrice and Livia.
“Quite right, Livia.” The Roman inched back as Tenzin crowded her. “You are quite right. Who would believe the angry accusations of a grieving child? Even more”—Tenzin aimed a glare at Lorenzo—“who would believe the accusations of a spiteful child? One who has always coveted his father’s wealth? Why, to believe something like that without question, would be... madness.”
The air was suddenly still and not a whisper could be heard. Livia took a step back. Anger churned in her eyes, but her face was otherwise placid. Finally, she turned and sat on the brocade sofa where she had been holding court. Lorenzo brushed his clothes off and came to sit next to her. She placed her hand in his.