A Hidden Fire
Page 44

It was almost nine o’clock when Dr. Scalia finally started packing up his things and made his way over to the reference desk.
“Miss De Novo, please give Dr. Christiansen my regards.  Such a wonderful acquisition.  I’m informed that we will probably be receiving more in the next months, is that correct?  Do you know if they are from the same correspondents?”
She could feel the charge as two sets of eye narrowed in on her as she answered the small professor.
“I don’t know the details of all that.  I’ve heard rumors from Dr. Christiansen, but you’d really have to ask him,” she said in a small voice, well aware that both Carwyn and Giovanni could hear the rapid beating of her heart.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.”
“Have a good night,” she answered as he left the room.  The door was scarcely closed before Giovanni rushed over to her with no attempt to hide his speed.
“More?  When?  When did you hear this?  Are they from the same donor?  When are they coming?  Have they already been authenticated?”
“Holy unanswered questions, Batman!  Back off, okay?”  Beatrice huffed a little and saw Carwyn smother another smile.  “Dr. Christiansen mentioned that there might be more letters to me and Char, but as far as I know it’s just a rumor.  Nothing official.”
“Oh, there’ll be more,” Carwyn muttered.
Giovanni shot him a glance.  “Shut up.”
“Hey, don’t tell him to shut up, Gio.  At least he doesn’t treat me like an idiot who doesn’t understand anything.”
He frowned.  “I don’t—I mean…I don’t think you’re an idiot in any way, Beatrice.”  She thought he almost looked offended.
“Yeah?  Well, it sure feels that way sometimes.”  He was looking at her with that blank expression he wore when he didn’t want to tell her something.  It made her want to throw something at him.
“Listen,” she said.  “I’m not an idiot.  I know you guys know who the letters are from and I suspect you know why he’s sending them.”  She swallowed hard and expressed the fear she’d had last night.  “I’m also guessing that this has something to do with my father, because otherwise all this just seems way too coincidental.  And I don’t really believe in coincidences.”
Carwyn was smiling at her with a proud gleam in his eye.  “Clever girl, B.  Such a clever girl.”
“Carwyn,” Giovanni said sharply.  “Don’t—”
“She figured out a good portion on her own without all the background we have.  You may as well tell her the rest.”  Then Carwyn spit out something in Latin that Beatrice couldn’t understand, but it made Giovanni seem to growl.  He looked at Carwyn with a glare that almost reminded her of the mood that had overtaken him the previous night.
“What’s going on?” she asked tentatively.
Carwyn shook his head and Giovanni seemed to gather himself again.
“Carwyn and I have a disagreement on some things, Beatrice.  But he is correct.  There’s a large part of this that does relate to your father, and we should inform you of that.”
“These letters,” Giovanni walked over to the table and sat in front of the two yellowed pieces of parchment before he continued quietly.  “These are my letters.  And by that, I mean they are part of a collection I had at one time.  It was taken from me and I’ve been searching for it.”
He looked at Beatrice, and she again had the feeling of seeing each long year of his existence stretch out in the depth of his gaze.
“I’ve been searching for almost four hundred years.  I was told it had been destroyed.  Many years later, I discovered parts of it had been saved, but scattered.  Now, however,” he leaned back and crossed his arms as he gazed at the two letters, “I think it is intact.  And I know who took it, who the donor is.”
He turned to look at her.  “I’m not going to tell you how I know, so don’t ask.  He’s dangerous, that’s all you need to know and if you ever see another immortal that I don’t introduce you to, I want you to tell me or Carwyn immediately.”
“Bossy,” she muttered.
“Mortal,” he threw back, and Carwyn chuckled.  “I’m not joking about this, Beatrice.  Our world isn’t ruled by laws, or even convention.  The strongest, smartest, and wealthiest have the most power.  And power is the only law.  This vampire has brains, strength, and wealth in abundance.  I manage to live the way I do because I stay off the radar—”
“That, and he likes his enemies toasted extra crispy!” Carwyn spouted.
“—but this one,” he glared at the priest, “has sought me out.  I don’t know for certain why now, but,” he paused, letting his eyes rake over her, “I have my suspicions.”
He fell silent and continued examining the documents, taking special note of the left side of the parchment where it appeared a cut had been carefully made.  Beatrice watched him, going over all the cryptic pieces of information she had gleaned in the weeks since she had learned the truth about Giovanni and her father.
“Is it because of me?  Because we met?  What does this have to do with my father?”