A Hidden Fire
Page 97

Most who came at him appeared to be water-born, but none of them had the strength of Lorenzo.  The most they could do was keep him from building up any more flame as he crossed the room his son had soaked with a wave.
Giovanni paused when he got to the passageway, searching for Tenzin as he turned, and grunting in relief when he saw his old partner.  She was perched on the edge of the cliff, darting over and around her attackers as she ripped at them with her talon-like fangs and tiny hands.  She moved so quickly he could barely track her, but she paused in midair to meet his eyes.
“Go!  Find him,” she yelled before grasping two vampires by the necks and swinging them around until their bodies detached and sailed into the sea.  Though her attackers were all larger, no vampire he had ever seen could overpower Tenzin in combat, and Giovanni had no fear she would fail to best the few determined guards that tried to defend their fortress.
“Go!” she yelled.  “He’s getting away!”
He nodded and ducked into the passageway, sniffing the damp air when he came to a turn.  His path led him down twisting corridors until he smelled the ocean again.  Listening at a heavy door where Lorenzo’s scent had ended, he could hear the sound of a boat engine start up.  He tried to push through, surprised when it would not budge.
The mystery was solved when he saw sea water leaking from under the edge.  He realized Lorenzo must have walled off the door with ocean water, which meant there was a lagoon somewhere in the caves that led to the open sea.
He would never break through the wall before Lorenzo could escape, so he rushed back up to the cliffs, yelling at Tenzin as he ran.
“Boat!  He has a boat, Tenzin.”
She nodded and sank her teeth into one more neck before she tore her mouth away, dripping with blood and sinew from her opponent’s throat.
She saw Giovanni running toward the edge of the cliff and started toward him.
“Catch me!” he yelled, as he flung himself over the edge.
She swooped down and caught him by the waist, grabbing his legs with her own as she flew them down to the base of the cliffs to search for a crevice where a boat could escape.
“It could be anywhere,” she yelled.  Giovanni could feel her struggle as she concentrated on keeping the air currents flowing around them so they stayed aloft.
“The cliffs only dominate the southern portion.  It has to be here.”
His eyes roamed over the dark cliff face, searching for the telltale flash of white from an emerging boat.
He heard it before he saw it; the black craft ripped out of the small cave, but its dark surface camouflaged it in the black sea.  His ears followed the sound until his eyes caught the churning, white wake as it left the bay and sped toward the open ocean.
“Speed up!”
“I’m trying!” she yelled.  “I would have fed on one of the humans if I knew I would be flying this low.”
The lower she flew, the more energy Tenzin expended keeping them in the air.
“Just get me closer,” he yelled.  “I’ll try to stop the boat.”
He tried to build enough fire in his hands and arms, but the ocean air was thick and misty, dampening his energy when he tried to create a spark.
“Here!”
He snarled when Tenzin stopped abruptly, but calmed down when he saw her draw a cigarette lighter out of her pocket.  Catching the flame, he coaxed it into a substantial fireball, and they sped off, cutting through the air toward the quickly disappearing boat.
“We’re not going to catch him, Gio.”
“Yes, we will!”
The trail of wake was getting farther away.
“Speed up, Tenzin.”
“Gio—”
“Faster!”
“We can’t catch him, my boy,” she shouted over the wind.
He shouted every ancient curse he knew.
“Throw your fire.  Try to catch the boat.”
“I’m too far.”
“Aim better!”
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the small boat in the distance and aiming toward Lorenzo’s white shirt he could barely see flapping in the wind.  With a great roar, Giovanni flung the ball of fire toward his son and he felt Tenzin halt, throwing out her hands to speed the flames toward the distant vampire.
It grew and sped, finally finding its target, and Giovanni heard Lorenzo scream briefly before the flames engulfed him.  He could see his son’s clothes catch fire, and the flames burned his hair as Giovanni watched Lorenzo’s skin slowly char to black.
The boat continued speeding through the water, but the water vampire stumbled to the side, flinging himself into the ocean where he sank out of sight.
He could feel Tenzin sag as she held him, and he bit into his own wrist, holding it up so she could drink and regain her strength.  He flinched when he felt her curled fangs dig deep into his arm.
Soon after the first draw, he felt her strength returning, and they rose toward the shoreline.  They landed in a heap on a grey outcropping to watch Lorenzo’s black boat speed empty into the distance, its pale passenger still alive, and somewhere on the bottom of the ocean floor.
“We’ll never find him in the water,” Tenzin said.
“No.”  He cursed internally.  “And he knows it.”
“He’s not dumb, your son.”
“No, he’s not.”  He curled his lip, narrowing his eyes as he searched the waves, though he knew Lorenzo could stay under the water for days, possibly longer, regaining his strength, safely cocooned in his element.