Baojia grabbed the sword from her hand immediately and brought her palm up to his face, his eyebrows furrowed in alarm.

“Beatrice, I…” Immediately, he brought her finger to his mouth and licked at the blood as it trickled down her hand. She saw his tongue flick out, piercing a long fang, and he sealed the wound in a matter of seconds.

As soon as he had, he froze. His eyes lifted to hers, and she saw his fangs grow longer in his mouth. Her breath rushed out of her body as she felt the soft caress of his amnis spread over her palm and tease the skin of her wrist.

“Stop,” she whispered. “Let go of my hand.”

But he didn’t, nor did he move. Baojia stood inhumanly still, and his eyes never left hers. For a brief moment, she could imagine falling into them, and she pulled away, stunned by the rush of her own pulse.

“Stop.” She wasn’t sure whether she was talking to him or herself.

“I’m sorry, B.”

“Forget about it.”

“I most certainly will not.”

She flushed in embarrassment, furious at the idea of Giovanni or Tenzin walking in and seeing them in such proximity. “Really, forget about it. All of it.”

“Beatrice—”

“I’m done practicing for the night.”

“We’re not finished here.”

She huffed out a breath. “Yes, we are.” She reached down and grabbed her dao, then tried to walk past him, but his arm shot out and grabbed her wrist. She felt the creep of his energy again when their skin met, and she wrenched it away.

“Don’t! Don’t touch me.”

“B, just listen—”

“I’m done. Got it? You…” She was still blushing, and she couldn’t forget the intimate feel of his tongue and the teasing caress of his amnis. “Just forget about it.”

“You cannot deny that there is something—”

“Shut up!” she shouted. “What? You getting tired of the donated blood? Need a little refreshment? I’m not a fucking appetizer.”

He blinked in surprise, but anger quickly overtook his features. “You arrogant little—”

“Leave me the hell alone! I’m going for a walk.” She continued toward the door. “Don’t worry. I’ll take my precious sword.”

“Get back here, girl!”

Beatrice turned, gave him a bitter smile, then flipped him off, noting absently that the finger he had healed was the one now raised in ire. She continued walking backward, straight out the door. She turned down the hallway and out to the gardens, ignoring Baojia as he called her name. She heard him call for Tenzin’s guards, so she ducked down a corridor she had seen the servants using.

She followed it toward fresh air. With the lack of windows in the palace, it was hard to tell which way led outside, but she felt a gust of cool air waft across her heated face, so she followed it, eventually opening a door that led to the outer perimeter of the palace grounds.

She saw a path leading through the forest that surrounded the compound, and a few monks were walking in the grey hours before dawn. She followed them, but soon got lost in the dark maze of the shifting bamboo. Following the sound of water, she came upon the creek that fed the streams that cut through the gardens. Heaving a sigh of relief, Beatrice began to follow it back to the palace gardens.

“A beautiful woman carrying such a weapon. What is the world coming to?”

She whirled, gasping when she heard his voice. She immediately raised her sword. Lorenzo only smiled and stepped into it. Lifting a hand to prop the heavy dao on his shoulder, he laughed.

“There, now you’re quite safe. You can chop off my head if I threaten to harm a hair on yours. Feel better?”

“What are you doing here?” She debated whether to try chopping off his head, or at least trimming the hair he seemed so fond of.

“Do you think you could? Chop off my head?” His full mouth pouted in concentration. “I’m not sure you could. You might not realize how much strength that actually takes. There are all these pesky bones and tendons. It’s harder than it looks. I should know.”

“Would you like to be my test subject? What do you say, you bastard?”

“I just want to talk. Since you seem to be the most rational of your little group, I thought I’d give you a try. You see, my attempts to reason with my father have failed.”

“Gee, I can’t imagine why.”

Lorenzo shrugged. “I can’t either. I tried to explain that I no longer wished Stephen any harm, or you for that matter, and he just ignored me. I think he’s still blinded by his desire for our father’s books. That vampire is quite single-minded when his attention gets focused on something.” Lorenzo gave a lascivious smirk. “Of course, you probably know that by now.”

She swallowed, struck by something Lorenzo had said. “What do you mean? You’ve said over and over that you wanted to torture and murder my father. And me. Why would I believe that you no longer want to hurt us?”

He cocked his head. “You’re a very perceptive woman, Beatrice De Novo. Look into my eyes, and see if you believe me. I do not wish any harm to come to you. Nor do I have any interest in your father. All I want is—”

“The book.”

He smiled. “I knew you would understand. All my interest in you and your family will cease if I get my books back. That’s all I want. Well—” He smiled. “I’d be lying if I said that was all I wanted.” He let his gaze rake over her body.