Her face was still flushed when she finally made it to the practice room.

“Sorry,” she said when she spotted Baojia in the corner of the room.

“No need to apologize. We practice on your schedule.” He stood and handed her the practice dao, which had become her favored weapon for practice. She hadn’t switched to the full-weight weapon yet. Soon. The thin steel blade curved wickedly in the lamplight, and she began her regular warm up routine, spinning and thrusting in the style Baojia had taught her.

He made quiet corrections to her form before he grabbed his own weapon and began demonstrating a new series of maneuvers. He rarely spoke, and the vampire’s near silent instruction became a kind of meditation, focusing her mind as her muscles memorized the intricate steps.

They practiced almost silently for another hour before she spoke again.

“He’d prefer it if I never left our quarters after dark.”

Baojia gave a quiet chuckle. “I can’t blame him for that.”

“No, really, he doesn’t like me being out when Lorenzo might be around.”

“Are you sure that’s his only motivation?” he teased quietly.

“Haha. Men.”

Baojia laughed again. “Like I said, I can’t blame him for that.”

He came to a halt and she followed his lead, standing at relaxed attention and mirroring his stance. “Were you my woman, Beatrice”—his eyes darted down to her mouth—“I would hardly let you leave the room.” He grabbed her dao, brushing a finger against her wrist as he took it from her suddenly limp hands. “For safety’s sake, of course.”

He walked calmly over to the wall of weapons, placing both sabers back in their cradles before he looked over his shoulder with a smile.

“Safety’s sake.” She gulped. “Right.”

He caught her eye and tossed a jian in her direction. Her arm reached out instinctively and caught it.

“Switch weapons.”

Beatrice straddled Giovanni’s lap in the large tub, working a lather up as she shampooed his hair. He just watched her, smiling as his blinks became longer.

“You better not fall asleep in here, old man.” She laughed. “There’s no way I could carry you to the bed.”

“Well, at least you know I couldn’t drown.”

She smiled and pinched his shoulder to rouse him. He sat up and put his hands on her back, warming them to soothe her sore muscles as he laid his head against her shoulder.

“Thanks, Gio.”

“Your back feels tense. Good practice? And did you have dinner with your father this afternoon? I forgot to ask.”

“Yep. He hates the food here, too.”

Giovanni chuckled. “Just because there’s no hot sauce.”

“You can take the girl out of Texas…”

He laughed against her neck as she poured the water over his hair, rinsing the soap out and soaking them both.

“I’m still amazed that he can stay awake so well.”

Beatrice shrugged. “It must be Tenzin’s blood.”

“It must be. It’s no wonder his amnis seemed so strange when I first met him.”

She pulled back. “You never told me that.”

“I didn’t know what to make of it,” he murmured. “It seemed different, but I couldn’t pinpoint how. It makes sense now.”

“Why?” She stood and reached for one of the towels, handing the other to him when he followed her.

“I would have guessed that he was much older. Easily my own age, but perhaps even more.”

“Wow.”

“It was definitely odd. And the fact that he can stay awake for most of the day now, it’s extraordinary. My sire could stay awake except for a few hours in the middle of the day, but he was over two thousand years old.”

She frowned as she patted her hair dry. “So my dad is the equivalent of a two thousand year old vampire?”

“Well.” Giovanni shrugged. “His energy feels that way. He doesn’t have the life experience, memory, or skills, of course.”

“Still… wow.”

“Yes.” He rubbed the towel across his shoulders before he grabbed Beatrice’s, hanging both on a hook by the door. “It’s quite a strength.”

“I’ll say.” She grabbed a brush to comb out her hair, but Giovanni picked her up and took her to the bed, tossing her in the middle with a playful grin. He grabbed the brush and settled behind her, kissing her shoulder as he let the heat build on his skin to warm them both in the cold bedroom.

“Gio?”

“Sì, Tesoro?”

She leaned back and pulled his warm arms around her. “I feel like this is the calm before the storm.”

He took a deep breath and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“I do, too.”

“Stupid, stubborn vampire jerk,” she muttered under her breath, stabbing the air in the dark garden.

“Focus. You’re not going to hurt him, but by all means, visualize that if it improves your focus. Plus, it’s just sort of amusing.”

Baojia’s droll voice drifted across the lawn as she whirled and stabbed the air, focusing on a spot in front of her that had a stubborn, five hundred year old man floating in it.

“Stupid, overprotective…” She thrust into a tall camellia bush that was beginning to bud with white blossoms.

“Please don’t kill the shrubbery, my dear. The Elders might get annoyed and not let us practice out here again.”