The whole maneuver had taken just a few seconds.

Cocky vampires, Ben thought as his other arm braced itself against the rock hard back of Jean Desmarais.

Jean chuckled and patted the hand that held the knife at his throat. “Nicely done. See? Neither of you needs to bleed. The young man is well-trained already. Boy, if we were on the streets, would I be breathing?”

“You don’t breathe.” Ben’s heart was racing, but he kept his voice in check. He let his hand fall and stepped from behind the Frenchman.

Jean merely shrugged. “You see? Tenzin, you have taught him well. The boy is very good with a knife already.”

Tenzin eyed him with the guarded expression Ben had come to expect from her. “I can’t teach reflexes like that.”

Ben ignored her and tucked his knife back in his waistband. “Jean, sorry about the shirt.”

“Think nothing of it. Perhaps you could procure one of your uncle’s for me. My wardrobe is rather limited.”

He slapped the Frenchman on the shoulder. “No problem, man. I’ll go grab one. You sure you don’t want one of Carwyn’s?” Ben heard Jean laugh as he jogged up the stairs.

He walked through the kitchen where Lucien, Angela, and Dez were involved in a conversation about baking or something. He wandered up the stairs and past the library. Deirdre, Matt, and Ziri were there, speaking some language he thought might have been German. Or Russian. He couldn’t really tell. All three sounded like they needed to gargle.

By the time he got to the third floor, Ben could hear the cello recording coming from Beatrice and Giovanni’s room. He knocked lightly on the door and waited for her voice.

“Come on in, Ben.”

He was the only one who ever disturbed her when she was up here. Not even Dez was really allowed. Tenzin came up sometimes, but she never knocked. He poked his head into the bedroom. Beatrice was sitting at the table in the living area of the suite and tapping her pencil against a notebook.

“What’s up?”

“Can I borrow one of Gio’s shirts for Jean? I kind of sliced his up in the basement.”

She frowned. “Do I want to know?”

“Probably not.”

A smile flickered across her face. She was better since his uncle had escaped from Livia’s castle, but still not herself. She wouldn’t be until Giovanni was back. He missed his uncle, too, but the thing they had? Ben thought he would probably never feel that way about anyone. His aunt and uncle were the center of each other’s universe. Even he could see that.

“Yeah, there’s a bunch that came from the cleaner’s a few weeks ago. Pick any of those. Except the green one.”

“I’ll just grab a black one. That’s what he was wearing.”

Ben went to the closet and ignored the few crumbled Oxford shirts that lay on top of the dresser. Giovanni’s clothes hadn’t really been touched. Everything was still as it had been that first horrible night his uncle had been arrested. Ben shook his head and grabbed a random black shirt, hoping it would fit. Jean was a little smaller than his uncle, but not by much. He wandered back out to the bedroom.

“What are you working on?”

“Huh?” She looked up. “Oh, I’m just taking some notes. I’m going to that reception thing that Livia’s hosting at this club in town later.”

“Like a dance club?”

“Kinda. It’s more like a social club. I’m not sure, but Emil Conti’s going to be there along with most of the most influential vampires in the city. Ziri said that she’s trying to be more visible since word got out that Gio escaped.”

“That probably made her look pretty bad, huh?”

“Yes. But Emil requested another visit, so she had to admit he’d escaped. And she knows we were at the reception the night it happened.” A satisfied grin spread over her face. “It’s driving her crazy. And yes, it makes her look really bad.”

He sat down. “Well, that’s good, right? That’s what you want.”

“Yep, that’s what we want. And that’s why she’s hanging out in the city more and having this reception. She’s trying to show off and make sure people remember she’s still the queen. But Emil’s going to be there, along with his wife, who I haven’t met yet.”

“So you’re gonna go make nice?”

“I’m going to go hang out and try to boost his ego and his reputation. The more people think of him, the more likely he’s going to be to make the moves we want to get Livia out of power. Hopefully, flattery will get us everywhere.”

Ben asked, “Anyone going with you?”

“Not this time.” She glanced up into his worried eyes. “It’s fine, Ben. Nothing’s going to happen to me. It’s a very public event. I’m not even going to be very far away from here.”

“You sure? Maybe Matt—”

“This is a vampire thing, Ben.”

“Tenzin?”

She dropped her pencil and reached a hand across the table. “Ben, honey, I’ll be fine.”

He shrugged and tried to act nonchalant. “Okay, whatever.”

She smiled and patted his hand. “Now, go take that shirt to Jean. He’s a little too proud of that hairy French chest. We don’t want him scaring Angela.”

Ben burst into laughter and stood. He walked out and looked back at his aunt. Beatrice was sitting at the table, looking pensive, and staring at the moon through the open window. He gently closed the door.