A Fall of Water by Elizabeth Hunter

waste bin before she sat down at the desk again. She took a pencil and manipulated the roller ball attached to the computer at the desk. They had learned their lesson in Chile about Beatrice and laptops, but she still had hope that she would find some way to use a desktop computer, since she had less contact while operating it. So far, she was only on her second monitor, though the keyboard was proving a challenge.
    Yes, she decided, money did have its privileges.
    She smiled at Angela as the housekeeper passed in the hall, still giving her a slightly wary look. Beatrice knew the fact that she could be awake and alert during the day freaked the woman out. Despite that, Angela was so sweet that Beatrice could hardly blame her for it. She knew she was an oddity. She had the strength of an ancient vampire wrapped in the coordination and attitude of a baby. She had never fit in during her human life, why start now?
    “B, got it!”
    Ben barreled into the library and dropped off a new computer keyboard, a neoprene case she had cut out to fit it, and a large plastic bag that looked like a large version of the bags they received when they bought donated blood.
    Speaking of blood...
    Her fangs popped out when Dez entered the room. Beatrice had no idea why it was still happening. She had absolutely no desire to drink from Dez, but the longer her friend was pregnant, the more Beatrice reacted when she was near. Tenzin had speculated that, far from bloodlust, it was a latent protective instinct for Dez and her unborn child.
    “Hey, I think we’re going to take Ben to the Colosseum this afternoon. He keeps asking to see where the lions ate the Christians. Think we should worry?”
    “I doubt it. And you know that there’s no specific historical accounts of—”
    “Yes, yes.” Dez rolled her eyes. “I know. Next you’re going to tell me Russell Crowe never really fought there, either.”
    Beatrice snorted. “Well, you guys have fun. Want to meet somewhere for dinner later?”
    “Don’t you and Gio have the meeting with the mother-in-law of doom later?”
    She shrugged. “There’s some sort of cocktail party at her place later tonight, but not until one or two in the morning, so we could meet you guys for dinner.”
    “Okay, cool! We’ll call the house after the sun sets. Also, I’m very curious what a Roman aristocrat serves at a cocktail party.”
    “Um, I’m going to guess... cocktails.”
    Dez narrowed her eyes. “And the blood of her enemies.”
    “Oh, well that too, of course.”
    “Of course!” Dez skipped out of the room and Beatrice wondered when the fabled exhaustion of pregnant women would hit her friend. So far, Dez seemed to have more energy, not less. Though apparently, from the agonized whining she heard from their room every day, the morning sickness was in full swing. Angela just clucked her tongue at Dez and fed her grapefruit for some reason.
    Beatrice was reading through the journals again when she heard Giovanni start to wake. She set them down and slipped upstairs. She was trying to be better about being next to him when he woke because she knew he liked it. She was also worried about him. He seemed to be dreaming more, though when he woke, she suspected the dreams were more like nightmares. His eyes held a lean, haunted look that was only growing worse.
    She slid under the covers next to him just as he began to move, tucking herself under his arm as he pulled her tight, even as he slumbered.
    “Mmm.” He began to murmur something in Italian. His accent, she noticed with pleasure, was heavier since they’d arrived. He slipped into his native language more, and she was grateful that understanding him was no longer a problem. Beatrice had already been able to speak English, Spanish, and Latin before she turned. But now she could speak Italian and a lot of Mandarin, too. She could also read classical Greek, Persian, and Arabic. She was still working on her Hebrew.
    Giovanni stopped speaking and