Page 105 of Night's Reckoning
“Identity confirmed. Welcome, Tenzin. You have twelve new voice messages and thirty-four new text messages.”
She didn’t have the energy to read. “Show voice messages on-screen.”
One from Ben. She would save that for when she needed it.
Two from Fabia.
Three from Chloe.
Three from Giovanni.
Two from Cheng.
One from Beatrice.
“Call Giovanni Vecchio.”
She waited while the encrypted video messaging system connected. She glanced at the clock. It would be nearly noon in Los Angeles. Would Beatrice answer or Giovanni?
Giovanni’s worry-ravaged face appeared on the screen. Blue-green eyes went wide when they saw her face. “Tell me he’s alive.”
“My boy.” Tenzin swallowed hard and tried to control her face, but it was useless.
Giovanni’s voice was rough. “Tell me he is alive.”
She closed her eyes. “He is alive.”
The unspoken question hung between them.
Tenzin opened her eyes. “He is Zhang’s now.”
A pained grunt, as if he’d been punched in the stomach. “But he is alive.”
She nodded.
“He is Zhang’s.” Giovanni’s eyes narrowed. “The wound in his back—”
“Already healed.”
A shadow of relief.
Tenzin lowered her eyes. “If I call Cheng, will you tell the others?”
“Yes.”
Silence lay like a thick fog between them.
“He told me”—she cleared her throat—“he said he didn’t want to die.”
“No one wants to die.” Giovanni’s voice was cold. “But you take dying words as permission.”
The screen went black.
He was wrong. She knew it wasn’t permission. She had done it anyway.
She called Cheng. He was in his cabin and Kadek was with him. “Tenzin, what—?”
“Send Kadek away.”
