Page 122 of Night's Reckoning
She swallowed hard. “Did Johari ever mention a man? A doctor in East Africa named Zuberi? He is a vampire.”
“No.”
Damn.
“But she did mention a lover. He was the reason she changed, but they weren’t together anymore.”
“Did she say where he was? Did she tell you anything more?”
“No.” His voice turned hard. “Is that all?”
No, that wasn’t all. “Benjamin, I am going to find her. I am—”
“I don’t care.” The line went dead.
Tenzin sat frozen. A minute later, her tablet buzzed.
“Incoming call from… Penglai.”
“Answer.”
He didn’t wait for her to speak. “If you’re still on the ship, have Fabi pack up my stuff so she can give it to Gio. If she can’t do it, I’ll have Zhang contact Jonathan.”
She took a breath. “I can—”
“Just pass the message along.” The line went dead again.
* * *
Ben sat in the hard,straight-backed chair in the telephone room. His throat was on fire. Zhang and Tai stood over him, watching his every move like he might fly out of control at any minute. Ben didn’t feel out of control—he felt numb.
She’d left, just as he’d anticipated. But then she called.
And all she cared about was finding the sword.
Ben didn’t give a shit about the sword. He’d slept a dreamless sleep the day before, falling asleep like an exhausted child. He didn’t dream. He didn’t wake until the sun went down, but when he opened his eyes, her scent surrounded him and he ached for her.
The aching only led to anger. She was in his blood, and he wanted her desperately. Almost as much as he resented her.
“Are you ready to go?” Zhang said. “I will have Tai wait here. If she has any more questions, he can relay them to you.”
“If she has any more questions, she’s out of luck,” Ben said. “I don’t know anything more about Johari than what I told her.”
That wasn’t strictly true. He’d chatted with Johari on and off, but he didn’t want to think about that because it was probably all lies. He’d thought they were friendly. He’d thought she was a good person he could trust, even if she was a vampire.
But no, Tenzin had been right.
Again.
Which was just fucking annoying.
Instead of allowing himself to feel the anger that burst out every time he thought of Tenzin, Ben had taken Zhang’s advice and focused on the mechanics of existing as a vampire, especially a wind vampire.
Feed on blood, which wasn’t as gross as he’d imagined. Oddly enough, it tasted a little bit like warm milk now, only a little saltier. Describing it wasn’t easy. Ben couldn’t say the blood tastedgood; he could only say it was satisfying.
And it was very, very satisfying.
Pull his amnis around him like a shield, but don’t let it make him float away. That one was harder. He wished there was some kind of button he could push to turn it on or off, but all he could do was work with his mind. The level of awareness in his body was at an all-time high.
