Page 141 of Night's Reckoning
“I’ll go to the mountains, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m overdue for a visit. There are still matters with some of Nima’s family that need to be settled.”
She had needed quiet and time to think after everything that had happened in Puerto Rico. She really needed it now.
Giovanni said, “Something has changed.”
Tenzin thought about the desperate flight to her father, her helplessness and her fury. The taste of Ben’s blood in her mouth and the inevitable explosion of their amnis colliding like winter storms over a mountain.
His lips leaving hers as surely as he’d left her body and walked away.
She remembered sleep. And dreams.
And over and above all, the sensation of a curved bronze blade slipping from her fingers and falling to an ocean grave.
“Yes, something has changed.” Tenzin sipped her tea. “I wanted to see Beatrice before I left. Has Sadia already left for Rome with the nanny?”
Giovanni said nothing.
She set down her cup. “I see.”
“She’s angry, Tenzin. You knew how he felt—how he’s always felt—and you ignored him. He’s her son and she’s angry right now.”
“I understand.” A different ache grew in her chest, and Tenzin let out a bitter laugh. “Tell her I don’t expect her to thank me.”
“She won’t.”
“Even though I know she’s grateful.” Tenzin looked Giovanni square in the eye. “You both are. Because you don’t have to be the villain now, do you?”
His eyes narrowed. “If you think—”
“What would you have done, Giovanni Vecchio? This isn’t Caspar growing old peacefully in his home, surrounded by his family and the woman he loves.” She leaned forward. “This is Benjamin, bleeding out inyourarms, his human body paralyzed by the blade ofyourenemy, telling you ‘I didn’t want to die yet.’”
Giovanni said nothing.
Tenzin sat back and lifted her chin. “Don’t tell me what you would have done, because I know.”
“What did you give Zhang?” he asked quietly.
“I will never tell you that.” Tenzin picked up her tea. “You haven’t earned the right to my secrets. I love you deeply, my boy, but some things you will never know.”
* * *
The fortressin the Khentii mountain range was a low, four-sided castle with two forward towers facing a broad, grass-filled valley. The castle surrounded an open courtyard where a large bonfire burned. The structure had to be at least five hundred years old, but the floors were polished, the walls were in perfect repair, and a bathroom had been added.
Just one, but Ben didn’t have to use it as often lately. So far it was the only convenient thing about being a vampire.
His throat burned all the time. He was constantly hungry. He still couldn’t control his amnis enough to make himself warm, so he was always,alwayscold. Of course, the frigid Mongolian autumn weather probably didn’t help. He was starting to think fur wasn’t just a fashion statement.
The land was bleak but stunningly beautiful. The skies were clear, and no human settlements spoiled the night sky for miles and miles around them. The wilderness that protected the humans from Ben also protected Ben from the temptation of the humans.
“I will teach you.” Zhang ushered Ben to the north wing of the fortress that butted up against the mountains. “For the next year, you will be my student in the ways of survival. I will teach you how to best your enemies, how to protect yourself, and how to find purpose in eternity.”
A hundred times a night, Ben wondered whether these were the same lessons Tenzin had lived through when she’d been a new immortal. It had been a different time and there hadn’t been a fortress, but Zhang’s wisdom was eternal, right?
Ben walked along the far wall of the training room, eager to try the many weapons in his sire’s collection. He was starting to see that Tenzin had inherited her obsession.
“You will have to fight differently now.” Zhang spoke behind him. “You will have to think differently. Move differently. Your enemies will not strategize in months or years but in decades and centuries.”
There were countless swords and daggers from every corner of the globe. Shields and maces. Staffs and battle-axes. Bows and crossbows. Every weapon Ben could imagine.
