Page 17 of Night's Reckoning
You should care more.
The ship they were looking for had carried theLaylat al Hisab. The Night’s Reckoning was a legendary sword. Tenzin loved swords. Finding it meant her sire would pay her an exorbitant amount of gold. This job involved gold and sharp things. She should have been thrilled to take it.
She wasn’t.
Cheng was excited. “The optimal search window will open in three weeks after the last threat of storms has passed. I know you’re waiting for your partner—”
“We need him.”
“You want him, Cricket.” Cheng crossed his arms. “We don’tneedhim.”
Tenzin lay back on the chaise next to the table. There were silk pillows against her back. The lounge was covered in rich leather.
She thought about the spare alcove in the loft apartment she shared with Ben. The two settings couldn’t be more different.
“We need him.” She leveled her eyes at Cheng. “Don’t you trust me?”
The corner of his mouth twitched up. “Just exactly as much as you trust me.”
Translation: a little bit and only within reason.
Cheng could always make her smile. They hadn’t been lovers in years, but Tenzin would always carry affection for him. Long ago, he’d helped her feel desire again, shown her the male body could be an object of pleasure, not punishment. He was well built; his musculature was defined from his human years working on the sea. He could be a brutal captain when he needed to be. He could also be a playful lover and a loyal friend.
“I don’t expect you to understand,” she said. “But I expect you to trust me.”
He walked to her and leaned over, bracing his arms around her shoulders. “Tell me why you wait.”
“Because I have the time.” She put her hand on his smooth cheek. “You are so young.”
“Far older than him.”
“I suppose so. But you and Benjamin share the same hunger. The same ambition.”
Cheng glanced down at her. She wasn’t wearing anything that would attract attention. Black leggings. A grey tunic. Still, when Cheng looked at her, she felt exposed.
“I have no doubt your human and I share some hungers. The difference is, I am well practiced at sating hunger while he is a petulant child who pouts when a banquet is laid before him.”
She shrugged. “He’ll answer the letters when he’s ready.”
“And we’re expected to wait until he does?” Cheng eased onto the chaise next to her. “I don’t wait for humans.”
“I wait for this human, and—if you want my help on this job—you wait for me.”
He picked up a strand of her hair. “I do wait for you. I wait for you to consider my offer.”
She looked away. “I have considered it.”
“No, you haven’t. Nothing in this life is permanent, Cricket. All I am asking is for you to try it. Try us. Consider what we could be together. Try us for a century or two. If we don’t suit each other, then we part as friends, as we’ve always been.”
Tenzin looked at the old-fashioned European wall clock mounted to the wall in Cheng’s floating palace. In many ways, theywereperfectly suited to each other. He expected loyalty, but not any human folly like love. He saw Tenzin for what she was. And what she wasn’t.
He doesn’t see all of you.
“I can’t consider anything until this job is over.” Tenzin pushed him away and stood. “We still need two more people. Our kind, not human.”
“I have a couple of ideas about that. I’m waiting to hear back.”
“Good.” She walked toward the door. “I’m flying home for the night.”
