Page 20 of Night's Reckoning
Zhang chuckled. “You’re going to lose.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re playing defensively.” He moved a horseman, the most flexible piece on the board, and imperiled her moon god. “You can’t win in this game or this life by playing defensively.”
“Maybe not win…” Tenzin stole a soldier from under his nose and rescued her moon god. “…but you might survive longer than your opponent.”
“Survivaliswinning.” Zhang moved his horseman again, this time nearly stealing her sun god. “Winning is survival. I want to meet this Benjamin.”
“And yet you don’t want me to write Giovanni.”
“No, I do not.” Zhang looked up. “Not when you can write to the man directly. Do not play defensively if you want to win, daughter.”
Tenzin moved her moon god into position, blocking his swordsman and sitting at the feet of his sun piece. In two moves, she could win the board.
Zhang sat back, staring at the game, his eyes creasing in amusement.
“If you survive long enough, you always win,” Tenzin said. “You taught me that.”
6
Rome, Italy
Ben stared at the letters in the drawer. He started to shut the door again when Fabia interrupted him.
“Please, for the love of God, at least get them out of my kitchen,” she said, “so I don’t feel like they’re a time bomb waiting to go off.”
Ben lifted a letter. “There’s no bomb in here.”
“I’m using metaphor. Didn’t your American school teach you about that?” She walked over, snatched the four letters from the drawer, and shoved them at his chest. “Take them away. Every time I walk to this side of the kitchen, they threaten me with their importance.”
Ben took them and stuck them under his arm as he reached for an orange. “I’m sure it’s just Tenzin trying to get me to go do something or find something or clean up a mess for heragain. And I’m taking a break, okay? I’m taking a break from her insanity.”
“You’re taking a break from responsibility,” Fabia said. “Just open the damn letters and answer them. You can say no, can’t you?”
The problem was, Ben was very afraid he wouldn’t be able to say no. He didn’t have the best track record of refusing Tenzin.
“I’ll take them to my room,” he said. “Happy?”
“Yes.” She grabbed her purse. “I’m going to the market, and then I’m making a salad for dinner. It’s too hot to cook.”
“Bring me back a chicken burrito,” he muttered.
“Ha ha.” She rolled her eyes. “Actually, that does sound really good.”
Maybe it was time to go back to California.
Speaking of California, he saw his phone buzz with an out-of-focus picture of his uncle. Ben raised the screen to his face and pressed Accept. “Hey! How’s it going?”
Giovanni Vecchio, fire vampire, Renaissance scholar, and new father of a preschooler, appeared on the screen looking exhausted, which wasn’t typical for an immortal creature of the night, but maybe was typical for a new parent.
“Ben, I heard something disturbing today.”
“I have not been driving your car here, so I have no idea how it got that dent. I think it was Fabi, but I’m going to fix it anyway.”
Giovanni frowned. “There’s a dent on the Ferrari?”
Ben blinked. “Uh… no.”
