Page 26 of Night's Reckoning
The man nodded.
“And then the island.” Ben took the glass of sparkling water the flight attendant handed him.“Xièxiè.”
Her smile was sweet. “You’re very welcome, Mr. Vecchio.”
Like Andrew, her accent was English. “Is this Zhang’s plane?”
“No,” Andrew said. “It’s mine.”
“Huh.” Interesting. “So you have other businesses than simply being Zhang’s assistant.”
Andrew smiled. It was subtle, but Ben noticed it.
“I have many businesses,” he said. “Working for Zhang is my pleasure.”
Ben was dying to know, and Zhang said he could depend on Andrew’s discretion.
“Do you know Zhang’s daughter?”
Andrew’s expression didn’t change. “I do.”
“Is she on the island?”
“She is.”
Ben sipped his water and let it sink in. He’d be seeing Tenzin. That night. He’d be seeing her for the first time in months. He had no idea how to feel about that. He wasn’t happy, and yet…
There was a buzz of anticipation in his blood, and it pissed him off. He didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling. He didn’t know if she knew he was coming.
She knew.
Ben hated that the only clearly identifiable emotion he felt was anticipation. He was hungry for her and angry about it. She was a drug. An addiction.
What did she want from him? Why had she insisted on his being there? Was it a control thing? Ben didn’t know, and the more he thought about it, the more irritable he grew. It was probably a control thing. Tenzin played chess with people, and at that moment, Ben felt like a pawn.
“I’m not in love with her.”
“You don’t think so?”
He crossed his arms and thought about the job ahead. Focused on that. It was a maritime recovery. Possible artifacts from the ninth century. He didn’t know much more than that, but he could get excited about the job. He’d never done a maritime recovery before; it was one of the reasons he wanted Fabia along. It would be a challenge, but a good addition to his résumé.
Did he still care about his résumé?
Maybe.
Before long, they were touching down on another runway, but this time they weren’t surrounded by city. Green fields stretched away from the windows, and Ben saw cars in the distance. They exited the vehicle and walked to the cars. Ben kept Fabia’s hand in his the whole time, sensing her confusion.
It was a lot to take in, even for someone like him who was familiar with vampire protocol. The court of the Eight Immortals was probably the most formal Ben knew of.
“Any idea where we’re going now?” Fabia asked in Italian.
Ben asked Andrew. “When do we meet the boat?”
Andrew opened the car door for them and motioned to the porters to put their luggage in the trunk. “The only boat that leaves for the island is piloted by a water vampire. We will leave when Myung is ready to take us. I have an associate waiting at the dock, and they will call when it has been sighted.”
“So not until after dark at least,” Ben said. “For now?”
Andrew nodded toward a hangar in the distance. “We have a reception area for you to relax. You’ll be able to clean up and change there. A chef will prepare dinner for all of us.”
