Page 33 of Night's Reckoning
“They were from Penglai.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
He shoved her away. “What do you want, Tenzin?”
“Come to my father’s quarters,” she said. “He wants to brief you about the job.”
Of course. The job. The only reason he was there.
“Fine,” he said. “Does he want Fabi there? She asked for some time alone to chill out.”
“Is she working for you? Or is she an independent contractor?”
“I’m paying her to be my assistant on this.”
Tenzin shrugged. “Then it’s up to you. You don’tneedto bring her.”
“Fine.” He started walking. “I know you know where I’m staying. Meet me at the front gate in ten minutes.”
“I always know where you are.”
Ben turned and a bitter smile crossed his lips. “That’s creepy, Tenzin. Just so you know, that’s something a stalker would say. Don’t be a stalker.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I only stalk people when I want to kill them.”
He pursed his lips. “Again, very creepy. And also kind of proving my point.”
Ben turned around and kept walking back to his room. Tenzin hovered in the air over him. He heard her fly away. Then she flew back. She landed on the path in front of him. She didn’t look at him, but he heard her words perfectly.
“I would never kill you, Benjamin.” Her voice was so soft it was barely audible. “I would sooner kill myself.”
Without another word—before Ben could even open his mouth—she disappeared in the night.
* * *
“The Fire Kingand I were always rivals.” Zhang sat on a low cushion at the head of a long table laden with food. “Arosh sent spies to my court. I sent spies to his. We fought sporadically for thousands of years.”
“What did you fight over?” Ben took two slices of duck from the platter that was held out to him. Fabia, sitting next to him, also took two.
When he’d returned to the rooms and told her where he was going, she’d insisted on accompanying him. What had she called herself? A glutton for knowledge?
“We fought for all the reasons empires have always fought. Land. Human capital. Wealth. Knowledge.”
“Knowledge is power,” Ben said quietly. He didn’t know how many times his uncle had drilled the idea into him.
“What do you hold in your hands?”
“It’s a book.”
“No, it’s knowledge. Knowledge humans and immortals have pursued for centuries. Knowledge they kill and die for.”
“Die for abook?”
“It is not a book.”
“Right. It’s knowledge.”
“And knowledge is power. Do you understand?”
