Page 74 of Night's Reckoning
“Do you?” Johari glanced at the door. “What is your relationship with Tenzin?”
Ben’s eyebrows went up. “That’s direct.”
“You asked me a direct question. I was responding in kind.”
Ben took a long drink of beer. Then he took another. “My relationship with Tenzin is… complicated.”
“I see.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Genuinely. I do understand.” Johari picked at her beer bottle. “I became a vampire because my lover was a vampire. That is the reason I chose this life.”
“You did?” Ben blinked. “Where is he? Did he—?”
“He’s still in East Africa.” She kept her face neutral, but her fingers destroyed the label on her beer bottle. “We were together for many years, but we never mated. I didn’t understand many things about this life then. Eventually we went our separate ways.”
“I’m sorry.”
She frowned. “It is the way of things, Ben Vecchio. A human lifetime is one commitment. An eternity is another.”
Something in his chest hurt. Physically hurt. “Yeah.”
Johari nodded. “I believe the purpose of this party is for us to meet the humans, correct?”
“Yes. Just don’t refer to them as ‘the humans’ if you can help it. Makes it a bit less conspicuous.”
“Then I will leave you and meet some of them.” She stood. “I believe most of them have stopped staring now. I enjoyed our conversation, Ben Vecchio.”
“Thanks. Me too.”
Johari nodded and took her leave, approaching Cheng’s table where he, a sailor, and two students were playing mahjong. Cheng stood and added another chair to the table so she could sit down.
Ben stood and tossed his empty beer bottle in the trash. He walked by Fabia, bent down, and said, “Don’t forget to serve the cake.”
“You’re leaving?”
He pointed at the overhead speakers. “Getting some quiet. I’ll probably be back, but for now I’ll leave you in charge.”
Fabia glanced at the door, then back at him. “Uh-huh.”
“Don’t make that face. I’m going out for air.”
She cocked her head. “I guess that’s one way of putting it, considering she’s—”
“Shut up.” He stood and walked away. “Like I said, don’t forget the cake.”
Ben walked down the passageway and up the stairs, looking for fresh air and quiet. The fact that he found Tenzin perched on the railing when he arrived on the top deck was purely a coincidence.
“Hey.” Ben waved a hand.
“Hello.” She glanced at the lit windows. “It is a nice party. Gavin would be proud.”
“I try.”
She nodded and looked back over the wreck. “Are they working tonight?”
“I’m sure they will once the humans go to sleep.”
