Page 108 of Dawn Caravan
Ben lifted an eyebrow. “You robbed a gold mine to benefit the economy?”
“Obviously.” She shifted in her seat. “But we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about René, who definitely has plans to rob this caravan.”
“Stupid.”
“Highly stupid,” Tenzin said. “I agree. But he’s gathered quite a lot of good information that I feel like we could use.”
“Like what?”
Tenzin slid a piece of paper across the table. “Like the combination to the lock on Kezia’s caravan. I copied it from a notebook in his trailer that he thought he was hiding.” She smiled. “He’s adorable. Kezia is old-fashioned.”
Ben looked at the paper. “A combination lock?”
“Combined with a tumbler. She trusts the Hazar far too much.”
“Apparently.” A tumbler lock could be picked with a simple set of picks he’d practiced with when he was ten. “Okay, I’m supposed to do this tonight, right?”
“Yes.” She angled her head toward the door. “I believe Radu is gathering your distraction as we speak.”
“Fun.”
“I better go.” Tenzin rose. “I don’t want Radu to doubt my innocence. Wait at the back of the crowd until the Hazar join the festivities. Then search Kezia’s trailer.”
“Got it.”
* * *
Clutchingthe paper in his pocket, Ben walked to the kitchen trailer and sat down for a plate of kebab, rice pilaf, and a delicately spiced eggplant dish. He wasn’t ravenous, but he ate more than he’d been expecting. Then he drank a full glass of blood-wine, thanked the cooks, and wandered toward the bonfire in the middle of the poppy-dotted meadow.
As he walked, he watched the dynamics of the campsite. Instead of observing the vampires, he watched the humans.
Children. There were far more children than he’d realized the first night he came. Ben wondered if they kept the younger Poshani out of the way when a new vampire joined the caravan. That would make sense. But now the children emerged from campers and travel trailers. They rode horses across the meadow and tossed balls at each other from horseback in a game that looked a little like polo without the mallets.
The crowd near the bonfire was growing, drawing occasional vampire attention, but mostly human. Ben heard a loud bang, then a zip of fire, and a bright stream of light shot into the sky. It disappeared into the darkness for a brief second before it exploded into a massive shower of sparks.
Ben smiled. Fireworks.
The crowd clapped in appreciation.
As he approached, he saw the ground around the bonfire had been meticulously cleared of grass or anything flammable. Most of the vampire guests were sitting in plush chairs at the center of the crowd while servers offered glasses of wine or plates of fruit. Tenzin had already joined them, sitting close to Radu with René on her left side and Kezia on her right. She glanced at Ben, then quickly looked away.
On the far side of the crowd, near Kezia’s trailer in the distance, Ben saw Tatyana watching with an amused expression on her face.
Ben wandered over. “This is nice.”
“Yes,” she said. “Quite a show for the little ones.”
“For grown-ups too.”
She looked around. “One errant spark and this all goes up in flames.”
“Such an optimist.”
“A realist.”
Ben glanced at her hands, then at the small stream that ran along the edge of the forest. “Keeping an eye on things?”
“I’d be a fool not to,” she said quietly. “Even water vampires can burn.”
