Page 116 of Dawn Caravan
He rubbed his temple. “That’s not okay.”
She stepped closer, and Ben felt the ripple of her power against his skin like a caress.
Tenzin spoke deliberately. “I am evolving, Benjamin, but I will never be human. I will never be tame, and it’s long past time you admitted to yourself that you never will be either.”
She left him in the trailer, staring at her empty bed.
* * *
Ben triedto keep his mind off Tenzin by keeping track of Vano the rest of the night, following him at a distance as he visited vampires, chatted with the cooks making dinner, and hovered around the bar where servers mixed drinks and carried wine.
Vano was among the vampire guests, but he wasn’t a part of them. In fact, if Ben hadn’t been paying attention, Vano would have melted into the background.
It was quite the skill, and Ben realized that Tenzin was right.
Vano was very, very sneaky.
An hour before sunrise as the nightly party wound down, Ben retreated to his secure caravan and called Chloe. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey.” She answered the video call on her phone. She was in the middle of a crowd, and the raucous sounds of a party surrounded her. “Where are you?”
“No idea. Ukraine maybe? Where are you?”
“We went back to Monte Carlo.” Chloe’s face glowed. She walked away from the crowd and found a quieter place with red velvet draperies behind her. “We’ve been so many places. Oh my God, Ben, you cannot even imagine. Nice, Capri, Portofino—that was probably my favorite.”
“Portofino is gorgeous.” Ben picked at his shirt, which had ashes from the bonfire on it. “The boats are amazing. You need to go to Rome though. You have Fabi’s number, right?”
“Yeah, totally. I think we’re kind of heading that direction, but just taking the lazy route since Gavin doesn’t have a club there.”
“Doesn’t he?”
“No, he’s got one in Naples though. Something about the VIC being more easygoing?”
Ben laughed. “Naples is bonkers. Great, but bonkers.”
“Sounds like our kind of place.” She leaned against a corner. “Miss you. I got used to having you around.”
“I know. I’ll be back soon.”
“Don’t you mean we?”
Ben looked down and traced the marbling in the table. “Nothing between me and Tenzin is settled yet.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I need time.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Make good choices,” she sang.
Ben stared at Chloe.
“What?” she asked.
“You said, ‘make good choices.’”
“It’s simple but good advice.”
So you lost one choice and gained a thousand others. I didn’t choose this life either; that is the nature of the world. We make the best of it, Ben Vecchio.
