Page 28 of Dawn Caravan
Ben turned to Gavin. “And how do you know it’s real?”
“Because I was a guest for a short time,” Gavin said. “And that is all I will say.”
Come on, really?Ben looked at Gavin.
Gavin shook his head slowly and decisively.
“From what I’ve been able to gather,” Beatrice said, “if you want to disappear—and I mean disappear off the face of the earth…”
“Poof,” Chloe said. “You don’t exist anymore.”
“…you come to an agreement with one of the terrin—the ruling vampires of the Poshani—and they name a price. There is no negotiation. There is no appeal. You tell them how long you want to hide—”
“Up to six months,” Gavin said quietly. “But not any longer.”
“—and they tell you the price. They have complete discretion and there is no set price. They can accept anyone or no one. There are no guarantees.”
Gavin said, “Except—”
“Except,” Giovanni said, “that if they take you in as part of the caravan, they will guard you during the day and keep you safe at night. They are brutal in their protection and have never lost a guest.”
Ben’s eyebrows went up. “Ever?”
“Ever.” Gavin’s tone was firm. “The agreement is nonnegotiable for both parties. Once you join, you do not leave unless they kick you out for violating their terms. You are there for the agreed-on contract. No more. No less.”
“What’s to stop someone from leaving?”
“You walk away, they keep their money and you can never seek their protection again,” Gavin said. “And you forget they exist because you no longer exist to them.”
Ben looked between Gavin and Giovanni. “Vampires abide by this?”
“How much is a sanctuary worth?” Giovanni asked. “The Poshani provide one, and our kind are willing to pay.”
“And no one knows where you are?”
“Guests don’t even know where they are,” Beatrice said. “They pick you up and transport you to the caravan during the day. If you don’t know where you are, you can’t give yourself away.”
Ben scrolled through the pictures on Beatrice’s tablet, starting with the scanned letters from Radu, the pictures of the icon, and the pictures and sketches gathered about the Poshani. “Okay,” he said. “What does the Dawn Caravan have to do with the icon?”
Gavin and Giovanni exchanged looks.
“When was the first time Radu contacted you?” Gavin asked.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Ben said.
“Fall,” Giovanni said. “And every time he sent a reminder or a courier, it was in the fall.”
Gavin said, “Radu isn’t predictable, but he does have some habits. And one of them is that you don’t see him in the spring.”
“Because the Dawn Caravan starts in the spring,” Beatrice said.
Gavin said, “But now he’s sending you reminders a few weeks before spring begins in Eastern Europe about an icon he’s been missing for years.”
“You don’t think this is about a missing icon,” Ben said.
“No, Radu isn’t a liar. And heismissing this icon,” Gavin said. “But let’s say I don’t think this isonlyabout an icon.”
“Can I ask something?” Ben looked at Giovanni and Beatrice. “Why did you both say Radu was such a pain in the ass? I kind of wrote him off as a nuisance. So did… everyone. Now you’re telling me he’s a lot more than that.”
