Page 44 of Dawn Caravan
“Well, he doesn’t know about flying and the—”
“Bugs.” She smiled. “See? You know now.”
Before he could respond to that, she said, “I ordered a whiskey for you. I saw one on the menu that I remembered you ordering at Gavin’s bar in New York.” She looked up. “I ordered it neat with a glass of ice water on the side.”
What was she doing to him? “That was thoughtful. Thank you.”
She folded her hands on the table, and Ben dragged his eyes from the nape of her neck, which was freshly shorn. She’d trimmed her hair again, the heavy black silk cut at a modern angle from her nape to just below her chin. He watched her hair brush her cheek as the server put two drinks down on the table.
When the server left, she said, “Thank you for meeting me.”
“Thanks for giving me the option this time.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t have agreed to meet with me if I hadn’t ambushed you last night.”
Ben reached for his drink and the ice water, carefully pouring three fingers of cold water into his whiskey. He normally drank it with only a hint of water, but since he’d turned, whiskey was too intense without watering it down. Not that he’d be able to taste much after the rocket fuel he’d ingested last night with Radu.
“At least you admit it was an ambush.”
“Of course it was.”
Ben leaned an elbow on the table. “Do you have an abachee set with you?”
“That game.” The corner of her mouth turned up. “How many times did he make you play?”
“I lost count.”
Tenzin leaned forward and her eyes sparked with amusement. “I bet you lead with your horsemen.”
She was right. “It’s the swiftest offense. I bet you lead with your archers.”
“Always. A long-distance attack endangers the fewest pieces on the board.”
“Archer-led campaigns take forever.”
“I am comfortable playing the long game.”
Yes, you are.Ben cleared his throat and focused. It would do no one any good for them to fall back into old patterns and friendly banter. That wasn’t who they were anymore. “So who wins? You or Zhang?”
She reached for her drink. “I capture his sun god every time.”
“That’s not what he says.”
She waved a hand. “He’s an old man with a horrible memory.”
He cracked a smile, and Tenzin’s eyes went soft. “Hello, my Benjamin.”
Sitting across from her felt familiar and right and it hurt.
Ben swallowed hard. “I’d like to keep this professional, so why don’t we talk about terms?”
“Fifty-fifty, like always,” she said. “Neither of us has a personal stake in the icon.”
“Agreed, but you are bringing the Corsican connection to the table.”
Tenzin waved a hand. “That favor is long overdue. They will be grateful I am calling it in.”
But that left Ben owing her a favor. “I’m comfortable with a fifty-five, forty-five split to account for the value of the favor.”
