Page 82 of Dawn Caravan
“Who else?”
“Madina is the first suspect. She’s been recently ousted from power in Central Europe, but she stayed with us in the 1930s.”
He didn’t know a Madina. “Who else?”
“Fynn. He’s German, but he’s been living in Argentina since the Second World War for exactly the reasons you imagine. He visited the caravan in the 1940s, and his character is despicable.”
“But you invited him back?”
Radu looked surprised. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Okay, who else?”
“Darius is the oldest vampire here and not likely as a suspect, but I included him because he knows more about the history of the goblets than we do,andhe stayed here during the same period. He’s Persian and very, very secretive.”
“Sounds like Darius is a man who knows things,” Ben muttered. “Who else?”
“A French thief, René DuPont. He was with us—”
“He did it.” Ben blurted it out, then regretted it. “I mean, I’ve run into René before. He’s a very likely suspect.”
Fuck. He didn’t really feel like tangling with René. Not only was the thief clever, he knew how to spark Ben’s temper, which had grown far more hair-trigger since he’d become immortal.
Plus René was an asshole.
“Okay,” Ben said. “That’s four suspects, and who’s the fifth?”
Radu pursed his lips together. “A degree of impartiality will be needed for the last suspect.”
“Okay.” So he definitely knew this one. That was probably why his amnis was starting to go haywire. He was nearly coming out of his skin, and Radu—
“It’s Tenzin.”
“Tenzin what?” Ben flexed his back; his amnis was crawling up and down his spine.
“Tenzin…” Radu frowned. “Tenzin is the last suspect.”
Ben barked a laugh. Then he closed his eyes. “Of course she is.”
* * *
Could she have done it?Was Tenzin capable of stealing a fabulous carved-emerald goblet that was probably worth millions and had a cool legend attached to it? Of course she was. In fact, she was probably the most likely suspect.
Ben strode through the campsite, following Radu’s instructions and the pulsing beat of his elemental energy, which was coursing over his skin in giant horny waves. His amnis knew she was close, and it craved her like a drug.
He was going to kiss—no,kill—her. He was going to kill her. She had to have known something was up in all this. That’s what she’d been holding back last week at Farkas’s mansion. That’s what she hadn’t told him. She’d been cryptic and evasive and this was why, because she must have figured out that the icon job was only a ruse.
He pounded on the door and felt every rap in his erection.
How was he supposed to function like this? His body was betraying him. The moment he’d smelled her scent, he’d gone hard.
You are not a teenager.He imagined glaring holes through her body. She’d shout at him and deflect, then refuse to apologize for being stubborn and cryptic and withholding important infor—
“Come in. It’s unlocked.”
Ben yanked at the door and it swung open, only to be met with Tenzin hanging upside down from a bed mounted from the ceiling.
She was insane. And adorable. And he’d missed her like crazy, even after only a few days apart. Seeing her in Bucharest had been like an alcoholic getting a sip of whiskey when he wanted to down the whole bottle.
