Page 99 of Dawn Caravan
The scent of peppers and garlic filled the air, and Tatyana continued to ignore him, speaking to the women in the kitchen with a clearly fluid grasp of the dialect they spoke.
“You’re very good at languages,” Ben said. “I’ve been trying to figure it out.”
“Poshani?”
“Yes.”
Tatyana glanced up. “You’re probably trying to fit it into a Romantic or Slavic paradigm,” she said. “Which would be your mistake. The Poshani language is primarily North Indian with opportunistic borrowing from Hungarian, Turkish, and Farsi.”
Ben grinned. “You’re a language nerd.” His aunt would approve. “How did you get to be a vampire?”
She was clearly confused by his enthusiasm. “None of your business. Do all Americans smile so much?”
“Probably.” He held a hand out. “Can I help?”
She looked at the spoon stirring the deep red stew. “You’re a wind vampire?”
“I am.”
“Then cool the stew. It’s getting a little hot.”
Easy enough. Ben channeled a swirl of air over the pot, but it splashed on one of the women’s dresses.
“Stop.” Tatyana waved a hand. “Just stop.”
She might have been as young as Ben was, but she was surprisingly good about concealing her power. He got nothing from her other than the urge to back up and give her space. She was definitely putting out “don’t touch” vibes.
“So if you don’t want to talk about yourself—”
“I don’t.” She glanced at him. “I know who you are. You didn’t need to introduce yourself. Everyone knows who you are.”
Ben leaned on the trailer behind him. “That’s so annoying.”
She waved. “Your profile isn’t exactly low, Benjamin Vecchio, son of Giovanni Vecchio, immortal son of Zhang Guo, mate of Tenzin—”
“Wait, what?” His stomach dropped.
Tatyana raised an eyebrow. “She is not your mate?”
Shit, how did he answer that question? “It’s complicated.”
Tatyana grimaced, and Ben knew she wasn’t a stranger to complicated relationships.
“Oleg?” Ben asked.
Tatyana said nothing, but the look she shot him told Ben that he wasn’t far off.
Ben stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Okay, level with me. Does everyone assume Tenzin is my mate?”
“Yes.” The twitch at the corner of her mouth was as close as she’d come to a smile. “Is she not?”
“Tell me about Oleg.”
Her mouth twitched again. “It’s difficult to remain hidden in this world, isn’t it?”
“Which is so weird, because the humans aren’t supposed to know about us.”
“Be serious. Don’t you think most of them know?”
