Page 5 of Fangs, Frost, and Folios
Her jaw dropped and she glared at Harun. “Betrayer! You swore you’d behave yourself.” Her head whipped back to Ben. “The Japanese armor or the Czech?”
“The one that looks like a scary-as-shit statue with a rabbit on its head.”
“The Japanese.” She narrowed her eyes at Harun. “Where is Layah? Is she shitting on any of my other possessions?”
“In the birds’ defense, the armor does look a lot like a statue.”
Just then a bright yellow flicker chirped overhead, Harun took off to follow his mate, who had been perched on Tenzin’s German short sword, and a plop of white bird poop fell to the floor.
Ben looked at her. “You’re cleaning it up.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Why don’t we have servants here?”
“Because we’re capable of cleaning up after ourselves.” He glanced up. “And our pets.”
Tenzin glowered.Speak for yourself.
He walked to the kitchen, leaving Tenzin on the floor, still staring up at the sword wall. She didn’t want to think about bird poop, so she thought about swords and other shiny things. “I ordered myself a saber for Christmas.”
Ben’s beautiful mouth curved into a smile, and Tenzin was reminded again how happy she was that she hadn’t killed him any of the many times he’d annoyed her.
“I think you’re still struggling with the idea of how Christmas presents work.”
“Don’t say that when I was just thinking how happy I am that I didn’t kill you.”
Ben blinked. “What?”
“I got you a sword too. And a map of Australia from the eighteenth century. It’s horribly inaccurate.”
“That’s not the point of collecting historic maps, and can we go back to you being happy you didn’t kill me? When was this?”
“Various times over the years. Not since we’ve been… you know.”
“Mated vampires?” He leaned over the counter. “Mates. Not in the friendly Australian way, but the kind that shag—if we’re keeping to the Aussie vernacular.”
He always sounded so smug when he said it.
“Yes, that.” Tenzin glanced at the ruby ring on her left hand. “And I don’t know if your Australian slang is accurate, Benjamin.”
He clearly didn’t care. “When are you getting me a ring?”
“I got you a map of Australia.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s much better.”
“I want a ring.”
“We’re not married.”
“I didn’t ask to get married. I want a ring, and I know you have a thousand of them hidden away in various caches. Pick one for me and I’ll wear it.”
“Why?” She flipped upside down and floated. Maybe she’d get a better idea of the wall layout from another angle.
“Because I asked you.”
She already had a ring picked out for him. It was a triple gold band from a cache of gold she’d found in Scotland. She just didn’t want him to make a big deal about it.
Emotions were tricky, and she was still sorting through them. She’d taken deliberate steps to expand her emotional range, but it didn’t come easy after five millennia. Ben’s emotions were quicksilver—excited to happy to furious to merry in moments that flashed like moving pictures.
Tenzin preferred.
