Page 121 of Crimson Oath
The wind vampire was dangling from a tree branch, peering down at him with her fangs out and a slight smile on her lips. “Hail, Varangian.”
“Greetings, Khazar.” He leaned against the trunk of a pine tree and crossed his arms as he greeted one of the oldest vampires he knew. “What you doing in these woods, Tenzin?”
He shouldn’t have been surprised. If there was a Vecchio nearby, Tenzin was likely in the vicinity.
Like so many of his kind, she was an enigma. Tenzin of Penglai could have been an ancient or a teenage girl. Her black hair fell over her shoulders, and she wore black clothes. The only thing that made her stand out in the shadows was her pale skin and her fangs.
“Do I need an excuse to summer in Eastern Europe?” she asked. “The weather is perfect.”
“You need an excuse to be in my territory.”
She was likely over three thousand years old, and Oleg knew her well. Tenzin tended to frequent various hideouts in Central Asia, some of which overlapped his territory. They’d traded favors over the centuries, but mostly they kept out of each other’s way.
Seeing Tenzin perched in a tree near the kamvasa was an unexpected wrinkle in his plans.
“Why are you spying on the Poshani?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Spyingis an inaccurate word when they are crossing my territory. Are you here to kill someone?”
“No.” Her answer was swift enough that he believed her. “At least not today. But there’s always tomorrow.”
Would Arosh have sent her? Saba? Tenzin would never work for Ivan because Oleg’s brother disgusted her.
Who would have enough money to draw Tenzin to eliminate a mark?
“So why are you here?” Oleg asked. “Don’t lie.”
“But I enjoy it so much.” She swung down from one branch to another. “I’m a guest of the Poshani.” She dangled upside down and let her hair fall over her head. “So technically you’re kind of inmyterritory right now.”
Thatwas a surprise.
Why would Tenzin be hiding from anyone? Most people in the immortal world considered her an urban legend, and the few who knew she truly existed would be wary to cross her.
“You’re a guest? Of the Dawn Caravan?” He used the name that outsiders had given it.
“I was invited to the Vashana.” Her eyes were wide and deceptively innocent. “You too?”
In addition to being an excellent and discreet assassin, Tenzin was also a very good thief, which made her invitation to the kamvasa an interesting choice. “Who invited you?”
She smiled. “That’s a highly personal question that I am not going to answer.”
First René DuPont, whom Ludmila had said was definitely a thief.
Now Tenzin?
Two well-known thieves were attending the Poshani’s most important festival. It could not be a coincidence.
“What about you?” Tenzin asked. “Who invited you?”
“Me?” Oleg played innocent. “I am not here.”
She stared at him. “That is an inaccurate statement. You are here.”
“What I mean is, unless you want to create problems?—”
“Which I do enjoy doing.” She swung out, flipped over, and floated to the ground.
