Tenzin let the subject lie. It wasn’t the true reason she’d come. “Something is happening in the old world,” Tenzin said. “My father came to give me a message in New York.”
Lucien blinked. “Zhang came to New York?”
“He told me Arosh had found the bone scroll in Aksum.” Arosh, the ancient Fire King of the Near East, was one of the Council of Alitea and Saba’s consort much of the time. As such, Lucien knew him about as well as any living vampire Tenzin could think of.
“Zhang thinks Arosh has the bone scroll?” Lucien closed his eyes and shook his head a little. “Your father thinks the bone scroll is real?”
“He says he knows it is. He says he saw it in the possession of a Manichaean missionary in the sixth century.”
“And he didn’t take it?”
“He didn’t realize what it was at the time. It was just an old scroll written in a language no one could decipher. I’d heard about the bone scroll, but only as a myth. Zhang had no idea.”
“It’s practically a vampire urban legend,” Lucien said. “I don’t think it exists. And if it did, why would it be in Aksum?”
Tenzin spread her hands out. “How did the Hebrew Ark of the Covenant end up there? I don’t know, Lucien. People like to hide things in Ethiopia.” That wasn’t how it ended up there, but she didn’t have any obligation to share her research with Saba’s son.
“The Ark…” Lucien waved a hand. “Longer story. Tenzin, if the bone scroll exists, and if it does what the stories say it does, then I am confident that Arosh does not have it. He probably put out that rumor for political reasons or something. It’s petty posturing.”
“How are you so sure?”
Lucien pursed his lips. “Has he overtaken the immortal world in the past few months and no one told me?”
Tenzin narrowed her eyes. “No.”
“There you are.” Lucien shrugged. “He doesn’t have it.”
2
Ben didn’t wait for Tenzin to arrive at the restaurant to place an order; he’d known the woman for over a decade, and he knew what she’d want to eat. He ordered a bowl of noodles and a bowl of polo from the dark-haired waiter, then settled into the corner booth, sipping a glass of Coke and soda water. The older he got as a vampire, the more he disliked how sweet most sodas were. He found most flavors intense, but sweetness bothered him more than most.
The Central Asian restaurant was open twenty-four hours, owned by a grumpy Kazakh earth vampire, and served an eclectic clientele. Most of the patrons that night were young vampires like Ben, taking advantage of a discreet location to meet humans or fellow immortals without dishing out the money for pricier vampire clubs.
One of the things that Ben had learned quickly was a lot of vampires—especially young ones—were remarkably cheap. While some immortals came from wealthy families like Ben did, a lot of them were what his father would have called “working stiffs.”
Kind of literally, in a vampire’s case.
If you were newly turned and under the aegis of a powerful vampire, you weren’t likely to have a lot of money unless your sire was particularly generous. Those who ascended the hierarchy in clans gained power, influence, and cash. Those just starting out had to earn their keep.
Unlike Ben, most of these younger vampires didn’t have to consciously put a mental blanket over their amnis so they wouldn’t start a fight when they went out for middle-of-the-night noodles.
Ben was watching the two a.m. traffic pass when he felt her approach. Tenzin and he had shared blood a few times, but Ben was cautious. He didn’t know what all was involved in a blood bond, and he didn’t want to form one without talking to Tenzin, who didn’t seem interested in discussing the subject.
Rock, meet hard place. They hadn’t shared blood in months. A bed? Absolutely. But not blood.
As Tenzin walked through the door and headed toward him, he thought about an old joke he’d heard from his uncle’s butler, Caspar.
Question: How do porcupines mate?
Answer: Very carefully.
She sat down, and she was soaking wet.
Ben blinked. “Did you go swimming in the bay?”
“No.” Tenzin leaned over and wrung out her hair on the floor next to the booth. The Kazakh in the opposite corner started muttering at her in a language Ben didn’t understand. Tenzin turned and said something in the same language before giving the man a gesture Ben didn’t need to translate.
“Are you trying to get us kicked out? I like the food here.”
“I know him.” She shrugged one shoulder. “His wife is wonderful and likes me. She’s too good for him, and I remind him of it regularly.”
“Vampire or human?” He shoved a half-full glass of tea toward her. “Do you want a towel?”
She reached for the tea. “For what?”
He shook his head. “Never mind. How did the meeting go?”
“Lucien doesn’t think he has it.”
Mindful of vampire hearing around them, Ben kept things vague. “Really?”
“Really.” She sipped her tea, then added sugar. “He says if he’d had it, he’d have used it by now, so he must not have it. I don’t think Lucien even believes in it.”
Ben reached for the sugar before she could go overboard. “But you do?”
“Of course. If my father says it’s real, it’s real.”
Ben still didn’t have the full picture on this scroll made of bones, but he knew enough to know it was considered a magical artifact, and Ben treated anything purporting to be magical with a huge degree of skepticism.
Sure, he was a vampire, but that was all explainable when you understood amnis.
And where amnis came from? Maybe they didn’t quite understand that yet, but what animated any kind of life really? Magic scrolls of power, on the other hand, seemed about as realistic as werewolves, zombies, and witches who flew on broomsticks.
“Tenzin?”
“Hmm?” She sipped her tea, seemingly lost in thought.
“Do you believe in witches and werewolves?”
“Witches? Of course. Werewolves are biologically ridiculous.”
He smiled but didn’t ask more. He was sure she’d have an explanation if he asked, but their food was coming; he could smell the lamb and cumin from the kitchen. He set a plate in front of her, along with some chopsticks and a large spoon.
Their food arrived, and he spooned some of the polo onto her plate, then a portion of noodles. Tenzin was still staring into space.
“Hey, good-lookin’.” He nudged her foot with his. “You come here often?”
Tenzin blinked and refocused on him. “What?”
Ben picked up his spoon and started on the polo. “I was just wondering if you ate here often. It’s my first time at this place. Do you live in the neighborhood? I just moved here. We could go for coffee sometime if you want, get to know each other.” He winked at her confused expression.
Tenzin cocked her head, staring at Ben as if he’d grown two heads. “Did something happen to your memory?”
He couldn’t help it. Ben broke into a grin. “I’m teasing you, Tenzin.”