Ben said, “I’m sensing a but.”
Jonathan gave a single nod. “In my experience, powers that are long established are not always the quickest to see unrest within their own walls.”
Chapter Eight
Powers that are long established are not always the quickest to see unrest within their own walls.
Ben contemplated Jonathan’s words en route to Penglai. Tenzin was perched on the front rail of the boat, and Ben was sprawled in a deck chair behind her, taking in the ocean air for as long as possible. While the night lasted, he could leave the wretched hold of the ship. Sitting on deck, Ben felt as if the wind were feeding him. It caressed his skin and curled through his hair, whispering secrets and energizing his amnis with every gust.
She turned and looked over her shoulder. “You’re thinking about what Jonathan said.”
How could she always read his mind? “Yes.”
“He’s an outsider.”
“Aren’t we?”
“Of course not.” She turned and swung her legs toward him. “Penglai is in our blood. You woke there. Our sire founded it with his former enemies. We are as native to Penglai as any vampire in the world. Jonathan is not.”
Ben frowned. “How did it come to be?”
“The islands?”
“Yes.”
She looked into the distance. “I wasn’t there for the beginning. I believe Zhang and Elder Li came first. The others followed. The islanders built the palace over time as a way to honor the immortals.”
“Was the monastery already there?”
“I believe so. Or something like it. Penglai has always been a holy place.”
Something about the whole setup was starting to bother Ben. He’d always just accepted Penglai Island as Zhang’s kingdom before. He arrived by air, spent time in the palace, then flew away again. He didn’t think about carpenters reinforcing ancient wooden gates, where the food came from that fed the palace compound, or how the wood arrived in the fireplaces every night.
But now?
Now he was looking, and maybe he was seeing what Jonathan had implied.
Was there unrest in Penglai?
Would the elders even see it if there was?
Two nights later, Ben and Tenzin met Jae again at the tavern in Penglai town. This time they were sharing a jug of the local beer, and Ben was enjoying the snappy herbal brew that had a hint of honey.
“I spoke to Myung again,” Jae said. “He even allowed me to search the harbormaster’s logbooks myself. I looked at the days after the theft of the Pearl Seal, wondering if there was anyone on the island who left for an unexpected trip to the mainland.” He shook his head. “There was nothing.”
Ben held up two fingers. “You’re forgetting two elements.”
Jae frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Water and wind.” Tenzin leaned her elbows on the table. “A water vampire could simply swim to the island, steal the seal, and swim away again without alerting anyone. Same for a wind vampire. I come and go from the island at my leisure,” Tenzin said. “No one tracks me.”
“Of course the guards do,” Jae said. “And there are guards in the water and in the air.”
She smiled. “Do you really think I can’t avoid them?”
Jae looked as if Tenzin had just told him Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny didn’t exist. “So there is nothing secure about the islands?” His voice was barely over a whisper.
“I’m not saying that,” Tenzin said. “Because the moment I interact with anyone, human or vampire, I come to the attention of the elders. And who is to say that Elder Li and Elder Cao cannot sense the moment my foot touches land?”
Jae relaxed a little.
Ben was betting that both the earth elders could sense any foreign amnis on their soil, but that still didn’t take away from the fact that a wind vampire wouldn’t have to set foot on any soil to steal the relic.
“I am scheduled to meet with Elder Han later tonight.” Jae’s eyes looked defeated. “My master will want to know our progress, but it seems that we have made none.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Ben said.
“Really?” Tenzin frowned. “I would.”
“We know that Cheng didn’t steal the seal,” Ben said. “We have one less suspect.”
Jae’s eyes were wide. “That is… some progress. You are correct.”
“Further, we got more insight into the dynamics in Sina’s court. Jonathan and Cheng were being open with us. It sounds like Sina’s mate and her daughter are fighting more than we realized,” Ben said. “Is it possible that her mate, Ayal, is the one responsible for the theft? Could he be working with someone on the island?”
Jae nodded. “This is knowledge we didn’t have before. I’ll take this to Elder Han and see if he has any additional information. Being mated to Mahina, he may have answers to these questions that can help us in our investigation.”
“Sounds good,” Ben said. “Let us know what he has to say.”
Jae finished his beer and left the tavern. Ben and Tenzin remained, a half-drunk jug of beer between them.
“You’re quiet tonight.”
Tenzin looked up from contemplating her beer. “You flexed your power openly when you were fighting Cheng the other night. Was that your intention or was it unknowingly done?”
Ben blinked. “Have you been thinking about this for two nights?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re just asking now?”
She frowned. “I wanted to consider my words.”
Ben chewed on his bottom lip a little bit. “Does it matter if it was conscious or not?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“One implies control, the other does not. You have power, but your control is still developing.” She frowned. “We came at our elemental ability in very opposite fashion. When Zhang sired me, he was much younger, had many children, and I was not particularly powerful. I developed control over what power I had in order to use it most effectively.”
It was the most she’d ever shared about her early life, and Ben wanted more. He doubted she’d be more forthcoming though. Tenzin tossed out details of her past like bread crumbs that were snatched away by the wind.
Ben said, “So unlike you, I got a whole lot of power very quickly when Zhang sired me because he’s so old and hasn’t sired any other children over the years.”
“Yes.”
Ben had wondered for years why that was. He had his suspicions, but he’d been reluctant to ask the questions. Something about the chaos of the tavern and the curtains around their booth made him bold. “Why?”
Tenzin’s face showed no surprise; it was almost as if she’d been expecting the question. She probably had been. “Why did Zhang sire no other children in thousands of years?”
“Yes.”
Her gaze never wavered, and Ben knew what she was going to say before the words left her mouth. “He knew that I would kill them.”
His heart felt as if it were made from lead. “Because you killed his other children.”