His caution recoiled at the thought. “I hate you so much right now.”
“If you think your hate will prevent me from doing what it takes to keep you safe, then you do not understand me at all.”
“You’re right.” He opened the door. “I don’t understand you at all.”
“Liar.” She held her hands out to Radu as they approached the booth. “Thank you for excusing us. It has been some time since we have been able to speak in private.”
Ben slid next to Chloe as Radu rose to let Tenzin into her seat. “Tenzin wanted me to tell you about the Corsican lead first. We’re quite optimistic.”
Radu looked between them. “So you are officially accepting this job?”
“Of course. You’ve presented us with an irresistible challenge.” Tenzin turned her smile toward Ben. “We’re both quite intrigued by the possibilities.”
Gavin and Chloe waited until they’d entered the soundproof car before they started on the questions.
“Oh my God!” Chloe was nearly shouting. “What was that? What is going on? I feel so lost right now!”
“The atmosphere was…” Gavin cleared his throat. “…noticeable.”
Ben stared into the sky where Tenzin had already disappeared. “Hopefully Radu thinks it was just repressed sexual tension or something.”
“Oh, it was definitely repressed sexual tension,” Chloe said. “Holy shit. I have to admit, I was still kind of wondering if you two had slept together before tonight—”
“I wasn’t sure either.” Gavin looked at Chloe. “They have.”
“They definitely have.” Chloe leaned back into the seat of the sedan. “Why is she here? How does she know Radu—because he definitely knows her—why is she here?”
Ben cut his eyes toward Chloe and Gavin. “She didn’t tell you she was coming?”
“No.” Gavin shook his head. “I would have warned you.”
“I know the three of you are pals.” Ben’s voice was bitter. “But if you—”
“Ben, we didn’t know.” Chloe’s eyes were wide. “I know you’re angry with her. And I even understand why, but—”
“But you’re not.” Ben knew that betrayal wasn’t the right emotion, but seeing Tenzin had tossed him completely upside down. “You don’t understand it, Chloe. Don’t pretend you do.”
“Watch your tone.” Gavin’s voice was a low warning. “What the hell do you expect, Vecchio? Were we supposed to be disappointed that she saved your life?”
“She took my life!” His fangs fell. “How am I the only one who sees that?”
Gavin leaned forward, blocking Chloe from Ben’s view. “Did she plan it, Ben? Was it her own blade in your back? Or did she react in the best way she could when everything went to shit?”
“Since Tenzin is the one who kept dragging me into her damn problems and apparently she didn’t want to let me die a normal death, she should have had a better plan when everything went to shit!”
Gavin laughed bitterly. “Dear God, I hope you never expect me to be as omniscient as you expect her to be.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you expect too damn much of her.” Gavin’s jaw was clenched. “She’s not a fucking god, Ben. She’s a vampire, but she’s human too. You’re too fucking close to see it, and it’s not bloody fair. She did the only thing she could think to do when someone she loved was dying. How do you not fucking see that?”
Ben rapped on the divider, and the driver rolled down the screen.
“Yes, sir?”
“Stop the car please.”
Ben opened the door as soon as the vehicle came to a halt and disappeared into the night.
11
Ben walked through the pitch-black streets of Bucharest, a spring drizzle falling on his shoulders and dampening his hair, which fell onto his forehead in dark wet curls. He couldn’t stop replaying Gavin’s words in his mind.
She’s a vampire, but she’s human too… She did the only thing she could think to do when someone she loved was dying.
No, no, no, no. She could have taken him to the hospital. She could have listened to him. He’d begged her so many times—
If you think your hate will prevent me from doing what it takes to keep you safe, then you do not understand me at all.
Ben heard human footsteps behind him, at least three sets. He smelled their breath tinged with vodka, and their blood.
Yes. A fight was exactly what he wanted.
Ben turned right into an alley and allowed the men to follow him closer. He slowed down, waiting for them to approach.
They shouted something in Romanian. He recognized a few words, but they were slurred. All three were very drunk. Ben turned, his hands shoved in his pockets, and the men came to a stop.
One of them, the stumbling one on the right, blinked slowly three times; then with the instincts of the truly drunk, he turned and walked back down the alley.
“Idioți,” he shouted.
Well, that didn’t need any translation.
Ben stood at the end of the alley, calmly waiting for the men to get tired of mumbling insults at him and laughing.
The one in front held out his hand. “Tourist,” he spat out in English. His head was shaved and he wore a military-style jacket with dirty medals all over the front. “Hey, tourist. Give me your money, ass hole.”
“The accent needs some work.” Ben was relieved he had some human jackasses to distract him. “I guess I can’t say anything though. I don’t speak a lick of Romanian, stronzo.”
The man on the left narrowed his eyes.
“Does that translate?” Ben asked, stepping toward them.
The drunk on the left stepped back, but the man in the jacket didn’t move. He puffed out his chest and took a knife from his pocket.
“Give me your money,” he slurred. “See?” He held out the knife. “Ass. Hole.”
Ben’s arm moved so fast the man wouldn’t even be able to see it. He punched out swiftly and caught the man straight in the throat. The guy stumbled back and fell, clutching his neck and wheezing. The man on the left turned and ran into the wall, righted himself, and then ran toward the street.
Ben walked over to the man in the jacket and picked him up by the collar. Then he shoved him against the wall, put his hand on the man’s head, and let his amnis wash over him.
“Not so tough now, are you?” Ben kicked the knife that had fallen out of the man’s hand. “Not so tough without your friends and your knife.”
Ben wanted to hurt him. He wanted to humiliate him. He wanted to move his thumb an inch to the left and gouge out one of the vacant eyes of the human predator who’d followed a stranger down an alley. He wanted…
“Give me your money.” Ben bent the man’s neck to the side, exposing the artery. “Ass. Hole.”
The man was in a daze as Ben bit into his neck and drank. He didn’t struggle or try to push Ben away. He was weak-minded and intoxicated on top of it.