Then she closed the door.
He heard nothing for a long time, only the sound of her breath moving slowly in and out of her lungs, then her footsteps receded from the door and there was silence.
19
Chloe caught Tenzin before she left the next night. “Where will you go?”
“Back to Bucharest.” She stuffed a new video game console in her backpack next to her gloves and a Cara-enabled tablet. “Can I stay in the same place?”
Chloe nodded. “You have the code?”
“I do.”
Gavin had his regular apartment over the club in downtown Bucharest. He also had a safe house where Tenzin had stayed that few knew about. It was only accessible by air, built into an old Soviet-era warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
“How long will you be in Romania?”
Tenzin said, “No more than a few nights. I need to contact a few people; then I will probably disappear for a time.” She pulled an envelope from the pocket of her tunic and handed it to Chloe.
“What is this?”
“I emailed instructions to you about the safe in New York. The letter is for Ben.” She met Chloe’s shocked eyes. “If a year has passed from this day and I have not spoken to you, give this letter to Benjamin.”
Chloe said, “You’re scaring me.”
“Don’t be scared.” She touched the woman’s shoulder. “I don’t expect anything to happen to me. I’m quite hard to kill. But I think this is necessary. It shouldn’t take more than three to seven months.”
“Three to seven months? That’s oddly specific.”
“I think the snow will come in October.”
Chloe let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah, this is weird and cryptic even for you.”
“I know.” She frowned. “I am not going to stop working on my New Year’s resolutions, but for now I may have to pause my progress.”
“Okay.” Chloe nodded. “Again, nothing about that makes sense.”
“Hopefully I’ll be able to tell you in three to—”
“Seven months.” Chloe waved the letter. “I got you.”
“Are you and Gavin going to return to New York soon?”
“I think he said last night that he needs one more night to work here, then back to Romania for Ben’s meeting with Radu, then back to LA to drop off the plane, and then we’ll head home from there.”
“I see.” Tenzin thought rapidly. “I can’t decide if Gavin should accompany Ben to meet Radu. I think maybe he should.”
“I don’t think he was planning on it. Radu has no leverage on Ben at this point. He prepaid for the icon with all that gold, so all Ben needs to do is drop it off. Pretty straightforward.”
“Yes, all that gold…” Tenzin turned to Chloe. “Tell Gavin there is nothing about Radu that is straightforward. I warned Ben not to underestimate him, but I ended up doing it myself. Ben won’t take me seriously.”
Chloe fisted her hair in her hands. “You need to start making sense, Tenzin!”
“I know.” She quickly leaned forward and kissed Chloe’s cheek. “You are a true friend to both of us and I love you.” She hugged Chloe quickly. “You know that, correct?”
Chloe’s expression told her she hadn’t known it. “I love you too. Please be safe.”
“Of course.” Her fangs peeked out when she smiled. “I’m finally having fun again. But don’t tell Ben I said that.”
“That you’re having fun with something that’s obviously life-threatening? Yeah, I think I’ll keep that to myself.”
“Ben likes to pretend that he doesn’t also get excited by dangerous situations. I don’t understand that about him, but I have decided not to challenge his sense of self for a while.”
“Okay.” Chloe shrugged. “Sure.”
“I’ll see you in three to seven months.” Tenzin slung her backpack over her shoulder. “Hopefully.”
Ben woke from his day rest and he was starving. He hit the intercom inside his sleeping chamber.
“Yes, Mr. Vecchio? Can we help you this evening?”
Gavin’s household staff was amazing. “Can I get a thermos of preserved blood heated and sent to my room?”
“If you’ll give us ten minutes, we can have fresh delivered.”
“Sweet.” He swallowed back the burning in his throat. “Just leave it on the table. I’m going to stay secured until it’s delivered.”
“Thank you, Mr. Vecchio.”
Ben had excellent control, but he really didn’t feel like growling at room service when they delivered his blood, and with the way his throat was feeling, that was highly probable.
What had set him off so much? He tried to think back to the drifting place before he truly woke.
Right. Sex dreams about Tenzin. That would do it.
He was still confused about why he dreamed at all. According to Brigid, it wasn’t normal or natural for a new vampire to dream. When she went out, she was out. No consciousness at all. She said it was one of her favorite things about being a vampire.
But Ben wasn’t that way. He hadn’t slept like that since the first night he woke.
The first night he woke… and drank from Tenzin.
He refused to think that her blood could have affected him that much; it was one time.
Nope. Wasn’t an option.
It was probably something about Zhang’s blood being so old. It was far more likely that was the explanation.
He lay back down and waited for the intercom to chime again, and an uneasy tremor ran down his spine.
Ben sat up and stared at the wall. The realization hit him with an unexpected slap of anger.
She was gone.
He knew it like he knew blood would sate his thirst. He knew it like he knew the wind would hold him if he jumped off a building. Tenzin was gone and his amnis ached.
“Mr. Vecchio?”
“Yes?”
“Your evening meal has arrived.”
“Thank you.”
He couldn’t identify how he was feeling. He rose and gave the server a few seconds to depart. He pulled on a pair of cotton pants and a T-shirt. Then he leaned against the door and closed his eyes, thinking about the dream he’d left behind.
They were flying over a forest, a blanket of thick trees below them. They were pressed together, their bodies moving as one while the air cradled them.
Not a sex dream really. Something far more intimate.
He walked into the living area and found the thermos on the table. He gave it a quick shake—fresh blood coagulated quickly—and opened the lid to drink it straight from the thermos, ignoring the tall black mug the server had placed on the tray.
God, it was so good.
As a human, he’d always imagined blood hunger would be the same as human hunger, but it was far more intense. It was closer to being drastically thirsty than hungry, but sating that thirst was more satisfying than drinking water. It was a full-body sensual experience that was second only in pleasure to sex.
Sex and blood drinking? Well, that was probably part of the reason Ben hadn’t wanted to touch another women since his one night with Tenzin. He couldn’t imagine the intimacy of blood exchange with anyone else, but he couldn’t imagine finding any sex without blood drinking satisfactory in the least.