He finished the thermos and set it down on the table, wiping the traces of blood from his lips with his thumb. He felt the warmth traveling from his throat, down the core of his body and into his limbs as he woke from daily torpor.
She was gone.
Left.
You asked her to leave, his mind taunted him.
“…this is a temporary thing, Tenzin. That means when we finish and I ask you to leave, you leave. And you do not follow me again.”
So… she was gone. And he had work to do.
Ben walked to the bathroom and started the shower, waiting for the steam to fill the small room. One of the more surprising things about becoming a vampire was the constant, invasive cold.
While it was true that he could heat his body with amnis, he hadn’t quite gotten to the point where it was automatic. It took effort to create an average body temperature, which meant that if the surrounding environment was cool and there were no humans around to fool, he usually didn’t make the effort.
But Ben hated being cold. It reminded him of childhood winters in New York when the landlord would shut off the heat in their building and his breath would freeze in the air as he lay in bed, wishing he could stay under the covers.
Basically, Ben now understood why so many vampires—not just the northerners—had saunas and steam rooms in their houses. He sat in the bathroom enjoying the warm, wet air surrounding him and thought through his next steps.
Return to Bucharest. Gavin had another night of meetings, but Ben didn’t need to be there and it was only a couple of hours to fly on his own. Did he want to just take off? He was sure Gavin’s place was still safe even without Gavin.
Yep. Best to just leave.
Meet with Radu and hand over the icon. Unlike some of his jobs, this wasn’t going to be hard. Nothing about the icon appealed to him. It was nice enough, but Ben didn’t understand the sentimental value, and while it was a beautiful example of early Orthodox art and it had a fascinating history, it wasn’t something he’d become attached to. It really was just a job.
The last job.
“That was what you wanted. You said, ‘This is a temporary thing, Tenzin.’ You were quite clear.”
Yes.
Yes. This was what he wanted. Ben shook off the feeling of loss.
Except she hadn’t even seemed sorry. Or angry. Or sneaky, which would tell him that she had no intention of actually leaving him alone.
It didn’t matter.
He’d leave tonight for Bucharest and call Radu to meet the next night at his club. The vampire had already paid, so nothing else needed to happen. At the end of the night, this had really been one of the more straightforward jobs he’d worked, and he hadn’t even had to wrangle about payment.
Payment in advance.
Investigate icon.
Call in favors from Corsicans to confirm a sneaky tip from associate of his aunt.
Break into cool thief’s house.
Retrieve icon.
Return icon.
And that was that.
Aaaand he hadn’t been able to talk to Tenzin about what they were going to do about the New York house. No matter. After he finished in Bucharest, he’d head to Rome for a while. He was overdue for a visit with Fabia, and he could chill in the Eternal City with Ronan and his old friends for a while. It would be good to be among familiar faces.
Would he need a formal introduction to Emil’s court now since he was under the aegis of Penglai? He buzzed Chloe.
She picked up after two rings. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
“Hey, yourself. Can you remind me when I’m finished in Bucharest to call Giovanni and ask if I need a formal letter of introduction to Emil Conti in Rome?”
“Are you going to Rome?”
“I thought I’d head over there after I’m done in Bucharest and give Fabia a visit since I’m on the continent. You and Gavin should come too. There’s plenty of room in the house, and you and Fabi could shop. She’d love to take you around.”
Chloe was suspiciously silent instead of enthusiastic. “Give me a minute.” She hung up and a knock sounded at his door a few minutes later.
“Hey.” He opened the door, and she immediately walked in with a frown on her face. “What’s up?”
“Tenzin is gone.”
“Yeah, I know.”
She looked like she was going to ask something and then changed her mind. “Okay, I have no idea what is going on, but she seemed really determined that you shouldn’t meet with Radu on your own. She thought Gavin should go with you.”
“Why?” He sat on the edge of the couch. “There’s not going to be any trouble with payment. He’s paid in advance. I’m going to drop off a painting. That’s it.”
“And I told her that, but she said not to underestimate him.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she likes to keep people on edge. At this point, I think she thinks it’s adorable, but it’s not. It’s just annoying. I’m going to fly to Bucharest tonight and I’ll meet with Radu first thing tomorrow night. Then I’m going to head to Rome.”
“I really wish you’d wait for Gavin.”
Ben stood and kissed Chloe’s forehead. “I’ll be fine. I’m not being rash. I’ve completely thought this through and there are really no dangers in meeting Radu at a club I’ve already visited in a city where I have a safe house.”
“But Ben—”
“At times like this, it’s actually convenient to be a vampire everyone worries about.” Ben started unplugging his devices and packing his backpack. “Trust me, Chloe. Radu is not stupid enough to mess with the son of Zhang Guo or the nephew of Giovanni Vecchio. He’d have vampires from half the known world pissed off at him over a minor work of art.”
She stared at him a long time. “I really don’t like this.”
“And don’t forget.” Ben folded a long-sleeved black shirt and tucked it in his backpack. “If anything gets too dangerous, I can just fly, fly away.”
Two nights later…
Ben woke in pitch darkness.
He smelled vinyl and leather.
Pine and the scent of fresh water nearby.
Fresh blood.
He touched his head, but the blow at the base of his skull had already healed itself. Scattered memories of jostling in a vehicle and heavy, unfamiliar accents. Flashing lights and the sound of truck engines revving.
He stretched out, searching for anything familiar. On his right was a ledge of some kind. He reached over. He was on a bed and there was a wall next to him, but it felt hollow. False. He slapped the wall and felt the edge of a familiar plastic fixture. It was the flat paddle of a light switch.
He pushed it and a small lamp turned on next to him, nearly blinding him with its low light.
In the newly lit compartment, Ben looked around.
Bed.
Small kitchen.
Square cupboards and plastic-covered bookshelves lined the walls. Was he on a plane? No, it was silent. He stood motionless and allowed the fear and panic to rise up so he could examine them clearly.
He took a deep breath and put his hands on the wall again.
Space. Some kind of insulation was packed behind the surface, but beyond that there was vast openness just on the other side. He reached up and felt the low ceiling. He felt the other wall and sensed the same.