“I saw you last night.”
“I was around, but I wasn’t following you.” Ben glanced between the two vampires with Vano as if to say “Are you hearing this too?”
“When I was close by, you were watching,” he said. “Waiting.”
“For what?” Ben scratched the beard he’d been growing out. “I mean… wait, there’s a thing happening, right?”
“A thing?”
“The festival?” Ben stepped forward and leaned into his Southern California surfer voice a little. It nearly guaranteed whoever was talking with him would dismiss him and think he was an idiot. “Like, that’s why everyone is here, right?” Ben looked between all three of them. “You and Kezia and Radu. There’s like a party or something, right?”
Vano was clearly irritated. His smooth face was wrinkled into an expression that said he’d caught a whiff of something foul. “Stay out of my business and keep to the silly amusements my brother plans for his guests. The festival is not for you.”
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
Ben stepped closer and used his height to subtly look down on Vano. “My uncle said you were smart.”
Vano’s men laughed and Vano smirked. “You should run along now, young Vecchio. Listen to your uncle.”
Ben returned the smile and let the “surfer dude” fall from his voice. “Yes, very interesting.”
Vano’s gaze sharpened. “If I were you, I’d be careful to not become involved in things that could get you or your friends killed.”
Ben had been keeping a strict leash on his amnis, but he allowed it to break free and the wind went wild. It knocked both of Vano’s men off their feet and made his own ears pop.
Vano stood in place, but Ben saw him leaning. It was taking effort for the other vampire to remain standing.
“Right.” Ben walked past Vano. “You really think my friends are afraid of you? That’s a take. Not a good one, but it’s a take.”
Ben strode away from the scheming little asshole vampire, giving the man his back. He’d observed enough vampire body language to know that Vano would take it as the insult it was. You worry me so little, I’ll turn my back to you.
Ben wasn’t afraid, but he was irritated. Not only did he have a red spot on his neck, he thought he might be bleeding.
It didn’t matter; he was focused on one thing: René in Tenzin’s trailer minutes after sunset, clearly in the middle of something Ben had interrupted.
What. The. Fuck?
Ben nearly ran into René when he turned the corner. He brought himself up short, and it took every ounce of control he had not to twist René’s head from his neck.
Pop. It would come off like a champagne cork. He could even throw it into the air in celebration. Look, everyone! The annoying little bastard is finally, really dead.
“Before you say anything—”
Ben’s fist shot out and slammed into René’s smug mouth.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Vecchio?” René’s lip was bloody, but he wasn’t on the ground. “You think this is going to impress her?”
“I don’t care,” Ben said. “I really don’t. I’ve been wanting to do this for years.” His left fist curled up and into René’s solar plexus.
The vampire’s breath collapsed and his body folded in two. He flew through the air, fifty yards from the clearing, and crashed into a large oak tree.
That felt good. Ben cocked his neck from one side to the other, releasing the tension that had gripped him since he’d heard René’s voice on the other end of the line. “You just don’t get it, do you?” He flew over and landed into a walk. “She thinks you’re annoying.”
René snarled and pressed his hands to the ground.
The earth reached up and tossed Ben from his feet. He stumbled for a second before he picked his legs up and floated through the air. “Nice trick.”
“Yes, I have a few. Make sure you ask Tenzin about the rest.”
Ben wasn’t in reach of René, but he forced the heel of his hand out, aiming for the chin, and the air speared out and snapped René’s neck back. Ben heard the crack and smiled.
“You idiot!” René snarled. “I am trying to help you.”
“Yeah? How’s that? You going to confess to being the thief?”
“I’m not the thief.” René’s lip curled. “You think I’d be helping you if I was?”
“I would not put it past you.” Ben hovered a few inches off the ground. “Why are you here?”
He cocked his head at Ben as if to say Really?
“Don’t tell me you don’t have a theory,” René said. “Tenzin—”
“Tenzin thinks you’re amusing.”
“I thought you said she thought I was annoying.”
“That too.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest. “She has a soft spot for thieves.”
René rolled his eyes. “Clearly.”
“I’m not talking about me.”
“No? You should be. Don’t pretend you’re anything more than a thief, Vecchio. A thief who comes from thieves. You think your uncle trades for the manuscripts he finds? You think he buys them from auctions? You think Tenzin gained her wealth through honest means and the pittance of an assassin’s wages?”
“What does that have to do with—?”
“You Vecchios think you are so noble.” René curled his lip. “You all think you’re better than the rest of us. You’re not.” René spat out his name. “Benjamin Vecchio, warrior of Penglai, Master of Iron in blah, blah, blah.” René lifted his hands and the earth rose under him. “What are you but another immortal’s creation? At least I make my own way in life and don’t trade on my family’s name.”
“Because they’re sick of you?”
“Because I have my own identity!” René thumped a fist against his chest. “Not theirs! Mine.”
It was clearly a sore subject, but Ben still felt like making René bleed. “How attached are you to your left hand? Not your right—I know you’re right-handed—but just your left one?”
One finger. Maybe two.
A thumb? Ben felt the edge of the dagger sewn into his pants.
“You think I’m the one who has the goblet?” René asked. “How naive are you? There is one master thief in this camp. One!” He laughed. “And it’s not me, Vecchio. It’s not you and it’s not me.”
Okay, René probably had a point. The only master thief in the camp was Tenzin. Ben kept his hands in his pockets. “You think she stole it?”
“Of course I do, and so do you. You’ve been holding her at arm’s length the entire time you’ve been here. Why?” René sneered. “Because you know the truth. You know Radu is right. If the temptation was there, she would take it. She’s playing with you! Tenzin plays by no rules but her own. She cares for none but her own. If the goblet was in front of her” —René reached out and made a grabbing motion— “she would take it without hesitation.”