“I do not recognize voice signature for the current account,” Cara said. “Shall I log out Tenzin?”
“No,” Tenzin said. “Delete ‘All-natural male enhancement,’ Cara. Next message.”
“From Jonathan Rothwell. ‘Confirming details for upcoming travel.’”
“Save,” Tenzin said quickly, glancing at Ben. “I’ll read that later.”
He kept his eyes on his bookshelves. “You going to Shanghai?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Ben tried not to react. Jonathan Rothwell was the personal secretary for Cheng, an honest-to-goodness vampire pirate who ruled Shanghai. He was also Tenzin’s ex… something. Former lover? Current lover? Ben had met Cheng on the very first job he and Tenzin had done together four years before, but he still didn’t have an answer.
It’s none of your business. Ben said, “We don’t have anything on the schedule, so whatever you want to do.”
Ben decided to reorganize the art section of his bookshelves. He’d had the hardbacks arranged by color, but Tenzin had screwed it all up. He might as well reorganize according to style and period.
Tenzin called, “Cara, next message.”
“From René DuPont. ‘Think about it.’”
Ben’s head popped up and his eyes went wide. “What?”
“Cara,” Tenzin called, “move that one to the folder labeled René.”
“You have a folder labeled René?” Ben asked. “A folder?”
Tenzin shrugged. “Know your enemies and know yourself.”
“He tried to kill me last summer in Scotland. Several times.”
Tenzin squinted. “Did he really try to kill you though? I mean, you did steal a sword from him,” she pointed out. “A really valuable, legendary one.”
“One,” Ben said, “I didn’t steal it from him. He stole it from me after I found it. I just took it back. And two, he wanted that old vampire to drain me, so yes he tried to kill me.”
“Your points are valid.” She flipped through the magazine.
“Thank you. What does he want?”
“I don’t know. Do you want his email address?” Tenzin looked up. “He often sends me funny jokes. You might find them amusing.”
Ben blinked. “René DuPont, thief for hire and the vampire who tried to kill your partner, sends you spam emails and you don’t mind?”
“You know, I don’t think he was serious about killing you,” Tenzin said. “That’s just his sense of humor.”
Ben was half-tempted to ask her to forward René’s “funny jokes” just to find out what a sociopathic immortal thief found funny.
Then he remembered he lived with Tenzin.
René DuPont was part of a clan his uncle had strong ties with, so Ben didn’t want to pick a fight unless he had no other choice. He and Tenzin had come off their last confrontation with René looking like the winners and the reasonable party.
Ben smiled. René probably loathed that as much as he loathed Ben.
Or as much as he wanted Tenzin. René hadn’t been shy about expressing his admiration in that direction.
“You know what?” he said. “Never mind. Seeing that name in my inbox would just make my head explode. Tell me if you think he’s going to be in the US or if our paths are going to cross. That’s all I ask.”
“Okay. Cara, next message!” Tenzin yelled.
“From Novia O’Brien. Copied to Ben Vecchio. ‘Monthly meeting at Bat and Barrel?’”
Ben looked up. “Better read the whole thing. She’s been trying to pay off that favor for six months. She and Cormac are getting annoyed.”
“I don’t care,” Tenzin said. She dropped the magazine and flew back up to her loft. “It was a pair of opera glasses, but it wasn’t an easy retrieval. I’m not willing to waste a favor so they can mark it off their ledger. Let them be annoyed. Cara, read message.”
Cara read, “Good evening. Would love to meet and touch base with the two of you when you have a free night. Gavin’s new pub is getting good buzz. Saturday night at eleven work for you two?’”
Ben waited for Tenzin to look at him. “We need to throw them a bone.”
“I don’t understand the idiom,” Tenzin said. She turned her eyes and stared at the opposite wall, swinging one leg back and forth on the edge of her room.
“Yes, you do,” Ben said. “Don’t play dumb. Throw them a bone. Let them pay us back.”
She shrugged. “I don’t need anything from them right now.”
“It was two days’ work at the most—”
“And I refused to let them pay us for that reason,” she said.
“The O’Briens are a huge clan,” Ben said. “They’re independent, and they don’t like owing people.”
She smiled. “Well, they owe us now.”
“I know you live for racking up favors,” Ben said, “but we live here at their pleasure.”
Tenzin laughed.
The vampires in charge of the great city of New York were the O’Briens, a clan of earth vampires who’d taken over the city in a violent coup and held it for a century through numbers, wise bribery, and clever manipulation.
Ben and Tenzin had moved to New York with the understanding that Tenzin—a highly powerful and connected vampire—would demonstrate no ambition that would challenge the current vampires in charge. She would also use her influence and connections in Asia to increase foreign trade.
“All I’m saying,” Ben said, “is that unless you want cause an intercity incident, piss off a powerful earth vampire clan, kill a bunch of people, and take control of the city—which obviously you could do if you really wanted to—we should probably just meet with Novia and let her do something nice for us so her sire feels better.”
Tenzin dropped from her room and hung upside down, her face level with Ben’s. Talking to her like that was always disorienting.
That was, of course, why she did it.
“Is there something you need?” Ben asked.
“I’m hungry.”
“Doubtful.” He’d seen her drink a tall glass of blood three days ago while she was binge-watching a British reality show. At Tenzin’s age, she didn’t need much blood to survive.
Nevertheless, she glanced down at his neck and licked her lower lip.
“Don’t piss me off, Tenzin.” That was not their agreement. They were partners. He wasn’t food.
“Novia said she wants to meet at Gavin’s? Why Gavin’s? There are too many humans there.”
And Tenzin couldn’t be around humans too often. Unlike most vampires, her fangs never retracted, which could lead to some awkward staring in the wrong places.
“Gavin pays the extra tribute to have neutral pubs in every city,” Ben said quietly. “Novia is leveling the playing field, making the effort to accommodate your status. We should meet her.”
Tenzin narrowed her eyes. “You meet her first. Tonight.”
“Fine.” Massaging egos was all part of the vampire package.
Tenzin flew back to her room and Ben continued organizing his books, mentally composing the email he’d send to Novia.