Chapter Fourteen

Brigid was squinting at a map on a computer screen where tiny green, yellow, orange, and red arrows blipped on a white background. Lee was talking on the speakerphone.

"So every ship is supposed to be linked up to this system via satellite," he said. "Freighters to fishing boats. This is the live traffic on the North Atlantic right now."

Moments later, the screen flickered and the arrows moved slightly.

"This is the overhead view." Brigid glanced at Tenzin. "Look familiar?"

"No. This is… kind of useless," Tenzin said. "When you get out over the water at night, you can't see anything this clearly until you're really close. This map greatly underestimates the distance."

Brigid frowned. "But these are live trackers."

"And if this map was to scale, those arrows you see right in front of you would be grains of sand, not flashing colored arrows." Tenzin shook her head. "The only thing this helps with is seeing routes."

"Routes?" Brigid knew almost nothing about ship traffic even though she'd spent half her immortal life working for a shipping magnate in the North Atlantic.

Lee spoke again. "Yeah, I think she means that most of these boats, to get from port A to port B, would use roughly the same routes. The captains are going to know where the best channels are closer in to land. The currents are probably going to affect that."

"But it's also possible that a ship could be on this map and we would never see it," Tenzin said. "How likely do you think it's going to be that Zasha and their hunters are using a satellite?"

"Maybe it's not far-fetched," Lee said. "Remember that they're going to have to head closer toward land at some point. They'll need to get fuel. Need to resupply. If they don't have any kind of call number or signature, that might be more noticeable than having one."

"We don't even know what kind of boat they're on," Brigid said. "But Lee, let's eliminate anything that's a freighter. Big and expensive to fuel, right?"

"Oh yeah." There was a tapping sound, and then all the orange arrows disappeared. "We can do that. Narrows it down some."

"Cargo ships could be adapted to carry passengers," Tenzin said. "But maybe take out the biggest ones?"

"I can try."

More arrows disappeared, but there were still dozens dotting the board.

"Small fishing boats?" Brigid suggested. "Unless the small boats are the ones that have the satellites and the larger boat is flying under the radar."

It was something her old boss would do, mask a larger vessel with the signature and information of a small one.

"That's quite clever," Tenzin said.

"Taking notes?"

Tenzin shrugged. "I don't want any boats at the moment, but that could change."

"Lee, is there a way that you can isolate the smaller boats—ones that could go in shallower waters—and see if any of them might be way out in the middle of the ocean?"

"I can." More tapping. "You realize that all these signatures could be completely legitimate vessels, right?"

"I know, but it might narrow it down." Brigid braced her arm on the table and stared at the screen. It flickered and a bunch of arrows disappeared. "Okay." She nodded. "That's more manageable."

"More over by Ketchikan than out on the open ocean," Tenzin said. "Staying closer to the shore because of the time of year."

"Start there, Lee. Can you run profiles of all the names and whatever info we have about the boats around and near the Alexander Archipelago?"

"Absolutely, boss." Lee started tapping away. "I'll do that tonight and see if I can write some kind of program that will track the boats over a period of time too."

"Good thinking."

Tenzin was staring at the wall. Not the one that was illuminated, just a random wall. "Ignore anything that has a regular route. Zasha won't be on a schedule."

"Uh-huh. Got it."

Lee's voice was starting to sound distracted, and Brigid knew they were losing him to his computers.

"Okay, call us with your progress before you go to sleep," Brigid said. "Send us what you have, and we'll see if we can get any information from Oleg's and Katya's people."

"If Katya's people are answering phones tonight, they're not answering calls from me."

Brigid felt a prick of annoyance. "Have you tried calling Carwyn?"

"Yeah, he's not answering me either."

Fuck. He was really pissed off.

"Thanks, Lee. I'll see you soon."

"Hope so, Mini. Talk to you later."

Tenzin was frowning at her. "Mini."

"Short for Mini Firecracker," Brigid said. "Lee said I should consider it my traditional name. I think he was joking, but honestly I'm not sure."

"You do explode outward, so it's not inaccurate."

The corner of Brigid's mouth turned up. "Do you have a traditional name?"

"Tenzin."

Brigid nodded. Yeah, that fit.

"Patron goddess of the Sacred Mountain," Tenzin continued. "Scourge of the Naiman Khanlig. Commander of the Altan Wind."

"I get the idea."

"Protector of Penglai Island. Protector and scribe of New Spain." Tenzin narrowed her eyes. "There're more, but I'm not remembering?—"

"No, really. I get the idea."

"But Mini is nice," Tenzin said. "Very affectionate."

"He's a good guy." Brigid heard her phone buzzing on the table and glanced at the number, which she didn't recognize, but that wasn't unusual. Lee often routed calls through numbers she didn't recognize. She picked it up. "Did you forget somethin'?"

"So many things."

Brigid sucked in a breath. It wasn't Lee. She pulled the phone away from her ear and touched the Speaker button, putting her finger to her lips when Tenzin frowned at her.

"Hello, Zasha."

"Brigid Connor," the vampire continued. "Are you following me?" Zasha's voice was teasing. "I thought I was the one to follow you. Did you miss me?"

"I do miss you, Zasha. Tell me where you are right now and I'll visit." Brigid bit the edge of her lip. Would the vampire be just maniacal enough to do it? "You and me, Zasha. We can go look at the northern lights. I hear they're a sight."

"They're beautiful. Is Tenzin with you?"

Damn it, how did they know?

"I'm here." Tenzin kept her voice quiet. "Did you want to speak to Brigid alone? I can leave."

"You can lie."

"I can, but I also keep my promises."

Zasha was quiet for a few moments, and Brigid wondered if they'd lost them.

The vampire on the other end of the call came back. "Do you remember me now?"

"Yes," Tenzin said.

"Good. You should remember me." Zasha's voice had lost its amusement and stung with acid. "Brigid, I didn't tell you to invite intruders into our little game. You're not playing nice."

"I'm not playin' at all," Brigid said. "I'm finding destroyed homes and dead bodies, Zasha. You think that's a game?"

"I told them to clean up after themselves." Zasha tsked over the phone. "I promise they'll be neater in the future. Some of them are very excited."

"So it's hunts, is it?" Brigid sat on the edge of the bed and tried to picture the vampire in her mind.

Zasha was tall, well over six feet, and as elegant and deadly as a poisonous snake. They had a shock of red hair they did nothing to hide and eyes the color of volcanic soil. Unnerving from a few paces away, as it appeared that their eyes were black with no pupil at all.

"Back to Ivan's old games?" Brigid asked. "Back to your sire's hunts?"

"Who told you about my sire?" Zasha sounded genuinely curious. "Are you talking to my brother?"

"Which one?"

"There are so many," Zasha whispered. "Oleg left so many alive. Not like Tenzin, huh?"

Brigid looked at Tenzin, but her face was a blank.

"Tenzin killed all her sire's children. Not a single one left to carry on his blood. Except for her own mate, I suppose. I hear stories about him. Stories about power and secrets. Stories that Tenzin might not even understand. Is he with you too? Is Benjamin" —Zasha drew out his name— "with you? Is he, Tenzin?"

Brigid waited for Tenzin to answer, but the vampire's face was utterly blank.

"I would like to meet Benjamin Vecchio. Or is it Benjamin Rios? Or Benjamin?—?"

"Shut up," Tenzin snapped. "He has nothing to do with this."

"Doesn't he?" Zasha purred. "Think, little hunter. Why would your blood mate interest me?" Zasha's voice turned cold. "I'm sure if you think hard in your frozen, adolescent mind, you might come up with an answer."

Brigid felt her blood still. Was that what all this was about? Was all this about luring Tenzin's mate north so Zasha could kill Ben? Had she just put one of her closest friends in the sights of a sociopathic immortal with no qualms about killing anything in their path?

"Shhhhh," Zasha said. "Don't worry, Tenzin. I don't have anything against your mate. This is an old argument, and I'm only disappointed that you've inserted yourself between Brigid's and my growing friendship. We've gotten so close since she killed my son."

Acid burned at the back of Brigid's throat.

"Your son was a monster," Tenzin said.

"I know. I was so proud."

Tenzin stared at the phone with narrowed eyes. "I think that in your own mind, Zasha, you think we are alike. That you and I are the same in some way. But we're not."

"I didn't say that, but the fact that you did proves that you've considered it. And I think you believe we are more alike than different. Brigid, are you still there?"

Brigid considered hanging up. Her finger hovered over the button, but Tenzin reached over and pulled it away. She shook her head vehemently and nodded her chin at the phone.

Speak.

Brigid forced herself to speak. "I'm here."

"Tenzin invited herself into this, didn't she? She's always sticking herself in places where no one wants her. But I know that you and your lovely mate have an affection for Ben Vecchio. I'm telling you, I have nothing against him. They speak very highly of him in New York, and let me tell you, I adore that roof garden. I saw the pictures. It was stunning."

Brigid saw Tenzin start, and then the wind vampire pulled back, stood, and fisted her hand at her side.

"Get to the point, Zasha." Brigid felt her heart start to beat. "Tell me what you want."

"Tenzin. Obviously."

Brigid looked up and saw Tenzin staring at her. The wind vampire nodded silently.

"I think you know our little bargain now, don't you? I can't kill Tenzin. She can't kill me." Zasha's voice was a soft whisper. "But send me her head and I'll walk into the sun the next morning. Would that be enough for you?"

Brigid froze. "What?"

"You kill Tenzin and I'll stop. All of it. The hunts. The death. All of it will stop, Brigid Connor. Your innocents will be protected. Civilized vampires" —Zasha's voice dripped with condescension— "will be safe. Just send me Tenzin's head and it's over."

Tenzin sat on the edge of the bed, a smile teasing the corner of her mouth.

"Is that understood, Brigid?" Zasha's voice was playful again. "I know you won't do it, but I at least wanted to offer. I'm not unreasonable. Give me a word, Brigid Connor. Tell me you've received my proposal."

Brigid could barely form the word. "Noted."

"Good." There was a clicking sound and the line went dead.

She stared at the wall.

"You have to consider it." Tenzin held up her phone and spoke. "Cara." She looked back at Brigid. "You have to at least consider it. I won't let you kill me, but you'd be a fool not to consider it."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous." Tenzin gripped her phone. "Cara!"

Cara was the virtual assistant built into the Nocht software that let vampires run their electronic devices with minimal touch.

"Cara doesn't work up here." Brigid couldn't take her eyes off a spot on the wall. "Do you think Zasha meant it?"

"You've interacted with them more than I have. Do they lie?"

"Constantly."

"Then they might have meant it or they could change their mind." Tenzin threw her phone on the bed. "Call Chloe for me."

Brigid frowned and looked up. "Who?"

Tenzin bent down and snarled in Brigid's face. "Call Chloe Reardon. Now."

The corner of Brigid's mouth turned up and her fangs dropped, but she had Chloe's number. "Wake." Her phone came to life in her hand. "Call Chloe Reardon."

The phone rang and rang, but finally a voice picked up. "Who is this?"

"Chloe, are you safe?" Tenzin shouted at the phone.

"Oh my God, Tenzin." Chloe sounded as if she'd been crying. "Tenzin, I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" Tenzin stood, and her feet left the floor. "Is Gavin with you?"

"He's talking to the firefighters right now." Chloe sniffed. "Tenzin, it's— I don't know how it happened. Maybe an electrical fire or something. I know I didn't leave a candle burning, and I haven't cooked anything there since you guys left, so I don't know what?—"

"Firefighters." Tenzin was frozen, her eyes blinking rapidly. "They burned the loft."

Brigid's heart sank.

Ben and Tenzin's loft in New York had been their sanctuary. A refuge from the world. Brigid knew that especially for Ben, his place in New York was his pride and joy, a home he'd built for himself and Tenzin. Maybe the first home that had ever been truly his own.

"The birds," Tenzin whispered. "Chloe, did you get the birds?"

"I don't think anyone could have… I mean, they said the glass shattered, so it's possible they flew away but?—"

"It's winter in New York." Tenzin's face grew very calm and still. "The birds are dead." She curled her hand into a fist.

Brigid stood up. "Chloe, it's Brigid Connor. Tell Gavin and the O'Briens that whoever did this was connected to Zasha Sokholov."

"Gavin's furious because I stay at the loft sometimes when he's out of town and I was there two nights ago. He said it was an attack on him. That I could have been killed and?—"

"You could have been killed, but you woulda been collateral damage." Brigid glanced at Tenzin. "You weren't the target. Zasha was showing off."

Poking the bear.

If Zasha had wanted to make Tenzin angry, they'd done it. Brigid had never seen Tenzin as cold as she was in that moment.

She stood up and moved toward Tenzin, only to be met with a raised hand and a fist of wind that slammed her back against the wall of the room.

"Tenzin!"

"If you even think about killing me before I can kill Zasha, I will end you." Tenzin's voice was a soft monotone. "They burned his home."

Brigid gritted her teeth and managed to force out "I'm not gonna kill you."

Tenzin dropped her hand, the wind died to nothing, and Brigid fell to the ground. Her phone was still sitting on the bed, and Chloe was shouting.

"Brigid, what's happening? What is going on? Where's Ben?"

Tenzin knelt next to the bed and spoke carefully. "Chloe, do not leave Gavin's side until I tell you that you are safe. I am going to take care of this."

"Is Ben okay?"

"Benjamin will be safe." Tenzin gently touched the phone speaker. "You will be safe. Tell Arthur and Drew to stay at Gavin's for now. Gavin will know what to do."

"I'll look for the birds."

"Not without guards." Tenzin closed her eyes. "The birds aren't important now."

"Should I call Ben?"

"No, I'll call him. I'll tell him when it's time. Tell Gavin to dig up any trace of Zasha Sokholov in Alaska. I want to know any place Zasha or the Anker clan might have property—ships, ports, anything. Any financial tie." She cut her eyes to Brigid. "We're not waiting on the Russians anymore."

"Okay." Chloe sniffed. "Okay. Zasha Sokholov. The Ankers. Alaska."

"British Columbia too," Brigid added. "And the Yukon Territory. I don't think it'll be farther than that."

She took a deep breath and waited as Chloe and Tenzin said goodbye. Then Tenzin tossed Brigid's phone back at her. "You can't kill me."

"I wasn't plannin' on it, but you claim that you can't kill Zasha, so I don't know what your plan is."

Tenzin stared at Brigid to the point where Brigid felt her skin start to crawl. The small, silent vampire was as unearthly as her legend described in that moment.

"I'll kill them," Tenzin said. "Or you will. As long as I see them dead."

"You swore on the blood of your children," Brigid said.

"My children are dead." Tenzin walked toward the door. "I don't think their blood will care."