Chapter Seventeen

Prague, 1822

Tenzin stared at the crumpled body of the human, his innards splayed on the damp grey cobblestones of a narrow street in the old Bohemian city, blood pooling beneath his body and leaking in ever-spreading rivulets between the stones.

She pulled a wool cloak around her face, hiding her features. Her cover in Prague was as the foreign wife of a rich merchant, but in the human world, fear and suspicion often found their target in unfamiliar faces.

She wore a long wool dress in the modern fashion of a wealthy married woman, the heavy fabric shielding her from the worst of the damp cold and rain in the old city. Her boots were tight and unpleasantly stiff, but they were practical for the stone streets.

She glanced up at the stone balcony and the figure with pale blond hair peering over the ledge. It appeared the man had jumped from the balcony. Or he'd been pushed. Either one was possible.

"They just keep doing this."

Tenzin looked to her right to see a tall figure in a black cloak staring down at the body. The stranger was clearly a vampire, but Tenzin had a hard time pinpointing what type of element he wielded.

His collar was elegant and pure white—barely contrasting with his pale skin—and his neck was wrapped carefully to ward off the cold. A dark top hat made the vampire appear even taller than he already was. A hooded cape with red trim flowed from broad shoulders, the fur-trimmed collar turned up to cover most of his face.

The stranger nudged the body with the toe of his black leather boot. He was speaking German, not unusual in the old Bohemian capital. "What a shame."

She responded in the same language, hoping her accent wasn't too difficult to understand. "They do seem to like this type of execution."

"Execution is a softer word than murder."

What a curious thing to say. "Did you know him?"

His amnis was cloaked with a very heavy buffer that told Tenzin he was powerful but clumsy. Maybe young, maybe simply uneducated. It was as if a somewhat clever child had thrown a blanket over a wolf, but the animal was fighting to break free.

"I knew him." The stranger's voice was close to a sigh. "At least, I knew a part of him."

She nodded. "A social acquaintance then."

"Yes, I only knew his sexual organs." The cloak tipped back, and a faint smile lifted the corner of beautifully curved lips. "They were quite nice."

"Ah." Taking human lovers was common among her kind. They were amusing pastimes, and some vampires even became attached to them.

Not Tenzin.

"An unfortunate loss for you." Tenzin was debating her next move. "My condolences."

"Poor Josef." The vampire kept looking between her and the body; she caught a glimpse of dark eyes and pale skin, not unusual for immortals who couldn't survive sun. "Did you know him?"

"No."

"Then what are you doing here?" The corner of his mouth turned up. "Just passing by?"

Tenzin looked up at the balcony, but there was another person now. She'd been planning to use that balcony as an entry point for the theft, but now that was definitely out of the question for the night.

She wasn't going to follow her plan anymore, so there was no harm in telling the stranger. "I was supposed to be stealing a particularly beautiful clock from this human's house."

"I see." The vampire nodded. "The gold Boulle on the third floor?"

"Yes, exactly." Tenzin moved her foot as the human's blood seeped down the channel between the cobblestones. "I have a client in Paris who would like to retrieve it. It was given to this human without their permission."

"So irritating when that happens." The vampire's tone was casual. "The Boulle is a lovely piece."

She nodded. "I saw the drawings, but I haven't seen it in person."

Voices rose from down the street, and a few doors opened and slammed shut. Someone rang a bell in the distance, and the distant sound of carriage wheels made Tenzin go on alert.

She hated carriages.

"You wouldn't miss it," the other vampire said. "He kept in on the mantelpiece in the upstairs library."

Tenzin narrowed her eyes and looked at the balcony again, where three people were shouting. "I think the humans are coming. I should retrieve it another time."

"Not a bad idea. Perhaps tomorrow night?"

I'm not telling you when I'm coming back. She couldn't see the vampire fully, but she didn't trust him. His clumsily cloaked amnis put her on edge. "Perhaps."

"They call you Tenzin, don't they?"

She kept her face carefully blank as she looked at him from the corner of her eye. Her faithful bronze blade was secured in a pocket built into her skirts, she had a garrote in her waist pocket, and a thin blade was tucked in her hair, disguised as a hatpin.

She kept her voice low. "Some call me that."

"I mean no offense." He clicked his heels together and bowed a little bit. "Your reputation precedes you."

She had no idea if that was a compliment or a threat. She wanted to see more of the stranger's face, but the vampire kept it hidden, and he was too tall to make out his features clearly. "Are you native to this city?"

"No." The stranger bent down, swiped a finger through the blood pooling under the broken body of the human, and licked the viscous red liquid that was quickly turning black. "I enjoyed the sex. And the blood."

Tenzin watched the cloaked figure straighten to his full height. She took a step back, unnerved by the vampire who was so casually acting inhuman in public.

Physical strength wasn't as important to immortals as it was to humans, but it wasn't nothing. The vampire beside her dwarfed her tiny frame, and he was physical in a way that made Tenzin think he might be an earth vampire. He had broad shoulders, a long neck, and long arms. He would run faster than her; he could reach farther.

Tenzin survived by hiding, and this immortal's actions tempted discovery.

"Good night to you." She took another step back. "Perhaps I'll tell my client that this job must wait."

Tenzin turned and slipped into the shadows, taking to the sky as quickly as she could.

Once she reached the roof of a nearby building, she crouched behind a brick chimney and peered over the edge at the tall vampire, who had remained in the crowd gathered around the dead man.

There was something familiar about him. Something that tickled her vast memory.

A face gusted by, then disappeared like smoke into the night sky. There was too much. Too many eyes and scents and dark nights to account for in her mind.

She took to the air after making sure the vampire wasn't following her.

Charles and Emil could wait for their clock.

"We're flying you to Juneau." Oleg lounged in a large easy chair in front of the fire burning in the massive stone hearth at his fishing lodge. "Lev will go with you. And I'll send Olaf if you want. He can fly."

Someone grumbled in a deep voice from another room. It sounded like Olaf wasn't thrilled with his assignment. Tenzin didn't blame him. She didn't like carrying earthbound vampires around like cargo either.

"Juneau?" Brigid looked at Mika, who was watching them from the corner. "That's all the way on the other side of the state."

"Ketchikan," Tenzin whispered. Ketchikan was near Juneau. Maybe. She was still confused by Alaskan geography, and from the sky, too much of the state looked the same.

Trees.

Ocean.

Large rivers of ice.

More trees.

Oleg glanced at Tenzin, then back to Brigid. "That is where you need to be. Zasha is not here."

Brigid persisted. "Did you find them?"

"According to some information that has come to us, there is a house that Zasha used as a vacation rental near Sitka. That is closer to where we think they are hiding now."

"But you don't know." Brigid kept looking at Mika for some reason. "I kinda feel like you're tryin' to get rid of us, Oleg."

Tenzin had been thinking the same thing.

Oleg spread his arms and opened his palms to the sky. "I do not know what else you would have me do, Brigid Connor. It is highly unlikely that Zasha is in this area anymore. Perhaps they have gone back to Katya's home territory after trying to rile the vampire residents in Kenai and Seward against me."

"Oh, pull the other one, Oleg," Brigid countered. "You know she's not involved in this."

"No? Three raids in the course of a few months? All coming from the sea? And all against vampires who are loyal to me?"

Tenzin felt prompted to speak. "Katya has had attacks in her territory too."

"A ruse. Perhaps a smoke screen. Or perhaps she is eliminating those she might see as loyal to me when the time comes."

"The time?" Tenzin smiled. "The time for what?"

Oleg smiled back but said nothing.

The vampire was full of shit; he was speaking for an audience, and Brigid and Tenzin were not it. This was a performance for the men and women listening with big ears and waiting tongues.

Brigid was trying to reason with Oleg even though this was all bullshit.

"We're not under Katya's aegis, Oleg. We're not workin' for her or for you. We're just trying to take care of a problem that both you and Katya share."

"Good," he said. "Then you should be happy I am flying you to Juneau."

"There are whispers," Mika finally said. "Whispers that Katya's people are now finding raids in their own territory."

"Which means she can't be involved in any of this," Brigid said.

"Which means" —Oleg took command of the room again, his eyes landing right on Tenzin— "that unless two rogue vampires have suddenly decided to start attacking human and vampire compounds in Alaska, Zasha has moved on and you two have no reason to be here."

"So you're sending us to Juneau?" Brigid asked.

Mika shrugged. "Zasha seems to attack where there is isolation and secrecy."

"And they have a base somewhere central in Alaska to be attacking both you and Katya," Brigid said. "We need to explore the islands across Prince William Sound and?—"

"They're on a boat," Mika muttered. "You know they're on a boat, Brigid. It's the only thing that makes sense."

Tenzin didn't know they were on a boat. Zasha's sire was an earth vampire and they were sired to fire, which meant that water was basically the opposite of everything that made them comfortable. If Zasha was basing themself on a boat, Tenzin would eat her sword.

"If you go south from Juneau," Oleg said, "you'll be in the heart of the Inside Passage. There are countless places to disappear there if one wants to. It is more protected from the weather. You've flown over it, Tenzin."

She looked at Brigid and nodded. "It's huge, cold, and damp. Take the airplane. I'll even go with you just to avoid the windchill."

Oleg knew something. Sending them to Juneau was too specific to be a coincidence, but once again, he was rationalizing and performing for an audience that was neither Brigid nor Tenzin.

Yes, Oleg knew something, but he wasn't going to share it, at least not in front of the others.

"Brigid, we should take the plane," Tenzin said quietly.

"Really?"

"Or I can fly you over Prince William Sound and drop you," Tenzin said. "Maybe."

Brigid huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes going back to Mika Arakas, who said not a word.

"According to my men," Oleg said, "a wind vampire can probably make the passage in four or five hours depending on the wind, but as I said, I will make my plane available to you." He spread his hands graciously. "As a gift."

"So we can go kill your insane sibling." Tenzin wasn't fooled by Oleg's magnanimity.

"What happens when you find Zasha is between you and Zasha," Mika said. "Oleg and the Sokholov family have no knowledge of your plans, nor do we want any."

Brigid looked toward Mika. "And Lev and Olaf?"

"Lev and Olaf are there to see you safely to Katya's territory. After that, they will return with the plane."

Translation: we'll get you to Juneau; then you're on your own.

Tenzin looked at Brigid. "You tried to avoid bystanders by tracking Zasha to an isolated location, but Zasha is now using isolation as an advantage. This is the right decision."

"At least it's a sparsely populated wilderness instead of downtown Las Vegas this time." Brigid stood and gave Oleg a nod. "I appreciate your… insight. And your plane."

"If I could have found Zasha and kept this away from others, I would have," the fire vampire said. "Don't forget what we talked about. Now leave before we start fighting."

Brigid couldn't stop the smile. "Excellent idea."

Tenzin cocked her head and watched them interact.

Air vampires didn't care who they shared space with. Water vampires and earth vampires glommed on to each other like sticky tape.

But it was highly unusual for two fire vampires to share space as peacefully as Oleg and Brigid had been. Collaboration was not their element's strong suit, and their instincts warned them away from others of their kind.

Fire vampires in the same vicinity?

Like two sparks competing for the same kindling. Inevitably, one of them was going to devour the other.

"Thanks for your help," Brigid continued. "I'll be sure to say hello to Anne and Murphy from you the next time I call Dublin."

Oleg rolled his eyes. "I appreciate the thought, but you only need to say hello to Anne."

She shook her head. "You and Carwyn. Exactly the same." Brigid stood and walked to the door.

Mika met her and the two put their heads together, speaking in low tones that Tenzin didn't care to interpret.

Tenzin remained in her chair, staring at Oleg.

The fire vampire turned his eyes to her. "Khazar."

"Varangian."

Oleg looked at the guard at the door, and within moments, every human and vampire in the place disappeared.

The corner of Oleg's mouth turned up. "What do you want?"

"You've been oddly cooperative. What is your angle?"

"Angle?" Oleg raised a cutting eyebrow. "I don't have one. One might say that I owed you a very old debt that's now been repaid."

"We were hired to kill him." Tenzin turned her eyes to the fire. "The fact that you assisted us has never been an issue."

"Fine then. I don't want Zasha killing harmless people. It's bad for business and my reputation."

"And you want Alaska back."

He lifted one thick shoulder. "There are opportunities I might pursue if Zasha was no longer a problem."

"The last time I saw you, you were glaring at the pretty new leader of the Poshani caravan."

"Your memory is… interesting. Do you think she's pretty?"

Tenzin said, "If I weren't a mated vampire, you'd be out of luck."

That made him smirk. "What do you want, Tenzin?"

She wasn't sure, but she felt like her business with the Russian was far from concluded.

"Tell me how to kill Zasha," she said. "You know them better than I do."

"No." Oleg shook his head. "No one ever knew Zasha. We weren't allowed."

"Why?"

"Because our sire kept Zasha like a pet. They were a curiosity, and they weren't allowed to have normal relationships with anyone. They never had a friend. Never had a lover. Nothing was allowed."

"And after you killed your sire?"

Oleg shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. "After Truvor was dead, I killed all those who tried to defend him, and then I killed everyone who challenged my claim on his territories. It was a very bloody few weeks in Irbosk."

"Zasha wasn't one of those challengers."

"Of course not." His reply came quickly. "At that time, Zasha was nothing. A shy dog kicked too often. They were happy to leave, so I let them." He shrugged. "I had no idea that Zasha would become a gadfly the way that they have."

"Why not kill them yourself?"

A flicker of guilt in Oleg's eyes was all that Tenzin needed to understand the vampire's thinking.

She rose and looked down at Oleg. "You are not responsible for the monster Zasha has become. I know what they suffered, but I also know that Zasha made choices. Those choices are what made them who they are now, not the violence they survived."

Oleg folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "Didn't you kill everyone in your clan in judgment for their actions?"

Tenzin didn't mind her reputation; it was well-earned. "I killed those who needed to be killed. See that you never become someone needing to be killed and we will remain friends."

The Russian looked amused. "We don't really have friends, do we? Immortals like us? We don't have friends."

Tenzin thought about Ben first. Then Giovanni. About Beatrice. About Chloe and even about Gavin. Arthur and Drew. It was an odd assortment of mortal and immortal connections she had collected in the past thousand years. Brigid might even join the list.

"I think I do have friends," Tenzin said. "And if you ever harm any of them, you will know who they are."

Oleg still looked amused. "You're not going to give me a clue?"

She wrinkled her nose. "No."

Oleg's cheeks turned a little red. He almost looked like he was going to laugh. "I have no desire to make you my enemy, Khazar."

"Nor I you, Varangian." She started walking to the door.

"But your reputation is expanding."

Tenzin turned. "To what?"

He plucked at a loose thread on his sleeve, pinching the string between his fingers until a small puff of smoke escaped. He flicked the ash from his fingertips and looked at her. "You used to be an assassin. Now some are calling you the executioner."

The difference was subtle but not without meaning. "They can call me an executioner if they want. Someone in our world has to be."

"And you think it should be you?"

She shrugged. "Is there anyone else who wants the job?"

Brigid was packing in her room when Tenzin found her. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed Tenzin standing there. "Lev wants to leave within the hour."

Tenzin shrugged. "I don't have anything to pack. Everything I own is in my bag." It was pretty much clean socks and underwear, a spare tunic, and her tablet so she could contact Ben.

And gold. She had gold sewn into the seams.

"Good. I'm almost ready too. I'll take the dogsled back into town. You'll fly of course. And then I think Oleg's plane will meet us there. It's only a few hours to Juneau after that. We'll have plenty of dark."

Tenzin watched her. So efficient. So precise. She ordered her life as if she'd served in an army. "You have the habits of a soldier."

"Do I?" Brigid didn't look up.

"Did Murphy teach you that?"

"No, that was recovery."

Tenzin frowned. "Recovery?"

"The drugs, remember?" Brigid zipped up her backpack and turned, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "I had a mentor in the first rehab I ever went to after I became an addict. He emphasized how keepin' your life organized could help your recovery from substance abuse. It didn't work for everyone, but it worked for me."

"Until you overdosed on heroin?"

"It's a process, not a destination," Brigid muttered. "And thanks for reminding me. I'd almost forgotten that my failure in drug recovery led to me becoming a vampire. Wouldn't wanna forget that."

Tenzin pointed at her. "Sarcasm. You and Ben both like it."

"It's our common language." She pointed toward the door. "Shall we?"

"I have a question."

Brigid put her other arm through her backpack. "What is it?"

Tenzin closed the door and lowered her voice. "Why didn't you tell Oleg that Zasha had offered to end this if you killed me and delivered my head?"

Brigid kept her voice barely over a murmur. "Because he might have believed Zasha and tried to kill you."

"He wouldn't have succeeded."

"Yes, but then we wouldn't be gettin' a quick plane ride to Juneau, would we?" Brigid shrugged. "Besides, Zasha wasn't serious. If they were, they would have told me where to deliver your head."

"I do like that you considered it." Tenzin nodded. "I respect you more because of it."

"Cheers."

"You're welcome."

Oleg's plane wasn't nearly as luxurious as Giovanni's, but it did do the job. Tenzin flew herself to the airport outside Seward where she met a frosty and windchilled Brigid before they were loaded into the cargo compartment of the plane that would fly them to Juneau. After that, Brigid would be limited to boats since fire vampires and small planes didn't mix.

Tenzin, of course, could fly.

Benjamin, I am coming to you.

She could feel him in her blood as they moved southeast. He would be sensing her too. The wind whispered that her mate was closer. His amnis was tied to her, woven through her blood as inextricably as a thread through a tapestry.

I am coming to you.

Tenzin endured the few hours in Oleg's airplane and tried to remember how cold and wet the wind was outside. When they landed, she shot out of the plane and into the air, flying over a deep ocean of forest green. On one side there were trees as far as her eyes could see, and on the other side was the intense deep green of the winter sea threading through the archipelago that covered the northwestern edge of North America.

She took deep breaths of the cold air, filling her lungs and surveying the land below her. There were a few sparks of light, but most of the landscape was a combination of velvet green and endless water chopped with whitecaps from the cold northern wind.

Somewhere in the vast landscape of the Inside Passage, Zasha Sokholov was waiting for her, waiting to take their revenge. Waiting for Tenzin to break her vow.

In the back of her mind, she felt the memory of a delicate bird's wing brush across her cheek. The warm press of humidity in a garden springing to life within a concrete forest.

She heard the whisper of a song overtaken by the bursting crash of glass shattering in flames.

Something delicate and beautiful destroyed for no reason.

Another flower crushed in the grip of careless power.

Zasha, I am coming for you.