Chapter Eighteen

Brigid stepped off the plane in Juneau and saw Tenzin shoot out of the plane behind her, disappearing into the blackness as Brigid followed Lev onto the small private runway cloaked in darkness.

"I don't like leaving you here," Lev said. "But I'm not technically supposed to be in Alaska at all."

Brigid narrowed her eyes. "And how long have you been here?"

The big man shrugged. "About fifty or sixty years."

"Yeah, you don't wanna push that." She stuck out her hand. "Nice to work with you, Lev. Cheers to you."

"Oh, I have a name for you." He pulled a wadded paper from his pocket. "The name is Pam. She's a vampire and she knows people."

Brigid took the paper. "Knows people?"

"If you have to move around. Take a boat maybe." He gave her a broad wink. "Call Pam if you need a boat."

"And she works with Oleg?"

"Absolutely not, but sometimes we share a cabin in the summer." Lev lifted both eyebrows suggestively. "The days get very long here."

"I can see that." She held up the wadded paper. "I'll tell her you're a pal o' mine."

"Oh no." He shook his head. "She might get jealous."

"For real?" She frowned. "I'll be sure to mention that I'm a mated vampire."

"That might help. But really, all Pam cares about is money. Just pay her and she will send a boat for you."

"Got it."

Mika had given Brigid the address to a safe house where they could rest during the day, but she doubted they'd be there more than a night.

"Lev?"

The big man turned back from walking to the cargo plane. "Yes?"

"Where do you think Zasha is?"

He frowned and crossed his giant arms over his chest. "You know, Zasha likes people. I think they will be somewhere where people will pay attention to them."

That was an interesting take. "So no isolated cabin in the woods?"

"Maybe if it's close to a city or a town." He shrugged. "Or maybe not. I'm not the smartest vampire." Lev's voice went quiet. "But I feel sorry for Zasha. Even now. Life was very cruel to them."

"They don't deserve your pity." She hiked her backpack over her shoulder. "I'll see ya around."

"Unless Zasha kills you." Lev sighed. "So in case that happens…" He walked over and threw his massive arms around Brigid's stiff shoulders, hugging her with a hearty embrace and kissing first one cheek, then the other. "It was good to know you, Brigid Connor. I would like to meet your mate someday. If he comes to avenge your untimely death, I will help him."

"Right." She patted his back. "That's sweet, Lev. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Say goodbye to the small violent wind vampire for me."

"Sure, I will." Brigid turned to walk toward the dim outline of a hangar in the distance, leaving the Russian earth vampires behind her.

She and Tenzin were on their own.

When she reached the safe house, Tenzin was still nowhere to be found, but she pulled out her phone and put a call through to Gavin Wallace, the immortal tech tycoon Lee used to work for.

"Brigid?" He answered her video call after one ring. "Are you with Tenzin?"

"Not at this exact moment because she's flying over Juneau right now." Brigid looked up at the ceiling. "I'm staying at a safe house that Oleg?—"

"I'm sending you another address. Are you on a Wi-Fi network?" Gavin snapped his fingers, and someone handed him a pen and paper. "Get off Wi-Fi."

Brigid disconnected from the house Wi-Fi that had connected to her tablet and walked outside, using an insulated hotspot that Lee had engineered for her and Carwyn. "I'm on Lee's network now."

"Always use Lee's network." Gavin scribbled something on the notepad and held it up. "Write it down."

"You think this place is compromised?" She didn't hesitate to set her tablet on the backyard picnic table and write the address Gavin gave her on the back of a receipt. "Oleg hasn't betrayed us in the past."

"And he might not intend to" —the note disappeared— "but he also might not know who in his organization is vulnerable. Don't use any connections he gave you from now on. I have people in that area."

"You're really pissed off about Tenzin and Ben's apartment, aren't you?"

The Scotsman glowered at the screen. "My wife could have been injured. No matter her associations, Chloe should be off-limits."

Gavin wasn't only a technology entrepreneur—his main business was a network of very exclusive clubs around the world that operated like neutral territory for various immortal factions. Going after Gavin Wallace or any of his people meant that you forfeited the shelter of his businesses and had no safe ground to meet with a rival.

In a world of ancient predators and skilled assassins, having that neutral territory could mean the difference between a peaceful resolution to conflict and outright war. Only a fool or a lunatic would cross Gavin Wallace.

Zasha had crossed him.

"I'll head to your address as soon as we get off the phone."

"Chloe has already sent the address to Tenzin," he said. "She might be there by the time you arrive. Are you hiring cars?"

"Taxis," Brigid said. "Reliable when I can find them."

"As long as they're not electric," Gavin muttered. "Come to think of it, that could be an opportunity."

"Can we talk about your next business another time? Tell me what's happenin' in New York."

"Cleanup," Gavin said. "Chloe is dealing with the insurance. Ben left his uncle on the paperwork for the house, so Giovanni's flying out to deal with it. I told him not to say anything to Ben until Tenzin does. He agreed it was a good idea."

"He loved that place."

Gavin pursed his lips. "Sometimes a house is more than just a house."

"Tenzin is furious."

"She should be. Any leads on Zasha?"

"Henri Paulson," she asked. "Do you know the name?"

Gavin narrowed his eyes. "I do. He's working with Zasha?"

"We're not sure," Brigid said. "Carwyn's convinced there's a connection. He told you to dig. He's maybe under Katya's aegis, maybe not. But she can't find a connection with Zasha. He may just be another victim."

"If there's a connection, I'll find it." Gavin lifted his chin. "I know Paulson a little." He frowned. "He approached me a few years ago—this was some time after the Ankers took Chloe. He had heard I was looking for investors."

"For the computer things?"

Gavin covered his face. "Thank God you have Lee working for you. Yes, the ‘computer things.' That's how Paulson's made most of his money in the past hundred years. Telegraph. Radio. Then computers. He's brilliant and ferociously private, but he saw an opportunity. He wanted to invest, but I didn't need the money and I didn't want the tie."

"Why not?" It sounded like Gavin had opinions on this vampire.

"Paulson has always been a bit of a fringe thinker. I'm not surprised he ended up in Alaska."

"Describe fringe when it comes to vampires." Brigid tapped her fingers on the table. "It's not as if we're a mainstream crowd."

"Yes, but most of us don't believe in the destruction of modern human civilization and a return of vampire empires." Gavin raised an eyebrow. "That's Paulson."

It took a lot to surprise her these days, but that was a surprise. "What the feck?"

"Paulson isn't old, but he is old-school. He's one of those vampires who gets very nostalgic for the era when humans were peasants scraping for survival under kings, warlords, and emperors."

"Because it was easier to hunt them?" Dear God, and she thought Zasha was a problem.

"I suspect Henri Paulson hunts as much as he wants, but he's quiet about it. Doesn't make waves, so to speak. But he doesn't care about humans, he cares about wealth, and it was far easier for his kind to accumulate wealth when you only had to curry favor with a few powerful men—and it was almost always men. He hates women. He considers humans like cattle. And he's a snob. He sires no children because he doesn't want to share his wealth, and I doubt he'd ever find a human up to his standards."

"What a charmer." She stared up at the dense, cloud-covered night sky. "He and Zasha sound like a match made in heaven."

"I don't know. Zasha isn't Paulson's usual style—he's usually very quiet—but if Zasha had something on him?" Gavin shrugged. "Maybe."

"What could Zasha have on Paulson?"

"I have no idea, it was just a thought," Gavin said. "He might have made some concessions, exchanged favors if it was convenient or profitable. Paulson doesn't have a conscience that would get in the way."

"Understood." She leaned her arm on the table. "Can ya find him?"

"Paulson? Doubtful. He only lives on boats." Gavin smirked. "I might be able to find some of his money. It would give the children something to do."

"The children" were Gavin's small army of brilliant computer programmers and hackers.

"See if they can help." Brigid glanced at the dark forest behind the house. "I want to leave now. I'll send a message when I'm at your place. I'm startin' to see assassins behind every tree lately."

"I don't blame you," he said. "I'll see what I can find on Paulson's assets and let you know. Send Chloe a message when you and Tenzin are safe."

By the time Brigid reached the nondescript wood-sided house in a small residential tract near Mendenhall Lake, it was still dark, but it was well past six in the morning and she was getting tired. She noticed the open door off the upstairs deck before she entered the house with the code Chloe had texted her.

Her gun was out before she walked in. "Tenzin?"

"I'm upstairs. Put that thing away."

Brigid kept her 9mm out just to be contrary. Also, she liked the weight of it in her palm. She closed the door, fastened the dead bolt, and took off her jacket, hanging it by the door before she tossed her backpack in an overstuffed chair.

"The bedrooms are in the basement," Brigid said as she climbed the stairs.

"I know." Tenzin's voice sounded hollow. "I want Benjamin."

Brigid stood in the doorway where Tenzin had set her tablet on a desk. The door to the deck was open, and the bedroom was frigid. The picture on the tablet was a picture of two brightly colored birds.

"I didn't know ye had pets." Brigid walked over and closed the door as rain started to fall.

"They were at the house in New York."

Damn. "I'm sorry, Tenzin."

"They were old, but they should have lived at least a few more years." Tenzin stared at the picture.

"It's shite." Brigid sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's my fault they're dead."

Part of Brigid wanted to console her, but Tenzin was correct. The birds were sad collateral damage in a fight that Tenzin had willingly entered.

"You made their lives beautiful while they lived," Brigid said. "That's all we can do for delicate things."

Tenzin glanced at her. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not trying to tell me it wasn't my fault. Ben would have tried to make me feel it less."

"He woulda tried to make the feelings softer, not less," Brigid said. "Cos no one did that for him when he was young."

Tenzin swiped the picture of the birds to the side, and a picture of Ben appeared. It must have been taken when Ben was human because he was lying in the sun, smiling at whoever was behind the camera. His beard was half grown in, and hair was falling in his eyes. He looked like he was about twenty-one or twenty-two.

Older than Tenzin looked. As old as she was, Ben physically looked older and had for years.

Tenzin stared at the photograph. "Sometimes I think I do not know him at all. And other times I think I have always known him."

Brigid stared at Tenzin. She'd known Ben before he mated Tenzin, but she'd never known a Ben without Tenzin in his life. She had a hard time separating the two of them in her mind. As opposite as they were, they were two sides of the same coin.

"If you want to call him, you should," Brigid said. "I don't think we can do this without him and Carwyn."

"I don't want to call him." Tenzin stared at the sun-washed picture. "I want to send him far away so I can dispose of this weight hanging around my neck. Then I want to build him a beautiful house and fill a garden with birds and flowers so he can remember the sunlight."

Brigid's heart ached at the longing in her words. "That's a beautiful thought."

"But he won't let me do it." She turned, and she was frowning. "He would be angry if I did that."

"Because he loves you, and he wants to protect you."

"I am nothing compared to him." Tenzin shook her head. "I have never understood why he doesn't see that."

Brigid stood. "Maybe ya need to realize that the way you see Ben might just be the way he sees you."

The corner of Tenzin's mouth ticked up. "He is beautiful, and I am a blade in the night."

"Yes. But Ben doesn't see the blood on that blade." Brigid walked to the door. "He only sees the polished edge flashing." She smiled a little bit. "And he thinks it's beautiful."

Tenzin stared at Brigid with an unrelenting focus. "You deserve better than the hulking earth vampire."

Brigid lifted her Hellcat and tucked it into the discreet holster at her waist. "Insult him again, Tenzin, and I'll shoot you someplace more painful than your leg."