Cofresí grinned. “I do like your spirit, my friend.” The smile fell. “Now give me the treasure.”
He stood and waited for Ben to get to his feet, holding the knife to his neck the whole time. The blade cut his collar, and Ben smelled his own blood.
As did Cofresí. The vampire’s fangs fell, and his gaze locked on Ben’s neck.
“Hold it.” Ben held up his hands. “Just… hold it. I’ll get you the treasure.”
Cofresí swallowed. “Yes, you will.”
“And then you leave. Do you hear me? You leave me alone. I won’t even get pissed off, okay? We’re good.”
The corner of Cofresí’s lip curled up.
Uh-oh. This could be a definite kink in the plan. Ben knew Tenzin was listening. He also knew that things would get very ugly very fast if she came abovedeck.
“You know who my uncle is,” Ben said. “He’s not going to say anything about you stealing from me because he warned me and I ignored him. But anything else… I don’t think you want Giovanni Vecchio after you for that.”
Ben let the threat hang in the air.
His uncle’s name seemed to snap Cofresí out of his bloodlust. “Get the treasure. And do it quickly.”
“It’s in my stateroom.”
He smacked Ben’s arm with the flat of his sword. “I’ll follow you.”
Ben turned and Cofresí followed him around the walkway and to the french doors that led from Ben’s room to the deck. Ben opened them and walked in.
They’d been careful not to get any of Tenzin’s scent inside Ben’s room. A little bit on his clothing or luggage was to be expected—they did work together—but Ben didn’t want Cofresí to suspect Tenzin was on the boat. Luckily, the light-safe stateroom had an entirely separate entrance and stairway.
Ben knelt down to the cupboard beneath his bed and opened the door before he pulled out the storage tub there. He popped off the plastic lid and lifted the document box out before he put it on the edge of the bed.
“What is that?” Cofresí asked.
Ben stood and turned. Now it was acting time. “The treasure.”
The pirate’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“This is all that was there.”
“Impossible!”
“Okay, not all that was there.”
He shoved the knife under Ben’s chin again. “Show me the rest.”
Ben raised his hands and let his voice go higher. “I told you, I don’t have it!”
“Where is it?”
“Jadzia has the rest!” He stammered, “There was a bigger chest. It had weapons. Inés and Vasco took it, and I didn’t see anything that was in there! A couple of pistols, I think. I don’t know about anything else. You can ask Inés! She was there. There was that weapons chest and then we found this later. There’s treasure in there. I promise!”
Keeping the knife on Ben’s throat, Cofresí unlatched the box. He flipped open the lid and lifted out the enameled siren necklace. “This? This is the famous treasure of Miguel Enríquez?”
“There’s some gold. Really collectible stuff. And silver coins. I haven’t priced them all. Just this half is worth roughly four hundred grand, okay? It’s not nothing.”
“Four hundred grand.” Cofresí’s voice was flat. “Four hundred… total? A total of four hundred?”
“No, a total of eight, but I told you that Jadzia took half, right?” Ben huffed out a breath. “Well, probably a little more than half because she got to pick—I mean, that wasn’t my choice, but what are you going to do? My uncle made the deal, and I think she kind of screwed—”
“Jadzia has the rest of the treasure?” Cofresí lowered the knife.
Ben shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, she is his daughter and everything.”
Cofresí began to curse under his breath. “Then I have to return.”
“Is there something specific you’re looking for? I mean—” Ben shut up when the knife went to his throat again. “Okay. Okay.”
“You have no more part to play in this, young Vecchio. Tell your uncle you’re alive.” Cofresí glanced at the necklace in his hand. He tossed it at Ben, who caught it. “And you’ve been rewarded. This should be enough to limit your losses for this hunt. Next time listen to your uncle.”
Ben’s mouth screwed up in a bitter smile. “If he even lets me work for him after this.”
The charming pirate smile was back. “That sounds like a personal problem to me.” He flipped the document box closed, latched it, then tucked it under his arm. “I’ll be seeing you, Benjamin Vecchio. Be smarter next time.”
And with a blur and a splash, the pirate disappeared.
29
Ben walked down the stairs to let Tenzin know that everything had gone mostly according to plan. He held a towel to his neck and wiped at the blood Cofresí had left, but he couldn’t wipe away the smile on his face.
“Tenzin?” He knocked and waited for her to answer.
Her voice was muffled. “Come in.”
Ben opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw her bag was packed and placed in the middle of the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“I heard everything,” she said. “Well done.”
“What are you doing?” His heart was in his throat.
Her face was a total blank. “It’s finished. I’m going to fly back to the mainland, and then I’ll be going to Tibet for a while. I need some time in the mountains. If you could bring my things back to New York and store them, I’d appreciate it. I’ll probably be gone by the time you get back to the city.”
Ben felt like she’d clobbered him upside the head, knocked him over, and then kicked him to really drive it home. He had to replay her words a few times for them to make sense.
…going to Tibet…
…time in the mountains…
…gone by the time you get back…
“What…?” He blinked. “I mean, what about the glass house? And the birds?”
“They can wait. Obviously. I’m not committed to the idea.”
He shook his head. “Why are you doing this?”
“I told you, I need some time in the mountains.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.” Her face was still unreadable.
Ben started to get angry. “Is this because I told you I remembered what happened in the cave?”
“This has nothing to do with that.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You’re lying your ass off.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve been thinking about this for months. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Let me guess,” he said bitterly, “you’ll be making a stop in Shanghai on the way.”
“I have business with Cheng that has nothing to do—”
He threw the bloody towel across the room. “Fuck yes, it has something to do with me!”
Ben slammed the door and stormed over to her. The cabin was small, but she still managed to be completely alone in the middle of it. Completely alone. Completely cold. Shutting him out like she always did.
“Tell me this has nothing to do with me.” He bent down and forced her eyes to his. “Look me in the eye and tell me this has nothing to do with you and me and what happened in that cave and what’s been happening for months—for years—now between us.”
Her grey eyes were beautiful and unfathomable and they broke his heart.
“This has nothing to do with you,” she whispered.
“You fucking liar.” He blinked back tears. “Don’t do this, Tiny.”
“I’m taking a break from work.”
“You’re running away.”
“I don’t run away.”
“You’re doing it right now.” He put both hands on her cheeks. “Don’t do this.”
She said nothing.
“Don’t do this.” He moved closer and pressed his lips to hers in the softest kiss he could manage. “Please.”
&nb
sp; He’d kissed her full on the mouth in wild celebration. She’d sucked his tongue down her throat and drank his blood while he lay writhing under her, aching with desire.
This was not the first their lips had met.
But the soft feel of her breath against his mouth nearly broke him.
Tenzin didn’t kiss him back. She took his chin in her hand and slowly turned his head to the side. She put her mouth on his neck where the pirate’s knife had sliced him. She licked the wound clean, paused, and licked it again.
Ben closed his eyes and felt his skin heal under her mouth, savored the warmth of her tongue.
And then… nothing.
When he opened his eyes, he was alone in the stateroom. Her bag was on the bed, and the door swung with the rocking of the boat.
She was gone.
The entry door to the loft was locked when he finally arrived home a week later. The final stop in Cape Coral had been far easier than he’d anticipated, mainly because he wasn’t smuggling anything into the country except a single necklace he was going to give to Novia O’Brien because he’d promised her something shiny.
The luggage was waiting with the doorman downstairs. The only thing Ben was carrying was his backpack and a bag of corned beef on rye from the deli a block away from the loft. New York was cold and dreary and everything Puerto Rico wasn’t.
It was good to be home.
Though the sun was still up, Ben wasn’t expecting Tenzin to be in the apartment when he arrived. He knew she was gone and would likely be gone for a while. Months, at least. It could be years. He’d called Giovanni and told him Tenzin had taken off “to the mountains” and asked how long he thought it would be until she came home.
His uncle didn’t answer him.
Though he wasn’t expecting Tenzin, he was expecting Chloe. He’d called her on the way back and left a message telling her when he’d be home.
“I’ll pick up sandwiches,” he’d told her voice mail. “I’m too tired to cook.”
But Chloe wasn’t there. Tenzin wasn’t there.
There was, however, a cat.
It was black and slim, short-haired with golden-green eyes, and sitting on the edge of the counter, staring at him.
“Chloe!”
The cat gave a slight hrrrrmph and jumped down, winding its body around Ben’s ankles.
“Chloe?”
He heard the key in the lock moments later.
“Hi!” Chloe tumbled into the entryway with two brown paper bags in her hand, her hair flying around her head, and a raincoat dragging on the floor. “Hi, hi, hi. Oh my gosh, this weather!”
Ben set the bag on the counter and caught her in a tight hug. “Hey.”
Chloe paused and hugged him back. “I missed you. I’m glad you’re home and everything went well. Beatrice kind of filled me in, but she didn’t tell me everything, of course.” She pulled away, set her bags on the counter, and hung her coat on the rack by the door. “Where’s Tenzin? Is that corned beef? It smells amazing.”
His heart sank. “Tenzin didn’t come by?”
“I don’t think so? I’ve been…” Her cheeks went rosy. “I’ve been staying with Gavin mostly, but I’ve been over every day to check on things, and there was one day earlier this week when I thought she’d maybe been here because there were some things moved and the light in her loft was on, but then she didn’t show up again, so I didn’t know what was going on.”
Ben didn’t know what to tell her.
“Benny, what’s going on?”
“Tenzin went to China for a while.” Ben was more confused than ever. “Or Tibet. I don’t know.”
Chloe must have seen something on his face. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” He cleared his throat. “I… don’t know.”
Liar.
“You’re not telling me something.”
“I can’t…” He shook his head and looked down as the cat rubbed its cheek against his shoe. “We have a cat.”
“We don’t. I mean— He’s just over here today because I knew you were coming back and I wanted to be here, but I didn’t know how long it would take, so I brought him with me. You don’t have a cat. I wouldn’t do that without asking you and Tenzin. I have a cat.”
“And you live here. So we have a cat. That’s fine. It’s not a big deal.” He almost told her about Tenzin’s birds.
Only Tenzin wasn’t here. She wasn’t going to get any birds that Ben could complain about. She wasn’t going to build a greenhouse or plant her garden in the spring.
“No,” Chloe said. “I don’t want you to misunderstand. I have a cat. With Gavin. I mean Gavin and I have a cat. At his house. His name is Pete. Only Pete is here now. But he’s just visiting.”
Ben was growing more confused by the minute, so he grabbed the only thing in the previous sentence that made sense. “The cat’s name is Pete.”
Her cheeks were near flaming. “Yes. And he lives at Gavin’s. With me. Because… I kind of live at Gavin’s now. Sometimes. But not all the time. If I need a break, I’ll be here.”
Ben let out a long breath and looked at his phone. “How long was I in Puerto Rico?”
“Three weeks.”
“I feel like I missed a lot in three weeks.”
“It’s kind of a long story.”
Ben reached for the corned-beef sandwich bag. “Sit down. Eat. Tell me everything. Does this have to do with the thing you wanted to tell me weeks ago, but you didn’t because it was Gavin’s business?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you as much as I can. Some of it is—”
“His business.” Ben dug out half a sandwich and handed it to her. “I get it.”
“But I’ll tell you what I can. Beatrice can probably tell you more—I love her so much, by the way—but I can’t tell you everything. After that, you can tell me what’s going on with you and Tenzin, because I know you’re lying and something is going on.”
He should probably tell someone, just so it didn’t eat him alive. And he didn’t trust many people more than he trusted Chloe. “Deal.”
“So it all started this one night when I was hanging out at Gavin’s. He got this phone call and he ended up talking for ages, and when he finally came back, things got… a little weird.”
“Why do we do this to ourselves, Chloe?” He shook his head and took a bite of his sandwiches. “Why?”
“Uh…” She shrugged. “Vampires?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “Vampires.”
Epilogue
One week later…
Jonathan opened the door to Cheng’s study a second before he heard her familiar steps marching toward him.
“Sir…”
Cheng smiled. “I hear her.”
“It’s Tenzin.”
“I thought it might be.”
She stormed into the room like a miniature typhoon and immediately made for the training area he kept in his spacious private quarters on the converted barge.
“Hello, Cricket.”
She didn’t say a word. She picked up a dao and spun toward the training dummy, hacking at the torso with more anger than skill.
Interesting.
Cheng stretched his legs on the ottoman and crossed his arms behind his head. “How was your trip?”
She spun and stabbed the training dummy directly through the heart. Then she left the sword in the dummy and went for another sword.
“Oh no you don’t.” Cheng sprang to his feet. “You’re not going to ruin my weapons because you’re in a mood.”
He rushed toward her and grabbed the dao from the dummy, blocking her before she could stab him with a brand-new jian.
“If you want to do this”—Cheng grunted and pushed her away—“then we’ll do this.”
She fought furiously, but not with her usual skill. If Tenzin was concentrating, she could always best him at blades. But she was angry and clumsy and not fighting with her head.
Cheng drew blood three times. Tenzin drew blood twice, but
the cuts were deep. She was out of control, furious, and wild. He’d only seen her like this two times before in all the years he’d known her.
He was perversely glad she’d come to him, because if she’d gotten into a fight with a vampire who didn’t care about her, she could have lost her head.
Tenzin managed to knock the sword from Cheng’s hand, but before he could grab for it, she threw her own across the room and came at him with fists.
She normally fought in a very old form of wushu she’d once taken the time to teach him. The problem was, Tenzin was constantly innovating. She’d incorporate anything and everything into her fighting technique. She played by no rules but her own. Within minutes, she had him on the floor with her legs wrapped around his neck. If he’d needed to breathe, he would have been out of luck.
He finally managed to wrench himself out of her grip. He stopped using any kind of technique and simply tackled her to the ground, using his greater weight to pin her.
He yelled, “I said, Hello, Cricket.”
She stared at the ceiling as if she didn’t even see him.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Cheng said.
She said nothing.
“If you came here because of a job, you wouldn’t have shown up pissing mad and without Benjamin.”
Benjamin’s name made her flinch.
A horrid dread speared Cheng’s stomach. “Did something happen to Benjamin?” He wasn’t particularly attached to the young man, but what it would do to Tenzin… “Cricket, is he alive?”
She forced the word past tightly pressed lips. “Yes.”
“Did something happen to him?”
“He’s fine. He’s in New York. I called Giovanni to check this morning.”
She shoved him off her chest and rolled up to sitting.
What was going on?
Tenzin looked small. Tiny, in fact. He couldn’t call her vulnerable. She was too lethal for that. But something about her mental state seemed… fragile.
Be wary. A fragile Tenzin is as harmless as a spitting cobra.
Keeping his own warning in mind, Cheng rose and offered her a hand. “You need blood and you need rest.”
Blood Apprentice: An Elemental Legacy Novel Page 29