“As long as we find the goblet for him.” Ben let out a long breath. “Are you sure René doesn’t have this thing and all his confiding in you was a big ruse to misdirect us?”
“He has no motivation to steal it,” Tenzin said. “There is no gain for him. I think Vano has it.”
“Why?
“He’s the sneakiest, and I think he hates Radu. René thinks Vano is the strongest, but he’s not.”
“No?
“Strong and sneaky are not the same thing,” Tenzin said. “René might think they are, but he is wrong.”
For the hundredth time, Ben wondered whether Tenzin and René had slept together. There was clearly chemistry between the two, and René quite obviously was fascinated with Tenzin. “Okay, I know this probably is none of my business, but did you and René—?”
“No.” Tenzin looked at him. “And why do you keep saying that my sexual partners—or possible sexual partners—are none of your business? They clearly are.”
“Are they?”
She huffed out a breath and turned to him. “Are you deciding if we can be together?”
Ben crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what I’m doing with you most of the time.”
Tenzin stared at him for a few long moments; then she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the nearest trailer, which was her own. She opened the door, pushed him inside, and followed him, shutting the door behind her.
Ben stood silently, waiting for her to speak.
“After I took you to Zhang, you sent me away.” She turned and faced him. “You said you were ‘done’—whatever that means—and that you weren’t going back to New York and you weren’t going to wait for me. But I said I would wait for you. And I have.” She spread her arms wide. “So what do you want, Benjamin?”
You!
No, that wasn’t it.
Okay, it was. But admitting that felt like defeat.
She asked, “Do you want me to wait longer?”
“No.”
“Very well.” She stood in front of him. “I dislike having to explain myself, but I am trying to… grow.”
“New Year’s resolutions?”
“Yes. I am here.” She stood perfectly still. “This is your choice.”
He didn’t know what to say. He knew it was his choice. He knew she was giving him time. He just didn’t know how to bridge the gap he felt between them. “Tenzin—”
“And to answer your persistent question, my sexual partners are your business because I assume you are feeling as territorial as I am. If you had sex with someone else right now when I am near, I would likely kill that person.”
Yes!
Wait. No. That wasn’t good.
He rubbed his temple. “That’s not okay.”
She stepped closer, and Ben felt the ripple of her power against his skin like a caress.
Tenzin spoke deliberately. “I am evolving, Benjamin, but I will never be human. I will never be tame, and it’s long past time you admitted to yourself that you never will be either.”
She left him in the trailer, staring at her empty bed.
* * *
Ben tried to keep his mind off Tenzin by keeping track of Vano the rest of the night, following him at a distance as he visited vampires, chatted with the cooks making dinner, and hovered around the bar where servers mixed drinks and carried wine.
Vano was among the vampire guests, but he wasn’t a part of them. In fact, if Ben hadn’t been paying attention, Vano would have melted into the background.
It was quite the skill, and Ben realized that Tenzin was right.
Vano was very, very sneaky.
An hour before sunrise as the nightly party wound down, Ben retreated to his secure caravan and called Chloe. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey.” She answered the video call on her phone. She was in the middle of a crowd, and the raucous sounds of a party surrounded her. “Where are you?”
“No idea. Ukraine maybe? Where are you?”
“We went back to Monte Carlo.” Chloe’s face glowed. She walked away from the crowd and found a quieter place with red velvet draperies behind her. “We’ve been so many places. Oh my God, Ben, you cannot even imagine. Nice, Capri, Portofino—that was probably my favorite.”
“Portofino is gorgeous.” Ben picked at his shirt, which had ashes from the bonfire on it. “The boats are amazing. You need to go to Rome though. You have Fabi’s number, right?”
“Yeah, totally. I think we’re kind of heading that direction, but just taking the lazy route since Gavin doesn’t have a club there.”
“Doesn’t he?”
“No, he’s got one in Naples though. Something about the VIC being more easygoing?”
Ben laughed. “Naples is bonkers. Great, but bonkers.”
“Sounds like our kind of place.” She leaned against a corner. “Miss you. I got used to having you around.”
“I know. I’ll be back soon.”
“Don’t you mean we?”
Ben looked down and traced the marbling in the table. “Nothing between me and Tenzin is settled yet.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I need time.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Make good choices,” she sang.
Ben stared at Chloe.
“What?” she asked.
“You said, ‘make good choices.’”
“It’s simple but good advice.”
So you lost one choice and gained a thousand others. I didn’t choose this life either; that is the nature of the world. We make the best of it, Ben Vecchio.
Chloe was right. Tatyana was right. And Ben was a stubborn idiot.
He’d lost one choice and gained a thousand. He could be with his friends. He could be a big brother to Sadia and a son to Giovanni and Beatrice. He could live a life that would make them proud. He could guard Chloe and keep watch over all his human friends.
And someday he would have to say goodbye. But everyone faced that, human and immortal both. Humans survived it, and he would too.
He would meet new friends, extraordinary people who hadn’t even been born yet. He would explore all the places he’d ever dreamed and others he didn’t have the imagination to conceive of. He would watch Sadia grow up, and he’d see the world change and evolve before his eyes.
And he’d see all of it in a darkness that wasn’t so dark anymore.
“Chloe?”
“Hmm?”
It was a new
