“Kezia and I both honor the Kali,” she said. “And she knows I am a devotee of the goddess. Trust me on this.”
Ben used the binoculars he’d stolen from the trailer. “Okay, but when we’re done with this, you’re going to explain the Kali thing. I thought you were an atheist.”
“Why would you think that? I have a spiritual system; it’s simply not as easily classifiable as yours.”
“I’m nearly an atheist.”
She laughed. “Being nearly an atheist is not a thing. You are a Catholic, like your uncle. Trust me, I recognize the signs.”
“Can we discuss this later?”
“Just to be clear, I do not believe in marriage contracts.”
Ben dropped the binoculars and glared at her. “Did I ask?”
“No, but it seemed relevant to the conversation.”
“It’s not.”
“Okay.” She leaned her chin on her hand. “I’m bored.”
“You’re the one who said we needed to wait for René.”
“I know. Right now Vano thinks I’m dead and you’re gone. It’s a great advantage.” She pouted. “But it’s boring to wait.”
“If we weren’t sitting in the middle of a forest, I’d think of something to amuse you,” he murmured. “But we are and I’m not an exhibitionist. Looks like you’re out of luck.”
Tenzin swung her legs. “Are you going to return to New York?”
“Yes. It’s past time I checked on the loft. God knows what you’ve done to it the past couple of years.”
She didn’t shoot him a quick comeback.
Ben glanced over to see her smiling. “What?”
“Nothing.” She reached for the binoculars. “I want to see.”
He handed them over. “They’re setting up some kind of stage.”
“For the ceremony.”
Ben watched the flickering bonfire in the distance. “Why are they doing it? Radu, Kezia, and Vano aren’t getting older. Why is it time to choose new leadership?”
“I don’t know. It might not be all three of them—that would seem unwise. Maybe there is a timeline they agreed to when they became the terrin. But I believe any vampire choosing a successor will choose from Poshani candidates who present themselves.”
“Only vampires?”
“Not necessarily,” Tenzin said. “If a human proves to be the correct person to ascend to terrin, then that human would be turned. They are very selective about which Poshani become vampires and which do not, but new vampires are sired when it is necessary.”
“So in theory,” Ben said, “Vano holding two goblets means that he could choose a successor for Radu, and that person would be his ally and give him effectively two out of three votes?”
“Correct.” She looked up from the binoculars. “Or alternately, Vano could choose two vampires who are his children, thus retaining effective control of the entire clan. Or he could choose weak vampires and manipulate them. But control is the only motivation I can see for stealing Radu’s goblet.”
“Didn’t someone tell me,” Ben said, “that the Poshani decide their leaders in the end? That if a terrin was proven to be unjust or corrupt, the darigan wouldn’t follow their lead?”
“Yes, but you can see how Vano has catered to the goodwill of the humans in the camp. I’m sure he has a plan to appease them.”
“Shouldn’t he want to cater to the darigan?”
“Not necessarily.” Tenzin handed over the binoculars. “Catering is not leading, and every culture is vulnerable to demagogues if they show up at the right time. The Poshani need a leader, not a fairy godmother.”
Ben’s eyebrows went up. “A fairy godmother?”
“I believe the comparison is accurate. Chloe made me watch a series of movies featuring princesses’ heroic journeys, and the fairy godmother trope appeared in most of them. I’m assuming they’re old human attempts to make sense of vampires since many of the godmothers appear to fly or have other supernatural qualities.”
Ben stared at her, unable to hide the smile on his face.
“What?” Tenzin frowned. “Have you seen these movies?”
“Princess movies? Yeah.”
“I have thoughts about the mermaid movie. There are very unhealthy messages in it, and I don’t believe Sadia should watch it.”
He leaned over and pressed a fast kiss to her mouth. “I missed you.”
“Yes, I missed you too.” She lifted the binoculars again. “I believe I see René leaving something for us.”
“We’ll have to get closer and just pray the Hazar don’t see us.”
“See?” Tenzin hung the binoculars around her neck. “Catholic.”
* * *
They picked up a bundle from the base of a birch tree.
Ben started to open it, but Tenzin stopped his hand. “Wait.”
Her feet never touched the ground as she floated closer to the edge of the forest. She waited, motionless, while Ben stood in the shadows.
His amnis gave a pulse of excitement a second before she turned and floated back to him.
“Let’s go.”
“What—”
She put a finger over his lips, then took his hand and flew through the canopy, darting between trees and dipping low to skim over meadows and isolated ponds. The landscape was washed in an eerie white glow from the gibbous moon as they crossed the hills to find shelter in their cave.
They landed near a stream that cut through the narrow valley below where the cave was located.
“Do you know where we are?” Ben asked when they landed.
“I’m not certain,” Tenzin said. “It’s part of the traditional Poshani route. I would guess we are in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, probably in Ukraine.”
The moonlight created dappled shadows on the ground as Tenzin sat on a large rock and dipped her feet in the water.
“So” —she nodded toward the bag— “are you going to open it?”
Ben sat next to her. “As her majesty requests…”
Her eyes lit up. “I could get used to that.”
He laughed. “Don’t.”
Inside the bag were a note, a gold bar, and three familiar rubbings.
“See?” Tenzin said. “I told you René was part of the plan.”
“What are these?” Ben picked up the rubbings. One was eerily familiar. “Are these… Does he already have the goblets? He only had one night.”
Tenzin raised an eyebrow. “He’d been planning this for a while.”
Ben was reluctantly impressed. “So René has the three goblets.”
“Or he’s been in their presence and knows where they are.”
“And he’s still
