Page 118 of Tin God

“Brigid called him an imperialist.”

“That’s not wrong as long as he gets to be emperor. Paulson’s young, but he’s got grand aspirations, and he does have a knack for spotting opportunities before they become obvious. He’ll find an actual genius, pump up their ego, and then steal their ideas or cheat them out of their intellectual property. Remember, he thinks humans are a natural resource like timber or wheat. He has no respect for their autonomy or their lives.”

“Hmm. So he steals ideas and profits from them. Any idea who might be thinking of a Northwest shipping passage and gaining control of Alaska?”

“No, but with the environment going the direction it is, it’s not a bad plan.”

Who would benefit? Katya Grigorieva was the obvious answer, but Oleg was just on the other side of the Bering Strait. Then there were all the interests in Northern Europe who would love a faster shipping channel to Asia.

“Shipping isn’t really your area, is it?” Raj wrinkled his nose, but he had to offer the best suggestion he could think of. “Have you talked to Brigid Connor? She used to work for Patrick Murphy, and she’s on the West Coast now.”

“She’s already there,” Gavin said. “You may be working with her and her mate. You don’t have to be friendly, but you do have to be polite.”

The last time he’d encountered the small fire vampire and her massive mate, they’d been accusing him of betraying Gavin and conspiring with the Ankers.

“Gavin, does this have to do with the Zasha Sokholov mess?”

“Yes. Zasha is in Alaska, and we think they’re working with Henri Paulson.”

A knot of dread curled in Raj’s belly. “Paulson isn’t as smart as I thought he was.”

“I can’t disagree.” Gavin’s Scottish brogue got a little heavier. “I think Paulson met a vampire who saw through him faster than he could anticipate.”

“So is Paulson leading Zasha or is Zasha leading Paulson?”

“Either way, these people threatened my wife and I want you there.”

“Understood.” Raj took a deep breath and glanced out the window as the lights of Los Angeles retreated in the distance. “I’m on my way.”

ChapterTwenty-Eight

She flew over the dark ocean, scanning the surface of the pitch-black water, looking for anything that stood out.

“It’s no good,” she told Ben. “I hate to say they were right, but the ocean is too big.”

“That’s why Gavin and Katya sent people to Vancouver. Once we narrow down where the cash is going?—”

“How long will that take?” It had already been nearly two weeks since Zasha’s last attack. They wouldn’t wait much longer. “Zasha offered to give up if Brigid killed me. They said they would walk into the sun if Brigid delivered my head.”

Ben halted midair, froze as if the wind wasn’t even battering him. Tenzin turned and looked back at her mate, and what she saw reminded her that Ben was far more powerful than he even realized.

Water dripped down his face, flowing from the black hair that fell onto his forehead. His beautiful mouth was a thin line, and his silver eyes stared with flat fury.

But though a storm pressed into the coast of Alaska, bringing ice, rain, and ferocious wind, the air around Ben was calm, absolutely still, as if waiting for his command.

“She wouldn’t,” Tenzin said. “Obviously I wouldn’t let her.”

“Zasha is evil.”

“They’re…” Evil was a moral judgment, and Tenzin didn’t know what belief system Zasha was raised to adhere to in their human life. What was permissible in one moral code could be reprehensible in another. “Zasha is practical. They have an aim—to kill me and destroy my life—and pitting those who consider me a friend against each other would be an effective tactic to achieve that goal.”

“I would kill her,” he said. “If Brigid killed you, I would?—”

“Yes.” Tenzin flew to him and put a hand on his cheek. “Which is exactly what Zasha would want. And then Carwyn would try to kill you, pitting him against your uncle, his oldest friend, and it would all spiral into a very horrible storm that Zasha could sit back and watch.”

The corner of his lip twitched and Tenzin saw his fangs, fully extended and red with blood where he’d cut his lip. “Benjamin.”

He reached out, put his hand at the small of her back, and pulled her to his body.

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