Page 65 of Tin God

“It’s winter in New York.” Tenzin’s face grew very calm and still. “The birds are dead.” She curled her hand into a fist.

Brigid stood up. “Chloe, it’s Brigid Connor. Tell Gavin and the O’Briens that whoever did this was connected to Zasha Sokholov.”

“Gavin’s furious because I stay at the loft sometimes when he’s out of town and I was there two nights ago. He said it was an attack on him. That I could have been killed and?—”

“You could have been killed, but you woulda been collateral damage.” Brigid glanced at Tenzin. “You weren’t the target. Zasha was showing off.”

Poking the bear.

If Zasha had wanted to make Tenzin angry, they’d done it. Brigid had never seen Tenzin as cold as she was in that moment.

She stood up and moved toward Tenzin, only to be met with a raised hand and a fist of wind that slammed her back against the wall of the room.

“Tenzin!”

“If you even think about killing me before I can kill Zasha, I will end you.” Tenzin’s voice was a soft monotone. “They burned his home.”

Brigid gritted her teeth and managed to force out “I’m not gonna kill you.”

Tenzin dropped her hand, the wind died to nothing, and Brigid fell to the ground. Her phone was still sitting on the bed, and Chloe was shouting.

“Brigid, what’s happening? What is going on? Where’s Ben?”

Tenzin knelt next to the bed and spoke carefully. “Chloe, do not leave Gavin’s side until I tell you that you are safe. I am going to take care of this.”

“Is Ben okay?”

“Benjamin will be safe.” Tenzin gently touched the phone speaker. “You will be safe. Tell Arthur and Drew to stay at Gavin’s for now. Gavin will know what to do.”

“I’ll look for the birds.”

“Not without guards.” Tenzin closed her eyes. “The birds aren’t important now.”

“Should I call Ben?”

“No, I’ll call him. I’ll tell him when it’s time. Tell Gavin to dig up any trace of Zasha Sokholov in Alaska. I want to know any place Zasha or the Anker clan might have property—ships, ports, anything. Any financial tie.” She cut her eyes to Brigid. “We’re not waiting on the Russians anymore.”

“Okay.” Chloe sniffed. “Okay. Zasha Sokholov. The Ankers. Alaska.”

“British Columbia too,” Brigid added. “And the Yukon Territory. I don’t think it’ll be farther than that.”

She took a deep breath and waited as Chloe and Tenzin said goodbye. Then Tenzin tossed Brigid’s phone back at her. “You can’t kill me.”

“I wasn’t plannin’ on it, but you claim that you can’t kill Zasha, so I don’t know what your plan is.”

Tenzin stared at Brigid to the point where Brigid felt her skin start to crawl. The small, silent vampire was as unearthly as her legend described in that moment.

“I’ll kill them,” Tenzin said. “Or you will. As long as I see them dead.”

“You swore on the blood of your children,” Brigid said.

“My children are dead.” Tenzin walked toward the door. “I don’t think their blood will care.”

ChapterFifteen

“How would a castle attack?” Carwyn murmured into the frosty air outside the house that looked over Annette Bay. The night was nearly over, Ben was sleeping, but Carwyn couldn’t rest.

Unlike his younger companion, he couldn’t sleep until dawn called him. During the long winters in North Wales, he’d often spent more time outside than in, reveling in the rich darkness of the mountains and enjoying the snow on the peaks that surrounded the tiny valley where he’d hidden from the world.

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