Page 103 of Tin God

Tenzin cocked her head to the side. “Zasha wouldn’t take on Oleg directly.”

“No, they wouldn’t. But remember, Katya thinks Zasha and Oleg are working together.”

Tenzin muttered, “And she’s overextended. She’s not really in control of this place. She’s losing control of it just like Oleg did.”

“Maybe that’s inevitable,” Ben said. “It’s so massive.”

“But if this was youronlyterritory…” Tenzin turned to him. “Maybe Zasha finally wants to settle down.”

“Settle down?

“Yes.” She remembered a snowy valley between two mountain ranges and the scent of cold ocean in her nose. “Maybe they want to settle down in a place that feels familiar.”

Ben sat up. “But Zasha knows there are two powerful vampires who want to control those shipping lanes.”

“They see an opportunity.” She sat up and crossed her legs. “Zasha starts attacking the coastal villages. They go back and forth between the territories.”

“Katya blames Oleg.” Ben nodded. “Oleg blames Katya.”

“Put the bear at the throat of the wolf and see which one kills the other first. Whoever survives will be weak, and the other will be finished.

“It fits what’s happened, so why doesn’t it feel right?” Ben raked a hand through his hair. “These endless nights are throwing my head in a blender. At this point I’d murder Zasha Sokholov just so I could get back to New York.”

Tenzin opened her mouth, then shut it quickly.

Ben could tell she had something to say. “Tenzin?”

“I have to tell you something and you’re going to be upset, but I want you to remember that no humans were hurt and I am telling you this now because if you lose your temper?—”

“Tenzin.” His entire body went stiff.

“—we are contained in this room and no one will see you out of control.”

Ben felt dread curl in his belly. “What happened?”

She turned to Ben and met his gaze. “Someone burned our home in New York.”

He felt a fist squeeze his heart. “Our place?”

“Yes.”

“How much damage?—?”

“It’s basically gone,” she said quickly. “Chloe sent pictures, and whoever did it used an accelerant of some kind, and we’re on the top floor so the firefighters…” She took a breath and held it.

“It’s gone?”

She nodded. “It’s gone.”

It was a house. It was just a house, and she’d already told him that no one was hurt.

Nohumanswere hurt.

He choked out the question. “The birds?”

“Probably they are dead.”

They were birds. They werebirds.

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