Page 124 of Tin God

“You oweme?” Lang smiled a little. “Dope.”

ChapterThirty

Ben flew low over the waters of the Frederick Sound, scanning the cloudy night for any hint of light.

Stars, ships, flickers of civilization. Anything.

He glanced over his shoulder at his mate. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?”

Her moon-pale face in the color-leached night was glowing. “There’s nothing. No people. I smell air and water and animals.”

“And no boats.”

“Not true.” Tenzin pointed at distant green lights. “There are many boats, including cargo ships, because I can smell the fuel, but not anything like what we’re looking for.”

What they were looking for was a floating city, a vessel that looked out of place but not too out of place. One with lights and activity despite the winter cold.

He scanned the mountains on either side of the long bay they were flying over. Hills rising on either side of frosty water, the eastern slopes a prelude to glacier-covered peaks and valleys while the western reaches of land were blanketed by velvet evergreen forests.

There were ancient stretches of spruce, hemlock, and cedar; streams pouring down to the ocean from near-constant precipitation; fresh water flowing from the sky and into the vast and winding ocean channels of the Tongass National Forest.

Occasionally the dense evergreens or cold ocean would be dotted with evidence of humanity—a light on a watchtower, a buoy bobbling near a dock. The coastline was jagged and sweeping, over eleven thousand miles of shore in just this section of the Inside Passage.

Tenzin headed toward a cluster of lights, dipping down to survey a village consisting of a dozen shops running along a street that led down to a dock lined by fishing boats.

“Another human town,” Ben said.

“Did Katya and Jennie get ahold of all the vampire compounds in the area?”

“Most of them.” He glanced at the forest beyond the town, feeling eyes that probably weren’t there. “Do you believe in Bigfoot?”

“Yes.” Tenzin shrugged. “Why not?”

“What do you mean, why not?”

“I’ve been alive for five thousand years, and I am still surprised by this planet and its secrets. Why wouldn’t a large human-type creature exist in the forest?”

He shook his head. “I will never be able to predict what you’re going to say.”

“Good.”

Ben felt a gust of wind rising off the water and he pushed it away, keeping a bubble of air around him and Tenzin like a cushion. They curved around the end of the bay in a large arc and headed up to rise over the cold hills and back to the main channel where they were looking for a boat.

A large boat.

Anoccupiedboat, most likely a small cruise ship or a very large yacht. Less likely a tanker with containers.

“Do you think we’re looking in the right place?” Ben asked.

Tenzin was silent for a long while. “I believe Brigid calculated that this was the most likely region for Paulson to be hiding.”

“That wasn’t an answer.”

“I trust Brigid. Somewhat.”

Ben narrowed his eyes. “I have a thought and I want to know if you’re having the same thought, so can you just tell me what you really think?”

Tenzin glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “Brigid thinks if she finds Paulson, she’ll find Zasha. I don’t know if she is correct.”

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