Page 16 of Tin God

The human was in the guard tower across from the building where she’d landed, the tip of his rifle shaking as he quickly pointed it to the sky with wide eyes.

He muttered something in Russian, a language Tenzin had done her best to forget.

She pointed at him. “Did you shoot me?”

She was already forcing the bullet from her body. She drew her strength from the air, and air was everywhere. It was even in the middle of matter. The air in her blood and body jumped at the manipulation of her amnis, pushing the projectile from the muscle to the surface of her skin.

How truly, horribly unpleasant. It felt like a burn.

“I can’t remember if I’ve ever been shot,” she muttered. Had she? She felt like she would have remembered, but then again, she had forgotten more of her very long life than she recalled.

“Tenzin!”

She heard her name from the ground and saw Brigid running toward the guard tower, waving her arms. “It’s Tenzin! Oleg is expecting her.”

A large man who looked a little like a bigfoot walked out of the low, round-roofed building that reminded Tenzin of a giant yurt.

He gave her a cheerful smile and wave. “Oh hi! I am Lev. Welcome. Sorry about that.” He pointed to her. “We tell them to shoot wind vampires we’re not expecting.”

“That seems on par for Russian hospitality.” She didn’t shout, but the man heard her anyway.

“Ha!” He grinned. “A good joke. I like you.”

“You shouldn’t.” She started walking toward the edge of the roof, enjoying the sensation of air in the snow. It was powdery and loose, freshly fallen through cold skies.

The wind in this place was crisp and smelled as much of the ocean as the forest. It reminded her of Penglai but with less bowing people.

Nice.

“Tenzin!” Brigid ran up, her head bare. “I’m so sorry about that. Come inside and get warmed up.”

She floated down to the ground but only so that they wouldn’t look at her strangely. It was dark and cold, and the air was nearly frozen. She adored weather like this; it was so clean. She could have floated in the cold air, soaking it in for hours.

She liked hot weather too, but it was often languid and full of water, which annoyed her. This frosty air, so biting, reminded her of Tibet.

The cold kissed her cheeks, bringing a rare flush to her pale skin. Her eyes were steel grey, the color of a winter storm, and her hair had grown out the last time she took blood from her mate, so it was a black curtain nearly past her shoulders again.

Truly, new blood was very odd.

“Hi.” Brigid was waiting for her on the ground. “Thanks for coming.”

Tenzin narrowed her eyes and read the young fire vampire’s eyes. “You don’t want to thank me. You’re glad I’m here, but you’re angry too.” She leaned closer. “And you’ve been crying.”

That immediately irritated Brigid, which Tenzin found satisfying.

“Shut up and come inside.” Brigid stomped off, and Tenzin followed her, casting one last glance at the guard in the tower who had shot her.

She narrowed her eyes, squinted at him, and pointed.

A hint of urine spoiled the fresh smell of the air.

Ew. She ducked inside the round building and was immediately assaulted by the smell of too many men.

“This place smells foul.” She looked up at Lev, who was standing by the door in a pair of blue denim overalls and a red T-shirt. “You should clean it.”

“We do clean it.”

“Not well enough.”

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