Page 29 of Tin God

“To help Brigid find Zasha.” Ben sat across from the vampire, who looked barely older than his little sister, and tried to take her seriously. “That’s all.”

“Not as an agent of Penglai Island?” Katya raised an eyebrow. “Not as a representative of your sire? Not in cooperation with Oleg, who has expressed interest in the past in taking Alaska with the help of the Eight Immortals of Penglai so they can expand their shipping channels and access the Arctic when the planet warms up?”

Ben opened his mouth, then closed it again. Carwyn was right. There was a lot of this stuff he didn’t understand.

“Hold on,” Carwyn said. “You didn’t mention that last bit when we spoke last night.”

“Because I thought I was dealing with you and Brigid alone.” She jerked her head at Ben. “Not these two. I don’t trust either of them.”

“Well, I do.” Carwyn’s voice was blunt. “And I vouch for them. Are you questioning me?”

Ben raised both his hands. “I’m following my mate, who is following Brigid Connor, who is tracking Zasha Sokholov. I promise you, Tenzin is not an agent of Penglai.”

“Areyou?”

Fuck. “No.”

“You’re Zhang Guo’s first child in thousands of years,” Katya said. “He must have had a reason for turning you. Maybe it is for your extensive connections in Europe and North America. I understand you’re also a close associate of Gavin Wallace. Is Gavin looking for new investors in his software business? Maybe you’re here to negotiate with Oleg.”

Carwyn burst out laughing and leaned forward, slightly breaking the laser focus Katya’s eyes had on Ben. “Katya, you know why he’s here. Why are you interrogating him?”

Katya narrowed her eyes and smiled a little bit. “I was having fun breaking his brain. You spoil everything.”

“He’s stressed about his mate. You don’t want to piss this one off.”

Carwyn flicked a hand at Ben, and Ben felt his fangs fall at the airy dismissal. His temper was building again.

“Boats.” Katya kept her eyes on Ben. “I’ll get you up to Alaska, but you’ll be on a boat.”

“You don’t have a plane?”

“Not one for you. Zasha has taken my boats. I want you and Carwyn to find them. I’m sending you to one of my oldest lieutenants. She can help you look for your mates.”

“After we find your boats?” Carwyn asked.

“You wanted to go to Alaska, I’m sending you there.”

“Winter seems like a bad time for piracy,” Ben said.

“It is. That’s why they took the boats in the fall, but we haven’t seen a trace of them since then, and we haven’t seen a trace of their crews either.” Her eyes flashed to Carwyn. “Three of my vampires and two dozen of my people in the crews. I don’t have anything to tell their families. Find me some answers if you can’t find the boats.”

“Where?”

“It won’t mean anything to you now, but they were off the Queen Charlotte Sound. International waters. The humans have no jurisdiction there.”

“Any vampire ships in the area?” Ben asked.

“My boats. Oleg’s people. And Penglai.”

That’s why all the questions about Penglai. The islands off the coast of China—as well being the seat of East Asian immortal government—were also the center of the vast business interests of the Eight Immortals.

“All the big and dangerous players then,” Ben said. “I’m a wind vampire, and I’m willing to help Carwyn look into the thefts.”

Katya looked him up and down. “Can you grow a beard?”

Vampire hair grew very slowly. “Not in the next day or two.”

Katya sighed. “You’re going to stick out like a sore thumb, but fine. You have my official permission to be in my territory, which stretches from San Francisco to Point Barrow. I offer no protection for you, and any aggression not officially sanctioned in this meeting is subject to my judgment and punishment should any of my people, mortal or immortal, bring me a complaint.”

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