Sadly, it was only mildly cooler on the water than anywhere else in the Yangtze delta. Which meant the old water town, like the rest of greater Shanghai, was a furnace. Sweat plastered Ben’s dark hair to his forehead, so he took a quick shower and dressed in a pair of linen pants and a loose white shirt that were a little cooler than his jeans and T-shirts.
Curious what was going on in the rest of the house, he slid the door to his room open and stepped into the central courtyard.
“Good evening, Benjamin,” Jinpa called from across the way. She was sitting at a table near the open kitchen door, shelling what looked like peas. “Some tea?”
“Yes, thank you.” He’d give his right arm for a tall glass of iced sweet tea, but hot was how they drank it in China. He’d almost gotten used to drinking steaming beverages at all hours of the day and in all kinds of sweltering weather.
Almost.
Jinpa handed him a steaming mug with a smile. “You are looking for Tenzin?”
He hadn’t been, but would Jinpa actually tell him where her rooms were?
“I had something I wanted to talk to her about. Is she awake?”
She was always awake, but he had no idea if Jinpa knew that.
“Come,” the old woman said. “I show you to her room.”
Frowning, he followed. If this was the kind of security Jinpa offered…
But maybe Tenzin was the only vampire who ever stayed there. Maybe she owned the house, for that matter. Ben had no idea. He’d spent more time sleeping than anything else. Had Tenzin brought other humans here? Had Giovanni visited? Jinpa was Nima’s family member, a niece or cousin of some kind, and Nima had been Tenzin’s human companion for over sixty years. It was possible that Jinpa kept the house for Tenzin alone.
Following a narrow passageway, the old woman led him to an arched doorway with red lanterns hanging on either side. A dark green door with brass handles stood beyond the gate. Jinpa motioned to the door, then disappeared quickly, leaving Ben at the entrance to Tenzin’s room.
He stood shuffling for a few minutes. She’d be awake, for sure. Tenzin didn’t sleep. But would she answer a knock? It couldn’t be open.
On a whim, he pressed down on the latch.
The door opened.
Well shit. What was he supposed to do now?
“I don’t sleep. And if you broke into my room, I’d hurt you.”
“I guess I’ll find out,” he muttered.
Ben pushed the door open and stepped through, closing the daylight behind him. Immediately shrouded in darkness, he grabbed his phone from his pocket and switched on the flashlight. The room wasn’t a room, but a suite. Maybe a whole other house, in fact. He stood in an entrance hall lined with intricately carved wooden screens. A formal sitting room was on the right and another room with various musical instruments was on the left, filled with low couches. A tea service was set out.
You could have heard a pin drop.
“Tenzin?” he called in a quiet voice. She’d hear him, even if he whispered.
He walked through the music room and through a doorway where a faint light shone. When he stepped through, he realized it wasn’t a light, but the heavy grey of a series of alabaster doors that must have opened onto an interior courtyard. The sunlight through the doors filled the room with an indirect light tolerable for an immortal. Clever. Each door stood at least eight feet tall, the translucent stone thin enough to reveal a faint glow without allowing any damaging sunlight. At night, the doors could be pushed open to allow the evening air to cool the rooms. A massive dragon was painted in one set. A phoenix on the other. The four doors stretched across the space, illuminating the room in grey shadows.
“Tenzin?”
When he turned, he realized the wall behind him was filled with bookcases.
“Hello,” he muttered. “Someone’s been hiding all the books.”
Ben bent down and tried to read some of the titles. Most were in Chinese, but there were a few in English. He was so absorbed in searching he didn’t even hear the approach.
He did feel the cold metal at his neck, though.
“I told you I’d hurt you if you broke into my room,” Tenzin said, floating down to perch on his back.
Ben stood up, Tenzin still clinging to his back, her knife pressed to his throat.
“If we’re comparing the situations, I’m not in your bedroom. And you’re not naked.”
“How do you know?”
He reached up and tugged the sleeve he could feel at his neck.
“Are you going to take the knife away from my carotid now?”
“Your pulse isn’t even elevated,” Tenzin said, resting her chin on his shoulder. “That’s rather extraordinary for a human.”
“What can I say?” Ben said, hand darting up and grabbing her wrist, twisting it until she released the blade. “I have interesting friends.”
Tenzin laughed and jumped off his back, walking to a lamp in the corner and pulling a cord to flood the room with light.
“Cool place,” he said, looking around.
It was a house. Not a large one, but a beautifully decorated one. He could see the door to what he assumed was a bed chamber on the other side of the library. To the left, another door that was closed.
“Yes, I like this house,” Tenzin said.
Ben nodded toward the doors. “Those are amazing.”
“They are, aren’t they? A little joke from my father when he heard that Cheng and I were together. He thought it was amusing.”