will get the goblets—”
“Do you think I am an idiot?” René was fuming.
“—and only the goblets.” She made an X over her heart. “I promise.” Tenzin took Ben’s hand. “Meet us near the kitchen wagon when you’re done.”
Without another word, Tenzin dragged Ben toward Vano’s trailer, leaving René glaring behind them.
Ben let himself look over his shoulder. Just once.
René looked murderous.
He turned back to Tenzin. “I love how you work.”
“I know.”
They walked with purpose, which Ben had discovered over the years was the key to getting pretty much any place you wanted to go.
He spotted Vano’s trailer in the distance, along with two Hazar guards near the entrance. “Ideas?”
“We don’t want to attract that much attention.” She nudged him. “Air.”
Without another word, she took to the sky and dissolved into darkness. Ben stepped behind a trailer and called the air, lifting himself to the top of the caravan where Tenzin was waiting. He felt simultaneously hidden and exposed. The humans couldn’t see them from below, but there were dozens of air vampires flying over the camp, jumping from one roof to another, laughing and visiting as the music grew louder and the dancing more rowdy.
“Just stay here for a moment,” Tenzin said.
“Limited time.”
“I know.” She nodded. “Trust me.”
In a matter of moments, Ben knew what she’d been waiting for. There was a show below, a fire juggler of some kind, and the man touched off a rocket that shot from the ground and into the sky, exploding overhead and grabbing everyone’s attention.
“Nice.” They kept an eye on the juggler, and when he was gearing up for another firework, Tenzin grabbed his hand. “Now.”
They flew from their spot and alighted on Vano’s trailer just as the second rocket exploded.
Tenzin put a finger to her lips and smiled. Then she slid across the roof to the plastic-covered air vent that was just small enough for a child to crawl through.
“There’s no way my shoulders are going to fit through that,” he hissed.
Tenzin frowned. “You’re not going in.”
“Vano thinks you’re dead, Tenzin. If he finds you in his trailer—”
“He’s not going to.” She waited for the next firework before she ripped off the vent with her hands and handed the lid to Ben. “Be right back.”
How on earth had René broken into this thing? Other than the vent that it took a contortionist—or Tenzin—to enter, it was a vault. He didn’t see a crack or a seam. Ben was reluctantly impressed.
He waited on the roof, trying his best to appear like just another wind vampire hanging out on a caravan roof at the party, watching the fireworks light the night sky.
A few minutes after she’d disappeared, Ben saw Tenzin’s hand pop up through the vent, holding a small bundle wrapped in leather. He grabbed it, stuffed it inside his jacket, and went back to ignoring the slight rocking beneath him as she moved around the trailer.
Five achingly long minutes after her hand first appeared, it popped up again, this time holding another bundle. Ben grabbed it and shoved it next to the other goblet before he scooted over and tried to help Tenzin out.
She lifted herself up and out of the vent, only to get stuck at her hips.
Ben frowned. “What’s the problem?”
“I have no idea.” She twisted and squirmed, but it just wasn’t happening.
“What’s going on?” Ben looked at her hips. “You didn’t have a problem getting in.”
“Maybe gravity helped?”
It was a tiny vent, but if she’d entered that easily…
Ben crossed his arms. “What’s in your pockets?”
Her eyes went wide. “My pockets?”
He reached down and squeezed his hand through the side of the vent, reaching around her backside to feel a large lump that had definitely not been there before. “You have gold bullion in your pockets, Tiny.”
“Do I?”
“Are you trying to tell me it just happened to fall in there and you didn’t notice?”
“It’s only twenty… thirty ounces. Maybe.”
Ben squeezed one cheek. “Really?”
“In each pocket,” she muttered. “Fine.” She sighed heavily and dropped down again, only to lift a handful of small gold bars through the vent.
“Uh-uh.” Ben wasn’t taking Vano’s gold. Sure, he was a bad guy, but Ben had been hired to find Radu’s goblet. If he wanted to maintain a reputation as an honest operator, he had to stick to his principles.
“Oh, come on!” She popped her head out of the vent. “Will you just—?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you promised René you wouldn’t take Vano’s gold.”
She hung on the edge of the vent and pouted.
“Tenzin,