“If it’s not” —she rolled over and looked at the tablet upside down— “just come home.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He smiled. “I do have to work though.”
“I know.” She kicked her feet in the air. “Do you see my feet?”
“I do.”
“Mama said Dema is going to buy me new shoes because I grew out of my old ones.”
“Are you getting really old while I’m gone? Am I going to recognize you when I see you again?”
She giggled. “Yes. I’m going to be old enough to be a vampire soon.”
Ben tried not to wince. “Okay, silly, just remember—”
“It’s only, only allowed for grown-ups.” She rolled back over. “I knoooow.”
He stared at her precious round face and her missing teeth. He tried to imagine what she would have done if he’d died in China. Would she still remember him? Or would he only be a faint memory now, reserved for pictures in her childhood home?
“Sadi?”
“Yeah?” She was reaching for her feet behind her back.
“Why do you want to be a vampire when you grow up?”
She nearly caught her toes, but she toppled over in the dark blanket fort. “’Caaaaause Mama and Baba are vampires. And you are. And when I’m grown up, then I’ll be a vampire too and then Mama and Baba and you and me can be a family forever.”
Ben had the urge to hug the screen, but it wouldn’t be as satisfying as hugging Sadia. “That makes sense.”
“I know. And Tenzin will be in our family too.” She was reaching for her toes again. “And Dema and Zain, but they won’t be vampires.”
“You’ve got it all planned out.”
“I know! Don’t you think it’s a good idea? Mama says it’s good to plan things.”
“Yeah, she’s right.” Ben was fighting the urge to cry. He cleared his throat. “Tell me what you learned in school this week.”
Sadia launched into a litany. She loved reading books, and she extra loved playing on the giant grand piano in the music room. She did not like Latin and said it was boring and Mandarin was more fun because she already had a screen friend in Hong Kong she could talk Mandarin with, but none of her friends knew about Latin even though Baba loved it best.
His baby sister switched fluidly between English, Italian, and Spanish, though she sometimes confused things in Italian and Spanish. She spoke Arabic with Dema but never with Ben. She was quick, curious, and had more than her share of attitude.
Ben refused to think about himself at Sadia’s age. She lived in a different world than he had, and Ben was happy for it. She chattered like a bird, nothing at all like the suspicious, wounded toddler he’d first met. She was cautious with those outside her family, but within, she was a glittering star.
Ben could feel dawn approaching. “Sadi?”
Her blinks were also getting long, and she’d lain down in the blanket fort, resting her cheek on her arms. “Yeah?”
“I need to go to bed, and I think you do too.”
“Okay.” Another long blink. “Baba said you were with Tenzin.”
“Um. Yeah, she’s here.”
“She’s there?”
“Not right here. Not this time.”
“Next time?”
Ben was hoping that by next week Tenzin would be out of his life, but how was he supposed to tell Sadia that? “I’ll tell her to call you, okay?”
“Okay.” Sadia yawned. “Love you forever, Benny.”
“Love you for always, Sadi.”
He ended the video call and tried to contemplate a world where he didn’t get to see Sadia grow up. Where he wasn’t able to watch over her.
“I didn’t want to die yet.”
“You won’t.”
16
The flight to Budapest took a little over two hours, so Ben, Tenzin, Gavin, and Chloe used their time the next night to go over Ben’s notes about the Hungarian collector.
Ben put the man’s picture in the center of the table. “Gergo Farkas is pretty notorious with human authorities. Collector is a generous term. He does collect and he does deal on the legitimate market now, but he started out as a thief. Probably retired now.”
“This guy?” Chloe held up the picture. “He looks like a bookkeeper.”
The nondescript man in the photo looked like he was in his early seventies and was wearing a dull brown suit and a tweed cap.
“Don’t be fooled by his appearance. He’s successful because he skates under most radars. He wants to be forgettable.”
“Farkas is more than successful. He’s brilliant.” Tenzin was glowing. “Such a beautiful thief. Some of the best work I’ve seen from a human.