He felt a gust of wind at his neck. He turned when he heard the scuffling start behind him. There was a blur of bodies, then everything stopped.
Tenzin straddled René on the ground, one hand on his chest and her bronze blade at his throat. “Don’t even think about it.”
“That sword is mine,” René said. “I am the one descended from Brennus. I unearthed the treasure—”
“After I was the one who found it,” Ben said. “You were following in my tracks, René. Don’t pretend you did the work on this.”
“And don’t think I don’t feel the weight of gold in your pocket,” Tenzin said. “Brennus grabbed you, but not before you took a few trinkets for yourself.”
“They are nothing to the Sanguine Raptor.”
“That may be,” Tenzin said. “But you’re not walking away empty-handed.”
“I want that sword!”
“Not. Going. To. Happen.” Tenzin pressed her blade against the still-healing gnaw marks on René’s throat. “You don’t want to test me on this, Dupont.”
René’s eyes cut toward Ben. “You cannot always protect him.”
“You’re a fool if you think he’s an easy target,” Tenzin said. “But beyond that, you should know that making an enemy of this man”—she nodded toward Ben—“makes you so many enemies, you don’t even want to think about it. Do you know who he is?”
“I know he is the spoiled—” René broke off when the sword pressed harder.
“I don’t like it when people insult my friends.” She bent over and licked at the line of blood dripping from René’s neck. “But if you want me to cut you more, go ahead. You taste good, René.” She straddled his body, her hold intimate. “No wonder Brennus drank so much.”
René bared his fangs, but his eyes were hot on Tenzin.
He likes it. And so does she.
The quick bite of annoyance stabbed his gut. Ben walked over and pressed the tip of the Sanguine Raptor into the ground near René’s ear. Looking down on the vampire, he said, “I won this round. No doubt you’ll win others. Don’t make us enemies, René. That’s not what I want.”
“You’re so magnanimous when you’re the one holding the spoils,” René said. “I do wonder if your heart will be so generous when I am the one who wins.” His eyes darted to Tenzin, who was still bent over his neck, sniffing. “Can you make her stop doing that?”
“Maybe. I promise nothing. ” Ben tapped Tenzin’s thigh with the flat of the sword. “Tenzin, he’s not dinner. At least, he’s not dinner tonight.”
She looked up, her eyes fixed on René. Her hair fell over her face. Her fangs and lips were red with blood. The Frenchman’s eyes locked on her.
“René.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t threaten my friends,” she whispered. “I don’t like it.”
René nodded a little. “I understand.”
Tenzin arched up as she straightened, her movements unabashedly sexual. Anger twisted in Ben’s belly, but he quashed it. Without another word, she floated off René’s body and came to rest at Ben’s side. René took a deep breath, then he sat up, brushed off his hands, and stood.
He looked at Ben. A little longer at Tenzin. He glanced at the horizon and ran without saying another word.
“Well,” Ben said. “He’ll be having nightmares about that for a while. Or sex dreams. Could be either.”
Tenzin laughed. “He is amusing.”
“That’s certainly one way to think of him.”
The sky was just beginning to glow, and Ben was carrying a sword nearly as long as his arm. He decided taking refuge in the cottage was the right move. He walked back over to Brennus’s stone and drew a pound coin from his pocket, placing it on the moss- and lichen-covered rock with the other coins resting there.
A scraping sound near his feet made him look down.
Lying in the dirt was the gold coin Ben had found near the stream days before. He bent down and picked it up, flipping it in his fingers. It was warm, as if someone had been holding the piece of gold in the palm of their hand.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I will keep this.”
The earth said nothing.
✕
“PLEASE.”
Tenzin stared at the Sanguine Raptor, her chin in her palms, her eyes pleading with him.
“No.”
“Please, please.”
Ben twisted the wooden vises to the table in the cottage, then he placed the padded alligator clips in them and set the sword between the rubber tips. “Tenzin,” he said, “this sword is being cleaned and taken to Max. I cannot believe what good shape it’s in.” He shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t even see any rust. This is amazing.”
“He probably waxed it.”
“Stop pouting. Do you think he had it wrapped? He must have had it wrapped.”
“Yes.” She was still pouting. “It’s beautiful. Please, can I have it? I will give you so much gold.”
He forced the smile back. “Aren’t you the one who told me there were so many swords in the world?”
“But I don’t have one like this. All I’m going to see on my sword wall is the space where this should be.” She looked up, her eyes shining. “Please, Benjamin.”
He shook his head. “Are you making yourself cry right now? I didn’t even know you could do that.”
“Dammit, Ben! I really want this sword!”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. He sat down and stared at the Sanguine Raptor. It was beautiful. Once he’d had time to examine it, he saw why it was so legendary.
The balance was exquisite, even after two thousand years. The quality of the iron was exceptional; he was going to have to research early Celtic iron forging, because there was something different about the quality of the metal. The hilt was worked with copper and gold details, and the stylized raven’s eyes were true rubies. He’d thought they might be garnet, but no. Rubies. Delicious cabochon rubies. It was no wonder Tenzin was trying to guilt him into giving it to her. It would be the crown of her collection.
“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I want to keep it myself. But that’s not what we’re doing here.”
“But Ben”—she floated over and settled on the chair next to him, leaning into his shoulder—“I have stolen things so much less wonderful than this. This is worth stealing. It’s worth pissing off lots of people. You’ll be fine. I’ll protect you.”
“Nope.”
She threw her head back and groaned. “This is so much worse than I imagined!”
“Suck it up, partner. You didn’t have this reaction to the idol we found. What’s going on?”
Tenzin rolled her eyes. “The idol was small and ugly. It didn’t have anything shiny on it. It definitely didn’t have rubies.”
“Old-world snob.”
“Rubies.”
“I didn’t know you liked rubies so much.” He patted her shoulder. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“I’m thinking of something very painful happening to you right now.”
“This was the agreement,” he said. “No copies. No duplicates. We return the original artifact to the client without forgeries of any kind. How else will clients trust us to deal straight with them?”
“I have never been known for straight-dealing! You’re spoiling my reputation as an unpredictable, chaotic force of nature. This could ruin me.”
“So dramatic. I’m sure people will still be terrified of you. And don’t forget, we do get to split the finders’ fee.”
She snorted. “What, the hundred and five whole pounds Max gave you for volunteering to find this sword? Do I even want to know how much money we lost on this job?”
Ben tried not to wince, but it was difficult. “It’s coming out of my trust. Don’t worry about it. The boost to our reputation will all be worth it in the end.”
It better be. He didn’t want to think about how much money he’d lost. Spending months on this research hadn’
t come cheap. Equipment and paying off archivists didn’t come cheap either. Of course, some of those relationships would continue. The next time he was in the UK for work, he’d be able to—
“You know.” Tenzin broke into his thoughts. “I bet if I was working with René, he would let me keep the sword.”
Ben cut his eyes at her. “René would let you do all sorts of things I don’t want to know about. But he wouldn’t let you keep this sword unless you outbid the original clients. Then he’d stab them in the back to give it to you, making an enemy of the Ankers. What is that about, by the way?”
“I think they wanted it for leverage. I haven’t found out why yet. But would it really be so bad to piss off the Ankers? They’re nothing but an entire clan of spies. People probably piss them off all the time.”
“Since I am human and don’t really want to die at the hand of one of their many assassins, yes. Yes, it would be.”
She put her head on his shoulder. “I really want the sword, Benjamin.”
He patted her dark hair. “Learn to say good-bye, Tiny.”
“I’m terrible at saying good-bye to things I love.”
Oh Tenzin. Ben sighed, because she was right. Tenzin was a collector. Of things. Of people. It was one of the reasons she tried not to get attached at all.
“I know.” He turned and kissed the top of her head. “There will be other swords.”
“I bet you say that to all your partners.”
“Only you, Tiny. Only you.”
Chapter Nine
Edinburgh, Scotland
“YOU FOUND IT,” MAX SAID, eyeing the sword with a blank expression. “I didn’t think you’d actually find it.”
Cathy was staring at the sword in abject horror. “Oh… Not good.”
This was so far from the reaction Ben expected, he felt like screaming. He’d showed up at Max and Cathy’s town house bursting with pride. He’d waited in the sitting room trying to stay cool, but it was difficult.
He’d found the fucking Sanguine Raptor.
Tenzin had come with him but seemed far more interested in looking at the books on the coffee table than engaging in the conversation. She was still pouting about not being able to keep the sword.
“I don’t understand,” Ben said. “What’s going on? What’s not good?”
He’d spent over a week painstakingly cleaning the sword in preparation for handing it over to Max. He’d used dental picks to clean the hilt, tested each of the jewels and cleaned them too. Then he’d coated and waxed the blade. Polished and waxed the hilt. He had a scabbard specially made with stitching that complemented the design of the hilt while still being serviceable.
And he’d fought off Tenzin’s pleading the whole time.
Now Max and Cathy were looking at the Sanguine Raptor like it would bite.
“What’s the problem, Max?”
The vampire’s face was pale. “And you said Brennus is alive? You saw him?”
“Yeah, but like Tenzin said, I wouldn’t go trying to find him again. He wasn’t real happy about being woken up. He’s probably moved his resting place by now, and he’s back in stasis. I wouldn’t go spreading the news that he’s alive or anything.”
Ben and Tenzin had debated telling Max, but there was no way of getting around the fact that out of the legendary treasure in Brennus’s hoard, they’d only recovered one sword.
Ben knew the sword was more than enough to establish his reputation, but he also didn’t want Max thinking he’d been cheated. Now Cathy was rubbing Max’s shoulder like someone had died.
“Do you want it?” Cathy asked in a low voice.
“Of course I don’t,” Max hissed. “I never have. The power you have is more than enough. Ioan knew if our clan amassed more we’d only become a target.”
Ben was completely lost.
“You could do it. It would be bloodless. You know the MacGregors—”
“This is not about the MacGregors. It’s about me.”
“Then we don’t tell anyone you have it,” she said. “There will be rumors, but we can deny—”
“Are you kidding me?” Ben finally shouted. “What are you talking about?”
Max looked up at him. “Can’t you just put it back?”
“Of course I can’t put it back! Do you understand what we went through to get it in the first place?”
“You told me you were going after the treasure,” Max said. “No one can know—”
“The whole reason I searched for this thing was so vampires would know! So they would talk about it. And you’re going to act like it’s some kind of embarrassment? What is wrong with you guys?”
Max shook his head. “Ben, you don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t understand,” he said. “You don’t understand what it’s like trying to make a decent reputation in a world that constantly underestimates you. You don’t understand what it’s like depending on other people all the time. To live off someone else’s success. I worked my ass off to find this thing. I risked my life and I invested money—asking nothing from you but permission—so that I could have a job on my résumé. And not just any job. A massive job. A legendary job. And now you tell me you’re going to pretend it didn’t happen and—”
“Do you understand what you found?” Cathy yelled. The room heated in a second. “Do you know what this sword means?”
“Ben.” Max rose and put a hand on Cathy’s arm. The room cooled back down. Max’s normally gregarious face was lined with worry. He looked… older. Less like himself and more like a vampire to be frightened of.
Max said, “The Sanguine Raptor is not just a sword. It’s… Excalibur. It’s Durendal. It’s Tizona.”
“I don’t know what that means,” Ben said. “It’s a sword, Max.” Ben stepped closer. “It’s not like some magical creature appeared out of nowhere and handed it to me out of a lake or…”
Max’s eyebrows went up.
Ben put his hand over his face. “Shit!”
Max and Cathy were both nodding silently. Tenzin started laughing behind him.
“It’s funny,” she said, “because it wasn’t out of a lake. It was out of the ground. He pulled it out of the ground and gave it to you.”
Oh, he was screwed.
Max shook his head. “I didn’t think you’d find it. I’m sorry, Ben. I thought you would find treasure. Something that would stoke the legends and make for great stories to spread around. You’d get more work. I’d add a few things to my collection, but nothing… nothing like this. I didn’t truly believe it existed until you showed it to me.”
Ben closed his eyes and sat on the edge of the sofa. “What does this mean?”
Max lifted the blade from the desk where Ben had placed it and drew it from the scabbard. He held it balanced in his hand, his arm stretched out. Then he brought it closer and looked at the tooled iron, the jeweled hilt.
“It really is extraordinary,” he murmured.
Max put it back in the scabbard and walked to the sofa, putting the blade on the table in front of him. Cathy sat at his side. Tenzin put the coffee table book to the side, and Ben turned and slid onto the sofa next to her.
Why couldn’t it ever be simple?
“This sword,” Max began, “is the sword of the king of Scotland. The vampire king. The Raven King.”
“Brennus.”
“The king who would return, according to immortal legend among Scotland’s vampires. There aren’t many of us, but the old ones—including Lord MacGregor—do abide by the tradition. MacGregor has never been crowned or taken any title other than the one he was born with. He’s a steward only. On the day the Raven King returns, I have no doubt he will bend his knee and hand over his authority to the bearer of this blade.”
Ben shook his head. “It’s not my blade.”
“Tell me,” Max said, “as exactly as you can remember it, what Brennus said to you.”
Tenzin asked, “Do you want it in English or Latin?”
Cathy said, “English please.”
“Ben said, ‘I give you my word that I will put your sword in the hand of the one who shares your blood. Who wants it to protect and not to sell as treasure.’ And Ben offered Brennus a token. A coin he’d found from Brennus’s cache. Then Brennus put his hand over Ben’s coin and said, ‘My faith is in you. I will have your word on this gold that when I rise again, the Sanguine Raptor will find its way back to me.’ And he took the coin.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ben found it amusing that Tenzin also included dramatic voices in her retelling. He was also slightly in awe that she remembered their words exactly.
“Then Ben was thinking about the fact that he’s mortal and will probably be dead when Brennus finally gets around to waking up—”
“You don’t know that’s what I was thinking,” Ben said.
Tenzin gave him a look that clearly said: Whatever, dude. Then she continued. “So Brennus said, ‘Mortal, your fate is clear to all but you.’” Tenzin turned her eyes back to Ben. “Did you get that?”
“Be quiet and finish the story, Tiny.”
Cathy held a hand up. “Can I just say that the two of you are fascinating to me? I’m not really sure what’s going on, but it’s very interesting.”
Max said, “Finish please.”
“So finally Ben said, ‘I give you my word. I will do everything in my power to return your sword to you. And I will leave it in hands I trust.’ And that was it. Brennus told him they had an agreement and then he gave him the sword and basically disappeared.”
“Just that?” Max asked. “There was no exchange or formal pledge?”
“Tenzin bribed him with blood-wine,” Ben said. “Other than that, no.”
Max let out a long breath, and Cathy patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, sexy. This one is on you.”
Ben said, “What does that mean?”
“It means that Brennus didn’t give the blade to you,” Cathy said. “He gave it to Max with you as Max’s agent. If he’d given it to you, then Max could bow out and you’d be stuck being the vampire king of Scotland.”
“I’m not a vampire!” Ben said.