Page 87 of Tin God

Instinct was her enemy, driving her away from him and deeper into the forest.

In the distance, she heard a faint roar that could have been an animal or Ben’s frustration.

She twisted up a threaded river that led to the sea, flying low over the gravel riverbed as the scent of salt gave way to moss and granite and churning, mineral-laden air.

There was a bear waking in the forest nearby, and the heavy musk of its scent hit her nose as she passed.

Tenzin was just passing a tumble of granite rocks when she felt it.

A creeping sense of ribbons around her ankle, airy threads of Ben’s amnis that slid up her leg, twisting and wrapping around her left leg, then her right.

One day you will be infinite.

Her fangs fell at the challenge.

His amnis was powerful—it would be more powerful than hers with time. He’d been born of an ancient whose amnis had not thinned in thousands of years. He was swimming in Zhang’s ancient power, mated to her blood, and had been raised by a vampire assassin.

Heat churned through her veins as she felt him grow closer. He was using their connection to draw her in, gaining ground as she flew up the riverbed.

She didn’t want to lose him; she wanted to fight.

Tenzin flipped in midair, spiraling upward and into the night, breaking through low-lying clouds, and she felt his grip on her ankles falter.

He followed her, bursting through the clouds with rage-fueled speed.

“Tenzin!” He roared her name.

She spun around, baring her fangs with a satisfied smile as she spread her arms and let the wind take her higher.

The air lifted her outstretched arms and whipped her hair around her face as she thrust her hands forward, bashing her mate with a wall of elemental energy.

Ben wasn’t expecting the sudden turn. He flipped end over end, tumbling back toward the earth.

Tenzin’s chest was pounding. It was the most her blood had moved in centuries, and the thrill of it lit her from within even as Ben righted himself and arrowed toward her. He reached out an arm, grabbed for the wind around her, and yanked.

She felt his amnis wrap around her and shove her downward as Ben flew upward.

He was on her in seconds, wrapping a fist around her hair and pulling her mouth to his.

His fangs cut her lips when they came crashing down, and she drank in their mingled blood, sucking hard on his tongue as Ben’s hand continued to grip her hair as the other ripped away the cloth that had covered her face to shield it from the tearing wind.

They were a tangle of arms, legs, fangs, and amnis as they plummeted to the earth.

Tenzin let herself fall.

At the last minute, Ben’s power wrapped around them both and lifted them back into the clouds, past the rain, and into the light of the nearly full moon.

“Damn you,” he hissed as he sank his fangs into her neck.

She threw her head back and held his head to her neck, her own fangs aching to pierce his skin. She ripped at the heavy clothes covering his body and keeping his skin from her own. She could feel him, already hard and ready against her thigh, his arousal piqued by his pursuit.

“Why did you run?” He growled. “Why do you always run?”

“Because you chase,” she whispered into his ear as he bit her again, bruising her skin and leaving marks she didn’t want him to heal. “And in the whole of my life, you’re the only one I ever wanted to catch me.”

He froze in her arms, but the wind around them spun like a tornado.

“Damn you.” He pressed his cheek to hers. “Why do you do this to me?”