When Jia awoke, the cave was dark, except for an oil lamp lit in the kitchen. She sat up, alarmed that she had slept so late. Russell was sitting at the table, quietly cleaning his guns.
She scrambled out of bed. “You should have woken me up.”
“You looked tired. And you had a rough time last night.” He concentrated on his work, barely glancing her way. “An hour delay isn’t the end of the world.”
“But we don’t have any time to waste.” She reported what Rajiv had told her about Angus and his employees attacking a camp every night until they lured Han out of hiding. “We need to find Han before they do.”
“Agreed.” Russell stood. “I’ll go topside for a few minutes so you can dress.”
She quickly relieved herself in the stream, then dressed and braided her hair.
Russell teleported back in and reassembled his handguns at vampire speed while she ate a breakfast bar. Then he put on his coat and armed himself.
She sipped some water, then cleared her throat. “Do you have my knives from last night?”
“Yes.” He retrieved them from his coat pocket and set them on the table in front of her. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can always zip through the camps alone if you need a night off.”
She recalled his reference to the rough time she’d had last night. Was that why he’d let her sleep late? When she thought about it, she had acted terribly shaken afterward.
“I’m all right.” She noticed he’d cleaned the knives for her. “I knew from the start that this could be dangerous. I’m still as committed as ever.” She glanced up and met his gaze. “We’re partners.”
His eyes searched hers.
What would it take to turn those eyes red and glowing? She shoved the thought away and quickly sheathed the knives. “We should get to work.”
“Good.” He levitated to get his crossbow and quiver.
“Why do you use arrows when you have so many guns?” she asked.
“They’re quiet, so they don’t announce my presence.”
“Do you ever use your cowboy pistols?”
“No, they’re antiques.” He swung the crossbow and quiver over his shoulder. “I would never take them into battle.”
“Then why do you have them? It’s not like you to keep anything unpractical around here.”
With an annoyed look, he extended a hand to her. “I don’t explain myself. Let’s go.”
With a sigh, she walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I’ve known you five days now, but I hardly know you at all.”
He took hold of her waist. “That knowledge is not necessary for the completion of our mission.”
She snorted. “You know all about me. You know how my family died. You know what kind of life I live. You even know about my fear of heights.”
“I know you’re engaged.”
She swallowed hard. “I never officially agreed.”
His hands tightened on her waist. “Your cousin expects you to go through with it.”
She frowned. “We’re not talking about me. It’s you I don’t know anything about.”
“I don’t explain myself.”
She swatted his shoulder. “You’re the most stubborn, exasperating man!”
His mouth curled up. “And that’s all you need to know about me.” He teleported, taking her with him.
After a few minutes of studying the campsite, he declared nothing was going on.
“I can’t smell anything.” She gave him a wry look. “Other than you.”
“Is it that bad? I shower every night.”
She shrugged. “It’s not bad at all.”
He gave her a dubious look. “I don’t smell like a sack of blood?”
“You do a bit, but you also smell like the cave and your soap.” And a gorgeous hunk of man. “So why do you want to kill Han?”
He scoffed. “You thought you could just sneak that in?”
“It was worth a try.”
“I have my reasons.”
“Which are?”
“I don’t explain myself.”
She rolled her eyes.
He grinned and took her to the next campsite. Same story there. Nothing happening.
“So why do you have the cowboy pistols?” she asked.
He gave her a bland look. “Are you going to nag me all night?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.” What she really wanted to ask was, why did his eyes turn red? Did he truly desire her as a woman? But since she didn’t dare ask, she was pestering him about everything else. “Are you really a cowboy? Do you know John Wayne?”
“He’s dead.” Russell made a face. “But then, so am I.”
“You’re not dead.”
“Undead,” he muttered. “Whatever the hell that means. I’m dead half the time.”
“You mean alive half the time.”
His mouth twitched. “If you say so, Pollyanna.”
“So why do you have the cowboy pistols?”
With a frustrated groan, he pulled her into his arms. “How do I shut you up?”
Kiss me. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t explai—” He stopped when she placed a finger on his lips. His eyes darkened, and he grabbed her wrist to move her hand. “You should stay away from my mouth. I have fangs, you know.”
“I like to live dangerously.”
His eyes turned red. He released her abruptly and walked away.
She’d done it! Just by touching his mouth? Her skin tingled at the thought that she could so easily affect him. Who was she kidding? He affected her, too. Her heart was pounding, and there was a strange, fluttery feeling in her stomach.
But was it fair to torment him this way? “I’m sorry.”
He kept his back to her. “The pistols belonged to my great-grandfather, Johann Hankelburg. They’re Colt Single Action Army revolvers, issued to him in 1873. After his service, he settled in Colorado and started a small ranch. The Big H, he called it, for he had dreams of making it big. Over the years, the ranch grew.”
“So you come from a long line of cowboys,” Jia said.
Russell nodded. “It became a tradition for the eldest son to serve in the military. My grandfather fought in World War I; my father in World War II. The pistols were handed down to each of them. Before I left for my first tour of duty in Vietnam, my father took me to my great-grandfather’s grave, and we buried the pistols there by the headstone. He told me I had to survive, no matter what, so I could come back to get them.”
“And you did,” Jia said softly.
Russell sighed. “I came back undead.”
“So you’ve been a vampire since the Vietnam War?” That had to be about forty years, Jia thought. When Russell didn’t answer, she tried another question. “Why did your father bury the pistols? He could have just waited for you to come back.”
“He had lung cancer. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be around, and he was worried . . .” Keeping his back to her, Russell shifted his weight and raked a hand through his hair. “My younger brother, Markos, was having some trouble. Drugs. My dad was afraid he’d take the pistols and sell them. They’re worth a lot of money.”
Jia stepped closer. “And your father is gone now? What about your mother?”
Russell turned toward her, his eyes no longer red. “All I have left are the damned pistols.” He shrugged like he didn’t care, but the tears in his eyes made her heart ache.
Did he have no family at all? “Is your brother gone, too?”
“Markos actually straightened out. He joined the Marines a few years after I did. Even did a tour in Vietnam.” Russell took a deep breath. “He was always trying to follow in my footsteps. I guess he did. He’s listed as MIA, just like I am.”
“I’m sorry.” So Russell was all alone. She was tempted to tell him he wasn’t alone, that she would be with him, but how could she make such a promise?
Russell shrugged. “So are you going to stop nagging me now?”
She smiled. “I’ll give you a short reprieve.”
“That’s decent of you.” He held out a hand. “Let’s get going.”
She walked up to him. “I’m sorry if I made you sad.”
“You didn’t. I plan. I strategize. I’m undead. I don’t do feelings.”
“Of course you do.”
“Not if I can help it. They’re a distraction. They make you weak.”
She huffed. “I disagree!”
“Imagine that,” he muttered dryly, taking hold of her waist.
“Feelings make you strong.” She grabbed hold of his shoulders. “I would have never managed what I’ve done if it hadn’t been for the way I feel about my parents and brother.”
“Those feelings have led you into danger. They could get you killed.”
“And you’re not trying to kill Han because of feelings?” She thumped Russell on the chest. “You don’t keep those pistols because of feelings?”
His hands tightened on her, but he remained silent.
“You have your pistols. I have my mother’s bracelets. We’re holding on to the only things left from our families.” Her eyes burned with tears. “Because we loved them.”
He closed his eyes briefly and drew in a long, shuddering breath. “Let’s go.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“I don’t explain myself.” He teleported, taking her with him.
“Stay down.” Russell crouched behind a large boulder with Jia.
She looked around. “I don’t recall coming to this campsite before.”
“We haven’t. There’s no good cover here for spying.” He’d brought her to the northernmost camp, close to the Tibetan border. There were no trees to hide behind, just dry, barren ground with a few scattered rocks and boulders.
Since the land was unsuitable for farming, the population was sparse. With no people to control, Han rarely visited this outpost. But it had occurred to Russell that it also made a good area for him to hide in.
Peering around the boulder, Russell spotted a truck emerging from the wide gate. Another truck followed. And another.
Were they deserting the campsite? “I need a closer look.” He glanced at Jia. “Will you be all right here?”
She nodded. “Be careful.”
The concern in her eyes was hard to bear. She was killing him with all her talk about feelings. What did she expect from him? She was engaged. As soon as their mission was done, she’d marry her prince and go far away. He’d probably never see her again.
And even if he could win her heart, what did he have to offer her? A cave he didn’t own? The stuff inside the cave wasn’t his. He’d borrowed or stolen most of it. The ranch in Colorado was gone, sold years ago while he’d been stuck in a coma in a cave in Thailand. He had no home to take her to. No family. He was a penniless vampire vagabond.
He had to be honorable to Jia. Honor was about the only thing he had left.
“I’ll be right back.” He teleported into a dark, shadowy spot outside the barricade, then levitated enough to peer over the top.
The soldiers were packing up and leaving. Russell spotted the officer Wu Shen supervising. Wu Shen had helped them before. When Darafer had taken Dougal’s wife prisoner, the officer had sneaked into Tiger Town to let them know where she was. It had been his way to repay them for rescuing some of his family members who had been forced to work at Darafer’s demon herb farm. Darafer had turned them into living zombies.
Russell teleported into the camp, hiding in the shadow between two buildings. Wu Shen stepped back as another transport truck drove through the gates.
“Captain, sir?” Russell called out softly in Chinese.
Wu Shen turned, then his eyes narrowed. He barked out more orders to a nearby group of soldiers, and as they hurried away, he strode toward the shadow where Russell was hiding.
“What are you doing here?” Wu Shen whispered.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Russell said.
Wu Shen snorted. “You should leave before I order my men to capture you.”
“I would just teleport away. What’s going on?”
Wu Shen’s eyes flashed with anger. “Why should I tell you anything? You and your friends killed my sons at Beyul-La.”
Russell stiffened. “You had sons there? In the cave?”
“Yes. The cave you blew up.”
Russell winced. “It’s true we trapped them in there. But the plan was to knock them out, then use the cave as a clinic to change them back to normal. We intended to save them.”
Wu Shen grew pale. “Why didn’t you?”
“The trapped soldiers panicked before we could knock them out. They tried to blast their way out with grenades and brought the mountain down on themselves.”
A pained look crossed Wu Shen’s face. “This is true?”
“Yes. Whenever possible, Angus and his guys take your soldiers prisoner. They have two clinics where they’re able to undo the mutations and turn the soldiers back to normal. The goal has always been to kill Han, not the mortals who were tricked into serving him.”
Wu Shen sighed. “I believe you. I’ve known for some time that you’ve been taking soldiers prisoner. There are signs of a struggle, but never any bodies.”
“I’m sorry about your sons.”
Wu Shen nodded. “My boys were lured in with the promise of becoming superhuman. They believed Han, believed that he could take over all of China—even the world—and they would live like kings.” He snorted. “I never trusted Han, but I resigned my position with the Chinese army so I could become an officer here and watch over my boys.”
“I’m sorry.” Russell winced inwardly, recalling how many of Han’s soldiers he’d killed with the attitude that they’d asked for it. Over the last few days, he’d seen Jia’s reaction to killing, and it had opened his eyes to how cold-blooded he’d become.
Wu Shen turned away, his shoulders slumped.
“Can you tell me where Han is hiding?”
He shook his head.
“Then tell me where they’re keeping the dragon boy prisoner.”
With a frown, Wu Shen turned back to Russell. “I wish I could help you, but the boy is in the same place as Han.”
“Is he all right?”
“He’s doing well, but he’s terrified.” Wu Shen grimaced. “Darafer would terrify anyone.”
“You know you’re working for some cruel bastards.”
“If that’s all you came to say—”
“We need your help.”
“If I’m caught, I’ll be killed. If I try to leave, I’ll be killed. I’m as trapped as my boys were in that cave.”
“If we can kill Han, the soldiers will be free. No more will have to die.”
Wu Shen nodded slowly. “My boys sold their souls to Darafer, so now they’re in hell. I might as well join them there.”
“What can you tell me?”
“I received orders from Han earlier this evening. Soldiers from each camp are to move southeast, where the army will assemble. New recruits will be mutated tomorrow to increase the army’s size. I’ve been given three nights, starting tonight, to prepare the army and move them into place. On the fourth night, Han will teleport there to lead the attack.”
“Where is the attack?” Russell asked.
“The main village of were-tigers.” When Russell drew in a sharp breath, Wu Shen nodded. “I suggest you evacuate the women and children. And prepare for battle.”