Jia checked her backpack, hoping to conceal the fact that her nerves were all in a jumble. During the last ten minutes, it felt as if she’d careened through every possible emotion. Fear that if she didn’t find Russell in time, he would take her back to her prisonlike room in Tiger Town. Pain when her foot had crashed through his ceiling. Panic with the realization that she was stuck. Joy at having passed the test to become Russell’s partner. Curiosity over the tattoo on his wrist. And most recently, the anxiety of asking him to watch over her if she was mortally wounded.
But out of all the emotions she’d experienced, one continued to haunt her. A strange, tingling feeling that she’d never experienced before. When he’d held her in his arms and they’d gazed into each other’s eyes, it had seemed like time had screeched to a halt and the world had suddenly constricted to a tiny point that had contained only her and Russell. She’d felt breathless and dazed, yet somehow achingly aware of him. His every breath, every movement. His eyes, his hands, his mouth.
She had wanted him to kiss her.
A vampire. She cast a sidelong glance at him as he downed a bottle of synthetic blood before their departure. God help her, she was attracted to a vampire. She’d known from the first night she’d met him that he was handsome. She’d admired his physique and determination. She’d respected his expertise. Teaming up with him had been the logical choice, since it gave her the best chance at successfully completing the mission she’d worked on for thirteen years. But now she wanted to kiss him? There was nothing logical about that. She had to be losing her mind.
Sure, there were a few good Vamps, but she could never forget that it was a vampire who had killed her parents and brother. Rajiv had also lost his parents to a vampire. For generations, vampires had been the sworn enemy of the were-tigers. Vampires hated shifters because they were not susceptible to mind control. And unlike a naïve human, who normally had no idea that vampires existed until it was too late, a were-tiger could instantly identify a bloodsucker by his scent. In most cases, whenever the two met, one was going to die, and since vampires knew that cat shifters had nine lives, they had a nasty habit of hacking a were-tiger into pieces so he couldn’t come back.
And now she was hopelessly attracted to a bloodsucker. No, not hopelessly, she corrected herself as she removed her mother’s bracelets. She could never dishonor her family by falling for the wrong kind of man. Somehow, she would put this attraction aside. Vengeance for her family had to come first.
Stay with me, Mother. Give me strength. She returned the bracelets to their red silk pouch and stuffed them into her backpack beneath her spare knives.
Russell finished his bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “After we leave the bat cave, we might get another call from J.L. They know you’re missing in Tiger Town, and they’re looking for you.”
Jia swung her backpack on. “I’ll tell them I’m with you, if you don’t mind. Then they’ll know I’m safe.”
Russell snorted. “I doubt they consider me very safe.”
She winced. Rajiv might go into a tiger tizzy if he knew she was hanging out with a vampire whom she secretly wanted to kiss.
Most were-tigers her age were already well versed in kissing. Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, they each shifted for the first time. It was an important benchmark in a were-tiger’s life and called for a celebration that continued for the three nights of the full moon. It was during that party that the young adults usually received their first kiss.
Unfortunately, in Jia’s case, none of the local boys had wanted to risk kissing her. Their parents had warned them that she was a princess and stealing a kiss from her would bring the wrath of her grandfather, the Grand Tiger, upon their household.
So, in all of her twenty-one years, Jia had only received an occasional peck on the cheek from family members. How many times had she lain awake at night imagining her first real kiss? She was convinced it would be hot and passionate, for the man’s desire for her would be so overwhelming that he would risk the Grand Tiger’s anger just to kiss her.
Never had she imagined that her first nonfamilial kisses would come from a vampire. And how embarrassing that they had both been accidents! Last night, Russell’s mouth had accidentally brushed her brow; tonight, her cheek. Clearly it had meant nothing to him, for he’d quickly admitted it had been an accident. Her heart had shriveled with humiliation.
It was all wrong. The man she’d dreamed of had always been wildly romantic, with a burning, uncontrollable desire for her. And he had certainly never been a vampire.
But now, Russell had surprised her by kissing her on the forehead. On purpose. Why on earth would he do that?
She glanced at him again as he turned off the lamps. Had the kiss been nothing more than his reaction to her display of emotion? Or did he feel more than sympathy? There had been a few moments when she’d suspected he cared about her. Like when he’d doctored her foot. But then there were other times when he seemed brusque and distant.
It would be better if he didn’t care. If she hoped to resist this attraction, she would need him to remain distant.
As he turned off the last lamp, the cave plunged into darkness. It was time for them to go, which meant he would teleport her out. Any second now, he would reach for her and pull her into his arms. Instantly, her heart started pounding. Her skin tingled with anticipation.
Good God, was her attraction hopeless after all?
“Ready?” he asked softly, and her skin prickled with goose bumps.
His night vision had to be better than hers, for she couldn’t really see him; she could only sense his presence in front of her. She extended her hands till her fingertips grazed his chest. As she rested her palms on him, his chest expanded with a deep breath.
He stepped closer, one of his boots slipping between her feet. His hands slid beneath her backpack. “I have to get a good grip on you so I don’t lose you. You’ll need to hold onto me, too.”
“I understand.” She wondered why he felt compelled to explain something she already knew.
When she smoothed her hands up to his shoulders, he pulled her closer till she bumped against his chest. Even through his bulky coat, she could feel the softness of her breasts pressed against his rock-hard chest.
“Rule number one,” he muttered, his grip on her tightening.
She swallowed hard. “What about it?”
“Strictly business,” he gritted out.
“Oh.” The strange, tingly hyperawareness returned, and she could feel the pressure of his hands, the strength of his arms, the hardness of his chest, the softness of his breath against her brow, and the scent that belonged only to him. How was she going to resist this man? He was all wrong, but he felt so right.
Everything went black. As soon as they landed, he released her abruptly and strode away. She regained her balance and looked around. They were on top of a hill, with a clear, starry sky overhead. Scrubby trees, only shoulder-high, grew at an angle from being constantly buffeted by the wind. The moon, almost half full, shone down, painting the bushes silver and outlining Russell’s silhouette where he stood on the edge of a bluff overlooking a valley.
When she joined him, he pointed across the valley at the lights flickering on a high cliff. “That’s one of Han’s favorite camps. He has control of all the land and villages within a hundred-mile radius. I’ll teleport closer so I can see inside. I’ve never seen any guards on this bluff. You should be safe here to do your sniffing.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be back as soon as possible. We have—” The phone buzzed in his pocket, and he made an impatient noise as he pulled it out. “Let’s get this over with.” He punched a button. “What?”
Jin Long’s voice was loud enough for Jia to hear. “Why aren’t you answering your damned phone?” he demanded. “And don’t give me any bullshit about a water buffalo. They don’t squeal like girls. Do you have Jia with you?”
Russell looked at her, and she mouthed, “Water buffalo?” The corner of his mouth curled up. “Yeah, she’s with me.”
“What—” Jin Long sputtered. “Why did you take her?”
Russell shrugged. “Why not?”
“You can’t do that,” Jin Long growled. “Bring her back now!”
“No.”
“You told them I was a water buffalo?” Jia asked, but she forgot to be indignant when he smiled at her. God help her, the man had dimples. He should smile more often.
“Russell—” Jin Long switched to English. Jia couldn’t understand him, but his tone was certainly angry.
Her mouth twitched when Russell lowered the phone and glanced at his watch with a bored expression.
Then Rajiv’s voice cut in, speaking in Chinese. “What are you doing, Russell? You can’t kidnap a princess!”
Russell switched back to Chinese. “I didn’t kidnap her.”
“Then why is she with you?” Rajiv demanded. “Did you threaten her—”
“Enough!” Jia ripped the phone from Russell’s hand. “Rajiv, stop yelling at him. I’m here of my own free will.”
“You need to come home now,” Rajiv ordered. “If Russell won’t teleport you, I’ll send Jin Long—”
“No, I’m not coming home until I complete my mission.”
“Jia, I don’t want you doing this,” Rajiv insisted. “It’s too dangerous—”
“Russell will keep me safe. He wants to kill Han, too, so it makes perfect sense for us to team up.”
“What about your engagement?” Rajiv asked.
She glanced at Russell, who was not looking at her but was still standing so close that she knew he could hear every word. “Killing Han has been my mission for thirteen years. Nothing is going to stop me.”
Rajiv sighed. “All right. I’ll make a deal with you. Come home, and I’ll let you go with Rinzen and Tenzen to track Han.”
Now Rajiv was taking her seriously? But even with this new offer, she knew she had made the right decision. “I appreciate it, but I’m sticking with Russell. He has skills that our uncles don’t have. And I firmly believe he is my best chance at success.”
“But you don’t even like him,” Rajiv protested. “The last time I saw you with him, you slapped the hell out of him.”
Jia groaned inwardly. Only once in her life had she slapped a person, and everyone seemed to be stuck on it. Even Russell was watching her now with a wry look on his face. She turned her back to him and lowered her voice. “I get along with him fine now.”
“I don’t want you working with him,” Rajiv grumbled. “I’m not sure he can be trusted.”
A spurt of anger shot through her. “How can you say that? He’s saved your life more than once. And he saved mine the other night.”
“I know,” Rajiv gritted out. “But he’s not . . . stable.”
“He’s as steady as a rock!” she argued. “I trust him with my life, and so should you. Now I have work to do, so I’ll call you later. Bye.” She punched the Off button and turned to give the phone back to Russell.
He didn’t take it. He was staring at her like she’d grown another head.
“Something wrong?”
“No.” He grabbed the phone and vanished.
She’d defended him. She’d fussed at the Grand Tiger and head of her family on his behalf. In spite of his astonishment, Russell cautioned himself not to misinterpret the situation. Her defense was probably nothing more than an indication of her desperation to succeed. He was a means to an end. He signified the successful killing of Han. But what if he meant more to her than that? She’d said she trusted him with her life. Steady as a rock. She believed in him.
How could he resist her now?
Rule number one, he reminded himself. Focus on business. After teleporting onto a roof in Han’s camp, he listened in on conversations. Nothing new was going on, so he teleported back to the bluff where Jia had remained. Her nose hadn’t detected any vampires in the area other than him. Without further ado, he grabbed her and teleported to the next camp.
An hour later, they had investigated eight more encampments with no results. Because of their close proximity to some of the camps, he used hand signals to communicate with her. Other times, he leaned close to whisper in her ear. She was growing increasingly tense each time he teleported her to a new place, but he figured it was disappointment over their lack of progress.
“There are thirty camps in all,” he whispered in her ear when he slipped his arms around her once again. “And no guarantee that Han is hiding anywhere near them. Locating him could take us several nights.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
Why did she sound so breathless? “Are you tired? Do you need a break?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Let’s get on with this.”
“All right. The best spying place for the next camp is high in a tree.”
Her hands clamped down hard on his shoulders. “What?”
“Don’t worry. If our combined weight is too much, I’ll just levitate.” He teleported to a thick branch, positioning Jia next to the trunk.
She gasped when the branch dipped.
He levitated while helping her grab onto the trunk. Then he grasped another branch to pull himself forward so he could scan the interior of the campsite. It was much the same as the previous nine camps—a few soldiers barely doing the minimum.
“Do you smell anything?” He turned to Jia.
Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was hugging the trunk tightly, her grip so hard that her knuckles were white. Perspiration beaded her forehead, and her breathing was fast and shallow.
“Jia? Are you all right?”
Her face was deathly pale, and her cheek pressed hard against the bark. “D-don’t mind me. Go on with your business.”
He recalled finding her hanging from the silken rope outside her house in Tiger Town. Her eyes had been shut then, too, and her face pale. “You’re afraid of heights.”
Her eyes flickered open. “Is it that obvious?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
She winced. “Do what you need to do. I’ll be fine.”
He took hold of her upper arm. “I’ll teleport you out of here.”
Her eyes widened. “Don’t take me back to Tiger Town.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because—” She grimaced. “I look like a scaredy-cat.”
His mouth twitched. “We all have issues.”
“I can’t imagine you being afraid of anything.”
A memory flashed through his mind of the night soon after he’d awakened as a vampire, when he’d learned that all of his men had died in Vietnam without him and all of his loved ones in the States were gone. He understood fear too well. Even if he lived for an eternity, he never wanted to experience another night like that.
“I’ll teleport you down to the ground.” He eased around behind her so he could get a better hold on her.
She trembled, her fingers digging into the trunk. “I hate that you’re seeing me like this.”
“It’s all right.” He burrowed a hand between the tree trunk and her waist, the bark scraping his knuckles. “You should have warned me. I thought were-cats were good climbers.”
“I was. Then . . . I wasn’t.”
“What happened?”
She shook her head slightly, her cheek still glued to the tree.
“I have a good hold on you.” With his right hand, he squeezed her upper arm. With his left arm, he tightened his grip on her waistline, pressing her back against him. “Let go of the tree now. I have you.”
Still clutching the tree, she slowly moved her head back till it rested on his shoulder. “It happened thirteen years ago.”
That was how long she’d wanted to kill Han. “How old were you?”
“Eight. My father was the leader of our village, and he refused to bow down to Master Han.”
Russell winced. “Han attacked?”
She nodded her head. “Dad told me to hide in a tree as high as I could climb. I saw him and my mother and brother killed. And hacked—” Her voice broke.
Russell squeezed her tighter and tilted his head so his cheek rubbed against her brow. Eight years old? Far too young to witness something that horrific. “I’m sorry.”
“The ground below me was full of terror. I stayed in the tree till the next night, when Grandfather came with a troop of soldiers. They had to carry me down. Since then, I’ve been afraid of heights.”
“I understand.” How terrified she must have been trying to climb down that silken rope. His poor, brave Jia.
“I didn’t want to tell you. I know you’re looking for a reason to be rid of me. Who would want a coward—”
“You’re not a coward. You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met.”
She turned her head toward him, her eyes wide with shock. “Then you . . . don’t want to be rid of me?”
“No. You’re my . . . partner.” He kissed her brow.
With a sigh, she released her grip on the tree, and he teleported her down to the ground.
What the hell was he doing kissing her again? He released her and quickly stepped away. “See if you can catch Han’s scent.”
“Right.” She inhaled deeply, clearly trying to calm her nerves. Then she closed her eyes and rotated slowly, sniffing at the air.
With her eyes shut, it was safe for him to study her. She was a natural beauty, her face sweet and oval-shaped, her skin clear and luminous, her hair thick and shiny, her body slim and graceful. It was so tempting to take her into his arms and kiss her. A real kiss. On the mouth. But how could he, when she was engaged?
He clenched his fists tightly, then released them. Rule number one. Strictly business. It was a good thing she was engaged. It served as a constant reminder that he couldn’t get involved with her. He couldn’t afford to care.
She opened her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not catching anything. But then . . . ” She bit her lip.
“What?”
She blushed. “It could be that I’m too . . . aware of your scent and not able to smell past it.”
“Oh.” He winced. “I guess we vampires all smell pretty much the same.”
“Not . . . really.”
“I don’t stink quite as bad as the others?” When she shook her head, he scoffed. “Well, that makes me feel special.”
Her mouth twitched. “You don’t stink. But it is getting hard to ignore you.”
What the hell did that mean? He glanced at his watch. “If I leave for three minutes, will that be enough?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“I hate leaving you alone here. How about one minute?”
“Two.”
“Deal.” He noted the time and teleported back to the bat cave. Halfway through a bottle of blood, he stopped with a jerk. What if Jia was hungry? Or thirsty?
He grabbed a sack and teleported to Zoltan’s kitchen. After taking a few bottles of water from the fridge, he stole some breakfast bars from the pantry. A can of mixed nuts. A bag of chips. And a container of instant noodles.
“Russell?” Howard charged into the kitchen. “What—” His eyes narrowed as Russell emerged from the pantry. “What are you doing with human food?”
“Later.” Russell heard Howard yelling just before he teleported back to the bat cave, where he deposited the food he’d stolen from Zoltan’s pantry. He checked his watch. Five seconds to go. He selected a breakfast bar and bottle of water, then returned to Jia’s side.
“Oh, thank you.” She smiled at him, and his heart squeezed. She dropped the bar into a pocket and opened the water for a long drink.
“Did you smell anything?”
“No.” She twisted the top back on. “Let’s keep working.”
Russell took her to ten more camps, leaving her alone at each site for a minute so she could sniff without any interference from him. Still no luck. With dawn approaching in an hour, she was yawning and visibly having trouble staying awake.
“I think we should call it a night,” Russell told her. “I’ll take you home and pick you up tomorrow night after sunset.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “You can’t take me back to Tiger Town.”
“It’s your home. You’ll be more comfortable there.”
“No!” She shook her head. “I can’t go back. They—they might lock me up. Or hide me somewhere you can’t find me.”
“I can always find you.”
“And what if Rajiv orders my guards to fight you? I don’t want you having to fight other were-tigers.”
He stiffened. “I wouldn’t hurt any of your kind.”
She touched his arm. “I know that, but I’m not sure Rajiv does. He . . . he doesn’t trust you right now. He might have Jin Long teleport me across the world.”
Russell winced. That was a possibility. He could lose several nights tracking her down instead of Han.
“Besides,” Jia continued, “you told me you wouldn’t take me back.”
“No, I didn’t—”
“You implied it. When I was hugging the tree.”
He scoffed. “If I don’t take you home, Rajiv will have every right to be furious. A princess like you shouldn’t be cooped up alone with a vampire.”
“Don’t call me princess. And it doesn’t matter if I’m alone with you. I know you’re not going to bite me.”
“Your reputation would still be ruined.” When she rolled her eyes, he groaned in frustration. “You’ll be trapped in the bat cave all day with nothing to do. I won’t be able to teleport you anywhere. I’ll be in my death-sleep.”
She shrugged. “I’m just as tired as you are, after working all night. I’ll get some sleep, too.”
His eyes narrowed. “There’s only one bed.”
“I have a bedroll with me. I’ll make do.”
He gave her an exasperated look. “You can’t sleep in the same cave with me. Your family will want to kill me.”
“No, they won’t. It’s not like we’re going to do anything. Remember rule number one? This is strictly a business relationship.”
“Do you expect your fiancé to believe that?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “No one will believe we’ve done anything. You’ll be in your death-sleep all day.”
For some reason the idea that he was completely harmless ticked him off. “You can’t shack up with a man when you’re engaged!”
She lifted her chin. “I can with a dead man.”
He stepped closer. “There’s a huge flaw in your thinking.”
“I think not.”
“I think so. The sun won’t rise for another fifty minutes.” He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “I’m not dead yet.”