The decreasing volume of his voice indicated he was moving away from her. Jia took a deep breath, attempting to quell the panic that had seized her when the two soldiers had fallen dead from her knives. They were the enemy, she reminded herself. Anyone who stood in the way of her mission had to be removed. Nothing could stop her from killing Han.
She’d trained since the age of eight, learning martial arts with the boys of Tiger Town and then in private, throwing countless knives at straw targets until her speed and accuracy had become as good as any man’s. But bundles of straw never cried out in pain and bled to death. Thirteen years of practice had not prepared her for the grim reality of war.
She had thought she was ready for death, even her own. As a were-tiger, she had nine lives, and advancing on to her second life would give her a much-needed strategic advantage. It would allow her to shift any time and anywhere. If she’d been able to shift tonight, she could have easily defeated her foe.
But once the soldiers had charged after her, the prospect of dying at their hands had terrified her. What if they chopped up her dead body, so she couldn’t come back? That was what Han had done to her parents and brother.
A vision of her mutilated family swept across her mind, followed by the memory of the two soldiers she’d killed tonight. With a shudder, she shoved the images aside. She needed to get a hold of herself and focus on her current situation.
Location unknown. Vampire captor unknown.
She flexed her hand on the knife handle. “Who are you?”
He didn’t answer.
Since she couldn’t see, she used her other heightened senses to detect her location. A strong, earthy smell surrounded her. The air was warm and humid, similar to the Yunnan province where Tiger Town was located. Water was moving nearby, the trickling sound pleasant to her ears. She picked up the warbling call of a bird, muffled and distant. Outdoors, but no sky overhead. A cave?
Why had the vampire brought her here?
Two months ago, when the good Vamps had gone to battle to defend the valley of Beyul-La, they had all traveled through Tiger Town, and they had returned there each day to do their death-sleep. Her cousin Rajiv, the Grand Tiger, had gone to battle, too, along with her uncles Rinzen and Tenzen. She’d been left behind to rule in her cousin’s stead, so while she’d played princess of Tiger Town, she’d met dozens of good Vamps.
This vampire had not been with them.
“Who are you?” Jia asked again, taking another step back.
“Don’t move,” he repeated. A flame appeared at the end of a pistol-looking device, and then the wick of a camping-style oil lamp lit up.
A golden circle of light shone around the lamp, illuminating the profile of the man leaning over it. Whoever this vampire was, he was certainly handsome. She’d noticed that before in the forest. Strong features, strong body. All the good Vamps she’d met were strong and good looking, but this man was different. The good Vamps were usually well dressed, well groomed, and well behaved. Polite, friendly, and respectful. She doubted any of them would kidnap a young woman and take her to a dark cave.
This vampire had a rough, primitive look about him. His khaki pants were torn in a few places. His knee-length brown coat was old and shabby. Dark stubble shaded his square jaw. Some of his hair had come loose from his short ponytail, and he’d hooked the strands behind his ears. At first, his hair appeared brown, but the longer she stared, the more she detected light copper streaks that gleamed in the golden lamplight. American, maybe? Or British?
Why was he in China? What did he want from her? Was he hungry and expected to feed from her? She lifted her knife and took another step back.
“Don’t—”
Kerplunk. Her foot plopped into cool water up to her shin. She quickly regained her balance and moved her foot back onto dry land. Unfortunately, some water had seeped into her ankle-high hiking boot. Damn, she hated wet socks.
“Told you not to move,” he muttered.
She glared at him. “You could have warned me about the lake.”
“It’s not a lake. And I don’t explain myself.” He gave her an annoyed look that made her blink at the intensity of it.
He was angry with her? More than angry. His brown eyes seethed with controlled rage. Great. She’d been kidnapped by a pissed-off vampire.
He moved away from the light, and soon, he’d lit two more lamps.
She pivoted to look around, her sodden leather boot squishing as she moved. They were definitely underground. The walls were solid rock, and part of the ceiling high overhead was stone. The rest of the ceiling was a tangled mass of earth and tree roots. In places, long strands of green ivy dangled down into the cave.
As far as she could tell, they were just below the surface. Tiny cracks here and there let in damp, fresh air, and brilliant green moss clung to the tree roots and rock ceiling.
She was standing on the sandy shore of an underground stream. On the far side of the stream, she spotted a narrow strand of sand, then a smooth wall of rock. No exit there. The cave was narrow and long, following the path of the stream. It was a beautiful place, what with the green moss and tendrils of ivy overhead, and the soothing sound of moving water.
To the right, where the cave’s ceiling was solid rock, she spotted a dark alcove. Inside were some wooden crates, set side by side to form a rectangle. Stacked on top were several open sleeping bags and a blanket. His bed.
This was his home. She glanced back at him. He was levitating up to a tree root with gnarly stems that protruded like fingers. There, he hooked the leather slings of his crossbow and quiver of arrows. He dropped neatly to the ground, then walked a few steps to a foldout camp table.
He emptied the deep pockets of his coat, placing four knives, a phone, two handguns, and extra ammunition on the table. Then he unbuckled a sword belt and set his sheathed sword on the table. Apparently he wasn’t worried about her attacking, for he was completely disarming himself.