Jia slid the bolt across her door. The last thing she needed now was someone barging in while she checked on her hidden stash of weapons. She dashed across the dark room and opened the shutters to the back window. It had been overcast in Myanmar, but here in the Yunnan province of China, the sky was clear. Countless stars and a quarter-moon shone through the window. With her excellent night vision, there was enough light for her to see.
As the granddaughter of the late Grand Tiger, she’d lived in Tiger Town since the age of eight, moving there after the deaths of her parents and brother. She’d been trained in all the intricacies of courtly life and its elaborate ceremonies, but here in the privacy of her room, she’d always maintained a Spartan existence. As long as her family cried out for vengeance, she couldn’t afford to grow soft.
Her room took up half of a building situated on the bluff overlooking the beach and Mekong River. Down by the river, she could see lights in the windows of houses and stores built up on stilts. Most of the villagers of Tiger Town lived along the river and worked as fishermen or merchants. Up here on the bluff, the royal residences and guesthouses sat next to the courtyard and palace.
Her sensitive hearing caught the sound of a boot scraping along the stone alleyway outside her door. The guards were still there. Dammit. How dare that vampire bring her back to Tiger Town? She’d clearly told him anywhere but here.
She darted over to her wooden chest and dug beneath the embroidery supplies to find her hidden stash of knives. Still there, thank God. Apparently Rajiv hadn’t ordered her room to be searched when he’d learned she was missing.
After pulling out the leather parcel, she untied the strings to unroll it on the floor. Ten perfectly balanced knives lay in a row, their handles nestled into narrow pockets, their blades gleaming in the moonlight. She retrieved a knife from each of her boots and a third one that was lashed to her calf underneath her trousers. She lifted her baggy pants higher to uncover the short, emergency dagger strapped to her thigh.
With a snort, she added the four knives to her collection. The vampire had made a mistake not searching her for more weapons, although the thought of his hands roaming up her legs made her pause. Such strong hands. She only had to close her eyes to remember his rock-hard chest against her back, the scrape of his whiskers along her cheek, and the bold way he had stared into her eyes. What an intense, exciting . . .
“Bastard.” It didn’t matter how strong or handsome he was. He’d betrayed her. And then he’d turned away from her like he didn’t care. The cold, heartless worm. He was definitely not one of the good Vamps.
She hurried over to the delicate folding screen that partitioned off the section of the room she used for her bedroom. A gift from her grandfather, the screen was comprised of squares that each showed a different landscape painting. She folded it to the side to make the back wall visible. A length of white silk was rolled up like a shade near the ceiling. She untied the cord, and with a whoosh, the silk unfurled down the wall. The outline of a man had been painted in black on the white silk. She planted a few books along the hem to keep the silk banner stretched taut against the wooden wall.
After a quick run back to her stash of knives, she grabbed one and twisted toward the silk banner, letting the knife fly. Thunk. A direct hit to the man’s heart.
“Try to stop me again, vampire, and this one will be for you.” She hurled another knife, and it lodged in the man’s head.
She winced. Not his handsome face. With a groan, she turned away from the silk banner. His name was Russell. The best tracker in the world. Don’t think about him. But what if he was searching for Han right now? What if he found Han and killed him, stealing the vengeance she’d promised her family? How could she live with herself if she failed the mission she’d spent thirteen years preparing for?
Dammit, he needed to let her work with him. It didn’t matter if he was a cold, heartless worm of a vampire, not when he represented her best chance at actually completing her mission. And surviving it.
She shuddered as the memory of tonight’s fiasco flooded her mind. Not only had she failed to kill Han but she’d also panicked when the soldiers had come after her. Never had she experienced so many men intent on killing her. And how could she blame them? She’d killed two of them.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed on the floor next to the trunk. For more than half of her life she’d dreamed of avenging her family. In her mind she’d always envisioned it as a lofty, noble quest and imagined herself a noble warrior.
But because of her, two men had died. They had families.
Tears stung her eyes. I had family, too! She reached into the trunk for the red silk bag that held her most prized possession. Carefully she removed the two ornate, cufflike bracelets made of hammered gold and decorated with inlaid jade. Her father had given them to her mother as a wedding present. They were all she had left of her parents.
Taking a deep breath, she clasped the bracelets onto her wrists. “I will avenge you, I promise.” She would kill Han. Even if he had a hundred soldiers guarding him, she would plow right through them. Nothing would stop her.
Not even Russell.
A knock sounded at her door, and she leaped to her feet.
“Jia!” Rajiv called out. “Can we talk a moment?”
“Just a second!” She grabbed the knives and jammed them into the chest, hurriedly throwing a half-finished embroidery project on top, then closing the lid. She ran to the screen and stretched it out across the room to cover up the silk banner she’d used for target practice.
She unbolted the door and cracked it. “Yes?”
Rajiv pushed the door open and entered. “We didn’t get a chance to talk earlier. And I thought you might be hungry.”
She was starving. For the last few days her rations had been a pouch of dried beef, nuts, and berries. Her mouth watered as she watched a maidservant enter, carrying a tray of rice, soup, and fresh steamed buns. Another servant brought a tray containing a teapot and two small porcelain cups.
The servants set the trays on a low table, then bowed.
“Thank you,” Rajiv told the women. “Could you light the candles, please? And bring the gifts that came today.”
“Yes, Your Eminence,” the women murmured and left.
“Gifts?” Jia asked.
“I’ll explain later.” Rajiv looked her over. “Are you all right? Did any harm come to you?”