The_Vampire_With_the_Dragon_Tattoo (Love at Stake #14) Page 0,75

lab coat.

Mina licked her lips. "I think intelligent men are the most attractive."

"You do?" Laszlo twisted the button.

Mina stepped closer. "I like shorter men, too. Cause I'm so short."

"Y-you're not too short."

Mina blushed. "Thank you." She shoved her long black hair over her shoulder, and Laszlo gulped again. "I like your haircut. It's very stylish."

"Thank you." He plucked at the button. "I have to be honest with you. I'm a vampire."

She smiled. "I love honest men. And I like vampires. I know several back in Korea. One's a prosecutor."

Laszlo frowned. "Is he your boyfriend?"

She waved a hand. "An-ni-o! I don't have a boyfriend."

"You don't? But you're so . . . pretty." His face reddened.

She inched closer. "What's your name?"

"I-I'm Laser."

"I like that."

Leah exchanged an amused look with Abby and Gregori.

Laszlo tugged at the button. "What's your name?"

"Gu Mina. But you can call me - "

"You're the fox?" He jumped back.

Her shoulders drooped. "You don't like foxes?"

"Well, I - normally I think they're cute." He yanked at the button. "I like their tails."

She grinned. "I have nine tails!"

His button popped off. "Nine?"

She reached down to grab the button.

"I'll do it." He leaned over to snatch the button and bonked heads with her on the way up. "Oh, sorry."

"I could sew it on for you," she offered, rubbing her head.

"I-I don't know." He eased away from her.

She sighed. "Has that silly tiger been talking about me? I don't attack men and eat their livers."

"You . . . you don't?"

"No! I gave it up a while ago."

Laszlo turned even paler than usual. "I-I have to check on something." He ran from the room.

With a groan, Mina slumped onto the stool Laszlo had been using.

Leah winced. Was she supposed to share the dorm room with a cannibalistic shifter?

"Excuse me." Gregori waved to get Mina's attention, and she looked up. "When you say 'a while ago,' how long ago was that? I mean, you weren't chowing down on somebody's liver a month ago, right?"

Mina tilted her head, considering. "It's been three hundred years."

There was a collective sigh of relief from Leah, Abby, and Gregori.

Mina frowned. "No, make that two hundred and fifty years. I slipped up once."

Chapter Twenty-four

After swearing he would never return, Dougal was back in China. He took a deep breath, waiting for the tension to ease from his body. His clenched prosthetic hand slowly relaxed. I can do this, he told himself. There was no one here waiting to sear his flesh with a red-hot branding iron or whip him into submission.

He frowned at the thought of Li Lei, buried along the Yangtze River, a few hundred miles northeast of his current position. Thank God Leah had come into his life and given him a second chance at love.

He pivoted as he looked around Tiger Town. Three hundred years ago he never would have believed that a village of were-tigers existed in the Yunnan province. But then, he wouldn't have believed in vampires, either.

The village consisted of about fifty huts. Most of them were on the edge of the Mekong River, elevated on stilts, with small boats tied off on ladders. Apparently, a great deal of the were-tigers liked to fish. Higher up the riverbank, long racks held fish that had been left to dry.

Not many people were about. Since it was dark, Dougal assumed they were inside their homes having their evening meal. Lights glowed inside the huts, and smoke curled from metal pipe chimneys.

Up on a bluff, there was an impressive building made of stone and wood in the Chinese style. The large columns and underside of the tile roof were painted in shades of green, gold, and red. The steps leading up to the building were flanked by two tiger statues. Smaller buildings of stone, wood, and stucco rested on each side of the main building.

In front of the main building, a stone-paved courtyard stretched to the edge of the bluff, where three stone staircases led down to the riverbank.

"There's Rajiv." J.L. pointed at him as he hurried down the center stairs to the riverbank.

"What is the big building?" Dougal asked as they walked toward him.

"Their palace," J.L. said. "Rajiv's grandfather is their leader, the top cat. They call him the Grand Tiger."

Dougal's mouth twitched. "He gets the biggest bowl of cream?"

J.L. chuckled. "They're very proud of their race. You will be expected to bow." He lowered his voice. "They're our best allies in the region. Whenever you need a safe place, you can teleport here. It'll be our