“It’s an ambush!” one of the supersoldiers yelled as he dove behind a tree.
The other soldiers scrambled for cover and quickly extinguished the torches. A dark, tense silence fell over the forest.
Russell readied another arrow, waiting for one of the eight remaining soldiers to venture out. A quick glance toward the woman, and he groaned inwardly. Instead of running, she’d crouched behind some bushes. His sudden appearance must have confused her. She was breathing heavily, twisting this way and that in a frantic attempt to discern his location.
Just run away, he pleaded with her silently. I have this covered.
From her belt, she pulled out a knife. Apparently she was afraid to trust him. He couldn’t blame her. If you trusted no one, you tended to live longer.
He turned his attention back to the eight soldiers. On the far left, one darted to the cover of another tree, too quickly for Russell to take him out. He aimed an arrow at him, waiting for him to make another move. Meanwhile, to the right, another soldier dashed to a tree. The group was obviously trying to surround the woman, and eventually they would if she didn’t make a run for it.
The guy to the far left made another move, and this time, Russell wounded him in the shoulder. He was still alive, but his sword arm would be useless.
Rustling sounds emanated from bushes and trees as the remaining seven soldiers attempted to encircle their prey. The woman slipped her knife back into its sheath, then leaped from her crouch into a full sprint. Russell paused a second, amazed by her speed and grace, but quickly came to when he realized the soldiers were dashing after her. He shot one with an arrow, then noticed another aiming a pistol in his direction. Just as the sound of gunfire echoed through the woods, he teleported away and landed in a tree ahead of the woman.
The six remaining soldiers were gaining on her fast. Enough of this nonsense. Just get her out of here.
He jumped down to the base of the tree. Hidden behind it, he could hear her approaching. Her steps were light, as if she barely needed the ground, but her breathing was louder and tinged with panic. He stepped out, directly into her path.
Her night vision was excellent, for she spotted him immediately and skidded to a stop so fast that she fell back onto her rump.
Russell lifted his empty hands to show her he meant no harm, but within a second, she was back on her feet with her knife drawn and pointed at him. Once again, he was amazed by her speed and gracefulness.
“Friend,” he whispered in Chinese. Her face was partially blocked by her raised knife, and he tilted his head to get a better look.
She pivoted to check on the soldiers behind her. When Russell stepped closer, she whipped around to face him.
He blinked. She was stunning. And not one of the warrior women of Beyul-La. If he’d ever met this woman before, he would have remembered her.
Her golden eyes widened as she looked him over.
Who the hell was she? “Friend,” he repeated and motioned to the crossbow on his shoulder. “I helped you.”
She sheathed her knife but retained her grip on the handle. Apparently she wasn’t ready to completely trust him. Smart girl. He was still tempted to wring her neck.
The glint of metal behind a bush caught his eye and he grabbed her, pulling her behind the tree with vampire speed as a knife whooshed toward them. With his back pressed against the trunk, he felt the tree shudder with the knife’s impact.
“Let me go,” the woman whispered, tugging at his grip.
He considered complying. After all, she wasn’t his problem. And she’d destroyed the best chance he’d had at killing Han in over two years.
I am not responsible for her, he thought, but he made the mistake of looking at her. Big, golden eyes, flickering with emotion. A beautiful face, vibrant and alive. Delicate, but determined. He had a feeling she was near panic but holding it together with sheer willpower and courage. Something twisted in his undead heart.
I’m going to regret this. He tightened his hold on her, then teleported, taking her with him.
As soon as Jia felt solid ground beneath her feet, she pulled away from the man’s grip. It was dark, too dark to see, even with her excellent night vision.
“Careful,” the man said in Chinese. His accent was odd and his voice gruff, as if he didn’t speak often.
She pulled her knife from its sheath, ready to strike if he attacked her. From his scent and the fact that he’d teleported, she knew he was a vampire, but he might be a good one, like her friends Jin Long and Dou Gal. This man seemed to be on her side, but when it came to vampires, appearances could be deceiving. Until she’d met the good Vamps, she’d thought they were all evil.
“Don’t move,” the man grumbled. “I’ll light up the place so you can see.”
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.