“I’m fine.” Leah pivoted around. This was her first trip to Japan, so she was eager to look about. Maybe tomorrow in daylight she could do a little exploring.
A phone dinged.
“That’s mine.” J.L. checked his phone. “A text from Rajiv. He says the sun’s still up in Tiger Town. And stay away from the fox.”
“Fox?” Phil asked. “What fox?”
“The shifter I told you about,” Angus said. “Gu Mina. She works for Kyo.”
Another phone dinged.
“That’s mine.” Howard looked at his phone. “Rajiv’s busy. He just sent me a warning to stay away from the fox.”
J.L. laughed. “He thinks she wants to eat our livers.”
“Our livers?” Laszlo asked, his eyes wide.
J.L. shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a fairy tale.”
Phil exchanged a look with Howard. “I know at least one fairy tale that turned out to be real.”
Howard grinned. “That doesn’t mean this one will. Besides, we could eat a fox for breakfast.”
Phil nodded. “True.”
With a sigh, Angus started up the bluff to the school. “Be polite to Mina. She works for Kyo, and we need his support.”
Once they were all inside, Kyo greeted them and proudly gave them a tour of the small building. His employees, Yoshi and Yuki, were finishing the installment of security cameras inside and outside the school.
Dougal showed Leah where he’d put her suitcase at the foot of a bed in the female dorm. “Will ye be all right here?”
“Sure. I’ve been in dorms a lot smaller than this.” It still looked like a classroom, with a bookcase beneath the window overlooking the beach. Curtains had been installed for privacy. Three twin beds lined the back wall, interspersed with bedside tables topped with lamps. She supposed the third roommate was the lady fox that had Rajiv freaked out.
On the front wall, she spotted a message written in chalk on the old blackboard. Welcome! Had the fox shifter left that for them? If so, she seemed friendly enough.
“The restrooms and showers are across the hall,” Dougal told her. “And the cafeteria is at the end. Did ye want something to eat?”
“No.” Leah tossed her coat, hat, and mittens on the bed. “I’m eager to get started in the lab.”
Dougal nodded. “J.L. and I will leave as soon as the sun sets in Tiger Town. Before we go, we’ll drop by the lab for the sedatives.”
“We brought some tranquilizer darts so you wouldn’t have to fool with needles.” The captured soldiers needed to remain unconscious during their entire stay at the school so they couldn’t call out to Darafer for help.
“That’s good.” Dougal headed for the door. “I need to get ready to go.”
“Wait a second.” She ran toward him. For the moment they were alone, and she doubted that would happen often over the next few weeks. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Be careful.”
“I will.” He pulled her close. “I’ll miss you.”
She pressed a hand against her jade pendant. “Thank you for the dragon.”
“Ye’re welcome. Am I still at ninety-five percent?”
“Yes. I-I’ve been wondering about something.”
“When can we make love again?”
She smiled. He still had a one-track mind. “You said there was a letter you wrote that I never saw?”
“Aye, because ye were avoiding me.” He heaved a forlorn sigh. “I may have been such a devastated lovesick fool that I burned it.”
“You did?”
“Nay.” His mouth twitched. “Were ye wanting to see it?”
She swatted his shoulder. “Yes.”
Chuckling, he retrieved a folded piece of paper from his sporran. “Maybe this will bring me up to ninety-seven percent.” He kissed her brow and handed it to her. “See you later.”
She hurried back to her bed, turned on the lamp, and opened the note.
Dear Leah,
I know I frighten you, but I pray you will give me a chance. I know my chance is small, for you are so clever and beautiful. How could I ever be worthy of you?
You are a treasure to behold, a sweet melody to my ears.
You shine light into my dark nights and bring warmth to my cold heart.
You fill me with hope that all things are possible, even an eternity of love.
Dougal
She blinked back tears as she folded the note. He’d been wrong about the effect. He was up to ninety-nine percent.
With a sigh, she looked around for a safe place to keep his note. She might have to share the bedside table, since it was between her bed and Abby’s, so she tucked the note underneath her mattress.
Wiping her eyes, she left the room, then hurried down the hall to the lab. Abby was already at work, telling her husband where to stash supplies. As far as Leah knew, there had been no business reason for Gregori to come on the trip. He simply refused to leave Abby’s side.
Leah smiled to herself. It wasn’t so bad being married to a Vamp. Maybe she should raise Dougal’s status to ninety-nine point five percent.
Laszlo was also hard at work, making sure all the computers and equipment were ready to go.
Leah found the box containing the tranquilizing darts, and she bagged a dozen for Dougal and J.L. Master Han’s soldiers were so strong that it might take several to knock one of them out.
The door opened and a short, young woman came in, carrying a huge box that nearly covered her face.
She peered to the side and smiled at Abby and Leah. “Hello. These are supplies. Kyo wanted you to have them.”
“Let me help you.” Gregori rushed forward to take the box. He set it on a table, then he and Abby started unloading it.
“This is great,” Abby said as she removed test tubes and beakers. “Thank you.”
The young woman bowed. “I am Gu Mina, but please call me Mina.” She smiled at them, then turned and saw Laszlo, who was totally focused on calibrating a sensitive piece of equipment. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened.
Leah stepped forward. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Leah.”
“I’m Abby, and this is my husband, Gregori.”
No response. Leah exchanged a look with Abby. The young woman seemed to have forgotten they were in the room.
Mina eased slowly toward Laszlo. “Hello.”
He glanced her way, then did a double take and jumped to his feet. Leah heard his gulp across the room.
“Are . . . are you a scientist?” Mina asked.
Laszlo nodded, and grabbed a button on his 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 ha
ve 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 home away from home.”
Dougal nodded. That would explain why J.L. had insisted they bring two ice chests full of bottled blood and two backpacks filled with extra knives and ammo. Not knowing the way to Tiger Town, Dougal had grabbed onto J.L. for the journey, but now that the location was embedded in his psychic memory, he could come whenever he wished.
Rajiv reached them and bowed. Instead of his usual T-shirt and jeans, he was wearing an embroidered silk robe and cap. Around his waist, he wore an ornate belt of gold and jade with a golden sheath containing a small dagger.
“Welcome.” He grinned at Dougal. “I told Grandfather about you. That you’re a Scotsman who knows Chinese. He wants to meet you.”
Dougal nodded. “It would be an honor.”
“Let me take you to your rooms.” Rajiv led them up the stairs. As they crossed the courtyard, he motioned with his hand. “We have our ceremonies here.”
They followed him down a narrow alleyway of stone between two buildings.
“This is our guesthouse.” Rajiv stopped in front of a building with steps leading up to a wooden porch. On each side of the porch was a small room. Paper-covered lanterns hung beside each room’s entrance and cast a golden glow.
Rajiv pointed to the room on the left. “That is where Jin Long always stays,” he said, referring to J.L., then motioned to the one on the right. “And that one is for you, Dougal. The windows are boarded shut, so it is safe for your death-sleep.”
“Thanks, Rajiv.” J.L. climbed the steps.
“You are welcome. I will return for you in a few minutes so you can see my grandfather.”
Dougal smiled as he watched Rajiv scamper off. He hadn’t realized the young man was the were-tiger equivalent of a prince.
He entered his room, leaving the door open to let in some light from the lantern. A small dresser was pushed up against one wall, and on top, a silk coverlet and thick mattress were folded. In the middle of the far wall, there was a square cushion on the floor next to a small table with short legs. Next to the table, a tall candlestick sat. He glanced around. No electricity. He’d be drinking his bottles cold.
He set the ice chest and his backpack against the wall, then swung the claymore off his back. It would be disrespectful to meet the mayor of Tiger Town fully armed. Before leaving the school, he’d changed into black cargo pants, black T-shirt, and black jacket. In addition to the sword on his back, he’d strapped a knife to each calf and holstered an automatic around his hips. The pockets of his cargo pants held extra ammunition and the tranquilizer darts Leah had given him.
It had been hard to say good-bye to her, even though he would be returning in a few hours if everything went according to plan. He’d left his sgian dubh on her worktable after she’d promised to use the dagger if she needed to defend herself.
She would be safe, he assured himself. Angus knew how dangerous this mission was. That was why he had insisted on coming himself, along with Howard, Phil, and Gregori. Kyo had his best security guys there, too—Yoshi, Yuki, and the fox shifter.
“Ready?” J.L. asked at the door.
“Aye.” Dougal set his automatic and knives on the table.
J.L. nodded approvingly. “Let’s go. Rajiv’s outside.”
They followed Rajiv to the palace, passing by the tiger statues to ascend the stairs.
Rajiv paused by the double doors. “My grandfather likes to be called Your Eminence,” he said in Chinese. “And you must let him talk first.”
“I understand,” Dougal responded.
Rajiv grinned. “You really do speak Chinese.”
“His Eminence is actually a fun guy once you get to know him,” J.L. said, also switching to Chinese.
Rajiv laughed. “I have the Blissky ready. Come on.” He led them inside past two guards holding long curved swords. The room was deep with columns set in two rows leading toward a dais. On the dais, a gray-haired man sat on a throne made of carved wood, inlaid with golden tigers.
Rajiv and J.L. both bowed from the waist, so Dougal copied them. He followed them to where three cushions rested on the floor. When Rajiv and J.L. dropped to their knees on the cushions, he did the same. Then they all bowed forward, their elbows and noses on the floor.
“Welcome, esteemed guests,” the Grand Tiger said. “You may be at ease.”
“You are most gracious, Your Eminence.” J.L. sat cross-legged on the pillow.
Dougal crossed his
legs, too, venturing a quick glance at the throne, where the Grand Tiger was glaring down at them imperiously. This was the guy J.L. said was fun?
His Eminence was dressed in red silk robes embroidered with golden tigers. His long gray hair was pulled tightly into a knot on top of his head, where it was held in place by a ring of gold and a long golden pin with a jeweled tiger on one end. He sported a long gray beard that was gathered together into a small ring of gold.
He scowled at J.L. “It is a pleasure to see you again, Jin Long.”
“The pleasure is mine, Your Eminence.” J.L. inclined his head.
The Grand Tiger narrowed his eyes. “You are Dou Gal, the Scotsman who speaks Chinese?”
“Yes, Your Eminence.”
A disappointed look crossed the Grand Tiger’s face. “I thought you would be wearing a skirt. I wanted to see your skirt.”
Dougal bowed his head. “My apologies, Your Eminence. I will wear it the next time I come, if you will allow my intrusion.”
The Grand Tiger grunted. “You are well spoken. How do you know Chinese?”
Dougal hesitated. He’d never intended to tell his story to anyone other than Leah, but it would be rude to ignore the Grand Tiger’s request. He glanced over at Rajiv and J.L., who were watching him curiously. No doubt they would repeat his story, and then everyone would know his shameful secret.
The Grand Tiger cleared his throat, indicating that he was growing impatient.
“I lived in Shanghai for a few years,” Dougal finally answered.
“When?” His Eminence demanded. “How did you come to be there?”
“It is a long story.”
The Grand Tiger snorted. “Do you have somewhere else to go?”
Dougal took a deep breath. “It began in 1735, when I was fourteen years old. I was kidnapped from the town of Glasgow in Scotland and taken aboard a British merchant ship.”
“Kidnapped?” The Grand Tiger’s eyes lit up. “Tell me more.”
“I tried to escape. Twice.” He didn’t want to mention the lashings he’d received. Or the hopeless humiliation that he’d felt when he’d finally accepted his new life.
“Good!” The Grand Tiger sat on the edge of his throne. “But you were recaptured? Did they punish you? Is that when you lost your hand?” He motioned toward Dougal’s prosthesis.
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