Jia remained still as her cousin let himself out and closed the door. She heard low whispers as he talked to the guards. No doubt he was making sure she stayed put for the night.
Her gaze wandered to the gifts on the floor. Two weeks? A were-tiger prince was coming for her in fourteen days. If she married him, she would spend the rest of her life far away. Far from her family and friends. Far from the quest she’d worked on for the past thirteen years.
She took a deep breath. Once the prince arrived, she would be immersed in endless ceremonial duties. There was no time to waste. She had less than two weeks to escape from Tiger Town and kill Master Han.
Chapter Three
The following evening Russell was perched high in a tree, aiming his binoculars at the interior of one of Han’s encampments. He’d counted only a dozen soldiers so far. Half of them were immersed in a dice game, gambling away what little money they had. Others were dozing or drinking. Only one was gazing over the battlements occasionally in a halfhearted attempt at guard duty. Clearly, Han wasn’t here. Nor were any of his high-ranking officers.
With a sigh, Russell lowered his binoculars. As much as he enjoyed the thought that last night’s assassination attempt must have scared the crap out of Han, the result was damned annoying. The coward was hiding so well now that Russell couldn’t find him anywhere.
Last night, after delivering the princess to Tiger Town, he’d visited each of Han’s thirty camps, searching for the bastard. No luck. After finding two of Han’s officers, Russell had hidden on the roof to listen in on the conversation, hoping they would mention Han or even the location of a new camp.
Nothing. He’d considered kidnapping one of the officers and trying vampire mind control on him to acquire more information, but it probably wouldn’t have worked. Russell was able to erase memories, but all of his attempts to control supersoldiers had failed. As far as he could tell, the demon Darafer had programmed their minds to obey only him and Master Han.
With dawn approaching, Russell had been forced to call it quits and return to his lair. Lying on his bed as death-sleep had stolen over him, he’d imagined the same scene he’d daydreamed for the last two years. The final battle where he beat the hell out of Master Han, ripped off his mask, and then killed him. If he envisioned it enough, it would eventually happen. It had to.
But then something odd had happened. For the first time ever, the dream hadn’t stopped with his victory. He’d seen himself teleport to Tiger Town after the battle and, on bended knee, present Han’s mask to the princess. She’d been dressed in a golden gown with a sparkling tiara on her head. The air around her had shimmered with candlelight, so she’d been surrounded by a golden nimbus, and he’d thought she’d looked more like an angel than a tigress.
“My lady, I have avenged your family for you.”
She’d clutched the mask to her chest as tears had glistened in her golden eyes. “Truly, you are the bravest, most noble man in the world! Nay, in the entire universe!”
With his eyes closed and his mind drowsy, Russell had still managed a derisive snort. Well, if he was going to dream, he might as well dream big.
“How will I ever repay you?” she’d continued, a tear slipping down her soft cheek.
“I’ll think of something.” He’d stepped close and wiped the tear away with his thumb.
“How dare you touch a princess!” She’d pulled her hand back and slapped the hell out of him.
“Shit,” Russell had muttered. Even his dreams turned on him. And with that final thought, he’d plummeted deep into the dark abyss of death-sleep.
Now he leaned against the tree trunk, stifling a groan. Tonight was looking like a repeat of last night’s failure but even worse, for tonight he was constantly plagued with the memory of that stupid dream.
Why did he keep thinking about her? So he found a beautiful woman attractive. Big deal. It just proved he wasn’t completely dead. Only fifty percent dead.
He snorted. How could a were-tiger princess ever be interested in a vampire vagabond who lived in a cave down by the river?
Perhaps the oddest thing about the dream was that it hadn’t ended as usual with Han’s death. For the past few years, Russell had been so intent on reaching his goal that he had never thought past it. What would he do once the villain was dead?
His chest tightened as an insidious, dark cloud crept over him, threatening to overwhelm him with despair. There was nothing for him to do. No family, no home to return to. Nothing.
Was that why he’d let this mission drag on for so long? Because it was the only reason he had to live?
For a moment, he recalled the way Jia had talked to him in the cave. So alive and animated as she’d tried to convince him to team up with her. Even now, the memory of her excitement made him feel lighter inside. What was she doing now? Was she planning her escape? Did she still have those knives strapped to her calf and thigh? He’d been tempted to remove them just as an excuse to touch her soft skin.
He shoved that thought aside and teleported to the last camp. High on a bluff, he studied the soldiers. They looked bored. Disinterested. If Han was here, they’d be on their toes, for he had a nasty habit of murdering any soldier he was displeased with.
No Han in sight. Another night down the drain.
Russell teleported back to his underground lair. The bat cave, he liked to call it. After lighting a few lamps, his gaze drifted to the spot by the river where Jia had stood the night before. She was the only one who had ever seen his secret hideout. Our secret hideout.