As her heart swelled, he teleported her to the next spot.
Two hours later, Russell was finding it increasingly hard to focus on the mission. Each time he took Jia into his arms to teleport, he held her longer than necessary. Whenever she closed her eyes to concentrate on sniffing, he found himself watching her, memorizing every curve and line of her face. If they killed Han tonight, the partnership would be over. Tiger Town would be safe, and she would return home and prepare for her betrothed’s arrival in a week.
Was this his destiny—to always lose anyone he cared about?
Frowning, she opened her eyes and pointed to the west. “There’s something about three miles that way. It smells like burned feathers and death.”
Dead birds? “Didn’t the God Warrior say Darafer killed a bunch of birds to scare Xiao Fang?”
Jia nodded. “We must be close.”
Russell teleported her west until he, too, could smell the stench of death. Using that as a beacon, he zeroed in on a pile of burned bird carcasses. They were stacked waist high.
“Oh, my gosh.” Jia covered her nose and mouth. “There must be over a hundred of them.”
“Can you smell Han?”
She shook her head. “It’s hard to smell anything but death.”
Russell looked around. The land was hillier, but still desolate. Large boulder formations. There was a dirt road leading east with tire tracks on it. Beyond the pile of birds, he spotted something big, covered with a camouflage tarp. He zoomed over and discovered a hidden army truck.
Han’s hideout had to be close by. It was underground, but there had to be an entrance somewhere. He checked underneath the truck. Nothing but dirt.
He glanced back at Jia to make sure she was all right. She was waving at him.
He dashed over, and she pointed at footsteps leading uphill toward a boulder formation. He spotted what looked like a cave.
“Be ready.” He drew his sword. “Stay behind me.”
With a nod, she yanked a knife from her belt.
He approached the cave silently from the side, then paused, his back to the boulder by the entrance. A quick peek told him they’d found the right place. Inside the cave was a small structure made of rusted sheet metal. A camera was positioned over the door.
“We’ll teleport just inside,” Russell whispered. “Then they won’t know we’re coming.”
She bit her lip. “What if Han isn’t there? If he finds out we know about his hideout, he won’t come back.”
“We’ll have to question the soldiers, then I can erase their memories.” He gave her a wry look. “Try not to kill any of them.”
She snorted.
“You could always slap them. You’re good at that.”
Her mouth twitched. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Relieving some of my stress.”
“Let’s go.” He sheathed his sword so he could hold her, then he focused on the metal door.
They materialized just on the other side at the top of a partially enclosed stair landing. He peered around the edge of the wall. Below them was a guardroom. One guard was seated at a desk, his arms folded on top, cushioning his head as he snored away. The other four guards were immersed in a card game, sitting on the floor around a low coffee table.
Russell drew a knife from his coat pocket, then teleported down to the card game. He slammed the knife hilt into one guard’s head, knocking him unconscious, then yanked another guard up, his knife poised at the man’s throat. “Don’t move. Don’t shout,” he warned the guards.
Meanwhile, Jia ran down the stairs and pointed her knife at the remaining guards. The whole act had taken only seconds, and the guard at the desk continued to snore.
The guard with the knife at his throat was breathing heavily, but he remained silent.
One of the other guards raised his hands in surrender. “Are you here for the dragon boy?”
“Xiao Fang is here?” Jia asked. “Where?”
“Three flights down in the dungeon,” the soldier replied. “Han locked the kid up in a cage.”
Russell eyed the soldiers with suspicion. “Why are you being helpful?”
The soldiers exchanged weary looks, then the second one said, “Han slapped the kid around and said he’d starve him for a week. We’d rescue him ourselves if we could.”
“Why haven’t you?” Jia asked.
The first soldier sighed. “How can we betray Han? He’ll kill us, and then our souls will go to hell.”
“Yeah,” the second soldier muttered. “If you piss Han off, he takes you into his private room and sucks you dry.”
The first soldier nodded. “If he doesn’t kill us that way, then we’ll end up dying for him in battle.”
Russell glanced quickly around the room. There was only one door. “Where is Han?”
“He was hungry, so he teleported to a nearby village,” the first soldier said. “He always kills anyone he feeds from because he has to remove the mask.”
“Yeah,” the second soldier agreed. “No one is allowed to see his face and live.”
“What’s wrong with his face?” Jia asked.
The soldiers shrugged.
Russell wondered briefly if Han had been scarred or mutilated before becoming a vampire. “We’ll take the boy and wait for Han to return. I suggest you guys take the truck outside and leave.”
The first soldier snorted. “Where can we go that Darafer can’t find us? We’re doomed.”