“I was. Then . . . I wasn’t.”
“What happened?”
She shook her head slightly, her cheek still glued to the tree.
“I have a good hold on you.” With his right hand, he squeezed her upper arm. With his left arm, he tightened his grip on her waistline, pressing her back against him. “Let go of the tree now. I have you.”
Still clutching the tree, she slowly moved her head back till it rested on his shoulder. “It happened thirteen years ago.”
That was how long she’d wanted to kill Han. “How old were you?”
“Eight. My father was the leader of our village, and he refused to bow down to Master Han.”
Russell winced. “Han attacked?”
She nodded her head. “Dad told me to hide in a tree as high as I could climb. I saw him and my mother and brother killed. And hacked—” Her voice broke.
Russell squeezed her tighter and tilted his head so his cheek rubbed against her brow. Eight years old? Far too young to witness something that horrific. “I’m sorry.”
“The ground below me was full of terror. I stayed in the tree till the next night, when Grandfather came with a troop of soldiers. They had to carry me down. Since then, I’ve been afraid of heights.”
“I understand.” How terrified she must have been trying to climb down that silken rope. His poor, brave Jia.
“I didn’t want to tell you. I know you’re looking for a reason to be rid of me. Who would want a coward—”
“You’re not a coward. You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever met.”
She turned her head toward him, her eyes wide with shock. “Then you . . . don’t want to be rid of me?”
“No. You’re my . . . partner.” He kissed her brow.
With a sigh, she released her grip on the tree, and he teleported her down to the ground.
What the hell was he doing kissing her again? He released her and quickly stepped away. “See if you can catch Han’s scent.”
“Right.” She inhaled deeply, clearly trying to calm her nerves. Then she closed her eyes and rotated slowly, sniffing at the air.
With her eyes shut, it was safe for him to study her. She was a natural beauty, her face sweet and oval-shaped, her skin clear and luminous, her hair thick and shiny, her body slim and graceful. It was so tempting to take her into his arms and kiss her. A real kiss. On the mouth. But how could he, when she was engaged?
He clenched his fists tightly, then released them. Rule number one. Strictly business. It was a good thing she was engaged. It served as a constant reminder that he couldn’t get involved with her. He couldn’t afford to care.
She opened her eyes and shook her head. “I’m not catching anything. But then . . . ” She bit her lip.
“What?”
She blushed. “It could be that I’m too . . . aware of your scent and not able to smell past it.”
“Oh.” He winced. “I guess we vampires all smell pretty much the same.”
“Not . . . really.”
“I don’t stink quite as bad as the others?” When she shook her head, he scoffed. “Well, that makes me feel special.”
Her mouth twitched. “You don’t stink. But it is getting hard to ignore you.”
What the hell did that mean? He glanced at his watch. “If I leave for three minutes, will that be enough?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
“I hate leaving you alone here. How about one minute?”
“Two.”
“Deal.” He noted the time and teleported back to the bat cave. Halfway through a bottle of blood, he stopped with a jerk. What if Jia was hungry? Or thirsty?
He grabbed a sack and teleported to Zoltan’s kitchen. After taking a few bottles of water from the fridge, he stole some breakfast bars from the pantry. A can of mixed nuts. A bag of chips. And a container of instant noodles.
“Russell?” Howard charged into the kitchen. “What—” His eyes narrowed as Russell emerged from the pantry. “What are you doing with human food?”
“Later.” Russell heard Howard yelling just before he teleported back to the bat cave, where he deposited the food he’d stolen from Zoltan’s pantry. He checked his watch. Five seconds to go. He selected a breakfast bar and bottle of water, then returned to Jia’s side.
“Oh, thank you.” She smiled at him, and his heart squeezed. She dropped the bar into a pocket and opened the water for a long drink.
“Did you smell anything?”
“No.” She twisted the top back on. “Let’s keep working.”
Russell took her to ten more camps, leaving her alone at each site for a minute so she could sniff without any interference from him. Still no luck. With dawn approaching in an hour, she was yawning and visibly having trouble staying awake.
“I think we should call it a night,” Russell told her. “I’ll take you home and pick you up tomorrow night after sunset.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “You can’t take me back to Tiger Town.”
“It’s your home. You’ll be more comfortable there.”
“No!” She shook her head. “I can’t go back. They—they might lock me up. Or hide me somewhere you can’t find me.”
“I can always find you.”
“And what if Rajiv orders my guards to fight you? I don’t want you having to fight other were-tigers.”