The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo(37)

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 have 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.