The birds swirl in a giant circle overhead, chirping and squawking.
Then they stop. No movement. No sound.
I blink. How can they stop in midflight? I look frantically about. Han is frozen, his fists lifted in the air. Wu Shen has stopped talking, his mouth open in the middle of a word. All the soldiers are motionless, frozen in time.
I cringe inside. I know only one entity who can control time. I want to run, but my feet will not budge. Something is stopping me. My hands move. They clench into fists. Unlike the others, I am aware, so I know what is coming.
I see him in the distance, strolling casually toward us. He is dressed in his usual fashion, all in black with a long black coat. His eyes gleam in an inhuman way, the green glowing in the dark.
As much as I loathe Master Han, I know he is weak. He takes delight in causing fear and pain, for it makes him feel less weak. To him, being a villain is like a game, and his victims are little toys. He plays at being evil.
Darafer embodies evil.
The demon approaches me, his mouth curling up on one side with a twisted smile. “What are you doing, dragon boy?”
I lower my head.
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” He steps closer. “You think I can’t hear you talking to your friends?”
I lift my head as fear swells inside me.
Darafer points to the sky. “You can blame yourself for this.” With a wave of his hand, every bird overhead plummets from the sky. One thud after another, the birds hit the ground till the earth is covered with death.
A wheezing sound of pain wrenches from my throat. How many birds have died because I spoke to them?
Darafer seizes my shirt and glares down at me. “Maybe you can fool Han, but remember this, dragon boy. You will never fool me.” He releases me with a push.
My feet are still stuck, so I fall back on my rear. I am surrounded by dead birds.
How will I contact the owl again? How can I let the warrior women and Norjee know where I am?
Darafer waves his hand, and everyone jumps back to life as if time had never stopped.
Wu Shen resumes his talking but pauses after a few words and looks around. His eyes widen at the sight of Darafer.
“What’s with all the dead birds all of a sudden?” a soldier asks, nudging one with his boot.
Han stiffens, turning toward Darafer. “Do you realize two of our camps were attacked last night?”
The demon shrugs. “You’re in charge of training the soldiers. I just make them.”
“Then make me some more!” Han yells. “My army used to be a thousand strong, and now it’s down to three hundred!”
The demon zooms toward Han and grasps him by the throat. Han’s guards move toward him, but with a flick of his wrist, Darafer sends them all flying back a hundred feet.
“You left me in hell for seven months,” Darafer growls. “You thought you could take over the world without me, didn’t you? You pathetic worm. While I was gone, you lost over half of your army.” He pushes Han back.
Han stumbles, then makes a quick bow. “As your humble servant, I beg your assistance in making more supersoldiers.”
“That’s more like it.” Darafer crosses his arms and gives Han a disdainful look. “Remember who’s the boss around here, and we’ll get along fine.”
“Yes, my lord.” Han bows again.
“I have grown more demon herb,” Darafer says. “And I am producing the potion. It should be ready by tomorrow night. Round up more volunteers, and I’ll mutate them.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Han bows. “I will do as you say.”
“See that you do. And take the dragon boy below ground before he talks to more birds.” Darafer turns away from Han and smiles at me. “You will submit to me, too, Xiao Fang. It’s only a matter of time.”
My heart sinks with despair. If I cannot reach my friends, how will they rescue me? If I cannot warn the were-tigers of an impending attack, will they and my friends die?
“I’m watching you,” Darafer says, then vanishes.
Fire burns in my belly, and hot tears sting my eyes. For even if I manage to get away from Master Han, how can I hope to escape a demon?
Even as fear threatens to overwhelm me, I cling to a truth that must ever remain constant.
I am dragon. I can never surrender. Nor will I submit.
Chapter Thirteen
When Jia awoke, the cave was dark, except for an oil lamp lit in the kitchen. She sat up, alarmed that she had slept so late. Russell was sitting at the table, quietly cleaning his guns.
She scrambled out of bed. “You should have woken me up.”
“You looked tired. And you had a rough time last night.” He concentrated on his work, barely glancing her way. “An hour delay isn’t the end of the world.”
“But we don’t have any time to waste.” She reported what Rajiv had told her about Angus and his employees attacking a camp every night until they lured Han out of hiding. “We need to find Han before they do.”
“Agreed.” Russell stood. “I’ll go topside for a few minutes so you can dress.”
She quickly relieved herself in the stream, then dressed and braided her hair.
Russell teleported back in and reassembled his handguns at vampire speed while she ate a breakfast bar. Then he put on his coat and armed himself.
She sipped some water, then cleared her throat. “Do you have my knives from last night?”
“Yes.” He retrieved them from his coat pocket and set them on the table in front of her. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can always zip through the camps alone if you need a night off.”
She recalled his reference to the rough time she’d had last night. Was that why he’d let her sleep late? When she thought about it, she had acted terribly shaken afterward.
“I’m all right.” She noticed he’d cleaned the knives for her. “I knew from the start that this could be dangerous. I’m still as committed as ever.” She glanced up and met his gaze. “We’re partners.”
His eyes searched hers.
What would it take to turn those eyes red and glowing? She shoved the thought away and quickly sheathed the knives. “We should get to work.”
“Good.” He levitated to get his crossbow and quiver.
“Why do you use arrows when you have so many guns?” she asked.
“They’re quiet, so they don’t announce my presence.”
“Do you ever use your cowboy pistols?”
“No, they’re antiques.” He swung the crossbow and quiver over his shoulder. “I would never take them into battle.”
“Then why do you have them? It’s not like you to keep anything unpractical around here.”
With an annoyed look, he extended a hand to her. “I don’t explain myself. Let’s go.”
With a sigh, she walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I’ve known you five days now, but I hardly know you at all.”
He took hold of her waist. “That knowledge is not necessary for the completion of our mission.”
She snorted. “You know all about me. You know how my family died. You know what kind of life I live. You even know about my fear of heights.”
“I know you’re engaged.”
She swallowed hard. “I never officially agreed.”
His hands tightened on her waist. “Your cousin expects you to go through with it.”
She frowned. “We’re not talking about me. It’s you I don’t know anything about.”
“I don’t explain myself.”
She swatted his shoulder. “You’re the most stubborn, exasperating man!”
His mouth curled up. “And that’s all you need to know about me.” He teleported, taking her with him.
After a few minutes of studying the campsite, he declared nothing was going on.
“I can’t smell anything.” She gave him a wry look. “Other than you.”
“Is it that bad? I shower every night.”
She shrugged. “It’s not bad at all.”
He gave her a dubious look. “I don’t smell like a sack of blood?”
“You do a bit, but you also smell like the cave and your soap.” And a gorgeous hunk of man. “So why do you want to kill Han?”
He scoffed. “You thought you could just sneak that in?”