Russell paused just long enough to look Jia over. “Are you all right? I was so worried about you. Those bastards didn’t hurt you?”
“I’m great!” With tears in her eyes, she hugged him, then turned to give Rajiv a hug.
“This is Lady Yi-soo,” Rajiv introduced the woman next to him as he took her hand. “Let’s go!” They ran for the gate.
“Who is she?” Jia asked.
“Long story.” Russell grabbed Jia’s hand. “Let’s go home.”
Russell and Jia hurried for the gate. While he’d stopped to make sure she was all right, the other Vamps and shifters had gone ahead and were already passing through the gate. Just as Rajiv, Russell, and the two women drew near, Han’s three vampire lords jumped into their path to stop them.
“You dared to kill me!” Lord Qing yelled at Rajiv, then swung a sword at him. “I will have my revenge.”
Rajiv jumped back, then Lord Qing turned on Jia. She ducked as his sword swooshed over her head. Russell leaped in front to defend her, but Lord Liao attacked him, and he was forced to fight him off.
Meanwhile, the third vampire, Lord Ming, lunged at Rajiv, slashing with his sword.
Russell stabbed Liao, then turned to help Jia, who was unarmed and still under attack by Lord Qing. She screamed as Lord Qing lunged toward her. Before Russell could reach them, Lady Yi-soo pierced Lord Qing through with her sword.
“Jia!” Russell grabbed her.
Rajiv finished off Lord Ming, then ran toward his cousin. “Jia, are you all right?”
“Yes.” She smiled at Lady Yi-soo. “Your friend saved me.”
Lady Yi-soo bowed her head. “It is an honor.”
Russell realized that all their friends were out the gate. “Hurry, let’s go!” He grabbed Jia’s hand and ran.
Rajiv and Lady Yi-soo were close behind. The God Warriors followed, then Gabriel held the gate open to let Wu Shen and his army out.
“Are they free now?” Russell asked Briathos. “What will happen to them?”
“Wu Shen and his soldiers will remain here outside the gate until the Heavenly Father decides their fate,” Briathos replied. “But since they were coerced by a demon, and then rebelled against Lucifer, I expect the Father will be merciful.”
With a loud bang, the gate to hell swung shut.
“You are safe now,” Gabriel announced. With a whoosh, all the swords of fire disappeared.
Lady Yi-soo looked at Rajiv and gasped. “You’re bleeding.”
Rajiv frowned at the cut on his arm.
“Allow me.” Briathos cut the sleeve away, then poured a vial of holy water on the wound. “This will cleanse away the evil residue so that it can heal normally.”
Rajiv winced. “That stings. Once we get home, I’ll shift and it’ll be fine.”
“But it’s still bleeding.” Lady Yi-soo untied the sash around her robe, then wrapped the silk tightly around his wound. As she tied it off, her robe began to gape open a bit. “Is that better?”
Rajiv tilted his head so he could see her white silk undergarment. “Yeah, I’m feeling much better.”
Russell snorted, and Jia exchanged a smile with him. He pulled her into his arms. “I thought I’d lost you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I thought I’d be trapped there forever. I wanted you to come after me, but I was afraid you would and—”
“Nothing can keep me from you.” Russell cradled her face with his hands. “Not even hell.”
She smiled in spite of the tears in her eyes. “That’s my cowboy.”
“Anything for my princess.” He wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek.
She embraced him tightly. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
After a moment, she nodded her head toward her cousin. “I’m gone for an hour or so, and Rajiv finds a girlfriend?”
Russell snorted. “First of all, you were gone for a week. I nearly went crazy.”
She blinked. “A week?”
“Six nights. And Lady Yi-soo came with the Korean delegation. Your fiancé is waiting for you in Tiger Town.”
Jia’s eyes widened. “Oh dear.”
“It is time to go back,” Briathos announced, and everything flashed black.
Chapter Twenty-six
Jia thought her heart might burst from joy as she gazed around Tiger Town. She was home. Russell was with her. All the Vamps and shifters were safe and grinning as they called their wives on their cell phones.
“The tents are gone,” Russell said as he looked around the courtyard.
“What tents?” Jia asked.
“There were tents full of ex-soldiers being changed back to normal,” Russell explained.
“The soldiers are most likely on their way home,” Briathos said. “While we were gone, a second week has passed by.”
Jia’s mouth fell open. She’d been gone two weeks? She glanced up at the moon. It was waning. She’d completely missed the full moon.
Leah and Abigail ran into the courtyard, squealing when they spotted their husbands. Were-tiger families embraced their loved ones who had gone to hell to bring Jia back.
She rushed over to them to thank them, but even those few minutes away from Russell seemed too long. She hurried back to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Have I told you recently how much I love you?”
He hugged her tightly. “I’m never letting you go again. That week was too much. I almost went crazy.”