Chapter Twenty-eight
Caitlyn was hoping she'd recognize their location when they disembarked, but unfortunately they never left the plane. At one point during the flight, Pat and his armed thugs came down to the cargo hold to check on them. She begged to go to the restroom, so Pat allowed them to go one at a time with an armed escort. Carlos and Rajiv each required three armed escorts.
She hoped Pat would talk to his cohorts so she could glean more information, but they were silent now that they knew she understood Thai. She continued to send airplane images to her sister but had no idea if she was succeeding. After many hours, she finally felt the plane descend and heard the landing gear lower.
When they jostled and bounced a little with the landing, Rajiv stiffened. "What is that?"
"We just landed," she told him in his language. He was trying to be brave, but she could tell he was nervous. It was his first time to travel by air and his first time away from home.
"Do you know who's piloting the plane?" Carlos asked.
"No." She shook her head. "I never saw anyone in a uniform. I think one of their thugs must know how to fly."
The plane taxied for what seemed a long time.
"I counted about six mortals during our bathroom break," Carlos whispered.
She nodded. "The guy who escorted me is called Sawat."
"The huge lummox with the broken nose?" Carlos glanced at the coffins. "It would be better to defeat the mortals before the vampires wake up."
"You and Rajiv can't shift with those collars on. And we have no weapons. I think we should wait till we disembark, then try to find a way to escape."
Carlos's eyes narrowed as he considered.
"Whatever you do, please don't get yourself killed again," she muttered.
He frowned. "It's not like I enjoy it."
The plane stopped moving. Caitlyn tensed, afraid that Carlos and Rajiv would try something suicidal when Pat and his cohorts arrived.
They waited. And waited.
Rajiv curled up on the floor and fell asleep.
"Merda," Carlos muttered. "They're waiting for nightfall..."
"So the vampires can wake up," she finished his thought.
The time dragged by. She wrapped the blanket around herself and Carlos and lightly dozed.
A sudden creak woke her up. Carlos motioned with his head toward the coffins. She shivered at the sight of the lids slowly opening.
The vampires floated out of the coffins and landed on their feet. There were all Chinese, as far as she could tell, and dressed in red embroidered silk robes. Their long black hair was braided down their backs, and their fingernails were yellow and about six inches long.
They turned their heads toward her and hissed, showing sharp yellow fangs.
She shuddered and huddled closer to Carlos. She hoped she and her friends weren't breakfast.
"If one of them tries to bite you," Carlos whispered, "I'll snap his neck."
Pat and six men came down to the cargo hold. Sawat opened the vampire cage and bowed as they exited. Pat and the others bowed low. The vampires seized three men and sank their fangs into their necks.
Caitlyn flinched. The men didn't fight. They quietly submitted, then bowed low after the vampires released them.
"We have arrived in San Francisco?" the tallest vampire asked in Chinese.
"Yes, Master," Pat responded in the same language. "All is ready at the temple."
San Francisco? She immediately shot an image of the Golden Gate Bridge to her sister.
"Then it is time for us to go." The tallest vampire moved toward Caitlyn and her friends.
Pat and his six thugs ran up to the cage. Several pointed handguns at them, while the others grasped the chain connected to Carlos's silver collar. They yanked on it to pull Carlos toward them. He resisted, but the collar pressed into his throat, cutting off his air. He relented then and let them draw him back. Caitlyn winced when the back of his head hit the metal bars.
With Carlos pinned to the bars, Sawat tugged his T-shirt up in the back. Caitlyn gasped as Pat plunged a syringe into Carlos's back.
Pat glanced at her. "It's just a sedative. We need you all alive."
Sawat smirked. "For a little while."
Carlos's eyes flickered shut and he crumpled to the floor. Pat and his thugs did the same procedure to Rajiv, then opened the cage and removed the silver collars from both the cat shifters. The vampires sauntered inside the cage, and two of them grabbed Rajiv and Carlos and teleported away. Soon they were back and teleporting away the thugs and Pat.
The third vampire advanced toward Caitlyn. She stepped back, her heart thundering in her ears.
"When we celebrate the resurrection of Master Han, I will take this one," he said in Chinese. "I will drain her dry and burn her flesh for my incense."
She swallowed hard, and sent another frantic image of the Golden Gate Bridge to her sister. The vampire lurched toward her with incredible speed. She jumped back but his long fingernails had curled around her arm. He teleported, taking her with him, and everything went black.
She stumbled when they arrived and fell onto her knees as the vampire tossed her aside. She saw Carlos and Rajiv nearby, lying unconscious on the floor.
She remained huddled on the floor as she scanned the surroundings. They appeared to be on a raised wooden dais at the end of a rectangular room. Beams painted a lacquer red crossed the vaulted ceiling. Bare white walls were trimmed with more red lacquered woodwork. At the end of the room a large brass gong sat between two black doors gilded with gold. Pat stood by the gong, and he now wore a black silk robe with a hood. The six thugs stood along the back wall, armed with large ceremonial swords.
This had to be the temple the vampires had referred to. She spotted the three vampires on the other side of the dais. In the center of the dais there was an altar made of wood, inlaid with gold dragons. On top reclined the body of a tall man dressed in red silk with gold braid.
A chill crept down her spine. The man on the altar must be Master Han.
The gong sounded, and she glanced toward the entrance as Pat struck it again. The entrance doors opened and men filed in, two by two, dressed in black silk robes with the hoods drawn up to cover their heads and hide their faces. Twenty in all, she counted.
The last ones to enter closed the doors, then joined their fellow black-robed monks as they formed five rows with a center aisle between them. Each row had four men.
Pat hit the gong again.
"Master Han!" the monks shouted in unison, then dropped to their knees and bowed forward.
One monk seemed to be slightly slower than the others, Caitlyn noted, as if he didn't quite know the routine. The armed thugs along the back wall also dropped to their knees. Beside her Carlos and Rajiv stirred.
Pat marched down the center aisle swinging a brass censor that emitted a trail of smoke. Incense filled the air, and the monks began to chant.
Carlos and Rajiv sat up and glanced warily about. Caitlyn figured Carlos was counting their opponents and assessing their chances of defeating them in battle. She didn't know how well the twenty monks could fight, and there were still six armed thugs, Pat, and three vampires. That made it thirty to three. Really bad odds.
Carlos was one hell of a fighter, and could probably take down seven or eight guys before he was captured or killed. Again. She looked at him and shook her head, pleading with her eyes that he not attempt anything rash.
Pat stepped onto the dais and set his incense burner onto a brass stand. "Guardians, behold your Master!" He lifted his arms as he approached the altar.
The monks sat up and shouted, "Master Han!"
"It was forty-five years ago when Master Han brought peace to the warring factions of the three vampire lords," Pat announced. "It was Master Han who unified the vampires and their minions to one common goal. It was through Master Han that we grew in power and territory. It was through Master Han that we realized we could take over all of Asia!"
The vampires and monks cheered.
"And then" - Pat's voice grew sad - "then the unthinkable happened. Master Han and his forces claimed victory over a village in Tibet and requested the most beautiful virgin be delivered to him as a gift. The village sent the girl, filled with poison, and when Master Han drank from her, he fell into a deep sleep."
The monks murmured their disapproval.
"We rose up to avenge our master," Pat continued. "We burned the village to the ground and slaughtered all that lived there!"
The monks cheered.
"We brought the Master here to San Francisco, where Dr. Chou is known to have the greatest knowledge of ancient folklore and herbal remedies. For five years we have tried to revive our master." Pat motioned to one of the monks. "Dr. Chou has long been convinced there is only one way to resurrect our master."
The monk stood and pushed back his hood to reveal thin, graying hair. "Ancient texts tell us that a corpse can be brought back to life if a cat jumps over it. Not any cat will do. It must be a magical cat of great power."
"And now we have the most powerful cats in the world!" Pat exclaimed as he gestured toward Carlos and Rajiv.
Caitlyn snorted. That was why they'd been kidnapped? So Carlos could shift and jump over an unconscious vampire? She looked at him and rolled her eyes.
He frowned and shook his head slightly.
And then she realized why he didn't see the humor in the situation. If he jumped over Master Han, and it didn't magically cure the vampire, they could be blamed for the scheme's failure to work. They would probably be executed. And if they fought, they were terribly outnumbered.
Pat pointed at Carlos. "It is time! You will shift and jump over our master!"
Carlos stood slowly, looked around the room, then shook his head. "No, thanks."
The monks gasped.
Pat flinched. "You do not deny the Master." He motioned for the six thugs armed with swords to approach the dais.
One of the monks, the one who had moved slower than the others, suddenly jumped to his feet and zoomed toward them at vampire speed. His hood slipped back as he jumped onto the dais, and Caitlyn thought she detected a glint of recognition in Carlos's eyes.
The vampire monk seized her from behind and pressed a knife to her neck. Her blood chilled with fear.
"You will jump over our master," Pat ordered Carlos. "Or you will see your wife die."
Caitlyn's breath hitched when Carlos hesitated.
He exchanged a look with her captor, then with a shrug, he turned toward Pat. "Go ahead. I'm tired of her."
She gasped.
Pat's eyes bulged. "What?"
Carlos waved a dismissive hand. "She's lousy in bed. She just lays there and makes me do all the work."
Caitlyn gasped again. Was he serious? Her heart plummeted when she saw all the monks murmuring and nodding their heads in commiseration with Carlos.
"Do not harm her!" Rajiv cried in his language. He ran toward the altar and shifted into a tiger as he leaped over Master Han.
"No!" Carlos shouted.
Monks jumped to their feet.
Rajiv landed on the other side of the altar and shifted back to a human. His pants had remained on, and were now ripped to shreds.
A collective gasp spread over the room as Master Han's body began to twitch. The monks jumped up and down, shouting in celebration. Master Han floated up in the air, then stood on the altar. His face was covered with a golden mask.
"Oh, shit," the monk who held Caitlyn muttered in English. He pressed a button on his wristwatch. "Angus, get over here now!"
"What?" Caitlyn turned her head to look at her captor.
He winked. "J.L. Wang at your service." He handed her the knife, then drew two swords from underneath his robe. He tossed one to Carlos.
Carlos and J.L. leaped from the dais, running toward the thugs. Caitlyn winced at the sound of clashing swords. Some of the monks fled toward the doors, but before they could escape, Angus materialized by the entrance with a group of Vamps. Caitlyn recognized Emma, Phineas, Connor, Ian, Roman, and, to her amazement, her father.
Screams reverberated around the temple as those who challenged the Vamps were quickly killed. Rajiv ran back to Caitlyn, and on the way, he grabbed the brass stand, letting the incense burner fall onto the floor. He stood next to her, holding the brass stand like a weapon.
Sawat jumped onto the dais, his face twisted with rage as he stalked toward her and Rajiv. "I'll kill you both." He lifted his sword and charged.
She threw the knife J.L. had given her.
Sawat screamed as the knife plunged into his groin.
She winced. Rajiv gave her a wary look and stepped back.
"I was aiming for his chest," she assured him. "Really."
"Master Han!" Pat shouted. "You must flee to safety."
"No!" Carlos ran toward the dais to stop Master Han. J.L. was close behind.
Pat jumped in front of the altar, pulling a knife from his robe so he could protect his master. Carlos swiped Pat with his blade, and he fell to the side, wounded. Carlos stabbed at Master Han, but he vanished.
"No!" Carlos charged toward the three vampires. One zoomed over to the wounded Pat, grabbed him, then teleported away.
"Take me!" Sawat screamed, his hands covering his bloody crotch. He glared at Caitlyn. "I will not forget you, bitch." He disappeared as one of the vampires teleported away with him.
The third vampire teleported away with Dr. Chou. The battle came to an end with all the remaining monks and thugs either dead or surrendering.
Carlos rushed toward Caitlyn. "Are you all right?"
She folded her arms and glared at him. "You're tired of me? I just lay there, and you have to do all the work?"
He snorted. "I was just buying time, sweetheart. I knew the instant I saw J.L. that help was on the way."
"You know him?"
"Sure." Carlos slapped J.L. on the back. "He works for MacKay. I knew he wasn't going to hurt you."
J.L. nodded. "Sorry about scaring you. I knew I'd better put a knife to your throat before any of the other guys could."
"How did you find us?" Caitlyn asked.
"When your sister claimed you were in San Francisco, I went undercover in Chinatown," J.L. explained. "Angus and the guys teleported to the coven house nearby and waited for me to call."
"And since J.L.'s a Vamp, he has a homing beacon inserted underneath his skin," Carlos continued. "I knew Angus and the others would come."
Caitlyn let out a deep breath. Shanna had received the images. "Thank God." She hugged J.L. "Thank you. I was so afraid Carlos would try to fight everyone by himself and get killed again."
Carlos frowned. "I had a plan. I was going to grab that brass stand and leap onto the altar and threaten to ram it through Master Han's heart if they didn't put down their weapons and let you and Rajiv go."
J.L. nodded. "Not a bad plan."
"And what would have happened then?" Caitlyn asked. "How were you going to escape?"
Carlos shifted his weight. "I didn't have that part figured out yet."
She didn't know whether to scream or cry. He always put her safety before his own. "I love you so much."
He grinned and pulled her into his arms.
"It is over then?" Rajiv asked Caitlyn in his language.
"Yes." She turned toward him. "We can take you home if you like. Or if you'd rather, you could probably work for the same company as these other guys. They work for MacKay Security and Investigation, and they go around catching bad guys."
"Like Master Han?" Rajiv asked. "I would like to work with them." He hung his head. "It is my fault that Master Han rose again. I only did it because I thought they were going to kill you."
She hugged the young were-tiger. "No one blames you, Rajiv. You have proven yourself the bravest of warriors."
"What's going on?" Carlos asked.
"I think Rajiv would like to work for Angus," she replied.
"I'll introduce him." J.L. motioned for Rajiv to follow him. He turned and nearly skidded in the pool of blood left by Sawat. "Damn. He left his balls in San Francisco."
Carlos laughed and gathered her back into his arms. "Are you really okay?"
"Yes." She leaned her head against his chest. "But I'm ready for a nice long break."
His arms tightened around her but he remained silent. She could guess what he was thinking. Her break would not last long. In two weeks she would shift for the first time. And she might not survive it.
As soon as they teleported back to Romatech, Carlos asked Sean Whelan for his daughter's hand in marriage. Afterward, when Carlos's nose stopped bleeding, he called Father Andrew to make the arrangements.
They were married the next night at the chapel at Romatech. Roman offered to walk Caitlyn down the aisle since her father refused to come. Shanna was her matron of honor and Coco and Raquel served as flower girls. Carlos asked Fernando to be his best man. Constantine was his ring bearer.
It made his heart ache when Caitlyn spent their wedding night running a fever and throwing up. After returning to Romatech, he confided to Shanna and Roman that he'd bitten Caitlyn and feared they would lose her in two weeks.
Shanna, Roman, and his head chemist, Laszlo, worked all night long, developing a formula that would hopefully ease Caitlyn into the transformation. The formula consisted of synthetic blood that matched Caitlyn's blood type, plus a small amount of were-panther DNA they had isolated from his blood. They figured her chances of survival would be greater if her body was allowed to adapt slowly to the were-panther DNA rather than letting her undergo an abrupt and total change when the moon was full.
Shanna was so terrified of losing her sister that she insisted Caitlyn receive the first dose the next night, the night of her wedding. Within a few hours Caitlyn was miserably sick.
The next night she was given another dose, this one with a tiny bit more were-panther DNA. Again she was sick.
This went on for a week, and Carlos feared the worse. Were-panther DNA made her ill. How could she ever survive the transformation?
Caitlyn refused to stop the treatments, since Roman believed their plan would work. She insisted on remaining positive and hopeful. Her bright attitude was one of the things Carlos loved most about her, so he tried not to show how frightened he was.
When the night of the full moon arrived, Romatech employees were given the night off. Only Shanna, Roman, and Connor remained. Phineas and Howard stayed at the Draganesti home with Tino and Sofia. Carlos knew Shanna didn't want the children around in case the worst happened.
Shanna had attempted to make the gazebo in the Romatech garden comfortable for them. She'd placed a mattress inside with blankets. Roman had given Carlos a syringe with a painkiller in case Caitlyn needed it. As the moon began to rise, Caitlyn and Shanna hugged each other tightly with tears in their eyes.
Then with a heavy, fearful heart, Carlos led Caitlyn outside to the gazebo. He glanced back at the Romatech cafeteria and could see Shanna inside, pacing nervously while her husband and Connor stood nearby.
As the moon rose higher in the night sky, Caitlyn's breathing became more labored. The first pain hit right after they entered the gazebo.
She curled up on the mattress, her eyes squeezed shut. When the pain subsided, Carlos encouraged her to undress. She was shaking, so he wrapped her in blankets and held her tight.
Another pain hit, and she cried out. Soon she was rocking back and forth, whimpering.
"Do you want the painkiller?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I'm going to get through this, Carlos. I'm not giving up."
Tears blurred his vision. "You're the bravest woman I've ever met."
She cried out and collapsed on the mattress. She rolled onto all fours and trembled. She screamed when claws burst out of her fingertips. Her arms started to shimmer, then turned black. Her hands shifted into paws.
"You're doing it, Caitlyn."
She screamed when her back legs crackled to reform into panther legs. Then her back arched, more bones crunching and shifting. Her whimpers turned into a growl.
"My head," she whispered. "It's going to explode."
He held her tight. Her body was now sleek and black.
She screamed again. Her head shifted, and her scream turned into a roar. She collapsed onto the mattress, panting.
"You did it." He held her head in his hands and gazed at her lovely turquoise cat eyes. "Catalina, my beautiful cat, you did it."
She licked his hand, and her tongue was raspy.
Carlos stripped and shifted. She was still lying on the mattress, but her breathing had eased. He nudged her with his head. Come on, let's go play.
She lifted her head. You can talk to me telepathically?
Yes. It was a power I gained when I reached level three. Level one were-panthers can't do it, usually, but you came into this with psychic power. He nudged her with his head again. Come on, run with me.
She rolled onto all fours and followed him outside the gazebo. She glanced toward the cafeteria. Shanna was inside, and when she spotted two were-panthers, she jumped up and down, hollering and punching the air. She and Roman hugged each other, laughing.
Carlos chuckled, then trotted toward the woods. Your senses will be sharper. You'll be able to see in the dark.
I feel strong, she told him. Like a hunter.
They ran all over the grounds at Romatech. She learned to leap and sharpen her claws. She even tried pouncing on Carlos a few times. When the moon began its descent, they returned to the gazebo.
The shift back to human form was less painful for her. Still, she lay back on the mattress, breathing heavily. "My God, I'm exhausted. I could sleep for a week."
Carlos shifted back, then covered her with a blanket. "You did it, Catalina. I'm so proud of you."
She heaved a sigh. "I'm glad it's over. Now you can stop looking at me with all that guilt in your eyes. It was hurting me to see you hurting so much."
Tears threatened to fall. "I don't know how I could have lived with myself if I'd lost you. I love you more than I can say."
She touched his face. "It's all right. We made it through." She smiled. "I guess Shanna was right from the beginning. I get to have kittens."
Smiling, he brushed her hair back from her brow. "Our children will be completely normal until they reach puberty and shift for the first time." He tilted his head. "I take that back. No child from you would be completely normal."
"Hey." She swatted his shoulder.
He chuckled. "I mean your children will probably be beautiful, intelligent, and psychically gifted."
"Oh. Well, that's true." Her eyes twinkled with humor. "And your children will probably know how to sweet talk their way out of trouble."
"I like them already." He kissed her freckled nose.
"Me, too." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Maybe we should get started on them right away, you being an endangered species and all. It would be the environmentally responsible thing to do."
"I love it when you talk sexy."
She laughed. "I love it when you purr in my ear."
He nuzzled her ear and growled low.
She shivered.
He kissed a path down her neck. "Catalina, are you sure you're not too tired?"
"I'm exhausted. But then I thought I'd just lay here and let you do all the work."
He lifted his head to give her a wry look. "You're never forgiving me for that, are you?"
Her mouth twitched. "You'll never know."
"Naughty kitty."
With a laugh, she flipped him over and straddled him. Holding his shoulders down, she leaned over and nipped at his ear. "No more dying, you hear me? I won't have you dying for me."
He chuckled. "For you, sweetheart, I want to live forever."
The End