Chapter Twenty-six
Abigail didn't let go of Gregori even though they had arrived. The place was pitch-black and cold, and her nerves were frazzled. How could everything go so wrong so fast? For goodness' sake, she was only looking for a few plants. But instead, she'd found a whole village of mind-controlled slaves and a whole army of acrobatic kung fu vampires.
She shuddered, and Gregori's arms tightened around her. It was so dark, she couldn't even make out his facial features.
"We're okay," he whispered.
In the distance, she could hear the low roar of rushing water. "Where are we?"
"A cave in northwest Yunnan," J.L. answered her. A match flickered and he lit a kerosene lamp. "Everyone here?"
"Yes." Russell yanked the electronic beacon off a rock ledge, dropped it on the cave floor, and crushed it under the heel of his boot.
J.L. gave him a wry look. "You could have just turned it off."
Russell scowled at him. "I felt like smashing something."
J.L. retrieved a different phone from his backpack. "We have to use the satellite phone out here." He headed for the entrance of the cave. "I'll call Angus and tell him what happened."
Howard lit the second kerosene lamp. "I hope my donuts are all right." He opened a metal trunk and withdrew a pastry box.
Abigail released her death grip on Gregori and lowered her backpack to the floor so she could get out her sweater. "It's chilly here." She took off her jacket, put the sweater on, then the jacket back on.
"We're close to Tibet." Russell removed a sweatshirt from his backpack. "And we're at a much higher altitude."
"A couple of thousand feet up a damned mountain," Howard grumbled, then bit into a bear claw.
"At least we found a cave that faces south." Russell pulled on his sweatshirt. "We're sheltered from the colder winds."
"And direct sunlight," Gregori added as he retrieved a sweater from his backpack.
"What about all those vampires?" Abigail asked.
"We're over two hundred miles away from them." Russell smirked. "And our beacon is experiencing technical difficulties."
"I keep wondering why they came after us," she said. "Is it because we found that village? And all those plants? Why is Master Han collecting so much Demon Herb?"
"Because he's up to something nasty," Russell growled. "The sooner I kill him, the better off we'll all be."
"Just remember our mission right now is to keep Abigail safe," Gregori told him as he pulled on his sweater.
"Damn, it's cold out there." J.L. rushed back inside and pocketed his phone. "Angus wants us to call every two hours. And he wants us to teleport to Japan no later than tomorrow night, whether we find the third plant or not."
"Then we'd better get to work," Gregori said.
J.L. turned to Abigail. "What can you tell us about it?"
She took a photo from the outside pocket of her backpack. "The name translates as Flower of the Golden Sands. It's a flowering bush that grows on the south side of mountains near the Yangtze River. People here call it the River of Golden Sands."
"Jinsha Jiang," J.L. murmured as he studied the photo, then passed it to Rajiv.
"We look for it now?" Rajiv asked.
"Yes." J.L. pulled a sweater from his backpack. "The terrain is rough outside. And the wind really rips through the canyons. We're on a gorge above the Yangtze River."
Rajiv smiled. "It's the Leaping Tiger Gorge." He passed the photo on to Russell.
"That's the Yangtze River I hear?" Abigail asked.
"Yes." J.L. put on his sweater. "We need you to stay here, Abby. It's too dark outside."
She stiffened. "I'll be fine. I'll use a flashlight."
J.L. shook his head. "The wind is so strong, it could knock you off your feet. One slip, and you could fall a few thousand feet into the gorge."
She swallowed hard. "Okay. I'll look for it during the day then."
"Hopefully we'll find it before sunrise, so we can get the hell out of here," J.L. said. "Howard, will you stay here with Abby?"
"Sure." He offered her the pastry box. "Want a donut?"
She sighed. "No."
Gregori pulled her toward the back of the cave. "I know how you hate not being allowed to do things, but your time will come. Once we get home, you'll be doing all the work with the plants."
She nodded and gave him a weary smile. "You're right. It would be crazy for me to scramble around a mountain in the dark."
"Okay." He kissed her brow. "Wish us luck, so we can go home."
"Good luck." She hugged him tight.
The Vamps and Rajiv bundled up, retrieved some flashlights from a metal box, then headed out.
She ventured outside a few steps and watched the flashlight beams swing back and forth as the men searched the south side of the mountain. The edge of the cliff was barely visible to her, but she could hear the loud roar of the river far below.
A strong, cold wind slapped at her, threatening to knock her down, so she went back inside the cave. She helped Howard unroll sleeping bags for everyone. Three of the bags were placed far in the back of the cave, then a folding screen was stretched in front of them. The south-facing entrance of the cave would keep any direct sunlight from coming in, but the Vamps still preferred it as dark as possible.
Howard lit an oil heater, and the cave warmed up a little. They sat and waited for the others to return.
They'd finished off two boxes of donuts before the guys came back, looking exhausted and cold. From the grim looks on their faces, she could tell they hadn't found the third plant.
The Vamps helped themselves to bottled blood from the ice chest. Rajiv guzzled down a bottle of water.
"Sorry." Gregori sat next to her, close to the heater. "We scoured the south side of three mountains, but couldn't find it."
J.L. drank some blood. "It's already daylight in Japan, so it's too late to teleport back. We'll have to wait till tonight. As soon as we wake up, we're outta here."
"I'll hunt for the plant while you guys sleep," Howard offered. "Rajiv and I can take turns."
"Are you sure we'll be safe here?" Abigail asked.
J.L. yawned. "We're hundreds of miles from the last place."
"And that was a vampire army," Russell added. "They can only come after us at nighttime."
J.L. passed his satellite phone to Howard. "Keep calling every two hours. It'll be forwarded to a Vamp who's awake."
Gregori patted Abigail's knee. "When we wake up, I'll take you back to Kyo's place. You can have a long, hot bath."
"Sounds wonderful." She leaned close and whispered, "I need to relieve myself."
"I'll take you." He hefted himself to his feet and grabbed a flashlight.
They didn't venture far from the cave. He turned his back so she wouldn't feel embarrassed, but she was glad to have him nearby in case any wild animals decided she looked tasty.
Back in the cave, she and Gregori washed up in one of the buckets of water the guys had stashed there before her arrival in China.
She yawned. She was too tired and cold to even worry about sleeping next to a dead body. She dragged her sleeping bag to the back of the cave and cuddled up beside Gregori.
It was well past noon when she woke up. This time she didn't freak at the sight of Gregori lying so still beside her. She brushed his hair back from his brow and tucked in his blanket.
Howard was out searching for the plant while Rajiv guarded the cave. He'd heated some water on a kerosene stove to make tea. She ate a breakfast of hot tea and stale donuts.
Three hours later, Howard came back empty-handed and grumpy. He stuffed down six bear claws, guzzled a bottle of water, then decided he should descend the gorge to fill up their wash buckets with fresh water.
"You crazy," Rajiv said. "River long way down. Too hard for a bear."
"You want to bet?" Howard growled. "Just because it's the Leaping Tiger Gorge doesn't mean it's just for tigers."
Rajiv scoffed. "I'm not going down there. It's too big. River too crazy. Let the Vamps teleport there for water."
Howard grunted. "I'll show you how it's done." He grabbed a bucket and headed for the entrance.
He stopped with a jerk. The bucket fell from his hand and sloshed water on the cave floor.
He ducked down. "Holy crap! I don't believe this."
"What?" Rajiv ran forward.
Howard pulled him down. "Don't let them see you."
"Who?" Abigail's heart pounded as she eased forward. She hunkered down beside the two shifters, and her heart shot up her throat.
On the other side of the gorge, on the crests of the mountains, Master Han's army was gathering. More and more of them lined up along the ridge, all dressed in white. The ends of their red sashes fluttered in the wind.
Her blood ran cold. There had to be a hundred of them! "How - how can they be here in daylight? I thought they were vampires."
"Maybe they different guys," Rajiv suggested. "Maybe Master Han have a vampire army and a human one."
Panic threatened to burst inside her. She fisted her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. Don't lose it. You'll just make things worse if you lose it. She opened her eyes, and the army was still standing along the ridge.
"How they find us?" Rajiv asked. "How they get here so fast?"
"I don't know," Howard said softly. "But they're here, and we have to deal with it."
Abigail gasped when some of the soldiers jumped off a cliff. They must be suicidal! But no, they fluttered down the side of the cliff, and landed neatly on a ridge a hundred feet below. Others leaped from rock to rock, even doing somersaults in the air.
"Holy crap," Howard whispered. "They're the same guys. They can move like vampires, but they're mortal."
"How can they be like this?" Abigail wondered out loud. "These guys are supernatural."
"They going to cross the gorge," Rajiv said. "They find us."
Howard sucked in a deep breath. "You need to go. I'll stay here to guard the fort. You can shift and cross the gorge."
"I'm not leaving you and Miss Abby alone," Rajiv hissed.
"You have to!" Howard slipped the sat phone into a zippered case and slipped the cord around Rajiv's neck. "Get out of here and call Angus. He can find us with the tracking chip the Vamps have embedded - Oh shit. That's how those bastards found us."
Rajiv turned to Abigail. "I take you with me?"
She shook her head, her eyes crowding with tears. "I'll slow you down. And I can't get across the gorge."
Howard slapped him on the back. "Go! We're counting on you."
Rajiv knotted the cord so the phone would be secure. "God be with you."
"And with you." Abigail gave him a hug.
He scrambled out of the cave, keeping low.
She whispered a prayer that he would be safe, that he would make it through. She glanced back at the folding screen. The Vamps were behind there, dead and oblivious.
She looked at the sky. The sun was lowering in the west. "How much longer before the sun sets?"
"About an hour," Howard answered. "At the rate their army is moving, they'll be here in fifteen minutes."
So the Vamps wouldn't be awake to teleport them away. Her hands trembled, so she clenched them into fists. "We're outnumbered."
"I can kill maybe thirty or forty of them before they finish me off." Howard regarded her with a grim look. "But then you'll be alone with the rest of them, and they'll be really pissed."
A sick feeling churned in her gut. "We have no choice. We'll have to surrender."