Her face paled.
Dougal stepped toward her, and she moved back. “I’m okay.”
“Are you?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. “I always knew evil existed. But I always saw it as something vague and shadowy, floating here and there without purpose, randomly causing people to commit terrible acts. I never thought of it inhabiting a powerful being with an agenda.” She shuddered. “The world keeps getting stranger. And more dangerous.”
“Aye, lass,” he murmured. “But ye doona have to face it alone.”
Her eyes met his again, and he winced at the pain glimmering in their golden brown depths.
“That’s right,” Laszlo piped in. “We’re here for you.”
She sighed. “Just when I think I have it figured out, and that I’ve adjusted to everything, something new gets thrown at me.”
“Try not to let it bother you,” Gregori said. “There’s no reason you should ever have to meet Darafer.”
Leah shuddered, then took a deep breath. “Let’s get on with this then.”
“Brave lass,” Dougal whispered.
She winced. “Not so brave.” She moved closer to the stretcher.
Was she ignoring him out of fear then? Dougal tightened the restraints while Abby placed sensors over the soldier’s heart and major pulse points, then connected them to a monitor.
“Here we go.” Abby injected the soldier.
In a few minutes, the soldier’s eyelids flickered. His fingers twitched. Suddenly, his eyes popped open and his hands fisted, straining at the belts that tied him down.
He growled something in Chinese, glaring at them all. He twisted on the stretcher, pulling hard against the restraints.
Leah spoke softly to him. His eyes narrowed on her, rage causing them to glimmer.
She continued to talk, then gave him an encouraging smile and pat on the shoulder.
“Why should I believe you, bitch?” he growled. “You stinking whore!”
“You damned fool.” Dougal seized him by the neck, his prosthetic hand clenching tight. “She’s trying to save your ass. Talk to her like that again, and I’ll kill you.”
“Dougal?” Leah stared at him, her eyes wide.
“Dougal!” Abby shouted. “Let go! You’re killing him.”
His hand tightened, and the soldier’s face turned a mottled red.
“Dougal!” Gregori shoved at his shoulder. “What are you doing? We need him alive!”
He ordered the prosthesis to release, and it did. The soldier gasped for air, and the others exhaled with relief.
“Oh, dear.” Laszlo tugged at a button. “Why did you attack him like that?”
Dougal stepped back. Damn it to hell. What had he done?
“You spoke to him in Chinese,” Leah whispered.
“That was Chinese?” Gregori looked stunned. “I thought it must be Gaelic. Why would a Scotsman know Chinese?”
Dougal squeezed his eyes shut. Dammit! He hadn’t realized what he was doing. He’d heard the soldier abusing Leah, and the next thing he knew, he was choking the bastard. “I-it was an accident.”
“You accidentally spoke Chinese?” Abby asked dryly.
He winced. “I dinna mean to.” He motioned to the soldier. “Can ye give him the injection? He’s being verra still and cooperative now.”
Gregori snorted. “Yeah, because he almost died. Why did you attack him all of a sudden?”
“He was cursing me,” Leah explained, then gave Dougal a pointed look. “You understood it.”
With a groan, he dragged a hand over his hair. The secret was out.
“How interesting.” Laszlo twirled a button. “When did you learn Chinese?”
“I doona discuss it.” Dougal headed for the door. “If ye need me, I’ll be in my office.”
Chapter Fourteen
How on earth did he know Chinese? Leah tensed with frustration. Once again, she was finding it impossible to concentrate. All she could think about was Dougal. Why had he never told his friends? Had he kept it a secret for hundreds of years? What other secrets did he have? What did he mean when he said he’d waited for her so long?
“Leah?” Abby touched her shoulder.
She started. “Yes?”
“I asked you to talk to him.” Abby motioned to the soldier. “His blood pressure is spiking. See if you can calm him down. I don’t want to give him a sedative.”
“Of course.” It might interfere with the serum they were testing. Leah leaned over the soldier and spoke in Chinese. “I’m Leah Chin. What’s your name?”
“None of your damned business!”
“We’re trying to help you.”
“Bullshit.” The soldier glared at her. “You plan to torture me.”
“No. We’re simply trying to reverse some of your genetic mutations.” Although there was nothing simple about it. “Once we’re done, you’ll be able to return to a normal life.”
He scoffed. “Like a billion other people? I don’t want to be normal!” He tugged at the restraints. “Why am I so damned weak? What have you done to me?”
“You’ve been in stasis for a while, so your muscles haven’t been used. Once we have you back to normal—”
“No! Damn you, you have no right to change me back. I want to be superstrong and powerful!”
“His pulse is dangerously high,” Abby warned as she watched the monitor.
“He says he doesn’t want to be changed back,” Leah said in English.
“I was afraid that would happen,” Gregori murmured.
Laszlo shook his head. “He’s been brainwashed. Perhaps in time . . .”
“He won’t have time if his heart gives out,” Abby muttered.
“I’ll try to reason with him.” Leah switched to Chinese. “They tell me a demon changed you, and in exchange for giving you superpowers, he now owns your soul.”
The soldier sneered at her. “So?”
“If you die—”
“I won’t die, bitch! Even your torture can’t kill me. I was made invincible!”
“No one is invincible.”
“Darafer is! And he made us the same way. After Master Han takes over the world, we will be kings.”
Leah groaned. Why did bad guys always want to take over the world? “I don’t know much about Master Han or demons, but it seems highly likely to me that they could be lying to you. And using you. Would you really expect a demon to be honest? And do you think this Master Han will want to share his worldwide power with you?”
A flicker of doubt glimmered in the soldier’s eyes, then he blinked and glowered at her. “You’re wrong. Master Han is loyal to his men. He’ll come for me. He’ll rescue me and destroy you.”
“I’ve been told that vampires can’t teleport into this room. It’s made of silver.”
The soldier hissed and pulled at his restraints. “They won’t abandon me! You’ll see! Master Han will rescue me.” His face turned red as he screamed, “Master Han!”
“I’m giving him a sedative.” Abby injected him.
Leah winced. “Sorry. I think I made it worse.”
Laszlo twisted a button, gazing sadly at the soldier, who drifted off into sleep. “It’s always hard to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.”
Leah sighed. Was it right to change the mutated soldiers back against their will? But if they weren’t changed back, they would help an evil vampire and demon take over the world.
If the Vamps didn’t change Master Han’s soldiers, they would be forced to fight them. And when they killed them, the soldiers’ souls would go straight to hell. Leah wasn’t sure she could believe in hell, but she could understand why the Vamps wouldn’t want a bunch of doomed souls on their conscience. No wonder they had been so determined to get her help.
She’d heard from Abby that the Vamps were terribly outnumbered by Master Han’s army. If she could reverse the mutations, then the Vamps could avoid a war where many of them would be killed.