Wu Shen had said there were forty-five soldiers inside, so their forces were fairly well matched. He’d come along but had decided to remain hidden in the woods during the battle. Angus had readily agreed. This way, Wu Shen could retain his position in Master Han’s army and, hopefully, help them again someday.
“We could teleport in,” Angus suggested. “A surprise attack.”
Dougal shook his head. “You might surprise the soldiers, but it would give Darafer and Lord Qing advance warning and they would teleport away.” And maybe take Leah with them.
“Darafer must not know that we have come,” Briathos said. “Once we have surrounded him with seven swords of fire, he will be trapped and unable to escape.”
“Jia and I have an idea.” Rajiv briefly described their plan. “J.L. said he’d do it with us.”
“Your idea has merit,” Briathos announced. “You may begin.”
Angus gave Rajiv a wry look. “I think I’ve been outranked. Go ahead. We’ll be ready.”
Rajiv and J.L. left the cover of the trees, walking toward the camp and dragging Jia with them. She put on quite a show, cursing them and resisting, but they hauled her up to the front gate.
“What is your business here?” a soldier yelled down from the ramparts overlooking the gate.
“I wish to join Master Han’s army.” Rajiv motioned to J.L. “My friend wants to join, too.”
The soldier snorted. “And why have you brought the girl?”
“She’s a gift,” J.L. explained. “So you will accept us.”
Rajiv pushed Jia down onto her knees. “We heard you have a vampire lord who likes pretty young girls.”
The soldier hesitated, then whispered to another soldier, who rushed off. “We will inform Lord Qing of your gift. You will wait for his reply.”
“Thank you.” Rajiv grabbed Jia, who attempted to scramble away.
A few minutes later, the gate opened, and Lord Qing emerged.
“No!” Jia screamed, but Rajiv and J.L. held her tight.
Lord Qing’s fangs popped out, and with a hissing sound, he grabbed Jia. She kicked him hard in the groin, and as he doubled over, howling in pain, J.L. whipped a silver chain around him to prevent him from teleporting away.
“This is for killing my father!” Rajiv pulled out a dagger and stabbed Lord Qing in the heart, turning him to dust.
Soldiers ran through the gate, shouting. Jia slashed at them with her dagger. J.L. and Rajiv pulled out swords they had hidden beneath their coats. The Vamps and shifters ran forward, their swords drawn, and the battle grew loud with the clanging of metal and the screams of the wounded and dying.
Dougal and a handful of Vamps charged through the gate to fight the soldiers in the open courtyard. Briathos and his God Warriors zoomed past them toward the main building. Probably looking for Darafer, Dougal thought as he slashed his way toward the stairs that led up to the building. All he wanted was Leah. Was she inside?
He glanced up and froze. She had emerged from the building, dressed in red silk with a dagger in each hand. It wasn’t the weapons that shocked him but the furious expression of hatred on her face.
Darafer stood by her side, gazing down at the battle, his mouth twisted with contempt. “These soldiers are too weak. We will create an army that is even stronger!”
Leah nodded, her eyes gleaming.
“You’re going back to hell,” Briathos announced, suddenly appearing at Darafer’s side with his sword ablaze.
Darafer stumbled back, his face growing pale as he realized he was surrounded by God Warriors and seven swords of fire.
He pulled Leah in front of him.
“No!” Dougal ran toward the stairs. Unfortunately, he had to battle a few soldiers on the way. He quickly dispatched them to hell and reached the base of the stairs.
Darafer saw him and pushed Leah forward. “Kill him for me.”
“Kill, kill,” Leah repeated as she started down the stairs.
Dougal lowered his sword. Tears burned his eyes as he saw the hatred on her face. This was his fault. He’d failed to protect her.
“Kill him!” Darafer yelled. “If I have to go back to hell, then I’ll make you live in hell!”
With an angry shout, Leah rushed toward Dougal.
“No!” The Grand Tiger leaped in front just as Leah’s dagger struck. He stiffened with a gasp, then collapsed against Dougal.
“No!” Dougal grabbed the elderly man and eased him to the ground. Blood poured from his wound. “Why did you . . . ?”
The Grand Tiger looked up at him, gasping for air. “For true love.” His eyes flickered shut.
“No!” Rajiv ran toward them.
A long, howling screech pierced the air. Dougal looked up to see Darafer stabbed through with seven swords of fire. His body wavered, then vanished.
Leah jolted and stumbled on the stairs. Her daggers fell from her hands and clattered on the stone steps. She looked down at Dougal and the Grand Tiger, and her dagger stained with blood. Her eyes widened in horror.
“What have you done?” Rajiv yelled at her.
She fell to her knees and screamed.
Chapter Thirty-one
Dougal carried a tray of soup to Leah’s dorm room on the Japanese island. She was sitting on her bed, her knees clasped to her chest, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
She didn’t say a word as he approached. Refused to even look at him. At least she’d stopped screaming. The pain in her screams had torn at his heart. Even Rajiv’s and Jia’s rage had dissipated as Leah’s screams of anguish had continued on and on.
With the battle over, some of the Vamps had teleported the were-tigers and their fallen leader back to Tiger Town. The rest of the Vamps and shifters had returned to the renovated school.
Briathos had stopped by, informing them that he would continue to monitor their situation. Darafer had been safely dispatched to hell, but if twelve of his disciples formed a ring and called for him, he might manage to escape. Briathos assured them, though, that Darafer’s arrogance had most likely given him a false sense of invincibility, causing him to neglect training his followers on how to retrieve him from hell. Dougal could only hope that was true, and that they’d seen the last of the demon who had traumatized Leah.
“I brought you some soup.” Dougal placed the tray on the bedside table and perched on the edge of the bed. “And some lemonade. Ye like lemonade, aye?” He handed her the glass.
She didn’t look at him or take the glass.
“Leah, ye must stay strong so ye can recover.”
No response.
With a sigh, he set the glass down. “Ye still have important work to do here. Abby says the serums are working and the mutated soldiers are changing back. With Darafer gone, he canna interfere. We can bring in lots of soldiers, and ye can save them.”
She frowned, then asked with a voice hoarse from screaming, “How is Rajiv? And Jia?”
“They’re . . . all right. They’re staying strong. We all have to be strong.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Something a bit surprising happened,” Dougal continued, trying to pique her interest. “It turns out the Grand Tiger left a will declaring Rajiv as his heir. It has all of Tiger Town worked up that the Grand Tiger bypassed his sons to choose Rajiv.”
Leah blinked. “I think Rajiv would make a great leader.”
“Me, too.” Dougal smiled. “But I hear Tiger Town is divided on the issue. Some are saying Rajiv should be their leader because they need to follow the Grand Tiger’s wishes, and Rajiv brought in allies to battle Master Han, and he killed Lord Qing. But others are saying he’s too young and inexperienced, and they’re angry that he brought in foreigners who caused—” He stopped when he realized where he was headed.