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He rubbed her hand to warm up her fingers. Whenever, if ever, they got out of this mess alive, he wanted to make their marriage legal. Tears came to his eyes when he realized how short their marriage would likely last. "Catalina, will you marry me?"
She squeezed his hand. "I thought you'd never ask."
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."
