"For the time being." He motioned again. "Your food?"
She wandered toward the front of her cell. The cell to her left appeared empty. A narrow corridor ran in front of the three cells, ending with a stone wall to her right and a narrow staircase to her left. "Are we underground?"
The other prisoner scoffed. "Are you planning an escape? There's only one way out of Darafer's dungeon. Well, make that two."
She turned toward him. "How?"
"You join him. Or you die." He motioned to her food. "Come on, bitch. I'm hungry."
She spotted a folded blanket near the locked door. And next to that a tray holding a bowl and spoon and a tin cup filled with water. She dipped the spoon into the bowl. It was some sort of rice porridge, cold and runny. She lifted the cup of water and sniffed. A tiny sip. No strange aftertaste. After seeing what had happened at the zombie village, she was suspicious of any food or drink from Darafer.
On the other hand, she wouldn't last long without food or water. And she had to keep her strength up. She drank half the cup and took one bite of porridge before sliding the tray close to the next cell. She'd let her foul-mouthed neighbor eat the rest of the porridge and see if he exhibited any signs of being drugged.
Instead of reaching for the food, the prisoner made a grab at her, and she jumped back.
He sneered. "I'm trying to do you a favor, bitch. Wouldn't you rather die by my hands before Darafer starts on you?"
"Why would you want to kill me? I was trying to help you."
"Help me?" He spit through the bars at her. "I lost my superstrength, and now Darafer says I'm damaged! You destroyed me, bitch, and you'll pay for it!"
"Enough, Guang," a voice came from the stairs. "It's my turn to welcome our guest."
Leah suppressed a shudder at the sound of that cold voice. Darafer had come for his revenge.
He reached the base of the stairs, moving into the torchlight. She stepped back, steeling her nerves.
Her neighbor, Guang, fell to his knees. "Have mercy on me, Master. Return me to my former glory, I beg of you, so I can serve you."
Darafer cast an annoyed look at Guang. "How can I change you back when Dr. Chin and her friends have burned my supply of demon herb?"
"Then let me kill her for you!"
Darafer snorted. "And take away my fun? I think not." He crossed his arms, regarding Leah with an amused twist to his mouth. "It would be a shame to kill someone as smart as you. I'd much rather use you."
Leah kept her mouth shut. He'd have a harder time playing cat and mouse with her if she refused to play.
Darafer approached the bars and leaned his forearms on a horizontal beam. "How do you like your new home?"
She remained quiet.
"You could live in luxury and have everything you ever wanted." He shrugged. "All you would have to do is join me. Why don't you show your parents how smart you really are? If you join me, you could rule the world. You would be superior to your brothers. And all the jerks who bullied you in school - you could make them squirm."
She stayed quiet.
"Do you really think your side has a chance? You saw what happened. Your shifter friends couldn't stop me. Your vampire friends can't stop me, either. Why don't you join the winning team?"
She crossed her arms. Join the evil team? Never.
"You're going to resist, aren't you?" Darafer smiled slowly. "I was hoping you would. I do love a challenge."
She swallowed hard, and her hand moved to the jade dragon on her chest. Stay strong. Dougal will be here soon.
Darafer chuckled. "Perhaps I should tell you. After all, it would be a shame for you to get your hopes up." His face turned harsh. "There is no hope for you. That stupid device in your arm has been removed and destroyed. There will be no rescue."
A chill skittered down her back, and her hand clenched the dragon tighter. How would Dougal find her?
Darafer tilted his head, studying her. "You still think your lover will charge to the rescue? How will he find you?"
Her eyes burned. She couldn't give up. Dougal would come. He loved her.
Darafer snorted. "You think he'll stay true to you? Don't you know you're just a replacement?"
She flinched. She wouldn't listen. Marielle had warned her that he'd know the best way to manipulate her.
"Dougal is his name, right?" Darafer sneered. "He had his first and only love almost three hundred years ago. You're a cheap copy. Easy to find, and easy to replace. Come on, be honest. He got you into his bed easily, didn't he?"
She stepped back. She couldn't listen to this. It was too crude, too cruel, too . . . true? She shook her head. No, Dougal loved her.
"I'll give you some time to think about it." Darafer ascended the stairs. "By the way, Lord Qing has come to visit. I might bring him downstairs to meet you. If he gets hungry."
With a chuckle, Darafer passed out of her view. A door slammed, and the grate of a key echoed down the stairs.
Guang laughed as he reached through the bars to grab her bowl of gruel. "You're going to be lunch, bitch."
Chapter Twenty-nine
No rescue? And she would be fed to a vampire? Leah sank to the floor, shivering as she hugged her knees.
Get a grip, she told herself. Don't panic. Darafer wants you to panic.
She took deep breaths to calm herself. She would think about this logically. Rationally. Darafer wasn't going to kill her. He wanted her alive so he could use her. And he wanted her to panic so she would be easy to manipulate. Be smart about this. Stay focused.
She rose to her feet and strode toward the front of her cell. Starting on the left, she tried each horizontal and vertical bar.
Snickering came from the cell to her right. "You think you can escape, bitch?"
Maybe not, but she would be prepared for all possibilities. She tested the lock on the door. It was firm. She didn't dare get close to her neighbor, so she checked the wooden grid on the left by the empty cell.
Marielle had been right. Darafer knew which wounds to pick at and which fears to manipulate. Surprisingly enough, his digs about her family and so-called college friends hadn't bothered her at all. It was a good sign if those wounds were healed. She'd grown stronger and more confident since she'd started her new job with the Vamps.
She halted, recalling Darafer's claim that her tracking device had been removed. Why should she believe a demon? She pushed her sweater up to her elbow to examine her forearm. It was hard to see well in the dim light, but she couldn't spot any recent incisions. She smoothed her fingers over the spot where the device had been inserted just below the skin. Smooth. The slight bump was gone.
Her heart sank. Darafer had told the truth. What other truths had he thrown at her? You're just a replacement.
With a shake of her head, she shoved that thought aside. Darafer was simply trying to mess her up, make her give up hope, so she would join him.
She strode to the back wall to examine it. A flimsy screen woven of straw sectioned off a small space that contained a chamber pot. Lovely. She wrinkled her nose. At least she wouldn't have to relieve herself in full view of her surly neighbor.
Guang had wrapped himself in his blanket to go to sleep. Was he naturally tired, or had the porridge been drugged? She sighed. There was no way to be sure.
She resumed her examination of the back wall, pushing at each stone. A replacement. A cheap copy. Easy to find and easy to replace. She shook her head. Don't think about it. But she had fallen into bed with Dougal easily. She'd known him less than a month when they'd first made love at her apartment.
Her hands stilled. What had Dougal said that night? I'll never lose you again. And just last night in the palace at Tiger Town, Rajiv's grandfather had asked him if he'd found love again. Dougal had said yes.
She paced across the cell. Dougal was centuries old. Of course he'd had other girlfriends. Did she really expect to be his first?
He had his first and only love almost three hundred years ago, Darafer's words came back to her. His first and only?
I've waited so long for you. How many times had Dougal told her that? He'd even admitted that he'd waited almost three hundred years.
A replacement. A cheap copy.
She grasped the jade dragon. Dougal loved her. She had to believe in him. This was nothing more than Darafer's preferred method of torture. How could she believe anything a demon told her?
Her eyes burned. Then why did Dougal's own words condemn him? I'll never lose you again.
She hunched down, hugging her knees. Don't panic. Darafer wants you to panic.
Her mind raced, trying to remember everything Marielle had told her. She had free will, so Darafer couldn't force her. Of course that didn't mean he wouldn't torture her or feed her to vampires.
She took deep breaths. Don't give up hope. There had to be a way.
With a start, she recalled something Marielle had said. She jumped to her feet and looked around. "Josephine?"
No response.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to see her guardian angel. "Josephine? You're there, aren't you? Can you help me?"
"Who the hell are you talking to?" Guang muttered in Chinese.
She slumped. There was no sign of an angel.
"Shut up, bitch. I'm trying to sleep."
"Miss. Wake up, miss."
Leah blinked, coming fully awake. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually she'd grown tired enough to lie down on her blanket. Even then, she'd been too tense to fall into a deep sleep.
"Miss." The insistent whispering continued in Chinese.
She sat up, her hand automatically going to the jade necklace. Guang was snoring in his cell. A dark figure was crouched in front of her cell.
She scrambled closer, but not too close in case he tried to grab her through the bars like Guang had tried earlier.
"Are you Doctor Chin?" the figure whispered. He had a male voice and was dressed in black with a hood covering the upper half his face.
"Yes. I'm Leah Chin."
"You saved the people at the demon herb village."
It seemed more like a statement than a question, but Leah responded, "Yes."
"My sister and her family live there. Yu Jie says they would have died if you hadn't saved them."
"You know Yu Jie?"
"She's my niece." The figure backed away.
"Wait." Leah moved forward. "Can you help me? Can you get me out of here?"
The man dashed up the stairs.
"Wait," Leah called louder.
The door creaked shut.
"I need help!"
"Shut up, bitch," Guang snarled. "I'm trying to sleep."
At sunset, Dougal woke with a jolt. He breathed deeply, and Leah's scent of jasmine filled his senses.
I'll find you, Leah. I willna fail you.
After a quick breakfast bottle, the Vamps teleported to their assigned sites. Dougal crept around the camp, listening in on conversations. No mention of a lady prisoner or Darafer. She wasn't here.
He left the rest of his unit behind and teleported to more sites, one after another. No sign of her. Angus called to fuss at him for not following orders. Dougal hung up on him and continued to check all the camps.
Two hours later, he called Angus on his sat phone. "She's no' at any of these camps!"
"They may be keeping her hidden," Angus replied.