He grimaced. “I’m not going to let them hurt you.”

“I know you intend to protect me, but if something goes wrong, and I’m dying, promise me you will not take me to Tiger Town.”

He stiffened. “Of course I’ll take you there. Neona is a healer.”

“No!” She grabbed the lapel of his coat. “Promise me you will bring me here.”

“You would die here.”

Her eyes glinted with a fierce look. “I know.”

His heart stuttered in his chest. “Dammit, woman, you are suicidal. I should take you home now.”

“No!” She seized his coat with both hands. “I’m as afraid of death as anyone. I won’t try to make it happen. But if it does, promise me you will bring me here and watch over me until I wake up to my second life.”

“It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it.”

“Promise me.” She gazed up at him, her eyes simmering with emotion. “I want to trust you.”

He swallowed hard. “You can trust me.”

“Thank you.”

How could he not reassure her when she was looking at him so desperately? He cupped the back of her head and kissed her brow. “Let’s get to work.”

Chapter Eight

Jia checked her backpack, hoping to conceal the fact that her nerves were all in a jumble. During the last ten minutes, it felt as if she’d careened through every possible emotion. Fear that if she didn’t find Russell in time, he would take her back to her prisonlike room in Tiger Town. Pain when her foot had crashed through his ceiling. Panic with the realization that she was stuck. Joy at having passed the test to become Russell’s partner. Curiosity over the tattoo on his wrist. And most recently, the anxiety of asking him to watch over her if she was mortally wounded.

But out of all the emotions she’d experienced, one continued to haunt her. A strange, tingling feeling that she’d never experienced before. When he’d held her in his arms and they’d gazed into each other’s eyes, it had seemed like time had screeched to a halt and the world had suddenly constricted to a tiny point that had contained only her and Russell. She’d felt breathless and dazed, yet somehow achingly aware of him. His every breath, every movement. His eyes, his hands, his mouth.

She had wanted him to kiss her.

A vampire. She cast a sidelong glance at him as he downed a bottle of synthetic blood before their departure. God help her, she was attracted to a vampire. She’d known from the first night she’d met him that he was handsome. She’d admired his physique and determination. She’d respected his expertise. Teaming up with him had been the logical choice, since it gave her the best chance at successfully completing the mission she’d worked on for thirteen years. But now she wanted to kiss him? There was nothing logical about that. She had to be losing her mind.

Sure, there were a few good Vamps, but she could never forget that it was a vampire who had killed her parents and brother. Rajiv had also lost his parents to a vampire. For generations, vampires had been the sworn enemy of the were-tigers. Vampires hated shifters because they were not susceptible to mind control. And unlike a naïve human, who normally had no idea that vampires existed until it was too late, a were-tiger could instantly identify a bloodsucker by his scent. In most cases, whenever the two met, one was going to die, and since vampires knew that cat shifters had nine lives, they had a nasty habit of hacking a were-tiger into pieces so he couldn’t come back.

And now she was hopelessly attracted to a bloodsucker. No, not hopelessly, she corrected herself as she removed her mother’s bracelets. She could never dishonor her family by falling for the wrong kind of man. Somehow, she would put this attraction aside. Vengeance for her family had to come first.

Stay with me, Mother. Give me strength. She returned the bracelets to their red silk pouch and stuffed them into her backpack beneath her spare knives.

Russell finished his bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “After we leave the bat cave, we might get another call from J.L. They know you’re missing in Tiger Town, and they’re looking for you.”

Jia swung her backpack on. “I’ll tell them I’m with you, if you don’t mind. Then they’ll know I’m safe.”

Russell snorted. “I doubt they consider me very safe.”

She winced. Rajiv might go into a tiger tizzy if he knew she was hanging out with a vampire whom she secretly wanted to kiss.

Most were-tigers her age were already well versed in kissing. Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, they each shifted for the first time. It was an important benchmark in a were-tiger’s life and called for a celebration that continued for the three nights of the full moon. It was during that party that the young adults usually received their first kiss.

Unfortunately, in Jia’s case, none of the local boys had wanted to risk kissing her. Their parents had warned them that she was a princess and stealing a kiss from her would bring the wrath of her grandfather, the Grand Tiger, upon their household.

So, in all of her twenty-one years, Jia had only received an occasional peck on the cheek from family members. How many times had she lain awake at night imagining her first real kiss? She was convinced it would be hot and passionate, for the man’s desire for her would be so overwhelming that he would risk the Grand Tiger’s anger just to kiss her.

Never had she imagined that her first nonfamilial kisses would come from a vampire. And how embarrassing that they had both been accidents! Last night, Russell’s mouth had accidentally brushed her brow; tonight, her cheek. Clearly it had meant nothing to him, for he’d quickly admitted it had been an accident. Her heart had shriveled with humiliation.