Eat Prey Love

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."

The monks murmured their disapproval.

"We rose up to avenge our master," Pat continued. "We burned the village to the ground and slaughtered all that lived there!"

The monks cheered.

"We brought the Master here to San Francisco, where Dr. Chou is known to have the greatest knowledge of ancient folklore and herbal remedies. For five years we have tried to revive our master." Pat motioned to one of the monks. "Dr. Chou has long been convinced there is only one way to resurrect our master."

The monk stood and pushed back his hood to reveal thin, graying hair. "Ancient texts tell us that a corpse can be brought back to life if a cat jumps over it. Not any cat will do. It must be a magical cat of great power."

"And now we have the most powerful cats in the world!" Pat exclaimed as he gestured toward Carlos and Rajiv.

Caitlyn snorted. That was why they'd been kidnapped? So Carlos could shift and jump over an unconscious vampire? She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

He frowned and shook his head slightly.

And then she realized why he didn't see the humor in the situation. If he jumped over Master Han, and it didn't magically cure the vampire, they could be blamed for the scheme's failure to work. They would probably be executed. And if they fought, they were terribly outnumbered.

Pat pointed at Carlos. "It is time! You will shift and jump over our master!"

Carlos stood slowly, looked around the room, then shook his head. "No, thanks."

The monks gasped.

Pat flinched. "You do not deny the Master." He motioned for the six thugs armed with swords to approach the dais.

One of the monks, the one who had moved slower than the others, suddenly jumped to his feet and zoomed toward them at vampire speed. His hood slipped back as he jumped onto the dais, and Caitlyn thought she detected a glint of recognition in Carlos's eyes.

The vampire monk seized her from behind and pressed a knife to her neck. Her blood chilled with fear.

"You will jump over our master," Pat ordered Carlos. "Or you will see your wife die."

Caitlyn's breath hitched when Carlos hesitated.

He exchanged a look with her captor, then with a shrug, he turned toward Pat. "Go ahead. I'm tired of her."

She gasped.

Pat's eyes bulged. "What?"

Carlos waved a dismissive hand. "She's lousy in bed. She just lays there and makes me do all the work."

Caitlyn gasped again. Was he serious? Her heart plummeted when she saw all the monks murmuring and nodding their heads in commiseration with Carlos.

"Do not harm her!" Rajiv cried in his language. He ran toward the altar and shifted into a tiger as he leaped over Master Han.

"No!" Carlos shouted.

Monks jumped to their feet.

Rajiv landed on the other side of the altar and shifted back to a human. His pants had remained on, and were now ripped to shreds.

A collective gasp spread over the room as Master Han's body began to twitch. The monks jumped up and down, shouting in celebration. Master Han floated up in the air, then stood on the altar. His face was covered with a golden mask.

"Oh, shit," the monk who held Caitlyn muttered in English. He pressed a button on his wristwatch. "Angus, get over here now!"

"What?" Caitlyn turned her head to look at her captor.

He winked. "J.L. Wang at your service." He handed her the knife, then drew two swords from underneath his robe. He tossed one to Carlos.

Carlos and J.L. leaped from the dais, running toward the thugs. Caitlyn winced at the sound of clashing swords. Some of the monks fled toward the doors, but before they could escape, Angus materialized by the entrance with a group of Vamps. Caitlyn recognized Emma, Phineas, Connor, Ian, Roman, and, to her amazement, her father.

Screams reverberated around the temple as those who challenged the Vamps were quickly killed. Rajiv ran back to Caitlyn, and on the way, he grabbed the brass stand, letting the incense burner fall onto the floor. He stood next to her, holding the brass stand like a weapon.

Sawat jumped onto the dais, his face twisted with rage as he stalked toward her and Rajiv. "I'll kill you both." He lifted his sword and charged.

She threw the knife J.L. had given her.

Sawat screamed as the knife plunged into his groin.

She winced. Rajiv gave her a wary look and stepped back.

"I was aiming for his chest," she assured him. "Really."

"Master Han!" Pat shouted. "You must flee to safety."

"No!" Carlos ran toward the dais to stop Master Han. J.L. was close behind.

Pat jumped in front of the altar, pulling a knife from his robe so he could protect his master. Carlos swiped Pat with his blade, and he fell to the side, wounded. Carlos stabbed at Master Han, but he vanished.

"No!" Carlos charged toward the three vampires. One zoomed over to the wounded Pat, grabbed him, then teleported away.

"Take me!" Sawat screamed, his hands covering his bloody crotch. He glared at Caitlyn. "I will not forget you, bitch." He disappeared as one of the vampires teleported away with him.

The third vampire teleported away with Dr. Chou. The battle came to an end with all the remaining monks and thugs either dead or surrendering.

Carlos rushed toward Caitlyn. "Are you all right?"

She folded her arms and glared at him. "You're tired of me? I just lay there, and you have to do all the work?"

He snorted. "I was just buying time, sweetheart. I knew the instant I saw J.L. that help was on the way."

"You know him?"

"Sure." Carlos slapped J.L. on the back. "He works for MacKay. I knew he wasn't going to hurt you."

J.L. nodded. "Sorry about scaring you. I knew I'd better put a knife to your throat before any of the other guys could."

"How did you find us?" Caitlyn asked.

"When your sister claimed you were in San Francisco, I went undercover in Chinatown," J.L. explained. "Angus and the guys teleported to the coven house nearby and waited for me to call."

"And since J.L.'s a Vamp, he has a homing beacon inserted underneath his skin," Carlos continued. "I knew Angus and the others would come."

Caitlyn let out a deep breath. Shanna had received the images. "Thank God." She hugged J.L. "Thank you. I was so afraid Carlos would try to fight everyone by himself and get killed again."

Carlos frowned. "I had a plan. I was going to grab that brass stand and leap onto the altar and threaten to ram it through Master Han's heart if they didn't put down their weapons and let you and Rajiv go."

J.L. nodded. "Not a bad plan."

"And what would have happened then?" Caitlyn asked. "How were you going to escape?"

Carlos shifted his weight. "I didn't have that part figured out yet."

She didn't know whether to scream or cry. He always put her safety before his own. "I love you so much."

He grinned and pulled her into his arms.

"It is over then?" Rajiv asked Caitlyn in his language.

"Yes." She turned toward him. "We can take you home if you like. Or if you'd rather, you could probably work for the same company as these other guys. They work for MacKay Security and Investigation, and they go around catching bad guys."

"Like Master Han?" Rajiv asked. "I would like to work with them." He hung his head. "It is my fault that Master Han rose again. I only did it because I thought they were going to kill you."

She hugged the young were-tiger. "No one blames you, Rajiv. You have proven yourself the bravest of warriors."

"What's going on?" Carlos asked.

"I think Rajiv would like to work for Angus," she replied.

"I'll introduce him." J.L. motioned for Rajiv to follow him. He turned and nearly skidded in the pool of blood left by Sawat. "Damn. He left his balls in San Francisco."

Carlos laughed and gathered her back into his arms. "Are you really okay?"

"Yes." She leaned her head against his chest. "But I'm ready for a nice long break."

His arms tightened around her but he remained silent. She could guess what he was thinking. Her break would not last long. In two weeks she would shift for the first time. And she might not survive it.

As soon as they teleported back to Romatech, Carlos asked Sean Whelan for his daughter's hand in marriage. Afterward, when Carlos's nose stopped bleeding, he called Father Andrew to make the arrangements.

They were married the next night at the chapel at Romatech. Roman offered to walk Caitlyn down the aisle since her father refused to come. Shanna was her matron of honor and Coco and Raquel served as flower girls. Carlos asked Fernando to be his best man. Constantine was his ring bearer.

It made his heart ache when Caitlyn spent their wedding night running a fever and throwing up. After returning to Romatech, he confided to Shanna and Roman that he'd bitten Caitlyn and feared they would lose her in two weeks.

Shanna, Roman, and his head chemist, Laszlo, worked all night long, developing a formula that would hopefully ease Caitlyn into the transformation. The formula consisted of synthetic blood that matched Caitlyn's blood type, plus a small amount of were-panther DNA they had isolated from his blood. They figured her chances of survival would be greater if her body was allowed to adapt slowly to the were-panther DNA rather than letting her undergo an abrupt and total change when the moon was full.

Shanna was so terrified of losing her sister that she insisted Caitlyn receive the first dose the next night, the night of her wedding. Within a few hours Caitlyn was miserably sick.

The next night she was given another dose, this one with a tiny bit more were-panther DNA. Again she was sick.

This went on for a week, and Carlos feared the worse. Were-panther DNA made her ill. How could she ever survive the transformation?

Caitlyn refused to stop the treatments, since Roman believed their plan would work. She insisted on remaining positive and hopeful. Her bright attitude was one of the things Carlos loved most about her, so he tried not to show how frightened he was.

When the night of the full moon arrived, Romatech employees were given the night off. Only Shanna, Roman, and Connor remained. Phineas and Howard stayed at the Draganesti home with Tino and Sofia. Carlos knew Shanna didn't want the children around in case the worst happened.

Shanna had attempted to make the gazebo in the Romatech garden comfortable for them. She'd placed a mattress inside with blankets. Roman had given Carlos a syringe with a painkiller in case Caitlyn needed it. As the moon began to rise, Caitlyn and Shanna hugged each other tightly with tears in their eyes.