Tulio gaped at him. “What are you doing?”

“Maybe we can’t save all of them, but we can take her.” He scrambled for some reason to justify his actions. “We’ll question her. Find out where they’re bringing the humans from. See if she knows the schedule of the hunts. She could be useful.”

Tulio lifted an eyebrow, clearly not convinced by his reasoning. Finally, the vampire shrugged and pushed Natalie back toward Baojia. “You carry your woman. I’ll bring the girl. I’m older, and her scent won’t be as tempting to me.”

Natalie clutched at the front of his jacket. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you, Baojia.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You’re still not safe.”

Baojia saw Tulio widen the tunnel opening, and he could finally see the girl. She was no more than sixteen or seventeen. Her wardrobe didn’t say cocktail waitress, it said farming village. He was disgusted with them. Disgusted with himself that he couldn’t save more. That he wanted her blood even as Tulio snuck up behind her and put the girl to sleep with amnis, lifting her in his arms and turning back to the tunnel.

The old vampire didn’t even see it coming.

The wind walker fell with a gust that lifted the dust around him. He snarled, his fangs dripping blood from a previous kill. Baojia shoved Natalie back and scrambled out of the tunnel.

“Behind you!” He reached into his open pockets and grabbed the twin short swords, pulling them out as he launched himself toward the attacking vampire. Tulio had already dropped the girl and turned at Baojia’s warning. The wind vampire shot into the air, spreading his arms like some mad bird of prey. He hissed and swooped in the air, angling himself toward the girl lying on the ground.

Baojia stopped and watched him for a second. This creature was already half out of its mind with bloodlust, forgetting the twin threats of two other immortals, his eyes locked on the human. He dove from the air, arms outstretched toward her as Baojia leapt. The elixired blood had captured the vampire and he saw nothing else.

Reaching out, Baojia slashed at the vampire, the cut throwing his opponent to the ground as he reached out for any strength the dry desert air offered him. There was little to be had, so he gripped his sword and threw himself toward the mad immortal who had taken to the air again, his eyes still following the unconscious girl.

“Get her out of here,” Baojia hissed. “Get my woman and the girl out of here.”

“You’ll take care of him?”

Another swoop downward and another slash at the soft midsection of his attacker. “I’ll be fine. Go.”

The wind vampire’s eyes darted away from them and toward more cries out in the desert. The sounds of the hunt were everywhere. Women screamed. Vampires snarled. The scent of blood drifted on the wind. Baojia had to end the fight before he lost control of his own lust or attracted more attention.

Leaping up, he flipped over his opponent as the vampire dove after the retreating Tulio. Baojia landed on the monster’s back. The creature was strong but distracted. He tossed one weapon to the ground and grabbed for his opponent’s long hair, pulling it back to reveal his soft, vulnerable throat. His enemy had just started juhe monsto let out a frustrated scream when Baojia sliced his sword back, taking off the vampire’s head with a clean stroke. He tossed it over the rise of a hill and kicked the body to the side before he reached down and grabbed his sword. He took only a second to clean the blade on the dead vampire’s shirt before he walked back toward the tunnel. Tulio and Natalie were still there with the unconscious girl. Natalie’s eyes were glued to the blood that had sprayed over his chest.

“I couldn’t get her to leave you here,” Tulio complained. “She’s far more stubborn than mine.”

He didn’t say a word, just tore his borrowed pants a little more at the thighs and sheathed his blades before he turned his back to Natalie. After a second of hesitation, she hopped on and wrapped her legs around his waist. Baojia grabbed on and said, “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

She watched him wash in the small basin Cirilda had provided when they returned to Tulio’s cave. The girl was still unconscious but safely stowed in a locked room that only Tulio and Cirilda could enter. Baojia had taken Natalie by the arm and led her to his own chamber before leaving to return with a basin of clear water to wash up. He had let her wash first before stripping off the borrowed clothes, still silently stewing about something.

“Are you brooding?”

“No,” he said quietly. “I am thinking. I don’t brood.”

The drip and splash of the water echoed off the smooth walls. He dipped the washcloth in, then covered his face, wiping away the grime that had accumulated as they traveled under the earth. He wet the cloth again, and Natalie rose from the bed in the corner. Cirilda had loaned her one of Tulio’s shirts, which fell to her knees. She padded over to Baojia and reached around to grab the washcloth from his hands, trying to ignore the red stains from the blood he washed away.

“I’ll get your back.”

“Thank you.”

The tense muscles began to relax under her fingers as she smoothed the washcloth over his shoulders. “What are you thinking about?”

He was silent for a few more minutes, standing still as she rinsed out the cloth to wash around his neck and the backs of his ears. “I am thinking… those women did not deserve to die.”

Natalie bit her lip to keep from crying. “We saved one.”