Free Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire (Love at Stake) by Kerrelyn Sparks Page A

is clear, lit up with a trillion stars and a moon almost one-third full.
    But no one has come to greet me. We have landed by the central fire pit, and it is cold. I spin about, surveying the valley. The houses are destroyed. My breath catches in my chest. Where are the warrior women of Beyul-La? This has been their valley for thousands of years. They would never give it up. They have a sacred pact with the dragons.
    “The women are gone,” Han says. “If any of them are still alive, then they abandoned you.”
    I shake my head and run toward the sacred mountain. The women will be in there. Norjee will be there, along with Huo, Chu, and the eggs. I look up, expecting to see the top of the sacred mountain covered with snow.
    It is gone. I stumble to a stop. How? How could a mountain disappear?
    “It happened after we left,” Han says as he approaches me. “I brought you here so we could rescue your dragon brothers and sisters. When the evil vampires and shifters trapped us inside the mountain, I knew it wasn’t safe, and I teleported you out. I was injured. A knife in my back from one of the evil ones. But still I managed to get you out in time.”
    I gasp for air. I have a vague memory of being trapped inside with screaming soldiers. But what happened to the women? To Huo and Chu and the eggs?
    “The evil ones blew it up.” Han stands beside me, pointing at what used to be the sacred mountain. “Look at it. Nothing left but a pile of rubble. No one could survive that. Those bastards murdered my soldiers. Everyone inside the cave died. The women of Beyul-La. The dragons.”
    I stumble back as if I have been struck across the face.
    “You would be dead, too, if I hadn’t saved you.” Han turns toward me. “Your home is gone. The dragons are dead. You are the last of your kind.”
    My body shakes so hard that I crumble to my knees. The last of my kind. How can this be? How can I bear it? My brother and sister gone. The eggs gone. Norjee gone. My mortal mother and all the women who raised me—gone.
    I am alone. Alone, the word echoes in my mind, and I grasp my head in pain. I open my mouth to cry out, but no sound can emerge.
    Alone. Alone . My skin grows hot. Heat gathers in my chest, then sizzles up my throat. Smoke escapes from my nostrils. I want to scream fire.
    “I’m sorry.” Han reaches out to touch my shoulder but quickly jerks his hand back.
    The heat of my skin has burned him.
    “You should have trusted me,” he growls. “It would have spared you the pain of having to see this.”
    I curl up, hugging my knees to my chest, resting my head on my knees. Last of my kind. I can live for five hundred years. I will be alone for a long time.
    “Your home is with me now,” Han says. “I will take care of you.”
    Is there any point in resisting? My despair runs deep. I might as well give up.
    He lies, a voice slips into my head. It is soft, but insistent. He lies .
    I lift my head. Is someone speaking to me? Who are you? Where are you?
    Movement in the sky catches my attention, and I see a large bird land on the branch of the nearest tree. It is an owl. Queen Nima’s owl!
    Where is my mother? I ask the owl. Where are my brother and sister? Are they truly dead?
    The queen left before the mountain was destroyed, the owl answers. She took Huo and Chu with her. And the eggs.
    I scramble to my feet, my heart beating fast. Where are they?
    Far away where they will be safe, the owl tells me . After you were taken, two of the eggs hatched. The vampire woman, Emma, bonded with the babies and took them far away so they would be safe.
    I am not alone. Tears run down my face and cool my hot skin.
    “I know this must be upsetting for you,” Han grumbles. “Let’s go back now. To your real home.” He reaches out for me, but I step back.
    Is Norjee nearby? Or any of the women? I ask the owl. Can you find them for me?
    I believe they left with the tiger shifters . The owl cocks his head. If I ask the eagles, they