Burning Tigress (27 page)

Little Pearl looked up in surprise. "You wanted answers, yes?"

"Not this way. Ken Jin... Ken Jin is my partner."

Little Pearl shook her head. "Not anymore.
I
will taste your yin."

Charlotte frowned, not understanding. "You? But... but you're a girl."

"Shr.
Yes. I am your partner now."

"No!" Charlotte shoved hard, throwing the woman away from her. Little Pearl stumbled backward. She would have fallen completely, except she managed to grab a huge fistful of a tapestry to keep herself upright.

Meanwhile, Charlotte tried to pull on her shift. She had no interest in a female partner. The very thought disgusted her. And even if she were interested, she certainly would not choose this arrogant, pushy shrew. How appalling to realize she had actually sought out Little Pearl, that she had struggled against her better judgment to be polite to this woman. To...

Why could she not get her shift on? Her hands were shaking, and her body was on fire. And her legs were not moving properly. Her legs were...

Her legs were
bound?

She stared dumbfounded as two rather large women pulled leather straps around her ankles. Charlotte did not know these women, didn't know where they had come from, but they were clearly working under Little Pearl's direction.

"Stop that!" Charlotte bellowed. "Release me!" Then she began to kick, but it was too late. While she had been struggling with her shift, her ankles had been restrained. And now those other ladies were walking up the table. Their hands caressed her legs despite everything Charlotte did to push them away.

"Be at peace, little pet," they murmured in Chinese. They spoke as if she were a bad-tempered dog. "Peace, peace. You will like it."

"I will not!" she cried, but they weren't listening. And with their hands—plus Little Pearl's—on her shoulders, there was little she could do to stop them. She fought. She pushed. She shoved. She screamed and cried, but they were stronger than she, and her legs were bound. Her head banged down hard against the cushion, and her arms were spread wide as straps were latched around her wrists. She clawed at the women. She even bit one of them, but the end was inevitable.

Her hands were tied above her head, her shift was torn away, and they were touching her naked breasts. It was clearly meant as a soothing stroke, one to relax a terrified animal. Truthfully, it worked to some extent. There was nothing threatening in their touch, and yet the sense of violation was so overwhelming that Charlotte could only scream until there were no more screams in her, only sobs. And even then, she pleaded, "Stop. Please, stop."

Eventually, they did. Their hands melted away, and the two women slipped backward into the darkness. Charlotte tried to see where they went, but Little Pearl moved closer. She stepped up to the side of the bed to look down at her victim, for that's what Charlotte was: a helpless, restrained, furious victim.

"Why are you doing this?" Charlotte demanded.

"How did get our scrolls? Did Ken Jin give them to you?"

It took a moment for Charlotte to understand the questions. The words seemed to crackle and hiss in her head.

"Did you steal them from Ken Jin?" Little Pearl continued. "Is that why he won't see you anymore?"

"What? No! Untie me!"

"Is that how you learned about the Chamber of a Thousand Swinging Lanterns? From the scrolls you stole?"

"I didn't steal anything!"

Little Pearl nodded, as if Charlotte had just confirmed her suspicions. "Then Ken Jin gave them to you." She sighed. "He is more lost than I thought."

"He did no such thing!"

"Then, he didn't practice with you? He didn't act as your partner?"

"What? No. Yes. I mean..." Charlotte had been straining forward, lifting her head as much as possible in this position, but she was exhausted. Her shoulders were aching and her ankles were slick with sweat. She just wanted this to be over. Whatever was to happen, she wanted it done. "What do you want?"

"Our scrolls."

"They're not yours. They're Joanna's." She didn't know why she was arguing. Joanna would be the first to give them over if she knew the trouble they'd caused.

"Joanna Crane's?" Little Pearl's voice was sharp enough to make Charlotte lift her head again.

"Yes. I don't know how she got them, but they are hers."

Little Pearl curled her lip in disgust. "You will return them to me."

"Untie me, and I'll go get them."

The horrible woman didn't move. "That is how you know about Heaven's antechamber? Because you read it in the scrolls?"

Charlotte felt tears sting her eyes. "Fine. Yes. Whatever."

"Where did Joanna Crane get these scrolls?"

Charlotte actually growled in frustration. It was a mean, animalistic sound, but such was her frustration that she could not contain it. "I don't know!" she bellowed. "Ask Joanna!"

"The monk and his pet have disappeared. The Tigress and her husband are imprisoned. Mobs and soldiers stomp through my door. And now you come to me asking about the Chamber of Swinging Lanterns. How do you know of this place?"

Charlotte kicked her feet. It was a useless gesture; the straps bit into her flesh and she screamed at the pain. The leather held fast.

"How do you know?" Little Pearl repeated, this time in Chinese.

"I already told you! I went there. I saw my brother. I went there." She was crying now, her words as much chanted as spoken. Then she fell silent. She realized that Little Pearl was looking at her as a person would look at a strange toy or an unfathomable animal. In fact, William had used the same expression the first time he'd seen a picture of an Australian platypus.

"What do you want?" Charlotte asked again.

"I do not believe you," Little Pearl answered.

Charlotte stared up at the dark ceiling. She couldn't see it. She couldn't see much of anything except Little Pearl, and Charlotte had no interest in staring at the woman. "I cannot prove I was there," she finally said. "I'm not sure I believe it myself. Maybe I was dreaming." Except she hadn't been. It
was
real. Heaven was real. Everything was very, very real.

"I can prove it," Little Pearl said, her voice dark and heavy.

Charlotte strained upward. She couldn't possibly have heard correctly. "You can prove it?"

Little Pearl nodded.

"So, do it already!"

Her tormentor sighed. It was a sound that came from deep within, as if her soul were shrinking into the tiniest of little balls. "To do so, I will have to taste you." Her voice was heavy with disgust.

Charlotte stared. She couldn't possibly mean... She couldn't intend...

Little Pearl reached into a pocket and pulled out a long, slender knife. "I will remove your pants now."

"What? Wait! No!" Charlotte was babbling in horror. She was trying to squirm away, to slip out of her bonds, anything. But she was caught fast. And despite the woman's obvious disgust, Little Pearl was quite resolved. The cold tip of her knife pressed against Charlotte's belly.

The door burst open. It slammed against the wall with an explosion of power as Ken Jen rushed in. Charlotte didn't even have time to cry out as his gaze swept the scene. He didn't pause, simply rushed over, grabbed Little Pearl's wrist, and wrenched it up and away from Charlotte's thighs. Unfortunately, the knife was already inside Charlotte's trousers and slit the fabric.

Little Pearl grunted as she fought, but Ken Jin was obviously furious. With a quick twist of his wrist, he bent her hand down. Her fingers loosened, but did not release the knife, so he slapped it away with his other hand. The blade clattered against the floor and skittered underneath a tapestry, which abruptly gasped and fluttered with the sound of shuffling feet.

Charlotte lifted her gaze to the heavy drapes, horror creeping over her as she realized the truth. There were people behind those tapestries. She spun her head around. She was surrounded on all sides by the damn things. Which meant...

"Get out!" Ken Jin bellowed. And for emphasis, he took two huge fistfuls of tapestry and yanked, tearing the heavy fabric away. Startled women stared back at him. Two. Three. Five. How many had been watching? "Get out!" he bellowed again, and the women rushed for the door.

Seven? More and more filed out while Ken Jin turned to Charlotte. He quickly released the straps on her right ankle, cursing in dark tones as he worked.

"Blood," he spat as he shifted to her other ankle. He kept working but he glared at Little Pearl. "Are you insane? Have you lost all sense of reality?"

"I did what was necessary," answered Little Pearl, her voice devoid of all emotion.

"Do you hate me so much?"

"Ha!" Little Pearl's laugh chilled the air. "You can ask me that? You, who have perverted our teaching to your own lascivious ends. You, who have debauched and debased all of us with your behavior. Yes, I hate you! I hate everything you do!"

He released her other ankle, and Charlotte quickly drew her legs together. Ken Jin shoved Little Pearl out of the way as he stalked to her wrist bindings. "My perversions? I'm not the one taking a knife to a helpless woman."

"She's a barbarian animal! Your pet!"

He stilled. Charlotte couldn't see him because he stood behind her head, but she felt his hand against hers as he released the straps. Except, he wasn't releasing anything. He was frozen in place, and when he spoke, his voice was low and filled with deep sadness. "I forget that I once thought like you, that people still believe such stupidity." He shifted and freed Charlotte's right arm. She moved it immediately, gritting her teeth against the needles of pain that burned through her fingertips.

Little Pearl curled her lip. "
I
do not consort with animals. The barbarians are stupid beasts and deserve what they get!"

Ken Jin was working on the last binding. His fingers worked quickly, but Charlotte could still feel the anger boiling inside him. His voice was hard. "They are not animals, Little Pearl. And even if they were, would you tie up your dog like this? Would you bring your students to watch while you did it?"

"I have to know!" Little Pearl cried. "I have to understand!"

"I told her about Heaven," Charlotte interrupted.

Ken Jin turned to Charlotte, his expression unreadable in the dark. Then he looked back at Little Pearl. "She went to the Chamber of a Thousand Swinging Lanterns," he confirmed. "I was there. I saw."

With a scream of fury, Little Pearl launched herself at Ken Jin. Her fingers were curled like claws, and her face contorted with such rage that she did not even look human. Ken Jin barely flinched. He caught her easily, gripping her forearms and holding her still until her scream ended on a gasp. She fought him. She kicked and screeched and even tried to bite him, but he spun her around, pinning her against the wall with his body. And when she had to stop screeching to breathe, when she finally grew silent as she dragged air into her lungs, only then did Ken Jin speak.

"Shi Po is gone, Little Pearl. I have begged and bribed and railed, but General Kang will not give her up. That means you lead the temple now."

Little Pearl's breath released in an angry hiss.

"Think hard," he continued. "Think hard what your actions do to the temple, to all of us." He pushed away from her, disgust in every word. "You shame us all."

She crumpled without his support. There were no tears, just a complete loss of strength. She fell to her knees on top of the ruined tapestry, her shoulders quivering with some great emotion. Staring at her, Charlotte could hardly believe this was the same woman who had tormented her so cruelly.

"Can you walk?" Ken Jin asked.

Charlotte blinked. He was beside her, gently easing her shift over her head. She looked at him, her mind still reeling from all that had happened.

"The fire will ease soon," he continued. "How much of her tea did you drink?"

Fire? All too soon she remembered the burning on her skin, the churning heat just below the surface. It was still there, flaring to life as she pulled on her clothing, weakening her legs as she tugged on her tunic. "I don't know," she finally managed. "But it's getting better," she lied.

He looked hard at her face, his gaze dropping to her taut nipples. She could tell he didn't believe her, so she tucked her arms close and pretended she was cold. "We will go to my rooms nearby," he said. "I have some herbs that will help."

She nodded and allowed him to help her off the bed. He didn't even look at Little Pearl as they moved toward the door. But Charlotte did. "What happens now?" she asked.

The woman hadn't moved; she just sat in the middle of the torn tapestry and stared at the floor.

"We all choose our own paths according to our natures. Hers is a cruel nature filled with much anger. It makes her way very difficult." As he spoke, he led them out the door, only to pull up short as a large white man with dark reddish hair came running across the compound.

Ken Jin paused, a frown on his face. "Captain Jonas? I am pleased to see you. I had heard things about a mob and soldiers." He leaned forward. "Are you well?"