Decision made.

She turned over in her sleeping bag and settled down to nap. She wanted to wake Erin and ask her a hundred or so questions, which she probably wouldn’t answer. Not now. Let the woman sleep a little before she had to face the barrage.

Catherine doubted if she would sleep again, but she would try. She had to have all her strength and mental acuity for the next few days.

Hu Chang.

Don’t think of him now. She had enough to worry about without borrowing trouble. If she managed to get off the mountain, Hu Chang would have no reason to try to come and save her.

Stay away, Hu Chang.

CHAPTER

6

MILCHANG MOUNTAIN

Catherine was everything he had thought she would be, Cameron thought.

He smiled with amusement as he stood up from the boulder where he’d sat down to mentally build their rendezvous. He started up the icy path toward the plateau where Hu Chang’s helicopter would land.

No, she was more, he amended. Brimming with fire and intelligence and emotion and completely her own person. It had been a stinging, lively, and tumultuous encounter, and he had enjoyed every minute of it.

When he hadn’t wanted to kill her.

Or take her down and have sex with her until they were both out of their minds.

He was readying at the thought.

Control.

Not easy. From the moment he had caught glimpses of Catherine in Hu Chang’s mind, he had been aroused and stimulated beyond belief.

How long had it been since he had wanted a woman this much?

He couldn’t remember. Maybe never.

Not only desire but intrigue and excitement …

Control.

Concentrate on Erin Sullivan. She had to be protected. He probably should not have even sent Catherine to rescue her. He had known at the time that he was having a physical and emotional response to her.

But, dammit, Catherine Ling was the one who should have gone. All his experience had pointed to her as having the best chance. She had the instincts of a prime warrior. It was not because of that sexual response.

But now she was here, and they were going to have to interact.

Interact in what way?

He was tired, too much had been demanded of him during the last year. Didn’t he deserve a reward?

Discipline. He only deserved what he could take and what he allowed himself.

He must not allow himself to take Catherine Ling.

*   *   *

“So why did you feel it necessary to eavesdrop on my call with Venable, Luke?” Hu Chang asked as he came back and sat down beside Luke in the rear of the helicopter. “Why did you not come to me and ask what you wanted to know?”

Luke was silent, then said slowly, “You didn’t want to talk to me about Catherine. I have to know if she’s safe, Hu Chang.”

“She’s not safe. I told you that when I gave you the choice whether to come with me.” He smiled faintly. “And you said that you would have gone after her by yourself. The answer pleased me.” He added ruefully, “But your mother would not have been pleased either by the question or the answer. And she will be in a rage that I brought you with me. She told me to take care of her son. Yet how can I take care of her son unless he is under my eyes? Since I had to journey to help her it was a paradox.”

“That you solved.” Luke suddenly grinned. “You could have left me with Chen Lu. You wanted me with you.”

“You are usually good company. However, you will have to prove yourself to me. You are not a child. You’ve lived a hard life, but I will take no excuses for disobedience when it could hurt our Catherine.”

Luke’s grin vanished. “When I’m in the lab, don’t I do what you tell me? Do you think I’d do less for Catherine?”

“No, but a warning does no harm. You might become overenthusiastic. It happens in the young.”

“Rakovac put a gun in my hand when I wasn’t even big enough to hold it. He wanted to teach me to kill so that he could hurt my mother. When he first took me on guerrilla raids in Russia, I was afraid. After a while, I was excited and began to think of it as a game,” he said. “Then later, I saw the deaths all around me, and it was no longer a game.” He looked Hu Chang in the eye. “I will not be overenthusiastic. I will only do what I have to do to save Catherine.”

“Tell me why.”

He frowned. “Because she could die if I don’t. That’s a strange question, Hu Chang.”

“Not so strange. Then you’re not looking for a grand adventure?”

He shook his head. “I told you, Catherine could die.”

“And is she worth saving, Luke?”

“Of course she is. She’s a fine agent, a good soldier, and I owe her for saving me from Rakovac.”

“Very cool and logical. Do you know why I think she’s worth saving? Because it would be a barren world if I didn’t see her smile at me. She came to me, and I suddenly discovered how lonely I had been. She fills so many places in my mind and heart that I can’t conceive of life without her.” He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug. “Yes, we owe each other many debts, but that’s only surface. She is worth saving because she hears my soul speak, and I hear hers.” He added softly, “Do you hear her soul speak, Luke?”

“I … don’t know what you mean.”

“I think you do hear, and that’s why you wanted to come to find her.” He smiled. “And I brought you with me because it’s time you admitted to yourself that you hear her. There’s nothing like enduring hardship and danger to clarify emotions. Perhaps before this is over, you will tell her that you hear her.”

He moistened his lips. “I don’t know what you want from me.” He made a face. “And you’re talking weird. Catherine would laugh at me if I started talking about hearing souls.”

Hu Chang nodded. “That is true. You don’t have my eloquence and gift of words. Pity. But you might be able to make her understand in your own crude way.”

Luke shifted his gaze to the snow-covered mountains outside the window. “Are we almost there, Hu Chang?”

“That’s a disgustingly trite and overused phrase,” Hu Chang said. “But I’ll answer you anyway since you’re scrambling frantically to fend off my own questions you find awkward. Yes, we’ll be landing soon.”

“Where?”

“On a plateau near the top of one of those mountains at which you’ve been looking so admiringly.”

“How close will we be to Catherine?”

“Not close enough. But we’ll be met by a man who will be able to help us to locate her. He’s the man who sent this fine helicopter and pilot to bring us here. His name is Cameron, and you must be polite to him though he may confuse you.”

“Confuse me?”

“Yes, I know youths of your age are so blasé and wise that they find it difficult to believe that anything can bewilder them, but you may be surprised. Just flow with the tide.”

“You’re talking weird again.”

“Then you must forgive me. My heart is heavy, and it is difficult being both wise and witty.” He leaned back against the paneled wall of the cabin. “I will rest and be myself by the time we arrive at our destination.”

Luke was silent. “I didn’t mean that you were really weird.” He added awkwardly, “And you’re always wise. You’re the smartest man I’ve ever met.”

Hu Chang didn’t open his eyes. “But you’ve had a limited acquaintance. Still, you’ve been lucky enough to have many hours in my exceptional company. That makes up for many lapses. I take it this is your gauche way of apologizing?”

Another silence. “Yes.”

“I will consider accepting it. No, because of the circumstances, I will generously forgive you.”

Silence.

Hu Chang sighed. “I can sense you fretting. What is it, Luke?”

“‘Gauche.’ I don’t know that word. What does it mean?”

Hu Chang was aware after the last nine years spent in Russia there were many English words that Luke didn’t know, but the boy was voraciously curious about them. “Inept. Which is something you must never be again while we are on this journey. There must be respect and competence. And if you give it to me, there will be trumpets and fireworks and many wonderful things.” He opened his eyes and smiled. “And the most wonderful thing of all will be that we have our Catherine back.”