It spits and snarls, unwilling to back down.
The fire inside me is too powerful to contain, and this jerk won’t relent, so fuck him.
I stretch my fingers wide and channel the qi to my palm.
Fire detonates from my body in a searing beam of white light. The magic hits the skreet and purple mist explodes into the air, vaporizing the beast that once was.
I pant as I watch guts and chunks slop to the ground. One chunk looks like a person…Lei.
I run to him and roll him onto his back. His skin is burned from the acid of the skreet’s gut, but he’s otherwise unmarred. I feel for a pulse, but there’s none.
Shit.
Even if the cops can’t peg the murder on me, I can. I might be a thief, and a cheat, but I don’t want to be a killer.
I push down on Lei’s chest, pumping in time with my own frantic heartbeat.
“Wake up, asshole,” I yell.
But he’s not waking up.
I turn his head and open his mouth, seeing if there’s anything obstructing his airway. It’s clear, and fuck me I don’t want to do this but—
“Jade,” a voice I know calls across the clearing.
I start, looking left toward the noise, and see a figure I don’t know.
It’s tall with lean muscles, a dark suit, and…scales? It’s hairless but has a feminine face structure framed by a leathery mane that’s gold and green.
“He’s dead,” I say, because I don’t know what else to say.
The figure approaches and…it’s the way she walks. Elegant and powerful.
“Jamie?”
The leathery mane flutters and her golden eyes flicker to me. “Is it that easy to tell?”
“Your clothes,” I say, noting the fine suit. “It’s Lacey’s style.”
She tsks. “Step aside, I’ll fix him.”
I move away from Lei, squelching through the stinging purple guts. It’s only now I notice the iridescent fire under my skin is fighting off the acidic blood of the monster.
Jamie leans over Lei and raises a clawed hand. Green sparks flit through the air like glitter on the wind. Lei lifts out of the slop, his head falling forward. The glitter surges into his mouth and then he vomits acid.
He takes a gasping breath. His body seizes. The magic surrounds him, and he goes still as he’s encased in a jade-colored coffin.
“How did you find me?” I ask.
She turns to me, a third lid blinking over her oversized eyes. “I thought you were Rhazan, finally escaped.”
“What?”
“I track him by his magic.”
I scowl, looking at the mark on my arm. “His magic…”
It clicks, and I remember her voice.
