“Some people.”
“Did you like it?”
I swallow the knot in my throat and shake my head.
“Have you done it since you left your survival situation?”
I shake my head again, tears burning my eyes from the intensity of his stare.
“This shame does not serve you, or suit you. You’re my Firecracker, bright, and hot, and loud, and full of sparks that can set the whole world aflame.”
My bottom lip wobbles. I suck it into my mouth and bite down as a warm tear carves down my cheek. His thumb slides up my jaw and captures it, smearing it away.
“You’ve earned a rest from the fears that haunt you. You’ve earned this place of peace and comfort.”
I huff a laugh. “I’m pretty sure Zixin hacked the giveaway so Nai Nai would win.”
He smiles. “Then we’ll have to thank Zixin.”
“Yeah.”
I sniffle back the last of my tears and sigh one last time. The newfound freedom for my lungs has me breathing deeper. It feels good to fill them all the way.
“Are you ready to show me now?” he asks.
I nod. “Yeah, I think I am.”
He leans down and plants a gentle kiss on my forehead. His lips are soft, and hot, branding my skin with tenderness I’venever known. I want to give him this same comfort. I want to be this kind of shelter for him.
He releases me and takes several steps back. “Begin.”
I blow out my breath and take first stance: a Shaolin salute.
The moves come back to me easily and before I know it, I’m flowing. My arms are the wind, my legs are water, and my core is the trunk of a mighty oak. Strength pushes out from my center and down my limbs, igniting my body with power.
I neverfeltmy meridians before, but I do now. I sense the energy move down my hand in an open palm strike. Like lightning trapped in a bottle, qi crackles along my spine. I move faster, with more grace and power than ever before.
My pulse quickens, and qi flows up my Du Mai. I exhale hard and take cat stance, cycling my qi down my Ren Mai. The tightness in my Heart Meridian opens, and I suck down a breath that feels like life itself. Fire floods my system and my body comes alive, unblocked for the first time in years.
I breathe into my fists, and they glow ember-bright from within. I plant my front foot and high kick with the back. Qi flows down my leg and explodes from my heel in a burst of fire that scorches the air.
I gasp, staggering back, and the energy flow stops.
Rhazan smiles, his eyes full of wonder and excitement.
“There’s your power, Firecracker.”
twenty-nine
The Calm Before the Storm
The phone rings for the second time and I feel like maybe I should hang up. It wasn’t part of my plan to include Armhurts in the action, but Nai Nai said it would be essential, and since she’s rarely wrong about these things, the phone rings a third time.
Two weeks of decking the café out like Macaulay Culkin’s wet dream has me feelingreallyconfident in the plan, and maybe that’s my downfall. If I fail, I need the police as backup. And since Nai Nai specifically asked me to call our detective…maybe I shouldn’t be as confident as I am.
But two weeks of training with Rhazan have made me confident in myself, too. I can bend fire to my will, and my muscles can feed on magic. I have stamina, speed, and strength that would be unmatched in any wuguan.
We don’t need the police. I’ve totally got this.
