I was making myself turn into a manananggal.
The reason why I couldn’t use my power this whole time was because I had been using it already. I had thought I was so unlovable that I hadmademyself unlovable. I was the only one standing in my way.
I remembered the symbols scrawled in Yara’s diary, at the symbol on her mausoleum. It was the symbol of her power.Change, change, change.She had been just like me.
I crawled away from Qian, pulling myself across the floor, toward the coconuts. I knew what I needed to do.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Qian asked. “You can’t escape me.”
I reached out, and as I did, something familiar in my chest lurched. Warmth bloomed and rushed through my body when I touched one of the coconuts.
My power. It had come back. It surged through me, filling me to the brim, making my body shake. The cold rot inside me started to thaw. My claws shrank.
Qian stopped in his tracks, watching me with round and fearful eyes.
“What?” he asked, stunned.
I held the coconut to my chest, and the heat inside me exploded. I was bursting with sunlight—my power pulsed, then obliterated the dark void in my chest. I looked up at Qian, and he stared withshock. With a twist of my human hands, I cracked open the coconut shell, and thousands of pearls poured out onto the floor.
Along with the pearls that I had created, light flowed out of my body, blinding everyone, even me. My power swirled around the room like a tornado of pure energy, and it burned all my fear and doubt away.
I closed my eyes and sighed. It was like I’d been drowning this whole time, and only now could I breathe so deeply. A weight had been lifted from my chest, and I rose to my feet. My fangs shrank, and the pain faded.
Thousands of coconut pearls continued to pour out of the shell. My power to change matter was on full display. I was allowed to forgive myself. If no one could give me that grace, at least I could give it to myself.
Qian’s surprise passed, and he snarled. He lifted his silver knife at me once again, but I knew how to control my power this time. I raised my hand, and the blade melted like liquid.
Like a pent-up dam breaking, my power was flowing out of me so fast, so strong, I wasn’t sure I could control it. But, no—that was the old me. Icouldcontrol it. I was queen of Biringan.
I raised my arms and thrust my light to the ceiling. A deafening boom sounded, and the palace roof blasted apart. Energy burst into the storm, burning through all the rain and clouds. And the silence that followed was like a gasp.
Amador’s storm melted away, revealing a clear, starry night lit by the pale full moon.
My power, an essential part of me, receded, and the light faded.
Qian stared at me and then dropped to one knee.
At first, I thought he was bowing to me. Then I heard someone coming, and I turned around.
Dressed in a jade-green silk hanfu was an old man. Jade Mountain’s soldiers parted for him as he walked toward me, his cane clacking on the cold marble. The old man took everything in with pale eyes almost as white as his long beard.
“Father,” Qian said.
29
The JadeEmperorglanced at the men holding Lucas, and they silently let him go and kneeled. Now free, Lucas got to his feet, shaken and windblown from my power. He removed his gag and stared at me, stunned. We didn’t say anything to each other, but he clenched his fists like he wanted to keep fighting. I lifted a hand to assure him that everything was okay. Lucas nodded and backed away.
“My, my,” the emperor said, his voice haggard and weak. “What a terrible mess.”
His eyes took in all the destruction in my throne room, the mountains of coconuts, the pearls littering the floor. When he saw me, his eyes sparkled, just like Nix’s, and he bowed his head. “Queen Mahalina Jazreel,” he said.
Remembering my manners, I awkwardly curtsied. My clothes were in tatters and stained with blood, my face and hair a mess, and the chains still hung on my wrists. This was not how I imagined I’d be making a first impression with the Jade Emperor himself. “Your Imperial Majesty,” I said, my knees still trembling.
He stood before me, placing his hands upon his cane, andlooked at Qian, who was still on his knee. The Jade Emperor’s expression was less than approving.
I found my voice. “What…Excuse me, but what are you doing here?”
“I am calling my army back,” he said. “No more blood will be spilled this night. I’m sorry I didn’t arrive sooner.”
