She leaned forward and kissed Hóng’yì. His mouth parted in surprise at first, then very quickly came to crush hers, his hand tightening around her waist with greed. Her body was trembling, nausea gripping her stomach and quickening her breath. There it was again, that scent of smoke and things burning. The taste on his lips was metallic and hot—like blood.
…and then strike.
Lan pulled away gently.Penetrate their mental walls before they put shields up.She took Hóng’yì’s chin in her hand and found his gaze.
If I tell you not to think of something, you’ll find that you immediately will.
“Where is the Godslayer?” Lan breathed, and as his eyes widened in unguarded surprise, she flung her qì into his stream of thoughts.
Vivid bursts of colors, sights, and sounds swirled past her. She was tumbling headfirst into a bright light: A set of doors made of expensive yellow rosewood, a phoenix carved into it with molten gold, its wingspan stretching across both doors.
The doors cracked open just enough for her to peer in. To see the fire that engulfed the chamber beyond. To see the smoke of his subconscious arrange itself into the characters:Godslayer.
And then she was wrenched backward, the doors closingbefore her. The qì of Hóng’yì’s mind was distorting, lashing against the qì of her mind with pure fury.
The next moment, she was back on the shores of the spring, in Hóng’yì’s tight grasp. A turbulent wind had picked up, creating waves that slapped at the banks. The sky was afire with demonic qì radiating from the imperial heir’s silhouette like wings.
Hóng’yì flung Lan away from him. She slammed into the sand. When she looked up again, Hóng’yì was standing over her, his beautiful face contorted in an ugly expression. He held the tome—theClassic of Gods and Demons—to his chest.
“You wretched littleliar,” he snarled.
“Rich of you to say that.” Lan gasped as his fingers wrapped around her neck. She scrabbled for her ocarina, but Hóng’yì’s foot slammed down on her wrist.
“This Seal will bind you and the Silver Dragon to me,” he said, lifting theClassic of Gods and Demons.“You will agree.”
“Make me.”
“If you ask.” A corner of his mouth curled. The pressure on her throat and arm lifted as Hóng’yì stood back. He dusted off his crimson hàn’fú, then flicked his hand in the direction of the spring.
Its waters rippled. A shape appeared within and then broke the surface of the water.
A cry broke from Lan: “Tai!”
Tai was unconscious and miraculously dry, black curls hanging before his eyes as his head lolled. He hung beneath the control of whatever Seal Hóng’yì had put him under, swaying like a puppet.
“No doubt you’ve discovered the source of my pills,” Hóng’yì said coldly. “The medicine for my, ah,consumption.”
The realization struck her. “You never had consumption.”
The imperial heir’s grin was sharp. “A sickly, lonely princesearching for his cause, for allies to save his empire. And you thought you were the only one putting up a façade, Sòng Lián.” His smile faded. “If you choose to disagree to a binding with me, Chó Tài’s fate will join those of the water ghosts that languish in my spring, waiting for their souls to grow into the seeds that strengthen my core of qì.”
Lan shuddered, imagining Tai as one of the helpless souls trapped beneath the water’s surface. “Why are you doing this?” she choked.
His fingers shifted against her neck, their deadly grip loosening to a sliding caress. His expression softened into something nearly thoughtful, as he beheld her, perhaps imagining the Demon God she held within her. “Because I want power.”
“You have power. You wereborninto power.”
“I want more.” His eyes glittered. “I want it all. My forefathers united this kingdom under our rule, but they left an opening—a vulnerability. Three vulnerabilities, in fact. Of the Four Demon Gods, we possessed only one. That was what allowed the Mansorian clan to nearly defeat us. That was what allowed the clan rebels to rise again. If I hold all the power in this world, I will ensure a stability to our reign never before seen.”
“And you would sacrifice the souls of your subjects, of innocent Hin, to seize it.”
“That is the nature of power, of this world, Sòng Lián. Those who cannot rule must serve, for the greater good. The flame that burns bright must feed on the common wood.” Helifted his arms, hàn’fú scorching red, as he began to write the strokes of the binding Seal from theClassic of Gods and Demons.The air trembled; demonic qì rolled from him in waves as, finally, the Demon God within him began to take form. Feathers of fire trailed across the horizon; a crowned headblazing brighter than the sun, with eyes of molten gold as the Crimson Phoenix shimmered into this world.
Lan swallowed, her gaze darting to the imperial heir as she shifted her tone to be pleading—anything to get through to whatever shred of humanity was left in him. “The Phoenix is corrupting your mind,” she said, for undoubtedly the Demon God within him already held influence over his mind, his body, and perhaps most of his soul. “You don’t want to do this. We could be allies; we could take back the kingdom together—”
Hóng’yì’s finger traced a blazing circle through the air. The binding Seal scorched between them, and Lan felt it tugging at the core of her qì and wrapping around the Silver Dragon nestled deep inside her.
A distant roar sounded from the direction of the spring.
