Méi’zi lies on the bed. Even from here, I can make out the unnatural flush to her cheeks, the sweat glistening on her face, the way she’s curled in the fetal position, clutching her belly. She’s trembling, and as I watch, her body convulses with a cough.
She’s sick—dangerously so.
The world tilts around me. I turn, but I’m shaking, this one scene undoing all the walls I have built up within me.
“I have to help her.” The words break from my lips as I try to focus my thoughts. There has to be some medicine here, in this realm bursting with magic, that I can take back to her.
But I can’t do it alone.
Hào’yáng.My hand flies to my jade pendant. Hào’yáng will help me—I know he will.
Yet as I consider, I realize what I would be asking of him.The immortals would not have allowed me back into their realm had I left.More disastrously, he is one of the organizers of a potential rebellion—and he is Shi’ya’s son, as well as a captain of the immortal guard. If he’s caught sneaking into the mortal realm…I don’t want to think of the consequences. He has already broken too many rules for me.
“Àn’ying.”
I blink, pulled from my frantic trail of thoughts. Yù’chén is watching me. His eyes are dim, the slightest crease to his brows. He’s no longer smiling.
“Ask me,” he says quietly.
I stare at him, my heart pounding. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I can.”
There it is again, that raw sincerity to his voice, the quietly spoken words so at odds with his usual smirking nonchalance. At this point, I do not know which is real and which is the lie—or whether both are simply masks.
“Why do you do this?” I snap. “You help me, and then you push me away. Is this…Do you derive some sick pleasure out of it? Is it funny to you, watching me beg you to help me save my sister’s life?”
He closes his eyes briefly. “No,” he says.
I’m silent for a moment, trying to understand if this is another of his games.
So what if it is?a voice whispers inside me. Two can play at it. From the very start, our alliance has been transactional; I simply need to view this as another trade.
I need to save Méi’zi. I need to protect Hào’yáng. Yù’chén is my only choice.
I exhale sharply. “Can you help her?” I ask.
Slowly, he nods.
“How? With your dark magic?”
He says nothing, but his mouth tightens slightly.
“What do you want this time? More of my life energy?”
“No.”
“Well, then, what?”
Yù’chén pushes off the door and turns away, running a hand through his hair. “Nothing that you can give me.”
Again, I’m unsure how to respond. “I don’t have the time or energy to play games with you over my sister’s life,” I say.
“I’m not.” His jaw clenches. “My shadowcrane alerted me to her illness. I came to tell you as soon as I found out.”
I arch an eyebrow. “So you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?”
He looks away. “Is that so hard to believe?”
