“It is manageable.”
“It smells like shadow magic,” the serpent said. “Unpleasant stuff.” Then his gaze slid to Poppy. “And you purged it?”
Poppy stiffened. “I… helped.”
The snake-man’s smile sharpened. “Moon-touched. Rare. Dangerous.”
Poppy wasn’t sure she appreciated being called dangerous while she was still trying to pretend she hadn’t just climbed Mingxi like a tree.
“I’m perfectly normal,” she said primly.
Mingxi choked. Actually choked.
He recovered quickly, clearing his throat with supreme dignity. “She is—exceptional.”
Poppy blinked up at him, startled.
The serpent hissed with laughter. “And protective. Foxes. Always sentimental.”
Mingxi bristled. “I am not—”
“Ah-ha,” the snake-man waved a finger. “No need for pride. I’ll leave you both. But be careful. Something unnatural moves in the bamboo today.”
He bowed once more, turned…and melted into smoke and scales, disappearing into the grove. Silence fell. Poppy slowly slid away from Mingxi, straightening her cloak as if she hadn’t just wrapped herself around him like a terrified squirrel.
“That,” she declared, “never happened.”
Mingxi stared at her—eyes warm, lips fighting a smile. “As you wish.”
“You’re laughing at me,” she accused.
“I would not dare.”
“You absolutely would.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Only a little.”
She huffed and stormed ahead down the path.
Mingxi followed, still smiling—still aching—but somehow lighter than he’d felt in years. Poppy marched ahead with the rigid dignity of a woman who absolutely, definitely had not shrieked and climbed a man like a frightened cat. Mingxi followed at a careful distance—careful only because his shoulder still ached, not because he feared her wrath.
He finally broke the silence. “You handled that very bravely.”
She spun around. “Do not.”
His lips twitched. “I mean it. Truly.”
“You’re smirking.”
“I am admiring,” he corrected.
“That is not the same thing.”
“Oh, but it is.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you dare make this the moment where you tell me I impressed you.”
He tilted his head, thoughtful. “That would not be a lie.”
