Lifted by an unseen force, Feng rose in the air. His limbs dangled helplessly as he yelled, “Put me down!”
“As you wish.” Ten dropped his arm, and Feng came crashing onto the platform at the King’s feet. Ten gripped his face, sharp nails piercing skin. “I would kill you for your insolence, but your life belongs to the girl.”
Ten let go.
Feng covered his eyes, emitting a high-pitched shriek that went on and on as he writhed on the ground. What terrible visions was Ten putting in his mind? Feng shook for a few more moments before going still. His eyes were open and vacant, a look of utter fear frozen on his face. He was living whatever nightmare Ten had trapped him in.
Green Jacket gasped, taking a step forward as if to help her comrade. But Ten threw her a warning glare. “Do not forget about our agreement.”
Green Jacket paled, and she stayed where she was. The rest of the Hybrids exchanged uneasy looks. Rui had a feeling they’d gotten more than they’d bargained for.
“We’ll fulfill our end of the deal and complete our task,” said Green Jacket. “We won’t get in your way, Your Majesty.” She motioned. “Bring the rest out.”
The other Hybrids scattered onto the tracks and into the dark.
Rui focused on Green Jacket. Could this Hybrid be their leader? She seemed competent, but Rui had a feeling there was more to their hierarchy. Green Jacket had reacted to Ten’s torture of Feng; she had wanted to help her comrade. She couldn’t be the mastermind of this scheme.Someone else—someone who wasn’t here—was leading the pack. Rui promised herself that if she survived this, she would track down the real brains behind the Hybrids and make them pay.
As Rui slumped against the dirty walls of the station, thinking of how she could end Feng’s life for good, a peculiar change was coming over the Tenth King. He paced back and forth, smoothing out his low ponytail, neatening his robes. Rui sensed his anticipation. But she couldn’t think of anyone Ten would care to impress.
There was movement in the tunnel. Footsteps. Low grunts. Three of the Hybrids reappeared, each with a body slung over their shoulders. They dropped the bodies unceremoniously onto the tracks. Normies. They were unconscious, not dead. Why were they here?
The last Hybrid was wrestling a young man with a hood over his head who was very much not unconscious. The Hybrid caught an elbow to the jaw, and he snarled and hunched over. Something violet began to grow from his spine. But a look from Green Jacket, and the Hybrid straightened, his violet spikes receding.
The other Hybrids went to help him. Together, they threw the young man to the ground, where he lay, catching his breath.
“Free him,” Ten commanded.
Green Jacket didn’t look happy, but she yanked the young man up anyway and untied his hands. She pulled off the hood and removed the gag from his mouth, giving him a vicious kick in the back.
The young man stumbled into the light. Barely able to walk, he fell hard to his knees onto the train tracks.
He looked up, and Rui found herself staring into eyes, blue like the hottest part of a flame.
48
Yiran
Had he wandered too far? In the heavy mist, everything felt farther apart as Yiran sprinted back. Half-built buildings in the distance rose like giant tombstones amid the gray and brown landscape.
A flash of pink. Muffled sounds of a fight.
“Eddy? Ada?” Yiran shouted, pulling out his talismans. “Ada?”
Tiny explosions. Bursts of light. Then a big one, cutting through the mist.
He finally saw them: Ada twirling her whip, fighting two Hybrids who were tag teaming her—and—
Eddy impaled to a tree.
Eddy bleeding.
Eddy dying.
Yiran flung a talisman in the air, yelling out the incantation. It burst into flames. Crimson arrows shot across the air.
The taller Hybrid screamed as three arrows found their target.
The other Hybrid—a young man with a shaven head and tail-like thing sticking out of his back—screamed with her. “Ling! No!”
