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“You have no choice.”

“I do. I can do nothing, and trust in your claim to keep Liwei safe. If he dies, you will have failed him, you will have killed your own son.” I almost choked upon these vile words, but it sufficed that she flinched.

“What do you want?” she demanded. “I will not relent on my terms.”

“Swear this, then: to never harm my kin and me without just cause.” When she did not reply at once, I added quickly, “One other thing. A small ask, compared to yours.”

“What is it?” she hissed. “My patience is wearing thin.”

It must seem an innocuous request, not one driven from true need. “There is someone in the Celestial Kingdom who offended me greatly. I want you to find him and secure him in the same place as Liwei. I will deal with him myself.”

“What did he do?”

“You do not need to know.” A petty vengeance, to return her earlier words. “But you cannot harm him.”

A curt nod, her mood more agreeable. “Who is he?”

“Tao,” I told her. “His sister is the Keeper of Mortal Fates’ apprentice, but she is ignorant of this matter.” I did not want to implicate her. All I wanted was the elixir, and I hoped it was not too late.

“A known troublemaker.” A speculative gleam shone in her eyes. “I have heard of this one.”

She had agreed too readily. I searched for something to bind her as irrevocably as she had done to me. Liwei was whom she loved the most, but I could not ask her to swear on his life. So, I would hold her instead to what she most despised.

“Do this, and I will honor my promise to you. However, if you break your word to me, our deal is void and I will be free of my vow. I will be free to marry Liwei, to take your place as the Celestial Empress.” She would hate the thought of me upon her throne as much as I would; she would do anything to prevent it from happening.

Her chin jutted out. “I will keep my word. You are a fool for ever imagining that you are good enough for him. You will never be the empress.”

“I have no desire to be one, especially seeing the joy it gives you.” A brutal jab, but she had taken enough from me already. I had driven the hardest bargain I could, and still she had won.

Her face went pale, then flushed darkly. “Are we agreed?”

“Yes.” The word left a bitter tang in my mouth.

It was done. Her lips stretched wide like those of a well-fed hyena. “Tomorrow evening. I will weaken the wards and you can enter the palace without fear of discovery. You may mask yourself in invisibility, do whatever you need to get to Liwei. I will keep my husband and Wugang occupied, but you must dispatch the soldiers guarding my son. I cannot dispose of them without suspicion. Be warned, I will offer no aid should you be caught. No one will take your word over mine.”

Her gaze shifted to the back of the teahouse where Wenzhi sat. “The Demon must not accompany you into the palace; I can do nothing about the wards against his kind, for those are crafted by my husband. Moreover, he cannot be linked to my son; they will accuse him of treachery and worse. You must take no chances with Liwei’s life, nor can there be any doubt that this is your doing.”

I forced my mind to clear, to untangle it from my emotions. “Where will Liwei be?”

“He has been moved to quarters east of the palace. I will ensure the thief will be placed with him. You must move swiftly, plan your escape well; you won’t have much time once the alarm is sounded.” Her tone pulsed with warning. “If anything happens to my son, you will pay a hundred times over.”

I bit down on the inside of my cheek, reining in my temper. “Do your part and I will do mine.”

Without another word, the empress stalked through the teahouse, disappearing through the doors. Only then did the tension inside me loosen, my forehead dropping onto my palms, pain clawing my heart like she had raked her talons across it.

Our cloud climbed the skies toward the Southern Sea, leaving the Mortal Realm behind. The night was sunken in gloom, devoid of moonlight, for who would tend the lanterns now my mother had gone? Certainly none who could do it as well. While I had helped her on occasion, the lanterns flared brightest upon my mother’s touch, their light purer and more luminous. What did the mortals make of these dark nights? Soothsayers and fortune-tellers must have been summoned to many a royal court to decipher this mystery, all likely concluding that such a thing was an ill omen indeed.

They would not be wrong.

“That went well.” Wenzhi’s mouth tilted into a wry smile. “By well, I mean the empress did not command her guards to arrest you, nor did you draw a weapon.”

“It was close,” I said tightly. “We were always a breath away from attacking each other.”

“You might want to reconsider the family you are marrying into.”

“I will not be marrying into that family.”

As he stilled, his eyes darkening—I added hastily, “Don’t be so quick to judge when your family has their own charm.”