A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea #1) (54)

“I’ve never heard that story.” I’m enthralled by the idea of standing in a place once visited by the gods. I peer down at the water to see if there is any magic hidden in its depths, but I see only stillness.

“You can try the water for yourself,” he says, teasing. “See if it tastes like the legend says.”

I raise my eyebrow. “I’m guessing you sampled the sacred waters many times as a boy?”

He laughs, putting his hand to his chest in mock affront. “Your words draw blood. Will you shame me in front of the gods?”

“Show me the way, before we are struck down for our disrespect.” I can’t help but chuckle.

Kang quickly scales the side of the boulder without hesitation. He moves unencumbered by his armor, like someone who has worn it all his life.

“There’s not enough room up here for both of us,” he calls out from the top. “I’ll wait for you on the other side.”

I acknowledge him while my hands run over the stone, searching for fingerholds. I find dips and cracks, use my toes to find leverage, then pull myself up, discovering imperfections in the rock to hook on to in the process. I’m slower and more careful than Kang, but it doesn’t take long before I pull myself over the top and onto the ledge above.

It’s even more beautiful up here. On a stretch of pebbled beach down below, Kang looks up at me with a grin. Handsome and tousled and wild.

Until his expression changes.

“Ning…,” he tells me, quiet and fearful. “Beside you…”

“What?” I swallow whatever I was about to say and follow his gaze to my left.

A green-and-yellow snake lifts its head at me, hissing. Its small black eyes are focused on me, a threat.

Moving slowly, I get onto my hands and knees, sliding my foot back until I can find a place to hold my weight.

“I’m not going to harm you,” I tell it, keeping my voice low. “I’m just going to—”

The snake darts forward, snapping at my arm, and I snatch my hand back, out of reach of its fangs. But the movement throws me too far in the other direction, and my foot slips.

I fall backward into emptiness.

The last thing I see is Kang’s shocked face, his hand reaching out for me. Then I break the surface of the blessed waters and sink into their cold depths.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR


The water quickly soaks into my sleeves and my skirts, weighing them down. I struggle to take a breath, and the water rushes into my nose and open mouth, choking me. By the time I regain my senses enough to move my arms and kick my legs, I’m already hopelessly tangled in fabric.

Fire ignites in my chest, even as the cold grips my limbs and seeps into my bones. Pain, like nothing I have ever felt, burns through me.

The water is sweet on my lips and tongue as it drowns me, the lightest sense of bubbles on the back of the throat. So, I think, on the verge of hysterics, The legend of the First Emperor is true.

Bursts of light pop before me, one after another. A sea of stars, streaming through the night sky. The current calling me into the promise of warmth, into letting go. But then I see Shu’s face through the dark, the way she said to me, I believe in you, and I know I cannot let the water take me.

Something grabs on to my arms through the warmth. I fight against the pleasant stream, allowing the pull to carry me away. We ascend, leaving the stars behind us, until I am thrown onto my back, the world in smears of color above me. My vision wavers, clears, and a face emerges.

I think I hear my name. Rough hands grab my shoulders and roll me onto my side. Forceful strikes hit my back. I expel water onto the ground, suddenly able to breathe again, taking in great big gasps of air. I struggle to push myself up with one elbow, and a garment settles around my body. I didn’t know how much I wanted the warmth until it’s there, and my teeth chatter against one another.

I sit up with his help, still sputtering.

“Are you all right?” Kang hovers, attentive. Something flickers inside me, like tinder struggling to light.

“You saved my life,” I manage to gasp out, my throat still hoarse from coughing.

“I waited,” he says apologetically. “I waited and waited for you to surface, then when you didn’t, I thought I went in too late.”

“I don’t know how to swim,” I admit, drawing the garment tighter around me, then I realize what I’m wearing: his outer tunic. Pieces of his armor are scattered around us. Chest plate, helmet, leg pieces. Tossed aside in his haste to jump in after me.

I start to shake, remembering the pull of that current. How if it wasn’t for Shu, my bond with my sister still waiting for me back home, it would have been so easy to give in. Strands of hair slide down in front of my eyes, making it difficult to see. I try to swipe them away, but my hands continue to tremble.

“I’m sorry,” he says. He reaches up and gently brushes the hair out of my eyes, the movement slow and deliberate. His touch slides against the curve of my forehead and my cheek, brushing against the tip of my ear.

“What…” My breath catches. “What are you sorry for?”

“For not reaching you sooner,” he whispers. His touch stops at the soft place under my jaw, where I am certain he can feel the frantic beat of my pulse. His eyes are pools of darkness, even deeper than the one I fell into. I can see myself reflected inside, a speck of light in the dark.