Jade Fire Gold(92)

“I understand.” She spreads her palms open, flexing her fingers, something conflicted in her gaze. “I’m not some peasant girl from the desert trying to rescue her grandmother. I’m the Life Stealer. You shouldn’t trust me. Not with the power I have.”

I trust you.

Three simple words that refuse to leave my lips. Ahn straightens, a strange look on her face. A look that tells me she has made a decision, and that I’m not going to like it.

“I need to tell you something. Back in the bamboo forest, I tried to take your life force with my magic.”

A numbness spreads over my body. “You tried . . . to kill me?”

“I don’t know if I was trying to kill you. There was a light around you. It called to me and tempted me, but you repelled my life-stealing magic. You felt a touch of it in the canyon, didn’t you? But it didn’t kill you or harm you the way it should have. To put it simply, my life-stealing affinity doesn’t work on you. I think you’re immune. I don’t know why or how exactly, maybe it’s because you’re related to Yuan Long.” She draws a shaky breath. “It was you who saved me from the Waters of the Undead, from the spirits pulling me down. I know it. There must be something connecting us somehow.”

The numbness turns sharp. Tell her what you did. Tell her about the Phoenix. Tell her about what you planned to do. Tell her you’ve changed your mind. Tell her you’ll find another way. Tell her everything.

But once again, I stay silent.

“It doesn’t matter how or why,” she says, biting her lip. “I need you to do something.”

She stares at me with such stark honesty that my heart twists. I don’t want to know, don’t want to hear what she has to say, but she grabs my hand before I can leave. Her touch releases a dam of emotions and I pull her close, wrapping my arms around her like she is the most precious thing I have.

“Don’t say it,” I say in a choked whisper. “Don’t.”

I feel her melting in my arms, her warm breath against my neck. Abruptly, she pulls away and rests a hand lightly on my cheek. I lean into her touch, and she smiles, voice tender even as her words leave wounds in my chest.

“You’re the only one I can trust to do what needs to be done, Altan. If something terrible happens, if I fall into the shadows like your great-grandfather, you are the only one who can stop me.” She lifts my face gently. “Promise me that you will.”

“I . . . I can’t,” I say. “There must be another way.”

Her smile turns sad. “I’m afraid not. Promise me, please.”

Everything comes with a price and your choice will be paid in blood. You will find it difficult to treasure that which is most precious to you.

The Phoenix said this would happen. And yet . . . yet, I went ahead.

“Promise me,” Ahn repeats.

My head hangs. “I promise.”





42


Ahn


I promise.

Altan’s words float away with the wind. He brushes my hair off my face, and the feeling I had that night in his arms fills my heart. That rightness. My body is warm despite the chilly air. I want to keep my distance, but my heart thunders, drowning out all rational thought. As if pulled by some unseen thread, we lean closer.

A starburst of crimson sparks lights up the night sky, the red hue illuminating us. I turn to the sea. Three warships. Murky but imposing, silhouetted in the moonlight. The flare of their fires shows a hint of gold and blue on their sails.

“Imperial ships?” I gasp.

“No—Nandah,” says Altan.

Captain Yan appears, shouting orders. The crew scrambles on deck.

Tang Wei comes running. “We’re so close to port. Why are Nandah warships here? What do they want?”

“To sink us,” says Captain Yan as another red flare goes up.

“The ambassador?” Tang Wei looks at Altan, eyes wide.

“Has lied to us,” comes his grim reply.

Captain Yan pivots on his heel and barks out new commands before coming back to us. “They’re well-armed and too fast for us to outrun them. We can hold them off, but only for a while. There’s a boat and oars starboard. Go around and you’ll have a chance to get to shore without them seeing you.”

The look on Altan’s face tells me he has no intention of abandoning the captain or the crew. Neither do I.

But Tang Wei grabs my hand. “Let’s go!”

“No,” I protest. “We should—”

“Not on your life! And your life is worth more than a ship of pirates. They knew what they were getting into when they offered to help us.” She glares at Altan. “Your life is worth more, too.”

Tang Wei’s right, but I can’t leave the captain and his crew in the lurch. How many times have I turned my back and ran? No one else should get hurt or die because of me.

I pull out of her grip. “I’m tired of running. You should leave—save yourself.”

Her composure breaks. Tears glisten in her eyes as the sky lights up again. I grab her in a fierce hug. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

I dash off, ignoring Altan’s shouts as he tries to catch up with me in the chaos. I’m barely halfway across the ship when the first missile hits.