Shifters of Grrr 1 (50 page)

Ex-lovers.
Her stomach tightened.

“Psst. C’mon.” Mei prodded Lucy’s side, tugging her forward. “Don’t look at her until she speaks to you.”

Averting her gaze, Lucy clenched her jaw and forced herself to go through with the formalities. This meeting had piqued her curiosity. If this woman controlled the membership of the
Kongsi
, then Lucy wanted to be on the inside. For the first time in months, she felt like she belonged somewhere. Like she might have a family again, a purpose.

Heels clacked on the marble, echoing upward, reminding her of Sheng’s supposed presence on the roof. Did the Matchmaker suspect?

“Welcome.” Pointy, three-inch black heels paused in front of her. “Would you care for a cup of tea?”

“No, I’m fine, thank y—
oomph
!” She sent a glare to Mei, who’d elbowed her in the gut. Mei rolled her eyes in response. Oh, right. It was considered extremely rude to refuse. “Why, yes please.” Lucy lifted her head, dismay overwhelming her as her gaze wandered upward. Yep, the woman was gorgeous.

“Well, look at you.” One thin, dark brow arched while the Matchmaker’s hand settled on her hip. With her other hand, she crooked her fingers, urging Lucy closer.

She complied, both curious and anxious for this to be over.

The Matchmaker leaned forward and cupped Lucy’s chin, tilting her face this way and that.

The gesture shocked the indignation from her. No one had mentioned being examined like cattle. She hoped this woman didn’t actually intend to auction her off. The pressure to marry had been bad enough from her parents. Did her uncle have his hand in this? Her skin prickled while the Matchmaker circled, lifting Lucy’s arms and prodding her side. Finally coming to rest in front again, she tucked a lock of Lucy’s hair behind her ear.

“Aha. That is where you are hiding,
tùzi
.”

Rabbit?

The woman might not have meant to sound condescending, but every bone in Lucy’s body stiffened at this inspection.

Watch it, lady.
She’d backed down from every temptation of violence her entire life. Yet being examined like this… Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms. Her body hummed with hostile energy.

She was two seconds away from slapping the shrew across her perfectly proportioned face.

***

Sheng peered through a slat in the roof into the grand hall below. He shifted his weight, splaying across more tiles lest the roof give way and crash down with him on top. That would bloody well please the Matchmaker, wouldn’t it? His lips curled. He suppressed the possessive urge to remove the woman’s hands from Lucy’s body.

The Matchmaker returned to her seat on the sofa and patted the red and gold embroidered cushion for Lucy to join her. After handing Lucy a cup of tea, she tapped one finger against her curved lips.

“That mole is curious.” She reached forward and circled the tiny mole below the corner of Lucy’s right eye with one sharp fingernail. “Is our Little Rabbit rather licentious?”

Lucy sputtered on the tea she’d sipped. The teacup rattled on the saucer as she set it on the side table.

Indeed, she is.
His balls tightened at the memory of her whimpers in his ear, her sweet sex rubbing against him. He cleared his throat and peered down at a blushing Lucy. Based on the clenching of her jaw, she was biting her tongue, struggling against giving the Matchmaker a piece of her mind.

More control than me.
He rather admired her for it.

The Matchmaker hummed in amusement as she continued her inspection. “She’s healthy enough. Young. Strong. Has she passed the tests?”

She directed this question at Kassian. Not Sheng. Though it was Tiger’s duty, not Ox’s.

Kassian blanched, as anyone would delivering unwelcome news to
her
.

Fuck. Sheng hadn’t meant to lapse in testing Lucy. He’d just been so bloody distracted by his attraction to her, he’d allowed his impulses to override his responsibilities. Damn. This was so unlike him.

“Ah, not yet, Matchmaker. She just arrived. I’m sure Li—” He cringed, shoulders hunching as he averted his face the instant he spoke Sheng’s name.

The Matchmaker didn’t pounce upon it, but her long, red fingernails curled into her palms. “Go on, you, with your pitiful excuses.” She scoffed. “It’s not as though the balance of the entire world,” she indicated the room with a graceful sweep of her arm, “is hinged upon your good
leader’s
shoulders.”

“Leader” was spoken with such derision, Sheng shrank back, concerned for a second she might have detected his presence.

As if his own misgivings about leading his
Kongsi
weren’t enough, the Matchmaker never failed to take any opportunity to point out his unworthiness.

He ground his jaw. He
was
trying, dammit. Fucking AWOL Dragon.

“Of course, of course, Matchmaker. I’m certain he intended to test her today, but your summons came first. We did not wish to keep you waiting.” Kassian bowed, ending with an elaborate flourish.

The Matchmaker inclined her head. Sheng smirked. Kassian’s efforts placated the woman. This was why he’d sent Ox in his place. She had a soft spot for him. Not that she’d ever confess as much.

“Make sure he does. I cannot admit her otherwise.” The warning panged straight through him. He hadn’t planned to test Lucy until she’d accepted Rabbit. Now he had no choice. Exclusion from the Hai San
Kongsi
was unlikely, because even the Matchmaker knew damn well where Lucy would turn.

Snake.

Tiger’s claws punched through its cage, cracking the tiles beneath Sheng’s fingertips.
Easy.
He reigned in the beast. The Matchmaker could hold all the threats she liked over his head. Didn’t change a damn thing. Lucy might not possess the Dragon or the Hound, but they still needed her.

On their side.

“Of course, Matchmaker.” Another gracious bow. Kassian poured it on, hard. Badass charmer.

“Come now,
tùzi
. Do not hide. You are safe.” The Matchmaker brushed the hair from Lucy’s face. She tensed at first, but then her shoulders relaxed. The woman continued stroking, murmuring to the Rabbit inside Lucy.

Sheng clenched his jaw. Rabbit inched forward, the cloaking of the spirit condensing and revealing long, furry white ears. Lucy’s delicate nose twitched and Rabbit’s pink nose overlaid hers.

Tiger pounced against Sheng’s walls. Furious. Jealous. Indignant.

Mei told him Monkey had coaxed Rabbit out too. Why the hell did Rabbit trust everyone
but
Tiger? For him, she’d fallen lifeless in fear.

Yet Tiger insisted on greeting her. Rabbit was its family.

If Sheng didn’t bloody well secure Rabbit’s loyalty soon, he feared how far he would need to go to make it happen.

CHAPTER NINE

The Matchmaker combed her nails along Lucy’s scalp. Abrasive, yet also…maternal? She lifted her lashes and dared to gaze into the woman’s eyes. Those obsidian depths seemed centuries old. Wisdom, confidence, reassurance. This whole experience reminded her of China’s past, when women were examined prior to being assigned as a good match with another household. Yet she didn’t get the impression she was being considered for marriage.

But something more.

“Are you familiar with the story of the Great Flood?”

No one had said anything about this being a test of Chinese history. “Um, sure. Lots of myths in cultures around the world mention a flood.” Nice, political answer.

“As there are also tales of great plagues.” The Matchmaker’s ruby lips pursed and her hands dropped from Lucy’s hair. “Each time, the world has been knocked from a state of balance to one of
imbalance
.” Her mouth caressed the word. Reverent.

“Since the beginning of time we, alone, have prevented the world from dissolving, from an apocalypse.”

Lucy stiffened. What experience did these people have with devastation? They lived here, unscathed, while so many of her friends and acquaintances suffered. If they claimed the ability to stop an apocalypse, they were too late. Bitterness seeped through her tone as she grated, “Newsflash. It’s already begun.”

A pencil-thin brow lifted. The corners of the Matchmaker’s red lips curved. “Good. This is very good. You’re strong. Stronger than you would have been.”

“Stronger?” Lucy squeezed back the tears threatening to break loose, her voice raising an octave. “You’re saying it’s a good thing so many people
died
? What the hell is wrong with you?” Anger and guilt over surviving surged inside her. The force of her fury shook her body. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth to stop from slapping this righteous woman.

The Matchmaker didn’t wipe the curve from her lips. Like a feline, satisfaction flashed in her eyes. “Yes, yes, this is good. You’re angry? You didn’t save them…did you want to?”

Her throat dried, rage vibrating through her body like ripples in a pond, fading. “Of course, but I’m not like Mei. I could never have engineered a vaccine. Still, I want to help.” Conviction set her shoulders. This place was a bubble, safe from the horrors of the past year. Here, she could pretend none of it had ever happened.

Or she could make a difference. Help them smuggle the vaccine and save lives.

The Matchmaker leaned forward, tucked Lucy’s hair behind her ear, and whispered, “Contrary to what the extracurricular activities of our
Kongsi
imply, the vaccine is not the solution.”

Her mind stumbled over the concept. “Why not?”

“Vaccinating the world would imply an end. There is no end to
this
plague.”

No end? Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. Parts of the Earth remained unaffected. Eventually, the world would fix this. They had to.

“It isn’t for science to solve. Follow me.” She didn’t wait for Lucy to obey as she rose and glided into an antechamber.

Lucy gaped after her, unmoving, even after Mei nudged her arm. “Aren’t you going to follow her?”

“I’m not sure. You guys buy into this?” She scanned Mei, Kassian, and Fang’s expressions. None of them acted crazy. In fact, they bore matching frowns of sorrow mixed with solemn respect.

“You should,” Mei encouraged.

Ignoring the tingling that spiked the hairs on her arms and neck, Lucy stood and crept into the antechamber.

A square room, reminiscent of a tomb, stretched before her. In the center, a jade statue of an emperor reigned over them.
The
Jade Emperor, the monarch of all the deities in Heaven. Around them stood bronze sculptures of each of the Chinese Zodiac animals. Below each statue was a plaque inscribed with names in Chinese characters.

The Matchmaker paused in front of the Rabbit.

Lucy swallowed hard. Again with the rabbit thing.

“What happens when the animals are joined?” As she posed her question, the woman swept her graceful arm around to encompass the statues.

Lucy frowned, following the line of the Matchmaker’s arm. Hesitating at first, she rotated until she’d spun about one full turn. A circle. “They make a circle.”

“Good. What happens if the circle is broken?”

Lucy shrugged.

“Imbalance.” The Matchmaker’s smooth tone flowed across the chamber like the gentle trickle of a water fountain.

“We caused the imbalance?”

“No. The Plague God did.”

Plague God?

The Matchmaker smoothed her hands down her skirt. “You can stop him.”

“How?”

“By joining with Li Sheng and the others.”

Sounded too simple to halt the millions of deaths the world had seen. Lucy frowned. The Matchmaker must be concealing a deeper secret. “All we have to do is find each of the animals and hold hands in a circle?”

A laugh that chimed like a bell escaped the Matchmaker’s throat. “Hardly. There are other details but, for now, what is most important is accepting you are Chosen.”

“Okay, so who chose me?”

“The Jade Emperor.” Her elegant hand drifted to the central statue. “Throughout time, to safeguard the world against imbalance, the Jade Emperor has sent his warrior spirits to bond with a human host. Those chosen for the task are bestowed with the great responsibility of restoring order to the world.” The Matchmaker narrated her story, conviction in her tone.

“You think I’m possessed by one of these
spirits
?”

The woman’s dark, glittering gaze settled on her. “I don’t think, Lucy. I know. And you are not possessed, you are
Chosen
.”

Though the room was warm, a chill shivered across her skin.

The Matchmaker tilted her head toward the Rabbit. “Tell me you sense nothing when you regard this animal, and I will let you go. Back to America, if you wish.”

Let me go?
Was she a prisoner without even being aware of it?

Steeling her shoulders, Lucy marched to the statue. When she’d touched the stone rabbit with Sheng, she’d been zapped, but she must have imagined the jolt. Right? The impulse to prove the Matchmaker wrong pounded through her veins, so she extended her hand. As her fingertips grazed the animal, a current like one from an electric socket sparked through her fingers. She gasped, snatched back her hand, and glared at the smirking woman. Twice couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? There had to be a logical explanation. “You wired it.”