Trancing the Tiger (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 1) (36 page)

Snake cocked his head. “That bunch of preening bureaucrats wouldn’t notice true power if it fucked them. True power like yours, Lucy.” His brows shot up. “Oh, you thought your little trick fooled everyone in that chamber? Well, you were both wrong.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “I know who gave you the Dragon, Lucy, and how you transferred it to Delun. Fucking turncoat.” He jerked his head to his left where a figure emerged.

What the hell?

Xiaodan stepped out of the shadows, relinquishing none of their sinister darkness.

“
Shūshu
?” Lucy shot out from behind Sheng and, though he blocked her by holding out his arm, she scooted under it to tread forward a few steps.

“Who else did you expect?” Snake’s nose wrinkled in a grimace. “How pathetic.”

Sheng matched pace with Lucy, stalking toward this new twist that sent the hairs on the back of his neck on another roller coaster ride. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He took charge of the situation, desperate to prevent her from becoming ensnared in this serpent’s coils. Already, he detected the constriction of the lies these bastards spewed.

“I came for you, Lucy. My dearest niece.” Xiaodan held out his hands, his offer of an embrace apparently genuine…if Sheng discounted the greedy gleam in the bastard’s eyes.

He seized her arm. “Stay with me.” Even as he uttered the words, the trench of fear inside him cracked wider, making him helpless if she should choose any side but his.

“Always,” she whispered back.

Thank fuck for that. His insides eased. They’d combat this. Together.

Xiaodan’s hands dropped to his sides, a huff of unsurprised exasperation puffing from his chest. “You’re so like your father, Lucy. Even thieving that which doesn’t belong to you.”

“Explain yourself.” Lucy’s small body coiled at the insult to her dad, and Sheng’s indignation bristled at the dishonor to her family.

“Why, the Dragon, of course. The Dragon was mine.”

“Yours?” Her legs faltered a step back. “No. My dad gave it to me.”

Xiaodan nodded. “Yes. Indeed. After he stole it from me.”

“Why would he—” She bit her tongue, but not before the dots connected in Sheng’s mind.

Because Xiaodan had other plans for the Dragon. Plans her father hadn’t agreed with.

If Lucy’s father went to such extreme measures to weaken his own brother, Xiaodan must be into some seriously evil shit.

“Well, Lucy no longer has the Dragon so we’re going to walk away. Don’t even think about following us.” Sheng snagged her arm to his chest, hauling her against him to exit the courtyard together.

“You don’t really imagine it’s that simple, do you, Li?” Snake’s taunting tone crept under Sheng’s skin. His fists clenched and he fought the urge to knock the asshole through all eighteen layers of
Dìyù
.

“I’m asking you to return what is mine.” Xiaodan stepped forward, hands raised in a pathetic peace offering. “All I seek is the Dragon, child. Afterward, you will be free to leave, and I do suggest you venture
very
far.”

“Never.” She spun and hissed at the men. “I will never give it to you. The Dragon belongs to Delun.”

Xiaodan cocked his head. “What makes you think I want to
host
the Dragon? No,
sayang
, I no longer require the spirit’s powers, merely its cooperation. You will send the Dragon into a host of my choosing. I’m afraid the notion of freedom has quite gone to Delun’s head. If you won’t help me remove the Dragon from him, I shall have to kill him.”

“We’re proposing a solution without violence. I suggest you accept our offer,” Snake added, sneering at them.

“No.” Sheng answered for her. “If Lucy’s father removed the Dragon from you, he had good reason and good judgment.” He glared at them, hatred rising in his chest. “If you ever dare to threaten my brother again, I will hunt you down and slay you, myself.”

Snake tsked. “Li, Li, Li. After all these years, do you still not fathom what you are up against? You’ve been nothing but a pawn. Our pawn. Admittedly, it was a shame when Lucy’s father refused to join with us, but his rejection is of no consequence because, now, we have her.”

Snake’s serpentine scrutiny slithered across Lucy who shuddered in Sheng’s arms. Sheng cinched her tighter against him. “You’ll have to go through me first and I’m damn hard to kill.”

“What did you do? Why did my father seize the Dragon from you?” Lucy snapped through the tension of their exchanged taunts, directing the conversation back to her uncle.

Xiaodan smirked. The power-hungry glaze in his eyes warped his features. How had this man once championed the gift of a spirit from the Jade Emperor? Then again, how did Snake?

Sheng shook his head. Didn’t matter. He had to get Lucy the hell out of here and ensure these fuckups never came after her ever again.

“He didn’t agree with my plans. We envisioned different futures.”

Her lips parted and, judging by the skipped beat of her heart, whatever thought ran across her mind was bad, bad news.

***

Lucy tried to step backward, but Sheng’s solid body blocked her. The horror of what these people had done exploded in her mind, igniting her flight instincts.

Where to run? Snake and her uncle wouldn’t let this go. Determination akin to that of crazy mad scientists flashed in their eyes. Everything made sense now. Her uncle must have sent Snake after her the day of her arrival, when she headed for the Gardens. He’d been the one following her. She recalled the correspondence between her uncle and her dad. They’d argued about the Dragon. Since Chosen couldn’t die from the Red Death, Xiaodan must have concluded that before her dad died, he’d handed the spirit to someone else—Lucy. That explained why he was so eager to bring her here. When she arrived, he assumed she carried the Dragon, so they didn’t care if she spent time with Sheng. Tiger couldn’t claim the Dragon’s loyalty. They were
yin
and
yang
. Two leaders. Once they realized she carried the Rabbit instead of the Dragon, her uncle and Snake had dismissed her. Until Snake witnessed the Dragon at the Council Chambers and sent Boar to spy on her for confirmation.

The memory of the tea shop slammed into her thoughts, the details still fuzzy. One thing was certain. Dragon was a spirit she’d much rather have on her side.

Snap back, Luce.
To buy some time, she had to keep them talking. Another of the Elders would exit the chambers soon and discover this confrontation, right? She glanced from side to side. Where were the monks?

“They’re not coming for you, Lucy.” A haughty glint curved Snake’s mouth. “In case you’re counting on aid,” he droned, “I took care of the Council. None of them are coming to your rescue.”

Images of the others crashed through her brain. Had Snake murdered the Council? What about the rest? Kassian, Fang, Mei? Delun? She whipped her gaze to Sheng’s. His brows drew together as he stared at her with desperation before his features hardened once more and he faced their enemies.

“Never figured you for the rebellious type, Snake.” Sheng scoffed.

“It’s not a rebellion if it’s a revolution,” Snake shot back.

Sheng grimaced. “A revolution into what? Hell?”

“Depends whose side you’re standing on,” Snake replied, a smug grin on his face. “Right, Xiaodan?” He turned to her uncle like a dog awaiting a treat from its master.

“Indeed, my son.” While Snake beamed, Xiaodan addressed her. “When my brother died, I assumed he would have bestowed the Dragon upon his daughter. Imagine my surprise when you claimed the Rabbit instead.” He waggled a finger at her, laughter escaping his lips. The chortling didn’t bring notions of mirth to her mind, but hysterics.

Her uncle was batshit crazy.

Xiaodan snorted. “Your father, he was so devious. He even hid your Spirit Thief talent from me. By the time we’d realized what he’d done… It was too late, eh, Boar?” He jabbed an elbow into Boar’s side, but the man’s stance remained as stoic as a statue. Menace bled through his gaze, as if he strove to erode a hole into her chest by glaring at her.

Heels clacking on stone tiles echoed toward them. Behind her uncle, a woman approached.

“Fucking Empress,” Sheng cursed.

Shivers of dread burrowed beneath Lucy’s skin. If she’d considered the Matchmaker formidable, it was nothing compared to the cool composition of this woman’s sharp Asian features. As she strolled forward, she raised her hand, snapping her fingers. For an instant, her youthful body transformed into an elderly woman.

Beside her, Sheng emitted a strangled sound from deep within his throat.

“
Run, lad. Run and never look back. Never tell anyone who you really are.
” The old woman’s Mandarin words faded to an echo as she snapped her fingers and resumed her original form.

“
You
,” he grated through gritted teeth, his fists clenched at his sides. His body shook as though unable to control the rage inside.

One corner of her fuchsia lips curved. “A rather brilliant plan, wouldn’t you agree? In one move, I eliminated
two
threats.”

Lucy gasped. “
You
were the assassin.” The one who’d killed Sheng’s family by setting the fire.

“Indeed. What a clever mind.” The woman perused her with a covetousness that made Lucy’s skin crawl. “Your father,” she glanced at Sheng, “mistakenly believed his wife signed the blood contract—which I forged—for the deaths of his mistress and her family. He shot his wife then turned the gun on himself. A tragedy.”

“Why let me live?” Misery laced Sheng’s inquiry.

“Oh, I would have executed you, but the Tiger protected you. I let you live because you were nothing but a pitiless street orphan. Broken. Certainly no longer a threat to us.” She waved a hand in dismissal as she cast a smirk at Lucy. “
Your
father seized the Dragon from Delun in the first place. He was a
Shèhúnzéi
. A Spirit Thief, like yourself.”

Her hand shot to cover her mouth. Delun was the original Chosen of the Dragon. Had her father helped orchestrate a plan to overthrow the entire Council? “Why?”

“Why not?” A haughty smirk. “If you’d ever drudged through one of the Council’s board meetings, you wouldn’t judge the Ghee Hin so harshly. The Elders have access to all of the power in the universe and none of the ability to wield it.” She twirled her fingers through the air, then beckoned them toward Lucy. “Join with us, Lucy. Claim your father’s place.”

My father’s place?
Hell, no. This was the same woman who’d sent mercenaries to Sheng’s island and called her an abomination. “You tried to kill me.”

“Did I? Or perhaps I sought to forge your death.”

Whoa, devious. Sheng’s fingers pressed into hers. Trust flowed between them. The kind that couldn’t be usurped by someone as false as the Empress. No way would Lucy switch sides.

As she regarded Sheng, her body blazed with awareness of him. Of her love for him.

Mom.
Her mother must have changed her father’s mind. Without her dad’s ability to snatch the other spirits, these fiends had resorted to Plan B.

Unleash the Plague God. Force her father or, as it happened, Lucy, back into the game.

“Imagine what you could do with your power.” The Empress curled a finger toward Snake.

“Oh hell, no.” Sheng grimaced. “You weren’t chosen at all, were you, Snake?”

“Why don’t you fuck off to
Dìyù
and ask Lucy’s father that question?” Snake’s coppery gaze slithered over her.

Dad?
Her heart rammed into her throat as tears stung her eyes. Why hadn’t he shared any of this with her? She swiped the backs of her hands across her wet lashes. Whatever his reasons, his last request had been for her to right his mistakes.

“Consider your options before everyone you love pays the price.” Hissing her threat, the Empress snapped her fingers and vanished.

Handy trick.

“Enough talk.” Snake barked a command at her uncle who nodded in accord.

“Li tried to hide you away.” Xiaodan stepped forward. “That’s the thing, Lucy. You can’t hide from us. Not from all of us.” He swept his arms out and the air filled with a droning buzz that echoed, growing louder. What the hell was he doing?

She clung tighter to Sheng, but he shifted into a fighting stance. His body twisted in methodical turns, around in a circle as the noise closed in on them. Always, he positioned his body in front of hers, placing himself between her and the impending danger.

The ground beneath their feet rumbled, shaking the building. Loose stones and roof tiles shattered against the ground.

“Fuck.” Sheng cursed a few more times. “
Yāoguài.
”

“What, the demons?” Dread tightened her stomach.

“Yeah. These must be the ones they’ve been harboring on Ghee Hin territory. Looks like Xiaodan found a way to control them. Dammit.”

If Xiaodan had figured out how to command demons, it explained why he no longer sought to host a spirit animal. Demons were inherently evil; the Chinese Zodiac spirits fought for good. As a Chosen, he wouldn’t be able to carry out his villainous schemes. If he couldn’t use the Chosen, he’d ensure they stayed out of his way.

Except for Snake and Boar. Somehow, Xiaodan had persuaded—or coerced—those two spirit animals to his side, which left their virtuous natures in question. Were those spirits inherently evil, or had they been made that way?

Her gaze followed Sheng’s to the rooftop.

As the first gnarled hand curled over the peak, its black claws digging into the red tiles, she feared they would fight to their deaths here.

And lose.

After the hand, a skeletal arm came into view, followed by the creature’s hollowed out face as it hoisted itself to stand on the peak. The demon bared its pointed teeth at them, hissing but not attacking.

Yet.

Dozens of other beings clambered onto the peak of the roof, enclosing them in a semi-circle, her uncle, Snake, and Boar blocking the exit.

The
yāoguài
weren’t entirely solid. Their bodies shifted from vaporous to concrete. Each possessed different attributes. Some bore leathery wings, others sharp fangs and claws. Their skeletal-thin bodies appeared starved, making their glowing red or yellow eyes stand out in a striking fashion.