No word from the woman. Daji tapped her fingers on the pages, and smiled as she detected the girl’s padded footsteps. She lowered her book to her lap and pegged her stare on her heir.
“Well, you appear refreshed.” Indeed, Naya’s flesh had plumped, color flushed her cheeks, and a sparkle twinkled in her eye. No mistaking Naya had been feeding off Ryden.
Finally.
“Yes, very. Thank you.” Naya plopped beside her, those sharp eyes assessing. “So do you.”
Heat flamed into Daji’s cheeks and she forced a laugh. “Ah, well.” She should have guessed Naya would be so astute. “They are brothers.”
Naya shifted, clearing her throat. “About Ryden…”
Daji stifled the urge to snort and instead waved her hand. “You snuck off with him yesterday and rescued three of your sisters.” She pursed her lips. “It was reckless of you to leave without my permission, but I’m glad you enlisted the aid of others. You were acting like a Queen.” She tilted her head. “Price and I are working on a way to restore their fox spirits. To determine if anything can be done for them.” She omitted the black book. The fewer who were aware of its existence, the better.
“We have to save them,” Naya murmured.
“We will.” She clasped her hand, squeezing. “These past weeks, I’ve been more hopeful for the endurance of our race than I have been in centuries.” So true. Though her fate might be sealed into damnation, the húli jīng would thrive. Daji would fight to her last breath to ensure it. Smiling, she released Naya’s hand.
“Does this mean you’re going to keep Price?”
She stiffened at the question, fingering the pages of her book before setting it aside. How to answer? Naya would relay the information to Ryden, who would in turn inform Price. “I’m not certain.”
“How long, exactly, can a Queen keep a Consort for…” She pried deeper, twisting her hands in her lap. The inquiry pointed to one thing. Naya wished Ryden to be her mate.
“Is that a general question or do you have a particular male in mind?” she teased. “I believe as Queen you may adjust our customs.” She paused and added, “For the best interests of our people, of course.”
A few centuries ago, Daji would have been opposed to the notion. Queens, and most húli jīng, didn’t require mates. But now? Yes, Ryden was a resilient male who would care for her heir. Who might help ensure the survival of their race. So yes, she offered her blessing.
“I’m glad to see you happy.” She rubbed Naya’s arm, smiling. One of them would have a happy ending.
“Me too.” She rested her head on Daji’s shoulder. “Oh, there’s something else I had to tell you.” She exhaled slowly. “Ryden is a fox spirit.”
Daji blinked, certain she’d not heard correctly, yet the words pinged in her mind, growing louder with each clang. Ryden a húli jīng? Impossible. Even in her three thousand years, she’d never encountered a male of their species.
Naya rambled, but Daji shook her head, every inch of her body screaming to dispute what was undeniably true.
Poor Naya. So close to happiness, to have it torn from her. Daji wrung her fingers, preparing to crush the girl’s dreams. “It cannot be. If what you say is true—” Tears threatened to spring free, so she covered her mouth and squeezed them away. She was crushing her own dreams, too. “We are all doomed.”
***
Price slumped onto a stool in the kitchen, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. He wasn’t certain he’d made the best move yesterday, but it had been the only one Horse would allow.
Later, he’d talk with Daji and—
Ryden sauntered into the kitchen.
Price shot to his feet and charged toward his brother. “You.” Though he’d smoothed it over with Daji, kidnapping the Queen’s heir had to be strike three. “What the fuck have you been doing?”
“Nothing, why?” Ryden tossed up his hands, playing dumb.
Horse stomped at the untruth. “Don’t lie to me. You dragged one of my subjects on some field trip and,” he thrust a finger into Ryden’s chest, “let it loose.” He snatched the collar of his shirt, but the chain was missing. “Where the hell is your talisman?”
Ryden shoved him off. “Don’t need it anymore.”
“The fuck you don’t. Without it, you’re dangerous, Ryden.” Price wagged a finger at his brother. This was bad. “If you’re going to play games, stay the hell away from Naya. That’s not a request.”
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want. You’re not my father.” His lip curled in a snarl and he charged Price, wrestling him to the floor, and slamming his fist into Price’s jaw.
Wielding Horse’s strength, he propelled Ryden backward and leapt to his feet, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. He grimaced at the smear of blood. Correction. This was really bad. “See? You would never hit me.”
On the floor, Ryden blinked at him, then stumbled to stand, looking shaken.
Time to sort this out. “No, I’m not our father.” Price shoved his hands into his hair. “I’m the one who’s always looked out for you, and trust me, this is in your best interest.” He glared at Ryden. “I know you, and I know Daji. When you hurt that girl, Daji is going to fuck you up.” He’d witnessed how fast she could off someone who’d crossed her and he wouldn’t stand by while Ryden flaunted his irresponsibility across her path.
They both grimaced at the black claws tipping Ryden’s fingers. This thing that possessed his brother, it was precisely what their mum had asked Price to help control.
He rubbed his jaw, regarding his little brother. Ryden’s eyes had gone crazy-psycho-glowing a second before he’d punched Price. A violent action his brother never would have committed.
Ryden was much more of a pacifist.
Except when whatever inside him got loose.
Looks like it’s loose.
Even worse, his brother had strung Daji’s heir into his shit. “If anything happens to Naya, that’s their bloody future Queen. You’re messing with the fate of an entire race and it isn’t worth the risk.” Price shook his head. “Man, you look fucking evil.” A scoff puffed from his mouth. “You want Naya, you wear the talisman. Simple as that.”
Ryden frowned. “I can’t. I lost it.”
“Fine.” Price hopped onto the countertop, grabbed a banana, peeled it, and took a big bite, chewing while he considered their options. The talisman kept the beast inside chained, so wearing it was a non-negotiable. “We’ll get you another one. Mum must have gotten it somewhere.”
Ryden cleared his throat. “Price, I think I’m a—”
“Fox spirit.” Daji strolled into the kitchen, her features drawn tight. “Yes, it would appear so.”
“What happened?” Naya trailed in after Daji, perusing the evidence of their scuffle.
“Nothing.” He slammed down the line of inquiry, waving for Daji to join him. “He’s okay.” Price jerked his chin at Ryden. “Right, brother?”
He stared at his hands. “I don’t know.”
“I didn’t wish to believe it, but there is no mistaking your nature. Ryden, you are a fox spirit.” Daji’s sigh rumbled through Price. “Which also means you are our King.”
His jaw fell open. His brother was a King?
As stoic as ice, Daji elaborated, “A male húli jīng is a rare genetic mutation. Even I have never met one, but in the oldest annals of our race, there is mention of a ruling pair. Male and female. Together, these—”
A familiar clack of heels chilled his spine. What was his boss doing here?
The Matchmaker sauntered into the room, her fitted green cheongsam—traditional Chinese dress—and tight chignon indicated she wasn’t crashing any parties.
“Together, these rulers restored the balance of power,” the Matchmaker continued Daji’s story. “Yin and yang. As a female race, the húli jīng slant heavily toward yin. Too much of any one force will result in imbalance.” Her long red nails tapped against her forearms. “Therefore, your race has adapted. Whe
n the imbalance tips the scales, a male húli jīng is born. He will assume the throne alongside the Queen, and the race will thrive once more.”
“Wait.” Price hopped off the counter, processing the Matchmaker’s words. “Does this mean Ryden gets to wear a fucking crown and I don’t?” Totally unfair. He was the elder brother. Ryden rolled his eyes at Price, and he scowled. “Hey, I’m being serious. If he’s a fox spirit, maybe I am too.”
Daji rested her hand on his arm. “Even if you carried the gene, the Horse spirit animal within you would suppress such a mutation.”
So not fair. “Fine.” He puffed a deep breath. This revelation muddled the picture, instead of adding clarity to it. “None of this explains why our mother hid us, why she made him wear a talisman.”
“If my suspicions are correct, your mother was a fox spirit.” Daji regarded him, then his brother. “If she realized what he was, she would have understood the implications.”
Mum was a húli jīng? Yeah, it made sense. Although, if she’d lied about her nature, then the Chinese grandmother he’d never met had been a front, and his Chinese—Chosen—blood came from his father instead...
Ryden lowered his head. “Did I…” His voice dropped. “Did I kill her?”
Fucking hell. “No. I can’t believe you would even think that.” Price prodded his jaw. “You might have a solid right punch, but even as messed up as you are, you were only a kid then.”
“Indeed.” Daji reinforced his claim. “We have a lead on what might have happened, though. Considering your mother’s true nature, there’s a good chance the person who protected Price that night was in fact your mother.” She squeezed his arm while she inclined her head at his brother. “I assure you, whatever happened to your mother, it had nothing to do with you. She sacrificed everything to protect the two of you. Fleeing her people and suppressing your nature. At least, until you chose this for yourself.”
Ryden rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “What if I don’t assume the throne?”
I’ll kick your ass. Price kept his mouth shut, though.
The Matchmaker pegged them with her hard, obsidian stare. “Then the húli jīng will fall into extinction.”
Ryden fingered his collar. “Okay, then. What do I have to do?”
Price braced, not liking for a second how Horse stomped around inside, indicating an ominous threat.
The Matchmaker glanced between Ryden and Daji. “Traditionally? Mate the Queen.”
Horse lost it, wildly bucking. “Not bloody likely.” There had to be another solution.
Daji glided forward, out from behind his protection. “If that is what must be done.”
His heart did a flip-flop at the cool resignation in her voice. “The fuck you will.” He whirled her around, crushing her to his chest. Never would he allow his woman to become mated to his brother. “This is sick and twisted. And never going to happen.” He peered at Ryden, whose grim frown indicated he was of the same mind, then glowered at the Matchmaker. She had something else up her sleeves.
Her lips curved, her hands lowering to plant on her hips. “Honestly, would I have placed you in each other’s paths if I believed this your only course?”
Damn straight.
“There’s another way?” Naya inched forward.
“Indeed.” Mischief flashed in the Matchmaker’s eyes. “But only if you claim the one thing more powerful than Fate itself.”
Ryden marched to her side, an enormous grin on his face. “Love.”
Well, this was about to get mushy. Ryden spewed poetic nonsense, Naya beamed, and the lust in the room shot to an uncomfortable level considering the spectators.
Price studied Daji. Her face was a cool, calm mask, devoid of emotion. At the first sign of conflict, she’d thrown herself to the wolves, sacrificing everything without even consulting him.
It was as though his opinion of the situation didn’t matter to her in the least.
And that fucking hurt.
“Any other questions?” The Matchmaker cleared her throat. “Because I am a busy woman.”
“None here.” Ryden didn’t peel his stupid grin off Naya.
“Yes, of course. Thank you for coming on such short notice.” Daji rushed from the room, following after the Matchmaker.
Price scowled and stepped into the corridor. The two women scurried off together, and Daji? Didn’t even glance back.
Everything he’d worked so hard to build with her, every stepping stone of trust, crumbled.
Leaving one truth rising from the dust.
He sure as fuck wasn’t her King.
***
Daji bit her lip, forcing herself not to offer Price words she couldn’t afford.
A narrow miss. She’d been certain of her duty to mate Ryden, yet the Matchmaker had presented them with a different solution. She was glad. Naya deserved her happy fate with the male she’d chosen.
Daji had higher concerns. Doubtless, the Matchmaker had come to discuss the situation with the black book.
“Let’s take a stroll in the gardens, shall we? The húli jīng have fabulous horticultural skills.”
“Of course.” She swept her hand for the Matchmaker to proceed onto the terrace first.
“I would seek your counsel.” Daji tilted her head. “Are you aware of any method to reunite a húli jīng with her fox spirit?
“How funny you should ask.” A smile quirked one corner of her mouth. “Indeed, I have recently discovered a great asset who can assist you in this task. I’ll send her to you shortly.”
Daji parted her lips, surprised. How had that been so easy? “Thank you.” She bowed her head. It was too much. Tears pooled in her eyes. I can save them.
She blinked away the moisture and slipped her hand into the folds of her gown’s skirt. The pale cream silk grazed the tile floors, whishing as she marched forward. She removed the black book and showed it to the Matchmaker. “Please tell me you can read this.”
The Matchmaker stood a couple of inches taller than Daji, and although she was a Queen, this woman had been alive when Daji was but a youngling. She recalled meeting her for the first time, awed by the Matchmaker’s composed presence. The woman looked the same as she had three thousand years ago. Her porcelain features as beautiful and feminine, her sharp eyes as piercing, and her stiff stance equally poised.
Today, something was different. Daji studied her, determining what had changed.
Hmm. Wait. Aha. Her inner glow was the difference. “So, you have chosen that path?”
“Yes.”
“Will you not consi—”
“No.” The woman snatched the book from her hands, putting a halt to Daji’s questioning.
Well, another time.
The Matchmaker hummed, tapping her fingers across the pages. “Yes, yes.”
Daji inched closer. This was good.
“This book belonged to Xing.”
“Belonged?” Oh dear. Past tense.
“Indeed. I’m afraid he’s quite dead. Well, in Dìyù.” The Matchmaker arched a brow. “Do you recognize the name?”
Daji shook her head. “No.”
“Ah, well, he was the father of my Lotus, Natalie Quan. She executed him, mere weeks ago.”
It would prove difficult to interrogate a dead man. Hmm. Natalie Quan? Hadn’t Price mentioned that name?
That woman. The one he’d dated, and shot.
Her throat tightened.
“Perhaps you should ask her.”
“Thank you, I will. This book was found along with a bracelet. One belonging to Price’s mother.”
“Well.” The Matchmaker slapped the book closed. “The man responsible is dead. Justice has been served.”
Hardly. Daji frowned at the woman. “Can you read any of it?”
“Oh, yes. It’s an ancient yāoguài language.” Demon tongue? She lifted and dropped a shoulder. “Dates, locations. A number of victims such as Price’s mother.”
“Are the dates in the pas
t?”
The Matchmaker cracked open the book again, scanning. “No, not all of them.”
“Can you translate them for me?” She grasped for the book, but the woman snapped it shut.
“Why? Who would you save, Daji?” Her lips curled. “You have to focus on saving yourself.”
Of course, the woman was aware of Daji’s situation. Perhaps even, her curse.
“Dìyù is not a place one can easily return from. Do you have a plan?”
Definitely aware of the curse. No point in asking how. She pressed her lips together. “Are you offering advice?”
The Matchmaker handed her the book and gripped Daji’s shoulders. “I have watched you grow from a youngling who didn’t fathom her strength to a fearsome Queen. You can survive this, Daji, but not alone. Don’t discard my gift.”
After inclining her head, the Matchmaker sauntered from the gardens.
Gift? Daji blinked.
Price.
Price paced the corridors. Anger and resentment churned with each step, threatening to boil over.
Horse was equally pissed, stomping about.
Who the hell did Daji think she was? Toying with his emotions and discarding him the second it was inconvenient?
He felt like a fucking fool.
He’d been willing to carry things with her to a level he hadn’t ever with anyone. Her easy dismissal of him proved why that was a shitty idea. He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearing his head.
At least Ryden got Naya. The two were probably off somewhere, humping like rabbits. He was happy for them, really. Relationship stuff worked better for other people. Him? He preferred to roam free. Wild and untamed.
Right. Price raked a hand through his hair. His mission might as well be finished. No one required him. Ryden would be King, which made a Consort some kind of bloody joke.
What was he supposed to do? Wipe Ryden’s ass?
He snorted and headed for the portal. A fox spirit strolled toward him, and he waved her to his side. “Mind working this for me?”
“Sure.” She popped her bubble of gum and fanned her hand across the large gilded frame.
Reining Him In (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 5) Page 15