by Alice Wilde
“I doubt that’s really possible, seeing how well things are going for you.”
“This is not the time to be talking,” I gasp.
“You’re right.” Roan laughs before leaning back and slowly pulling out of me and then re-entering as quickly as he can. He does this a few more times, the intensity of my own desire growing with each thrust.
Ero drops lower on the bed, pulling me into a passionate kiss just as Roan lays down on top of me, both continuing to rock in and out and against me. The moment Ero’s lips meet mine, my body explodes with sensation and pleasure once again. It’s as if every emotion and physical sensation is instantly three times more wonderful and terrifying.
Just when I’m certain I’m going to die from pleasure, I come, and so do my men. Roan pants as he rolls over onto the bed beside us, and Ero releases me from our kiss so I can do the same.
The three of us lie silently on the bed, breathing heavily for several minutes in exhaustion.
“I’ve ruined these pants,” Ero finally says, and we can’t help but laugh.
“I think I can learn to accept living like this,” Roan says quietly, turning his face toward me and giving me a soft kiss on the cheek.
I’m surprised when Ero doesn’t say anything and turn to look at him only to find he’s fallen asleep.
“Well, hopefully he’ll wake up feeling much more like himself after all of that,” I say quietly to Roan as he pulls me into an embrace.
“You ken, wife,” Roan says, gently tracing the edge of my face with a finger, “I wouldn’t mind if we had a bit more alone time. At least every now and then.”
“I suppose that would be acceptable,” I say with a soft smile, closing my eyes to rest in the summery warmth of his arms.
With all three of my men back by my side, the future doesn’t seem quite so dark.
Twenty-Two
Li
“You sent for me?”
Luo’s back is to me as he leans over a table on the far side of the room, but he slowly turns to face me as I speak.
“Li,” Luo says slowly. “Who did you say you were?”
“I didn’t,” I answer deliberately.
Luo’s eyes narrow ever so slightly at my response, but otherwise his face remains unchanging.
“Let’s suppose you did,” the emperor continues. “What would your answer be?”
I watch him as he starts to pace the room, forcing myself to keep a straight face while I try to think of a logical answer to his question.
“I’m Chinese,” I finally say. “I assumed that was quite obvious.”
“But you’re not like most of us, are you? In fact, you shouldn’t even be alive.”
My brow furrows at this, wondering what he’s getting at. “What exactly does that book of yours say?”
Luo stops pacing and turns toward me. “That book is one of the few ancient texts from before humans ruled the earth,” he says. “When spirits and gods still walked openly among the living, as if it were their personal playground. That book contains the very essence of our future.”
“Why have I never heard of it?” I ask skeptically.
“You probably have,” Luo says. “There are, or at least were, only two in all the world, but they go by different names. The other was lost a long time ago, but this one has been handed down from emperor to emperor for thousands of years. No one else is supposed to read its contents. So, let me ask you again, who are you?”
I don’t answer immediately, but then take a deep breath and look Luo squarely in the face.
“My name is Li, and I am the long-lost son of Emperor Wu, and heir to the dragon throne,” I say with a clear, commanding voice.
The emperor nods his head, not seeming surprised in the slightest.
“That’s what I thought,” he says. “Come here.”
He walks back over to the book and points down onto the page as I walk over to stand next to him.
“What do you see?”
I look down at the book, half expecting to see some nonsensical prophecy scrawled out in riddle form across the pages. But what I don’t expect is to see words changing on the pages even as I watch.
“What…?” I start to say, glancing up at Luo and then back down at the book. “It’s writing itself as we speak?”
“It’s the book of memories and life,” the emperor says, suddenly growing excited. “You see how thick the book is? That’s because it holds the secrets to the future as well as the memories of the past. But the future is always changing. This is why the book appears to be writing itself even as we speak.”
“What about the other book?”
“The sister book is called The Dark Book of Lethe.”
“You can’t be serious,” I say in shock.
“Unfortunately, I am. These two books, when in the wrong hands, compete with each other and the fate of the world. This creates greater and greater imbalance as one grows significantly thinner and the other larger. Before you were kidnapped from the palace, this book was many times as thick as it is now.”
“What does this all mean?” I ask.
“Over the past few centuries, the book slowly seemed to lose pages, but over the past few months, it’s gotten significantly thinner by the day. The pages that have already been written remain unchanged—for now—but it’s the future I’m worried about. It’s as though the book is preparing for the end of the world.”
I crouch down to look at the book at eye-level. If what Luo says is right, then we don’t have much time left.
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Only emperors are allowed access to this knowledge,” Luo says. “Seeing how you were once heir to the throne, I thought it was acceptable to let you in on this secret. Besides, I think you need to know what the prophecy says about you and your companions.”
Luo begins flipping through the book again to find the page he’s looking for. I stare down at the text and then step back in astonishment at what I’ve just read.
“That can’t be right,” I say in disbelief. “It’s just not possible.”
“I can’t say if it is or isn’t,” the emperor says, shutting the book and returning it to its locked box. “The future is constantly changing, but you’ll have to make that decision when the time comes.”
“I have to tell Annalise,” I say, still trying to wrap my head around what I’ve just read.
Luo strides over to me and grabs me by my shoulders, shaking me as hard as he can.
“You can’t say anything to anyone, especially not Annalise, or it may change the outcome.”
“You’ve got to be joking.”
“I wish I were, but it’s part of the emperor’s burden. We may know more about the future than most, but there’s only so much we can do. If you try to force things to change, you’re more likely to bring about the outcome you don’t want. I need you to trust me on this…I’m speaking from experience.”
I look at him curiously.
“My wife,” Luo says. “I am the reason she’s dead. When I first received the book, I read that my wife would die in childbirth.”
He turns away from me, pacing the room once again. “Fool that I was, I did everything in my power to keep her from getting pregnant,” Luo says, his voice cold. “Even to the point of secretly feeding her medicines to force miscarriages.”
The emperor stops and looks over his shoulder at me, his jaw tight and his nostril’s flaring.
“Nevertheless, one of her pregnancies stuck, and by the time she told me, it was too late for me to do anything about it without physically harming her. When I realized this, I finally broke down and told her what I had been doing and why. She was furious with me but adamant about having the child. So, I did some research and convinced her to take a special blend of herbs I had made specifically to keep her as healthy as possible…and then I waited, and she still died the same day she gave birth, just like the book said she would.”
“I’m truly sorry,” I
say. “But death in childbirth isn’t an uncommon thing.”
“That’s the best part,” Luo says with a bitter laugh. “According to the physician, the only reason she died was because of the medicine I’d asked her to take. And the only reason she agreed to take it in the first place was because I told her about the prophecy. If I’d just left well enough alone, she might still be alive today.”
“Oh.”
“I haven’t looked into the future since, but, of course, that didn’t stop me from trying to fix it all with an even darker magic.”
“We all do crazy things for the ones we love,” I say quietly, but more to myself than in response to the emperor. “Very well, I won’t say anything about what I’ve learned here today.”
“Good,” Luo says. “Now, go prepare yourself. You have to leave the palace by morning.”
“What?” I ask incredulously. “But we need your help.”
“I can’t be seen helping you, and I won’t put my people in harm’s way. I’ve seen what can happen when I try to interfere with the future.”
“But we can’t stop the end of the world without you. We need an army,” I say fiercely. “That was the whole point of us coming here in the first place.”
“It can’t be done,” the emperor says coldly. “You’ll have to find another way.”
“And what about the favor you owe us?”
“Consider the fact that I’ve allowed you to look into your future and still stay one more night in my home as repayment,” Luo replies. “Or, if that doesn’t please you, you can leave now.”
I clench my teeth together in an effort not to lash out at him. “We’ll stay the night,” I finally say through tight lips.
“Fine, but I expect you to be gone by dawn at the latest.”
I spin on my heel and stride across the room to leave, not wanting to say another word lest I’m unable to keep my tongue in check.
“Heaven’s Gate,” Luo says, just as I’m about to leave the room. “Sometimes our most powerful allies aren’t our allies at all.”
I pause for a moment, standing at the threshold as I try to think of a response to this strangely cryptic remark…and then I shake my head in frustration and push through the heavy curtains to make my way back to Annalise.
I don’t know how I’m going to break this news to her, or what we’re even supposed to do now…
I stop just outside the entrance to Annalise’s bedroom, my stomach churning with rage as well as…jealousy. Not an emotion I had anticipated. It feels irrational to me, but I can hear the sounds of ecstasy coming from within the room. With everything I’ve just learned, imagining Annalise with anyone else is about the last thing I can handle right now.
Leaning against the wall outside, I slide down it and into a seated position as I wait for them to finish. I’m heartbroken in more ways than one, but I need to be able to control my emotions so I can think things through rationally.
Rubbing my temples with one hand, I try to busy myself by coming up with a plan, but my thoughts are scattered in every direction. I can’t do this alone. The room quiets, but I remain sitting alone outside the bedroom for a while longer. Getting to my feet, I take a deep breath and then enter the room.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t all three of them sleeping in bed together. It’s most men’s worst nightmare come to life, finding your woman in bed with another man, but for some reason, it’s surprisingly comforting to me. I tuck away the strange thought for the time being, promising myself to return to it later.
“We have a problem,” I say loud enough to startle them awake. “We have to leave by morning.”
“What do you mean?” Annalise says, bolting up in bed, her hair a wild, golden cloud around her.
“The emperor’s orders.”
“What happened to make him ask us to leave?” Roan says.
“He considers us a danger to his people,” I answer vaguely. “We need to come up with a plan for our next course of action.”
“How can we suddenly be a danger to his people?” Annalise asks, her eyes full of frustration. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Ero mumbles in a teasing way.
“I can’t say.”
“You can’t say, or you don’t know?” Roan asks.
“All I know for certain,” I say, choosing my words carefully, “is that we have been ordered out of the palace by dawn, and we need to come up with our next plan of action…and fast.”
Annalise suddenly bursts into tears, and we all look at her in surprise.
“I’m sorry,” she says through her sobs. “I don’t mean to cry. Everything is just so overwhelming. What with being pregnant, our Vikings destroyed, and now being kicked out of the palace without any hope of an army…”
My eyes widen as she speaks. “What happened to the Vikings?” I ask warily.
“Damien killed them,” Ero says coldly. “His magic is already far more formidable than it ever was before. He’s quite literally draining the life out of the world bit by bit.”
“Death magic. Of course. He’s started to unlock the Curse of Lethe, and it’s only going to get worse from here,” I say, more to myself than anyone else.
“I don’t know what to do,” Annalise says worriedly as Roan wraps an arm around her shoulders.
I cross the room to a nearby chair and sit, trying to think through every detail. “Ero, how did Damien kill the Vikings?” I ask after several minutes of thought.
“I’m not really sure, but his men were like shadows. One minute, they were there, cutting the throats of my men. The next, gone.”
“Cao, shadow men.”
“I’m just saying that’s what they looked like,” Ero says.
“No, I think they’re actually shadow men,” I say. “They thrive off of death, flitting here and there as if they were shadows. They often live between realms but can phase into our realm in the wake of terrible dark magic, often clinging to the conjurer much like a shadow would…although far deadlier.”
Annalise stares at me, her mouth agape in shock. “How are we supposed to destroy an army made up of shadows and sorcery?” she asks.
“I don’t know…” I trail off as a thought comes to me. “The emperor said something just as I was leaving. I didn’t understand it in the moment, but I think he might be right.”
“And?” Roan coaxes.
“He mentioned Heaven’s Gate,” I say. “It’s a mountain a few hundred miles southwest of here.”
“Oh great, a mountain,” Ero says. “What are we going to do? Jump off it?”
“There’s a legend about this particular mountain,” I say, giving Ero a warning glare. “It’s said that the king of dragons lives there.”
“Dragons?” Annalise asks. “As if things weren’t crazy enough in this world.”
“I know, but perhaps the best way to fight magic is with magic.”
“Are you suggesting that we go find a dragon?” Roan asks.
“I’m suggesting that we try to convince him as well as other magical beings to help us take down Damien before it’s too late. Just think about it, we didn’t even realize how many of these legends were true until just a few weeks ago. What better chance do we have at defeating Damien then raising our own magic army?”
“You’re right,” Ero says. “You do sound crazy.”
I sigh, sitting back in my chair. “Do you have any better ideas?”
We sit in silence for a long time as we all try to come up with a plan.
“Li’s right,” Annalise finally says. “We can’t defeat Damien alone; he’s proven that time and again. After everything we’ve already been through, what’s the worst that could happen? We’ve already come this far, we might as well keep trying until the bitter end.”
Roan, Ero, and I look at each other and then at Annalise.
“Command, and we shall obey, lass,” Roan says with a deep sigh.
“I’m starting to reg
ret promising you my life,” Ero says with a halfhearted grin.
But I know what he’s feeling. I think we all do. That this…this might be the end.
Twenty-Three
Annalise
I know I should sleep while I have the chance, but I can’t. We’d eaten dinner quietly and then prepared several bags to take with us on our journey. Li was kind enough to hunt down my leather boots as well as a more reasonable set of clothes for me to wear tomorrow, plus sets for each of the men. Now, here we all are, anxiously waiting for morning.
Li suddenly sits up, and the other two react much the same way. He holds out a hand to signal that we should stay quiet, and then I hear it, too. Footsteps headed our way.
The door slowly opens, and we watch with bated breath to see who enters.
“You need to leave, now!” Luo’s voice carries across the room in a harsh whisper. “The city is under attack from northern armies. Follow me!”
All three of my men are on their feet in an instant, pulling their shirts and shoes on. I hurry to do the same and barely manage to get my boots on before Roan scoops me up in his arms. Luo guides us through the maze of hallways and into part of the palace I’ve never seen before.
“Down here,” the emperor says, opening a secret door in the floor. “Follow the tunnels, they’ll lead you outside the city.”
“Aren’t you coming with us?” I ask.
“No, my place is here. I’ve done enough wrong in my past; I won’t flee from whatever fate has in store for me. Now, go!”
“Thank you,” Li says, squeezing the emperor’s shoulder and then dropping down into the dark tunnel below.
Roan passes me down into Li’s arms, and then he and Ero drop down into the tunnel as well.
“Good luck,” Luo whispers.
The door snaps shut above us, leaving us in complete and utter darkness. The air is thick and musky, as if the tunnel hadn’t been opened in a hundred years, and I can barely stand the smell of it.
“Awesome,” Ero says with a groan. “We can’t see or breathe now; he could have just told us he wanted to kill us.”