by JC Kang
“Do you have the key?” Jie’s voice came from the other end of the pool, on the other side of the now-drinking horse.
Tian turned around to the opposite direction.
Jie stood there, big eyes even bigger. “You learn fast.”
His heart swelled. Besides Princess Kaiya and Mother, nobody had ever complimented him. He held out the key. “Meisha got it from Lord Shi.”
Taking it, Jie patted him on the head. “We’ll make a Black Lotus of you yet. Now, go back to the house and keep the steward and the rest of the staff occupied, and away from the main residence.”
Tian put his fist in his palm in salute, swung back up onto the horse, and trotted to Lord Shi’s home. The guard still stood outside. Tian dismounted and handed him the reins. “The steward wanted me to report.”
The guard nodded and opened the door.
That was easy. Tian bobbed his head and went through, his third time entering in the same day. He paused at the inner gate and scanned the courtyard. The old servant was cleaning up the dishes. Lights in the east wing were unshuttered, where the maid, Tang Li, hummed to herself. Steward Zhu was unaccounted for. The only other building with light spilling from the windows was the first floor of the main residence.
A shadow flitted across the unshuttered window. Large in size, it could only be the steward, unless someone else had come while he was gone. Either way, Jie would be inside soon.
Tian strode across the courtyard as fast as his legs could take him without actually breaking into a jog. The old servant continued with cleaning up, never turning in his direction. In the east wing window, Tang Li looked up from her work, but showed no sign of seeing him.
He came to the door to the main house and eased it open. He peeked in.
Climbing the steps to the second floor, the steward was holding a pile of folded clothes. If Jie had already reached the bedroom, he’d walk in on her.
Which meant Tian would’ve failed with his part of his mission. Failed his new family.
Steward Zhu was nearing the second floor now.
Tian pushed the door all the way open and stepped in. “Steward Zhu!”
The steward halted. “Little Tian. You’re back.”
“Yes.” Nodding, Tian shuffled to the center of the foyer. “You said you had some sweets.”
The steward turned and came down the stairs. The grin he wore looked the same as those of the Hummingbirds looking to hold hands with the Blossoms.
Tian’s stomach twisted. He touched his lips. “I’m thirsty.”
“Well, I’ll go get you some wine.” Smiling, the steward set the clothes down on a chair by the door, and left.
That might buy a few minutes; less, if the steward was in a hurry. Blowing out a breath, Tian raced up the stairs.
The door to the middle room opened, revealing Jie, knife in hand and murder in her eyes. “Quick thinking. You just saved his life.”
Tian swallowed hard. Hold the dragonfly with care, Princess Kaiya’s voice sang in his head, for even their little lives have value. Was recovering the contents of the safe for the clan worth killing for?
Jie darted across the mezzanine to Lord Shi’s rooms, picked the lock as if it were a toy, and darted in.
He should stay here, stall the steward, but every nerve ending tingled with excitement. Tian followed.
By the time he got there, Jie was already standing on the bed, holding up both keys. They glowed in the light of the moons.
It was a beautiful shade of blue. Tian’s lips rounded of their own accord.
Focused on her task, Jie didn’t even acknowledge his presence.
✽ ✽ ✽
Like the first time at the safe, Jie’s heart pounded. The keys glowed, but what if Lord Shi’s didn’t fit? What if it did fit, but one or the other didn’t turn?
Ear to the safe door, she twisted the dial back and forth, the sound of the clicks oddly comforting. When it made a clunking sound like the first time, she inserted the steward’s key in the bottom. Then, she took a deep breath and tried the second key.
It fit.
She blew out that breath. Everything needed to open the lock was here.
Except an extra set of hands. She’d need Tian’s help. She turned—
And there he was. Not standing lookout. A reprimand died on her lips as she beckoned him.
He hurried over.
Looking out the window to see the Iridescent Moon nearing full, she handed him the timepiece. “Let’s see if your trick works.”
Nodding, he received the timepiece and held it in front of the moonstone, adjusting the distance so that its shadow covered it. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” No. Her heart was racing so fast, her fingers trembled. Well, she didn’t need a steady hand to turn a pair of keys.
He poked out the mud caked in the first grill, allowing light from the Iridescent Moon to trickle through and shine on the moonstone, as if it were fifth waxing crescent.
Moment of truth. Jie turned both keys.
They didn’t budge.
Out in the courtyard, glass smashed, and something hit the ground.
Tian turned his head to the window, but then tore his attention away from the courtyard and cleared out the next grill, with the same result on the lock. He hurriedly poked the mud from the next.
Jie turned the keys.
The safe clicked.
Her heart swelled. Finally! Tian’s timepiece trick worked. The safe would unlock during the third waxing crescent.
They were so close to discovering Lilian’s secret, Jie could taste it. She pulled the safe door open.
A cloud of powder puffed out, hitting Jie square in the face. Shit. She might have a second of consciousness. She spun to shove Tian away.
Before she reached him, everything went black.
Chapter 17
Pulse pounding in her ears, Tang Li ran up the steps. Lord Shi’s safe would be open and unguarded. At long last, she could finish this job for her employer. Far beyond her meager lockpicking skills, she’d had to trick the half-elf into doing it for her.
How Tang Li knew the half-elf could it, and why this was more than a job, she wasn’t sure. Though not prone to curiosity—a trait which made her perfect for her line of work—she’d developed an inexplicable urge to see what was in the safe. Ever since she’d taken tea with Lilian a couple of weeks ago. What had been a long game became urgent.
Now, she could satisfy that niggle and leave this pitiful house. The safe was the only reason she’d been here, having to tolerate sharing both the miserly lord’s and the young lord’s beds for nearly a year, playing them off one another in an attempt to figure out which key was the real one. Then again, fucking them wasn’t much different from her former life as a Blossom in the Chrysanthemum Pavilion, where she’d been keeping a close eye on Gardener Ju until Lord Yang had bought out her contract.
This was just one job out of the many she’d taken on since, though rarely did she get her own hands dirty like today. Violence was never her preferred option, but smashing a vase over Steward Zhu’s head had been quick and expedient. Old Yi was too nearsighted to be a threat; and the poof of air indicated the half-elf must’ve triggered the safe’s last trap.
She tiptoed up to the door, though some of the boards did creak beneath her. It wasn’t like the Floating World, where all the floorboards chirped, but if the half-elf and her friend from earlier in the day were still awake…
Withdrawing the key to Lord Shi’s room, she unlocked the door and peered in.
The safe was open.
The half-elf and boy lay sprawled out on the bed, the gentle rise and fall of their chests indicating the poison hadn’t killed them. Thank the heavens. Better that no one had to die for the contents of the safe; and as long as they never figured out who’d tricked them, they might be resources to use for a future job.
Covering her nose and mouth with a cloth, just in case, she climbed up onto the bed and picked her way past them. It w
as a hard surface, which Lord Shi claimed helped his back pain; but it always left her sore when they’d fucked on it.
Heart racing, she looked inside the safe. Some things, she’d expected: stock certificates in Jinjing Holdings, held in trust by the late Gardener Ju. A ball of yue, most likely the illegal, addictive forgery made by Jinjing Lumber.
Two things she didn’t know what to make of: a raw gold nugget. Then, there were the rumpled sheets embossed with a five-star dragon, marred with a blood stain. From as assignation in her former life as a Blossom, she recognized the other patterns in the sheets: it was bedding from an inn in Yanhu, a scenic town on the shores of Teardrop Lake, which was supposedly formed when the Goddess Guanyin’s tear fell to Earth.
Of course. Lord Ting, Lord Yang, Lord Shi, and Lord Tong had all travelled to Yanhu with the Emperor many years ago. Heavens knew Lord Shi would never let anyone forget about it. He was saving this bedsheet for leverage, for when he made his power play.
She pulled the sheets further out, and something clinked out onto the floor. She looked—
Her knees buckled. Bony arms wrapped around her neck. She clawed at them, but to no avail. Disjointed thoughts raced through her mind as lightheadedness took over. Darkness encroached from the edge of her vision, and her arms and legs went limp. Then, nothing.
✽ ✽ ✽
No, no, no. Hold the dragonfly with care…. Tian released the rear naked choke on Tang Li, hoping he hadn’t accidentally killed her. He eased her down to the bed. Setting his ear to her mouth, he stared at her chest.
It rose and fell, and the warmth of her breath tickled his ear.
He blew out his own breath. Thank the heavens.
Scooching over to Jie, he studied her. Asleep, she looked even more fae-like, like a being descended from heaven, instead of some spirit trickster.
Though maybe he was the real trickster.
Throughout the evening, he’d been trying to figure out how Jie had gotten the key, and how Fixer Zhang had known about Lord Shi’s decision to go to Lord Wu’s moons-viewing party. Riding back and forth between the quays and Lord Shi’s house, it started coming to him.
One of the few people who knew about Shi Han’s First Pollination was Old Feng. The only one able to get Lord Shi’s fake key was Tang Li, who’d distracted the lord to help Tian escape the house earlier in the day. Maybe it wasn’t because she mistook him for Shi Han, but because she knew he was helping Jie.
With access and knowledge, Steward Zhu had been the other option; but when Tian had seen Tang Li smash a vase over his head…
He looked down at her now. Fixer Zhang. She wasn’t skilled in stealth, and she hadn’t noticed Tian playing dead. Thank the heavens, Jie, even unconscious, had been able to shove him clear of the dust cloud.
Once the half-elf came to, they’d be able to question Tang Li and finally get some answers.
Chapter 18
Mission accomplished, Wen bowed low, her back burning from where it had been rubbed up against the wall.
Hands on his knees, Lord Shi leaned over, breaths heaving. Now that he was sated, she’d find a corner to hole up in, away from men who might want her.
“Thank you, my Lord,” she said. Thanking him for his part in helping the cell accomplish their mission. She held out her wrists, still bound by his—or rather, his son’s—necklace.
Grinning, he straightened. “Oh, I’m not done yet.”
No? She tried to hide the disappointment and disgust welling in her chest.
Not that he cared what she thought. He ogled her. “I’ll take you to Heaven and back a dozen times over. If you think my son was good, prepare yourself for a real man.”
Young Shi Han had been almost tender at the end. It was doubtful his father would even consider it. Still, there was no way to extricate herself from this. Maybe faking a few climaxes would get it over with sooner.
He grabbed her hips, spun her around and prodded her to one of the barrels. He bent her over it.
She suppressed a sigh. Despite his age, he was like a boy on the cusp of manhood, rebounding quickly, taking her from behind. Now, her chest and belly would be as rubbed as raw as her back.
The position provided a view of the keg, and she focused on the grain pattern. It was a familiar-looking barrel. Something about the lines and whorls. It was hard to focus on the design of nature’s hand on the wood, as she heaved back and forth over it. Its contents swished like sand, and something else rattled.
Rattled.
It was the barrel from Lord Shi the porters had brought in. Supposedly wheat wine.
Which shouldn’t be rattling. Nor should it smell like someone pissed on a burnt log. Nose crinkling, she twisted to look at the side.
Wine. Jinjing County.
It was the barrel from when they’d boarded, which hadn’t been on the list of gifts.
The porters had suggested an identical one had been brought aboard the imperial barge. Which meant…
She screamed, an ear-splitting shriek which would never be mistaken as one of pleasure.
Gasping, Lord Shi backed away. His eyes went wide. “What’s the matter? Are you all right?”
Wen screamed again, picking up her clothes with her still-bound hands and pulling them to her chest. The act would make her words more believable.
His expression twisted into genuine concern.
Maybe he wasn’t so awful a person, but he was still a traitor. She screamed again.
“What’s wrong? Please, tell me.”
She huddled back into the corner, bringing her knees to her chest as if terrified. Let whoever came in think that.
The doors burst open, revealing a pair of armed guards in Zhenjing Province’s blue livery. “What’s the matter here?” one said.
Lord Shi swept up his robe and clutched it to his chest with one hand, while gesturing to her with another. “I don’t know. She won’t stop screaming.”
Of course, nobody would take a Blossom’s word over a great lord’s. Unless there was physical proof. She pointed a shaking finger at the barrel. “It’s a firepowder trap.”
“What?” Lord Shi took several steps back.
The guards drew their swords.
More importantly… Wen raised the back of her wrist to the forehead. “I overheard the porters talking. There’s another one aboard the imperial barge.”
One of the guards dashed out, while the other set his blade to Lord Shi’s throat.
“I don’t know what’s going on.” Head shaking, Lord Shi raised his hands.
Was he telling the truth? Or acting? Wen studied him.
The fear in his eyes wasn’t a giveaway; he’d be afraid whether he was a conspirator or not. But there was apparently something in his safe that Fixer Zhang wanted, and which supposedly tied Lilian to more than just the assassination of Lord Ting.
Young Lord Wu stormed in, more guards in tow. A young man, he had the strong chin and high cheekbones of Hua’s middle coast. His hair was pinned back. “Lord Shi, explain yourself.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Bowing low, Lord Shi babbled, barely coherent. “It’s not from me. It’s not mine.”
“The Emperor’s investigators will have to determine that. Take him.” Lord Wu jerked his head to the side, and the guards hurried to follow his orders.
Wen looked to Lord Shi with sympathetic eyes. Besides the official investigators, the clan would also take part. Sometimes, pain was involved.
Young Lord Wu looked to her, his eyes less leering, more kind. “Are you all right?”
Wen bowed low, still keeping herself covered as if she really were modest. “Yes, my Lord.”
“Men, come. Let’s give the young woman some privacy. We’re going back to the docks.” With a bob of his head, he turned on his heel and left.
The guards led Lord Shi out after him, but then he spun around and reached for her. “The key. Give me my key.”
The guards restrained him and dragged him out to the main cabin.
Young Shi Han was already there, hands on his head, surrounded by guards. The poor boy. Surely he couldn’t have known about his father’s treachery?
Epilogue
Aloud groan jolted Tang Li into consciousness. Her body ached, and her head felt as if it had been crushed in an Arkothi wine press. She hadn’t been so miserable since a patron had forced her to drink enough rice wine to drown a small village. She started to rise, only to find her wrists and ankles bound and secured to something, as they’d been when she’d had the misfortune of receiving Lord Tong a few years ago. She opened her eyes.
Darkness. Because of a blindfold.
Her heart leaped into her throat. Was this one of Lord Tong’s games? No, that was years ago, and after she’d earned out her bond she’d only fucked men of her choosing; usually to establish connections. Thankfully, she’d never had to endure the sick games Lord Tong enjoyed. So where was she now?
She’d just pulled the contents out of Lord Shi’s safe, that’s it. She’d been so close to satisfying a need to open it. Then, someone had choked her.
And they’d let her live.
She listened.
She was alone, and this was Lord Shi’s hard bed. Where were—
“You’re awake,” the half-elf said, her pained tone sounding as if she’d been choked out as well. Right, she’d breathed in the toxin, which should’ve kept her knocked out for a few hours.
Tang Li gasped. Had she been out that long? Unless whoever had choked her had revived the half-elf. “What do you want?”
“Many things, but mainly I want to know about Lilian.”
Lilian… “We had tea last week.”
“What did you talk about?” Excitement rose in Jie’s voice.
What had they talked about? Tang Li’s appointment book showed they’d sat for two hours, but she only recalled greeting each other, then leaving. “I don’t remember.”
Silence.
Then the blindfold came off.
Tang Li craned her neck and turned her head. The half-elf stood there, holding the side of her head. Directly ahead, the Iridescent Moon shone in the south window. It was now waxing toward its fourth gibbous. She’d been out for only a few minutes.