Chapter Thirty-Eight
I WOKE TO THE SOFTEST KNOCK.
Wincing, I cradled my head as the worst vasovagal syncope hangover of my life crushed me against the pillow. The room spun, my mouth watered, and it was honestly touch and go if I would be violently sick.
The knock came again, making Whisper snarl from where he towered over me, sitting as stiff as the lion statues outside. Unlike the weed-covered beasts, the black-pelted cat took up most of the bed, sitting primly with his tail wrapped tight around his front paws, his eyes locked on the door.
Gritting my teeth, I sat up.
I couldn’t get my bearings at all.
Everywhere I looked was wreathed in darkness and...slightly singed.
The temple-like ceiling was no longer proud with straight beams but depressed with drooping wood. The pearlescent walls were dull. The furniture charred.
I remembered coming inside and marvelling at the beauty. I recalled the crush of staff all welcoming Lucien home. But...
I frowned, trying to remember what happened next.
The tinkle of keys interrupted me just before the door swung open.
“Xiao Lu?” Three silhouettes entered the pavilion, framed by the lanterns gleaming outside.
Whisper roared.
Launching himself off the bed, the panther flew toward the unwanted visitors, ready to disembowel.
“Don’t!” I kicked off the blankets, getting tangled in my rush. “Whisper!”
A chorus of screams rang out.
“Whisper. Stop it!”
He paced like a prison guard, snapping at the three guests as they cowered together, clinging to whatever they held in their hands.
“Is it...is it safe?”
I recognised the voice.
Auntie Mei?
What...what was she doing here so late?
Finally freeing myself from the confounded blankets, I swung my legs over the bed. “Come here, you oversized pest.”
Whisper’s eyes caught the moonlight pouring through the circular window—his expression hinting he’d much rather indulge in murder.
“If you’re here with me and not Lucien, I know he would’ve given you orders to obey me, so...” I patted my thigh, brushing down my wrinkled white skirt. “Come here.”
The huge cat grumbled and stalked reluctantly back to me. Planting his rump directly in front of the bed, his claws dug into the wooden floorboards as if imagining he sank them into the women’s necks.
“Can we come in?” Auntie Mei asked warily.
“Yes. Sorry. He’s just not used to unannounced visitors, that’s all.” I rested my hand on the back of his stiff neck. “He won’t hurt you. I’m sorry he scared—”
“No, no, it’s me who should apologise.” Auntie Mei stepped deeper into the room.
Bustling toward the lamps scattered about, she turned them on as she went.
“I didn’t mean to intrude. I would never usually just let myself in like that.
..but I was worried.” Her gaze landed on the singed corners and sooty furniture.
She tensed but continued walking...almost as if she’d seen such things before.
I tapped my temple, trying to jog the rest of my memory. This happened sometimes. My system tried to protect me by removing the very thing that caused me to blackout in the first place.
Auntie Mei skirted around a charred cushion; her expression resigned instead of shocked. Giving me a polite smile, she said, “I’ve been waiting for you both for a while. But when night fell and you didn’t appear, I grew concerned.”
“Where’s Lucien?” I asked, my heart starting to race.
“I thought he was with you.” Auntie Mei came to a stop, close but not too close—Whisper hissing as she strayed over his imaginary line.
“He’s not here.” Worry flared bright as I glanced around the empty bedroom. “Are you sure you haven’t seen him?”
She shook her head, her silvering hair secured with a wooden pin. “No, but I’ve been busy tending to the family temple and preparing Xiao Lu’s father’s office...just in case he intends to visit. Perhaps I just didn’t see him.”
Urgency shot me to my feet. “I need to find him. I need to know if he’s okay.”
“I saw him.” One of the pretty girls who’d taken a liking to him when we’d first arrived piped up. She came to join Auntie Mei, holding a tray of covered dishes. “I spied him running through the eastern gardens this afternoon.”
“So he still likes to run.” Auntie Mei nodded proudly. “He was always running about when he was a child.”
He’s okay then.
That’s good.
That’s...
Something gnawed at me. “How long ago did you see him? Was it recently?”
“Oh no.” The girl shook her head. “It’s midnight now, so it was a while ago. But he might’ve just gotten distracted visiting his favourite places and fallen asleep somewhere by accident.”
“Lanlan is probably right,” Auntie Mei agreed.
“Xiao Lu was always disappearing as a boy. He was a terror at hide and seek. He’d always vanish into the Ran Feng caves.
” She noticed my slight frown and added, “That means the Burning Phoenix caves. The mountain is riddled with waterways and pools. It was his favourite place as a child.”
If Lucien was burning from too many people—if he’d reached a level where he couldn’t cope...he’d go there. He’d seek out the coldest, quietest place possible.
My eyes met Whisper’s.
We had to go.
Had to find him—
“You arrived at noon and haven’t eaten since. You must be starving.” Auntie Mei pointed at Lanlan and the overladen tray. “I brought all his favourite dishes along with something for...his pet.”
“If there’s anything else you fancy, please just let me know.” Lanlan smiled before heading to the low dining table and depositing the trays. The flavours of ginger, garlic, and sesame hit my nose. Removing one of the covers, she placed a large bowl of chunky meat on the floor.
Whisper licked his lips, torn between guard duty and an empty stomach.
“I also noticed you arrived with no luggage.” Auntie Mei dragged my attention back to her, even though my racing heart drowned me in worry.
I needed to go.
I have to find him—
Auntie Mei waved the other girl forward.
She held a tray piled high with clothes, jewellery, and crystal bottles.
“I’ve brought a selection of toiletries.
One of my close friends makes them with local ingredients.
The jewellery is just a few things that have been gathering dust in the vault, and the clothes.
..” She shrugged sadly. “They’re the only thing we have until I go shopping in the village.
They belonged to Xiao Lu’s mother but they’re still in good condition, even if they’re old. ”
“Wait...” I drew myself up with a gasp. “You’re giving me Lucien’s mother’s clothes?”
Auntie Mei nodded. “I know it’s not ideal. But they’re clean and beautiful. If you can tolerate wearing them for a few days, I’ll arrange some modern things, but for now...” She winced as if she’d offended me. “This is all we have.”
My fingers strayed to my necklace, memories of my own mother coming far too fast to stop. I choked—
“Miss?” Auntie Mei stepped forward, wrenching to a stop as Whisper growled. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name, but...are you alright?”
I nodded, rubbing my eyes and flatly refusing to have another attack so soon after the last one. “I’m fine. I’m fine. And...my name’s Rook.”
She smiled. “Lovely to meet you, Miss Rook.”
“Likewise.” I forced myself to be polite, even as impatience chewed me alive. Wherever Lucien was, I had to find him. Every minute that ticked past made me feel...strange.
Like part of me was fading, dying...
I stepped toward her. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I really need to find Lucien.”
She cocked her head a little. “You know...you say his name differently than the rest of us.”
“I do?”
Whisper grumbled and gave up guarding me in favour of stuffing his face. With a half-hearted hiss, he gave Auntie Mei fierce instructions not to get up to anything, then stalked toward the bowl of meat.
Auntie Mei shuddered as he wolfed down his dinner. “We say Luxin. Similar to how you say it...but not the same.”
Curiosity scratched me. “And that other name you call him? Xiao Lu?”
She laughed quietly as if my question dredged up the past. “It means Little Furnace. In English, Luxin translates to Furnace Heart.”
My knees almost gave out.
Luxin.
Furnace Heart.
Something yanked hard on my soul.
A sudden vicious tug as if my heart had been wrenched clean out of my chest.
Fire.
Everywhere.
Burning.
Burning.
My vision shot white, ripping me from the pavilion and dumping me somewhere else.
Fire licked at stone, curling around a rounded ceiling, melting rock until it rivered to the ground. Fire roared, turning pebbles into liquid. Flames howled, heating glacial water into boiling steam.
Lucien sat cross-legged in the middle of a pool, the epicentre of the rampage. His hands clawed at his knees, his chin ground against his chest, his entire skin blistered with fire—
I staggered as the vision cut short, dumping me back into his room.
Everything seemed perfectly normal but...I felt him.
Felt his heart thundering its last beats, his lungs failing, his body screaming on the edge of collapse.
Dying.
He’s dying.
And here I was talking.
My gaze landed on blackened handprints on the floor, triggering what I’d forgotten.
Lucien hunting me across the floor.
Begging me to help keep him alive—
“Lucien!” Clutching my chest as if I could physically hold my breaking heart together, I lurched past Auntie Mei and ran for the open doors.
“Miss Rook?” She spun after me. “Where are you going?”
Whisper abandoned his dinner and flew with me.
I didn’t stop to apologise.
I just ran in the direction my heart was yanking me—the invisible thread that’d bound us together pulling, pulling, pulling.
But it was fading, fraying, threatening to snap—
Hurry.
Hurry.
Hurry.
Go east.
Go fast.
The mountains.
The caves.
Run!