Chapter 13 Yiran #2
“Ash isn’t a fool, but he doesn’t know you lost your magic,” Yiran said. “Nobody needs to know about that part. I’m the only
witness to what really happened, and I’m not telling anyone. It’s clear you’re injured, and you have magical trauma. We can
say it’s because you fought the Revenant—that’s your excuse for not being able to use your spiritual weapons. That’s your
excuse to lay low. I can’t do anything to hide my spiritual energy or the fact that Revenants are going to come after me. Like Zizi said, I’ve
to train to protect myself, and I’ll do that until we figure something out. If the wizard won’t help me, I have to go to the
Academy.”
“There is no we,” Rui said stubbornly. But Yiran could tell she was reconsidering things. Guilt was a powerful weapon, and he had made sure
to remind her she’d put his life at risk.
“Look, doing it this way takes the focus off you,” he reasoned. “I’ll hone my skills, learn to protect myself. No one will
be the wiser, and you can take the time to recover.”
Rui glared in disbelief. “Hone your skills? But—”
“If I train, I might get to do something useful or kill at least one Revenant before we get you your magic back. Why waste
the opportunity?”
The pressure against his windpipe lifted. “Your qi levels are already above what your core can handle.”
“So?”
“It’s too dangerous.” A shadow crossed her face. “Did Zizi tell you that apart from the work they put into training, how powerful
a magic practitioner gets to be is solely dependent on the spirit core they’re born with? With your core, the odds are low
that you’ll get anywhere.”
“I’m alive, aren’t I?” Yiran said. “I’m already defying the odds.”
“But if you push too hard, you might . . .” She bit her lip, but he knew exactly what she’d meant to say.
“Everyone dies, sooner or later. Might as well go down in a blaze of glory and take some of those bastards down with me.”
He’d thought hard about it overnight after calling a truce with Zizi. Was magic worth risking his life? Was the Song family
name something to aspire to? For the last twelve years, he’d had a good life, leashed to that name and everything that came
with it. It would mean nothing now unless he lived it on his own terms.
Rui was looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time. Her gaze stripped him, layer by layer, until he wondered
if she could see the true face behind all the masks he wore for the world. Was it a frightening face, or was it a frightened
face? Was it a face he would recognize himself?
She released him. “What do you want from me in return?”
How did it feel, Yiran wondered, to live life this way? When everything was transactional? When everything was a means to
an end? He shook off the uncomfortable feeling that they were more similar than he’d thought. It was clear Rui wanted her
magic back for reasons that ran deeper than she cared to share. That was another thing they had in common.
“Nothing. I want nothing from you,” he lied. “Just lay low and get better.”
Her expression changed to something he couldn’t decipher. She whispered back, “I hate you. I hate everything about you. I don’t know what you’re trying to prove to your brother, and I don’t care. But I won’t let you die.”
It’s not about my brother, he wanted to tell her. But all he did was smile.
She backed into the bedroom and shut the door in his face.
Trepidation followed Yiran as he went down the stairs. Now that he’d said his decision out loud, everything felt more real.
More impossible. What if Xingshan Academy didn’t accept him? What if, after all this, his grandfather stuck to his guns and
sent Yiran away?
Downstairs, Ash was touring Zizi’s parlor, sipping his coffee and poking around at the miscellaneous objects lying on the
shelves. Yiran hesitated, staying in the shadows.
“I see you’re still dabbling in this nonsense,” Ash said, stopping in front of a painting. “Self-portrait?”
“Hmm,” came Zizi’s noncommittal reply. He was sprawled on a chair, one leg dangling over the armrest, idly playing with his
cigarette and looking as content as a cat basking in the sun.
Ash pushed aside the hell money strewn on the floor with his foot. “Talent like yours is hard to find. The Guild is short
of healers and spell casters. We’re too combat focused, and it makes our Night Hunts more dangerous. We need support members
in each team. Three is a better number than—”
“I fail to see how this is my problem,” Zizi interrupted.
“You should’ve said yes to me all those years ago. You could’ve enrolled in the Academy, made a name for yourself. You’re
Captain material, you know that. Instead, you waste your talent on cheap tricks.”
Zizi stretched indulgently, letting out a loud yawn as he unclipped his bangs. “Ever thought that maybe you did a piss-poor
job of selling cadet life to me? School’s not for me. I’m not one of you, and I don’t intend to be. Besides, my grandmother
thinks I’m doing fine as it is, and her opinion is the one I care about.”
Ash merely smiled. “Perhaps my grandfather will pay your grandmother a visit soon, and perhaps she’ll change her mind. He can be rather persuasive.”
“Be my guest. But you’ll find my grandmother more stubborn than me, Lan Xi.”
No one else but their grandfather called Ash by his birth name. Ash didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he continued to look intrigued
by the tattooed boy. Why? Yiran wanted to yell. Why didn’t Ash look at Yiran this way? Like he was powerful. Like he could be dangerous. But Yiran
had magic now, and he would fight and scheme to keep it, and one day, Ash and his grandfather would look at him differently.
Like he was powerful. Like he was dangerous.
“What are you doing here?” came a voice behind him.
Rui was staring at him. She’d changed back into her own clothes and was carrying her sword bag.
“Nothing,” Yiran mumbled.
She pushed past, and he followed her to the parlor.
“Am I interrupting something?” she said.
“No,” said two voices with varying degrees of conviction.
“Could you drop me off at the subway station, Captain Song?” Rui said. “I should get back to campus before I get into any
more trouble.”
Ash nodded. “Sure, it’s on the way.” His phone rang, and he held it immediately to his ear.
Rui glared a goodbye to Zizi. He waved happily from his chair as she trekked out the front door with Ash.
Yiran retrieved his jacket. He was on his way out when a hand wrapped itself around his wrist, pulling him back.
“I need you to do something for me,” Zizi said. He was entirely serious.
“You’re asking me for a favor?”
“I went along with your little charade earlier. Treat this as payment to keep my mouth shut about your transgression.”
“You want to talk about transgressions? You should be grateful I didn’t tell Ash about your little spell.”
“Then we both have something to hide. Isn’t that the best arrangement?” Zizi grinned. “I’m asking for a favor because despite
being a little shit, deep inside that soul of yours, you know what’s right and that makes you a good person.”
Yiran felt his lips curling. “I’ll accept that backhanded compliment. What do you want?”
“I need you to watch over Rui. Tell me if you notice anything off about her.”
“I don’t even know her,” Yiran said, surprised by Zizi’s request. “We don’t run in the same circles.”
“Now that you have”—Zizi stuck his fingers up and made air quotes—“magic, and you’ve told your brother, I assume you’ll be enrolling in the Academy. Which means you’ll be able to see Rui every day.
You won’t be in the same classes since she’s top of her cohort, but at least you’ll be on campus.”
“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she?”
“She means everything.” Zizi had spoken so bluntly it could only be the truth. It was a useful piece of information.
“And if I refuse?” Yiran asked, more to needle Zizi than anything. The thought of having to deal with Rui daily sounded exhausting.
Although, who was it who once said, Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? Rui wasn’t an enemy, more like a petite and noisy rival. If he knew how her recovery was going, he could make his own plans
more effectively.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Zizi said. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Whether you like it or not, the both of you are
connected now. You hold something of hers, something that doesn’t naturally belong to you. If anything happens to her, who’s to say you’ll survive it?”
Yiran’s skin prickled with a strange chill as the mage stared at him, pale blue eyes piercing through dark wavy bangs. He
swallowed thickly and pulled out his phone. “I guess this is where we exchange numbers.”