Chapter 19
nineteen
A Run-in with Old Friends
The eldest son and right hand of Zhao Shang. Bully. Strongman. And, if the rumors are to be believed…
Murderer.
He was there the night my parents disappeared. I could sense his astral presence all over the wuguan. It’s just as powerful now, if not more. There’s something beyond muscles to this man, but I can’t risk projecting to inspect him.
“Lacey, please take Nai Nai and Deelia up to the apartment,” I murmur.
She whips around to look at me, fear in her eyes. “Should I call the police?”
Lei’s deep voice carries cold disdain across the open café. “Let’s not make this a big deal, xiao meimei.”
The affectionate nickname from his lips sends a chill down my spine. He doesn’t have any affection for me, and the nickname is just a way to make me smaller. Lesser. But I am not below Lei. Not in muscle, magic, or moral high ground, and I’ll make him regret whatever he’s come here to do.
Nai Nai jumps to her feet. “What are you doing here?”
Lei shrugs out of his suit jacket and a man behind him catches it. A third man with a briefcase is last to enter. He locks the door behind him and my hackles shoot straight up.
Lei smiles a broad, white grin. “I’m here for coffee.”
“You’re not welcome,” Nai Nai declares.
“Lacey, please,” I urge my friend.
She slides off her stool and grabs Nai Nai under the arm. “Let’s go check on Ace.”
Deelia squeezes out of her chair and edges around the three men toward the door. They pay her no mind. She pushes on the door three times and on the last try gives off a panicked yelp.
Lei rolls his eyes and his men snicker. Finally, Deelia realizes the lock is engaged. She twists it with a loud snap and flees.
The stairs creak as Nai Nai and Lacey ascend, punctuating the silence that drags between us as Lei sizes me up.
I do the same, noting a new scar beside his left eye and a new tattoo on his right hand.
The rest of him is obscured, but he’s bigger than I remember.
Growing up and lots of gym time will do that, I suppose.
Maybe I don’t have the muscle on him anymore.
We used to spar at the wuguan, and I would always beat him. Three years older than me, and I still kicked his ass all over the place. Pissed Shang off to no end. He claimed my parents were giving him a poorer education than my own. Dickhead was just too stubborn to learn from them.
He pulls out a stool at the bar, making a terrible dragging noise. He grins through it and sits down. “How about that coffee, little sister?”
I grit my teeth and gesture to the chalk menu behind me. “Caramel Corona Crunch? It’s this month’s special.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Just an espresso.”
“Three dollars,” I say.
He pulls out a five and sets it on the counter next to Lacey’s cup. My ribs cinch shut as I consider having to turn my back on him. I should’ve put wards along the bar to prevent people from hopping it. Then again, I didn’t think I’d have hostile customers in a coffee shop.
I take a step back to the machine and cant toward it, keeping one eye on him as I load up the portafilter with fresh grinds. He smiles at me all the while.
The broom is across the room behind the grumpy rubber plant, and that stupid jerk isn’t going to do me any favors.
The knife I used to chop up the caramel bits this morning is at the end of the bar back in its block.
There’s a bottle of champagne in the fridge under the bar…
other than that, I have hot espresso I could splash in his eyes, but that still leaves two burly dudes, one of whom has the metallic sheen of a gun handle poking out from behind his suit jacket.
Lei watches me, smiling knowingly. “Your options look limited from this side of the counter.”
I cross my arms and watch the copper machine from the corner of my eye.
Damn thing is taking its time, making this more awkward than it needs to be.
The espresso ekes out of the filter into the cup in spurts.
When it finishes, I set the cup and saucer in front of him and take the five to the register.
“I have a proposition,” Lei finally says when I bring back his change.
I step back from the counter, making sure there’s some space between us. “What’s that?”
Lei snaps as he brings the espresso cup to his lips. The man to his left passes him a tablet. Lei winces as he puts the cup down and accepts the device.
“This is really terrible,” he says, pointing into the cup.
Something wild burns through me and I curl my tongue.
I pick up the cup and spit into it. “Try it now.”
He leers. “You are still just as brash as I remember. I don’t know why Father thought you were a good match for me.”
I keep my face impassive and store that information for later. I don’t want to give him anything more to goad me with. My lack of reaction seems to rain on his little parade, and he turns his attention to the tablet.
He taps a few times, then turns it to me. “You sign this contract saying you falsified all the information about Elder Zhao, and you get your parents back.”
The words punch the air from my chest. I clench my teeth and bring my eyebrows back down to where they’re supposed to be.
“Like it would be that easy,” I say.
He snorts coldly. “It is that easy.”
I lean over and look at the screen. The contract is all in Traditional Chinese, and the hanzi is tiny. Dread crawls up my spine like icy fingers.
This is exactly how they got my parents.
They were strong-armed into a situation they couldn’t escape without fear of death.
Coerced into signing some ridiculous contract they were told would be the best way out of their debt—one that Shang himself had created by constantly raising the rent when my parents refused to take orders from him.
And now they’re trapped in China, their passports stolen, their communication limited.
Even if Lei did what he promised and let my parents come home, what could I be agreeing to? Shang wanted me. He knows I have magic, and he knows how he wants to use it.
“If you’re finished with your coffee, you should leave,” I say, reaching for the cup.
Lei’s hand clamps down on my wrist and he jerks me forward.
My chest hits the bar and the air leaves my lungs in a painful huff.
He grabs for the back of my neck and I smack him away.
Another hand tightens around a fistful of my hair and my head is pinned to the wood.
I thrash and kick my legs, trying like hell to reach anything that’ll give me leverage to pull away.
“You’re going to sign,” Lei says. “Whether you want to or not.”
He hisses out an incantation that makes my skin crawl as he reaches for my other arm—the one with Rhazan’s brand.
Dark tendrils of magic leak from his fingers and into mine.
Numbness descends on my hand from his evil magic.
I don’t think twice before I bring my wrist to my mouth and bite down, hard.
A gust of burning air explodes behind me, shoving Lei and his men back five feet. Rhazan’s arms come around my middle, and he pulls me off the bar. His huge hand grips my chin, and he turns my face up to his.
No, not his face…not entirely.
He’s not red anymore, but a normal shade of person, something like burnished bronze. His facial structure is close to the same, and he’s just as huge, but his wings, talons, horns, and tail are all absent.
He looks human.
Like a huge, meaty gym bro, but human.
Rhaz grits his teeth as he looks down at me, not asking if I’m all right because he can tell I’m not. Or I wasn’t.
I am now.
“Who the fuck are you?” Lei snarls.
He’s gained his feet, his hand poised for something at his back.
“Your reaper, if you so will it,” Rhazan growls, his voice inhumanly low and feral.
The threat sends warm, fluttering feelings through my chest. He would go so far to protect me…
Lei seems to rethink grabbing whatever was tucked in the back of his waistband. He stands upright and brushes off his pants.
“Interesting help you’ve found, xiao meimei,” he says to me with a sneer.
He reaches for the tablet on the bar. Rhazan’s fist comes down fast and ruthless, shattering the device. The screen goes black, and Lei’s violent eyes snap up, his nostrils flaring. They lock gazes as fire and ice go to war in the charged air around us.
“I won’t be signing anything,” I say, drawing his attention. “Don’t come back.”
He steps away from the bar and adopts a malicious smile. “Your parents live in relative comfort and safety, Feng Jiahui. I’d hate for that to change.”
Guilt slams through me, but I tamp down on it. It’s not useful right now.
“Get out,” I say.
Lei nods his boys off and they move toward the door.
“We’ll be staying nearby, for when you change your mind.” He drops a card on the table nearest the door, then slips out into the cold afternoon, never giving me his back.
When they’re out of sight, my knees buckle.
I put my hand out on the wooden bar to catch myself, but gravity leaves me instead.
I’m curling into Rhazan’s chest before I even realize he’s picked me up.
His forehead bumps mine as we tuck in closer to one another.
The heat of his body doesn’t stop the trembles from rocking me, but it’s a familiar comfort that eases the band on my stomach.
“Thank you for coming,” I say.
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner. I felt your fear and still…I waited for you to call me. I shouldn’t have.”
I shake my head. “I should’ve called you when they walked in.”
He plants a gentle kiss on my cheek. “You’re too stubborn for that, Firecracker.”
I chuff. “Yeah, maybe.”
He kisses my other cheek, and I turn my face up to meet his lips with mine. The kiss is chaste, not loaded with passion like before, but soft and grateful. Relieved. He pulls me against his chest harder, as if he could squish me inside of him to keep me safe.
“Why did you stop our fight the other night?” I ask when he releases my lips.
“I hurt you.”
I chuckle. “We were fighting.”
“The energy was so powerful, I thought I’d broken your shoulder. Then I realized…” His fingers dig into my sides and he winces his eyes shut.
I cradle his cheek, thumbing under his eye until he meets my gaze again.
“I’m connected to you—”
“Jade?” Lacey’s tentative voice calls from the top of the stairs.
I let out a deep breath and push against Rhaz’s shoulders gently. He frowns and hesitates, but sets me down. I jog over to the stairway.
“I’m okay. They’re gone,” I say.
“Who’s that other voice?” Nai Nai asks, her tone not one of curiosity at all, but excitement.
Damn old mystic.
I turn to look at Rhaz in his human form. He’s not a danger to them, I know that now, but does he want them to know he exists? Do I want them to know? He wouldn’t be my secret anymore.
The thought tastes bitter. I don’t want to hide from the feelings I have for him, however soon I’ll need to give them up. But it’s his choice if he wants to be known by them. He hasn’t left yet, so maybe…
I reach toward him, an offer. Fear of his rejection makes my fingers shake a little. He doesn’t hesitate like I did though, stepping forward immediately and taking my hand.
“It’s just…Rah…Raul…”
Ugh, god, why was that the first normal-sounding “R” name that came to mind?
“Raul?” Lacey asks.
“My boyfriend,” I say, more firmly.
“You have a boyfriend?” Ace’s voice cracks on the word and I laugh.
“Yeah, come down and meet him,” I say.
Rhazan squeezes my hand, and I realize I have a death grip on his. I relax a measure, but my stomach is all fluttery and I feel a little sick.
Rhazan pulls me toward one of the tipped-over chairs, rights it, and then takes a seat. He must know how intimidating he looks while standing. I post up next to him, my guts hot like bubbling acid and ready to spill.
The stairs creak with many footsteps and I hold my breath.
Time for my family to meet my demon boyfriend.
Ace comes down first, one of Nai Nai’s woks gripped like a bat in his hands. When he sees me, he straightens up and lowers his weapon.
“I thought they had you hostage,” he says as he rushes toward me.
I release Rhazan’s hand and embrace my little brother. After a second, he pulls back and glares daggers at Rhazan. Nai Nai comes next, giving me a soft pat on the shoulder.
“Glad that’s all handled,” she says.
“Is it?” I ask, wondering if she really can sense things that are going to happen.
She shrugs, then smiles at Rhazan. “Jiahui’s boyfriend, so nice to meet you.”
Great help…
Lacey approaches last. She’s apparently of the same mindset as Ace, lowering the knife she’d taken from our upstairs kitchen.
“You okay?” she asks, coming to stand next to me while Nai Nai interrogates Rhazan and Ace watches like a hawk.
I nod. “Yeah, not the first time I’ve been shaken down.”
Her brow pinches together and she leans in to whisper, “Is this the Chinese mafia stuff?”
I bob my head a few times, covering the bruised, self-inflicted bite mark on my arm.
“Girl, I’m going to need a full rundown over some drinks later,” she murmurs as her eyes scan the stone-still Rhazan.
“Name the time and the place, I’m there,” I say.
“When did you meet my sister?” Ace asks, crossing his arms awkwardly with the wok still gripped in one hand.
“In Boston!” I chime in. “We met…at one of the gambling halls I used to go to. Yeah. No, he’s not a gambler though,” I quickly say when Ace’s gaze turns stern. “He’s a…bouncer.”
“Jade,” Rhazan’s voice is soft. “You can tell them the truth.”
Panic spears through me.
“The truth, truth?”
He shrugs.
“Uh…maybe we should go upstairs,” I say, running over to the door to flip the “Open” sign over to “Closed.”
“Unnecessary,” Rhaz says as he stands up.
With a flick of his fingers the windows go black with smoke, plunging us into the low light of the planetary lanterns.
There couldn’t be a worse way to reveal he’s a demon…