Chapter 27 Yue
Without her mask, she’s somehow more beautiful still.
Yue?”
Tentative fingers brush over the scars along the right side of my face, trailing back to settle just behind my ear. Someone gives my fur a light scratch, but I can’t say that I mind. It’s quite… comforting.
“Yue, wake up,” comes a deep voice.
My joints are stiff and creaky. I fear my eyelids are frozen shut. It takes an alarming amount of effort to pry them open.
Even more alarming is the angry growl of my stomach.
It grumbles with such ferocity that I can feel it reverberating in my chest. It’s as though someone’s reached inside, digging their nails into the empty cavern of my belly as they squeeze without remorse. My head is light, the room around us spinning uncontrollably.
“Hungry,” I rasp. Lick my lips. Saliva fills my mouth, turning cold against my teeth.
I find Sonam crouched beside me, surprisingly alert despite our troubled sleep.
He smells good. Too good. Where’s the harm in a little bite?
“So hungry,” I say again, but this time, it comes out as a whimper. It hurts too damn much.
What am I thinking? I can’t eat him. Nor can I eat Wen or Sooah. They will execute me before I can even open my jaws wide enough.
The sharp twist of blood suddenly fills the air, catching me off guard. I look up at Sonam, alarmed to see that he’s dragged the tip of one of his daggers across the surface of his palm. Blood pools within the cup of his hand, the tips of his fingers blue from the cold.
“Here,” he says, teeth chattering. “Hurry up. I hear movement outside. I think Kelai’s coming back.”
“But I—”
“It is freely given, Fox. Just don’t overdo it.”
He holds his hand out to me and I can no longer help myself. I’m not allowed to raise a hand to him so long as our blood oath remains in effect, but that doesn’t mean he cannot offer himself to me. As long as I keep his heart beating, I think it should be fine.
Emphasis on I think.
I slowly dip my head down toward his palm, keeping my eyes on the humans—as bleary as my vision may be. With a hesitant final inhale, I swipe my tongue over his palm.
His blood tastes divine. I knew it would.
From the moment I smelled him, I knew Sonam would be a feast like none I’ve ever had before.
Sweeter than nectar, more refreshing than crisp water on a scorching summer’s day.
I drink greedily, forgetting at times what it is to breathe.
My mind grows more alert with each drop that finds its way past my lips.
I am so lost in the taste of Sonam’s blood that all my thoughts seem to tumble out of my head.
For a moment, I forget where we are. Gone are my worries, my anxieties, my fears.
There’s nothing but the satisfying weight filling my belly and the taste of iron on my tongue.
It doesn’t occur to me until I’ve licked his palm clean that I’ve forgotten precisely who it is I’m drinking from.
Pulling away, I ignore the nervous pounding of my heart.
The blood of my enemy. And fed by his very hand, no less.
I don’t know whether I should feel grateful or ashamed.
I have half a mind to keep going. To chew off his fingers, his hand, maybe even his whole arm, but I push the craving aside.
My hunger has been assuaged, so there’s no need to push my luck. It’s enough for now.
Sonam watches me with a strange look in his eye. I have to assume that it’s disgust, but there’s something else, too. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s difficult to tell given his ever-present scowl.
“You’re…” He hesitates, clears his throat. Sonam’s eyes drift from my scars to my tails.
“I know, I know,” I grumble. “I’m wretched. Stop staring.”
The captain bristles. “No, I didn’t mean—”
Whatever Sonam has to say dies on his tongue with the sound of soft padding of footsteps and the hum of a gentle tune. Kelai. She sounds to be in particularly high spirits considering how she locked us in to freeze to death.
With nowhere to hide, our only option is to attack.
Sooah and Wen have already risen, their sights set on the large doors into the room.
Their weapons are drawn and ready. Wen’s fingers are a troubling shade of purple, and Sooah’s breathing comes in shallow puffs.
All things considered, they’re in impressive shape.
It seems I was able to shield them from the worst of the cold—but to my own detriment.
I struggle to my feet, shifting uncomfortably beneath the matted, frozen sections of my fur.
I push through the numbness. They need my fangs, my size, and my strength if they want to stand any chance against Kelai. Three humans against a goddess is nothing short of a joke. But with a demon on their side, it might be enough to tip the scale in their favor.
I throw myself at the star goddess the moment she steps through the heavy doors.
It’s not as graceful a landing, nor as accurate a launch.
Every inch of my body is too numb, out of control.
Thankfully, I’m able to use my weight and tackle Kelai to the ground.
She shrieks in surprise, struggling to free herself from beneath me, but Sonam, Wen, and Sooah swarm with a level of precision and coordination one can only expect from years of working closely together.
They pull out familiar strips of yellow parchment. Binding talismans—the very same that they used to immobilize me that fateful night in Longhao. They press them to Kelai’s wrists, ankles, and her chest. Her body goes as rigid as stone.
“No!” she wails. “No, let go of me!”
None of us listen. We run past her, leaving her flat on her back, struggling with all her might. We barrel down the hall, leaving the despairing cold behind us. It’s a relief to feel the chill melt from my bones.
“We have to hurry,” Sonam says as we round a corner. “Those bindings won’t hold long. They’re designed to keep demons at bay, not one of the gods.”
“Where’s the damn exit?” Wen rasps.
I can’t blame him for his exasperation. We’re all turned around and shaken. To make matters worse, I’m pretty sure I can hear Kelai’s stomping feet growing louder from down the hall. She must have broken out of her bindings. That certainly didn’t take long.
“In here,” I say hurriedly, stepping through a set of wooden doors. We’ve managed to find our way back to the kitchens.
I sniff the air, searching for any hint of fresh air or earth.
If I can find a fault in the foundation or a minor crack in the walls, I might stand a better chance of digging our way out.
I catch a whiff of something sweet. Soil.
It’s faint, but there’s no denying its rich wetness.
I scrape at the jade tiles beneath my feet, but to no avail.
The surface is too smooth to leave a mark.
There’s nothing for my claws to catch on, to peel away.
“The foundation is thinnest here,” I tell Sonam.
He nods, looking to Sooah. “Help her.”
She moves quickly, eyeing a large wooden barrel placed by the woodstoves. Sooah wraps her arms around the middle of the barrel, lifts with her legs, and with a loud grunt, throws it to the ground with impressive force. The tile cracks where it landed.
“Wen,” Sonam says. “Barricade the door.”
Wen moves swiftly, dragging over a heavy kitchen table to press up against the door.
It’s a smart call on Sonam’s part, because Sooah raises the barrel over her head and brings it down with all her might, the harsh crack like a lightning strike.
She picks it up again and slams it against the tiles, hammering until a section of the floor finally gives way.
There’s a wide enough fracture that I’m able to get my claws underneath, digging up as much dirt as I can.
“NO!” Kelai’s voice shakes the room. Something slams against the other side of the door, but Wen’s hastily built barricade keeps them from swinging open.
Wen and Sonam throw their weight against it for added protection, practically toppling over when the star goddess attempts to ram her way in. “What are you doing? Let me in!”
“Hurry!” Sonam exclaims.
He doesn’t have to tell me twice.
I dig and dig and dig, kicking up dirt and small stones and shards of broken jade.
I don’t know the first thing about tunneling.
For all I know, the floor is seconds away from caving in on us.
Being buried alive would be a terrible way to go.
Even worse, I could be digging in the wrong direction, leading farther beneath the bathhouse where we’ll be trapped for all eternity.
The first hint of fresh air nearly has me gasping for joy. I haven’t doomed us. I claw my way forward and breach the surface, coming up on the outside of Kelai’s bathhouse. I never thought I’d see the day when I was happy to lay my eyes upon the cold, indifferent green glow of the Jade Palace.
I clamber out, turning to help Sooah to her feet.
I grab Wen by the collar of his shirt between my teeth and yank him out with great force, letting him huff indignantly as he falls flat.
Sonam is next. He reaches out blindly and I don’t hesitate to bite down on his gauntlet. He’s just about escaped when—
“No!” Kelai shrieks. She’s crawled after us, her hair a mess and her eyes red with fury. She snatches Sonam by the ankle, digging her nails into his flesh. “You can’t leave me. You can’t, you can’t!”
I tighten my bite on the captain’s wrist. Sooah and Wen are at my side, grabbing hold of Sonam’s arm and pulling with all their might.
The star goddess is too strong. I should have suspected as much from a divine being.
It’s an unfortunate game of tug-of-war, and Sonam is the strained rope pulled taut between us.
With a pained roar, Sonam jerks his leg up and manages to kick himself free.