By the Horns (35 page)

Chapter 31

Kassian awoke with a jolt. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. He reached for Nat, but she was gone. Fuck. He sat upright and scanned the room. Empty. His heart panged, and he knew. She hadn’t wandered off or hunted down a midnight snack.

She was
gone
.

Pain lanced through him, spearing his chest and numbing his limbs. His heart bled out—the love he carried for the woman who wouldn’t accept it. Maybe she never would. Why the fuck did he keep falling back onto the same bloody path? Keep falling for her despite her clear rejection?

Did he only see what he wanted to? Only sense from her what he needed?

“Ah, hell.” He threw on a shirt and leather pants, and headed out of the temple. As he passed by the stairs, Ox caught a scent.
Hers
.

Dammit. He couldn’t let go, could he? Even as he cursed himself, he tracked the scent. Up the stairs. Through the gardens. To the edge of the path.

Then it stopped. Just cut off.

The hairs on the back of his neck spiked again in full fury. Her scent shouldn’t cut off. He sniffed the night air. Ox wasn’t the best tracker, but still.

Ah, fuck.

He clambered back to the sleeping quarters and pounded on Fang’s door. Rat would be pissed for being woken at this hour, but whatever. The door opened on the first knock. Whoa. Guess the man hadn’t been asleep.

“Hey. You, ah, up?” Kassian shuffled his feet. How was he going to say this without sounding like he’d lost his head?

Because he had.

Fang shrugged, but Kassian noticed the deep creases in the man’s face. Hell, some unease ate away at him. What, though?

“What’s up?”

“Will you track something for me? A scent?”

Fang scratched the back of his head. “Sure. Why the hell not.” He retrieved a shirt from his dresser and followed Kassian.

He was an even bigger loser for admitting to anyone that Nat had abandoned him. Again. Still, the odd cutoff of her scent didn’t sit right with him.

“This about Natalie?”

Thank fuck. Fang possessed more intuition than most women. “Yeah.” Kassian led him to the stairs. “Here’s where it originates.”

Fang paused and sniffed the air, Rat’s feral face cloaking him. He placed one thin, bony clawed hand on the wall, tail flicking as Rat took off at a sprint. The spirit chased the scent like prey. Until it, too, halted at the edge of the path.

Rat uncloaked and Fang faced Kassian. “It’s gone.”

“Yeah. For me too.”

Fang paced. “It’s gone…and it’s not the only one.” He sniffed the air and whistled low. “Let’s wake Sheng.”

Ah, hell. To have one more person regard him with pity in his eyes? Kassian raked a hand through his hair and waved it in the air. “Yeah, fine.”

Fang turned cautious black eyes on him. “No, you don’t get it, man. I’m picking up another scent. It belongs to the Empress.”

The declaration hit Kassian like someone had shoved him into an icy lake. At first, just shock. Next, numbing ice froze his body. Then his heart remembered to pump hot blood through his veins, and he fought for oxygen to penetrate his lungs. Struggled to fight to the surface.

Nat hadn’t deserted him. She’d been snatched from him. Motherfucker. His knuckles cracked as he fisted his hands, his nostrils flaring as Ox’s temper burst the dam.

“Easy, big guy. Let me get Sheng.”

Kassian scratched at the ground with his foot, the pawing tempering Ox for a moment or two. He’d kill that fucking bitch. The image of her slender neck cracking beneath his grip soothed the beast. He’d tear her limb from limb if she’d harmed Nat. Then he’d piece the witch back together and rip her apart again.

He should have guessed. After the Empress had revealed her part in Lucy’s uncle’s schemes, they should have realized she wasn’t done meddling. She’d be back.

Guess she was back now.

“Hey, big guy.” Sheng approached from behind, his voice a steady murmur to coax Ox back from the edge. Kassian sensed Tiger’s call as the leader seized control of Ox’s reins.

It helped. A bit. Ox stomped, so infuriated Kassian wasn’t sure whether it could be leashed.

“We’ll figure this out.” Sheng’s hand clamped down on Kassian’s shoulder, a calming weight. “I promise, that bitch will pay.”

Ah, that helped. He tilted his head. Sheng’s grim frown matched that of Fang, Lucy, and Delun, who filed in to flank Kassian. Yep, his family had his back.

“How?” His voice cracked. Dammit. No one had been able to track the Empress’s trail.

A hushed whirling rent the night air. Sheng tilted his head to the sky. “There’s our answer.”

Kassian rotated to face whatever had caught Sheng’s attention. A metallic whirring clicked as a small silver disk fluttered to his feet. He exchanged questioning, raised brows with Sheng before bending to pick up the palm-sized discus. The pointed spindles of its star shape closed with a click. He depressed a button on the top and a holographic image shimmered in the air. Squinting, he studied the zigzagging lines and marked squares.

Holy shit. It was a map.

***

Nat slapped her game face on. She had to play this carefully. Give in too easily, and they’d never buy her compliance. Put up too much of a fight, and they’d never release her.

“Why?” Ask questions. The trick always made one sound interested, yet cautious.

“Why not,
sayang
? The time for humans has come to an end.”

At Nat’s stiffening, the Empress laughed. “Oh, don’t be so shocked. Nearly every species that has existed on Earth has gone extinct. Humans are no different. It is their time. More…potent beings are ready to rise.”

“Demons.”

“No.” She flicked her wrist, examining her nails. “Not just demons. Dragons, spirits, all the creatures of myth. They are waiting. It is our turn.” The Empress flashed her a devious smile. “Of all the species on Earth, ninety-nine point nine percent of them have gone extinct. In fact, humans have been responsible for the extinction of countless species. Why should they not suffer the same fate they have inflicted on others? My dear, all it took was a simple virus. In another few years, there won’t be any of them left. To expand on a human expression, why place your eggs in a broken basket?”

“Because they didn’t die off naturally. You murdered them.”

The Empress waved off her protest. “Natural selection. Survival of the fittest. These are human theories. Look at what they have done to this planet. Pollution, war, death. They would have killed themselves off eventually. We sped up the process.”

Nat gritted her teeth. “We made a vaccine. They don’t have to die.”

“Oh, you mean this?” She removed a small blue vial from the holster on her thigh. “We tweaked your little ‘cure’ and created something far more powerful.”

What could be more powerful than a vaccine? Nat shuddered on the inside but, on the outside, she kept her cool. The woman spewed tons of useful information. Nat flung questions at her and kept her talking. “What makes you think we won’t fight back? That we’ll accept our extinction?”

“
We
? Why, my dear,
you
are no longer human. Haven’t you realized? The moment you accepted the Snake into your body, you became one of
us
.”

A chill iced down her spine. The Empress was right. Nat wasn’t human anymore…though her heart still was. “Snake won’t agree to this. The Jade Emperor sent the spirit to protect humans.”

The Empress tilted her head and fluttered her thick lashes. “No,
sayang
. He sent the spirit animals to restore balance to the
Earth
. They are not guardians of the human race. They are champions of the Earth. An important distinction.”

Well, crap. Nat’s thoughts clinked around in her brain like a game of Ping-Pong. Back and forth, working the angles. For every argument she produced, the Empress cultivated an answer. If Nat ignored the fact her morality was so very wrong, the woman’s reasoning was flawless. “The Jade Emperor won’t allow this.”

A sly smile. “He hasn’t stopped us yet.”

Okay… Time for a different approach. She’d determined the whys. The Empress was crazy, but not stupid. Now, she had to make the woman reveal her scheme. “How? How can you free me from my vows? The Matchmaker has my blood.” To become Lotus, one had to slice one’s palm across the Matchmaker’s blade. That drop of blood bound more than just a contract.

A soul.

“That is simple.” She leaned forward. “We will give you new blood.”

As if in protest, Nat’s blood slugged through her veins. “A transfusion?”

“You could call it such.” The Empress hedged, glancing behind her. “Come with me and you’ll find out more.” She slid the key into the lock of the door and twisted it. The door glided open, her cuffs released, and the Empress curled one finger, motioning for Nat to follow.

Well, out of her cell would be a start.

She memorized every inch of the walls, floor, and ceiling. The Empress paused to unlock a second set of doors before venturing forward into an elevator. She depressed a code. Five Seven Eight Eight.

The elevator opened and they entered. The buttons glowed as they ascended to the sixth level.

Nat steeled her resolve as she prepared to greet whatever or whoever was on the other side. Why didn’t the Empress cuff her or have guards escort her? The doors opened to reveal a grand room. Three levels extended above them, graced in the center by a dangling chandelier boasting thousands of glittering jewels.

Spiraling staircases curved toward them on either side. Various seating areas had been arranged around the chamber. Polished dark wood banisters curved in an eye-pleasing manner.

Reclining on the sofa, arms sprawled on either side of him, was Zhao. Behind him, stood Mei and another man Nat didn’t recognize.

Oh crap. She pressed her lips together and didn’t glance at Mei with more than passing curiosity.

“Did you deploy the missive?” The Empress directed her question straight at Mei.

She inclined her head. “Yes. Just as you directed, Mistress.”

Nat stepped forward. “What missive?”

The Empress folded her hands in front of her. “A gesture of good faith. Your white knight is coming for you, Natalie. Which side will you choose?”

Her body went numb. Kassian? No, no, no. This was beyond twisted. The Empress had said they desired
her
. She had to keep Kassian out of this. Why the hell did Mei set this trap for him? Had Nat been duped again? Perhaps Mei
had
switched sides.

“What do you want with Kassian?” Nat shot the accusation at the Empress.

The woman lifted and dropped a shoulder. “You would not join us without him. I have seen how the two of you are together. Don’t deny it.”

She frowned. This stalker business had taken another creepy step.

The Empress snapped her fingers. Her form morphed into a little old Chinese woman.

Damn. The woman from the Lotus League tea shoppe in Hong Kong. No wonder she’d been so quick to tip off Price. Nat ought to slap herself for falling for the ruse. The Matchmaker’s secretive locations had been compromised.

The Empress shifted to other forms. Some Nat had met, others, she recognized as having crossed her path. One was an orderly in Kek Lok Si’s temple. Hell, the woman
had
been stalking her for a long time, just as she claimed.

“Why me?”

“The Matchmaker has never taken anyone under her wing like she has you. You were well worth the investment.”

Right. Nat swallowed the bitterness in her throat. Turning her would be the biggest blow to the Matchmaker.

Zhao chortled. “You might be wrong, though, Empress. She still hasn’t accepted Snake.”

Nat stiffened. “Why would you presume I haven’t?”

His gaze slithered over her body, and he smirked. “Snake still wants me.”

Damn him. She clenched her fists and choked down the possibility he was right. She’d done her best, even if she’d struggled. She trusted Snake…but did Snake trust her?

A servant strode into the room and whispered in Zhao’s ear, making him grin. “Kassian is on his way. So predictable.”

She blinked. Predictable. That was it. The best plan to defeat them and escape was to play precisely into their plans.

Time to throw on one last disguise.

Chapter 32