Sacrifice (33 page)

Skybright

A light touch against her shoulder woke Skybright, and she shot up, crying out. Stone clasped her arm, his fingers warm through her sleeve. “It’s me,” he said. “We leave at the next sound of the gong. Kai Sen is speaking to the monks.”

She nodded, her heartbeat thundering in her ears.

He looked better than she felt, his dark eyes clear, the color having returned to his face. “Skybright—”

The tone of his voice caught her attention.

“I wish I could be there with you when you go after Master Bei,” he said.

It surprised her because it sounded almost sentimental. “I’ll do all I can to move close enough for striking distance, Stone,” she replied. “Even if I have to do a song and dance.”

His smile was fleeting enough that she wondered if she’d imagined it.

“I’ll be all right.” She bunched the coarse blanket between her fingers. “I hope Zhen Ni is still safe.”

They left the monastery at nightfall, a silent group. Kai Sen and Han had hand selected thirty monks to bring to Bei manor. Han stayed behind. The two had exchanged heated words before they left, but Kai Sen had forbade his friend to come with them, designating Han as the head of the monastery while he was gone. Kai Sen led the group, illuminating their way with a singular globe of blue fire. She and Stone brought up the rear.

She was first to go down the tunnel a second time. Shifting, she felt the monks’ fear swell behind her, and a collective tension reverberated through the group. But she did this in their defense as she was able to sense if anything had changed in the dark caverns below and be swift enough to react to it in serpent form. She heard whispers of “demonic” and “temptress” scatter among the men.

“How is she to be trusted?” a monk said in a too loud whisper. “She is one of
them
.”

Blinding blue light flared above the head of the foolish man who had spoken out of turn, and he cowered in surprise and fright. “I am the head of the monastery now,” Kai Sen said in a commanding voice. “You obey me. And you trust Skybright because
I
trust her. Any more dissent and you can return to the monastery and scrub pots until your skin peels off.” Kai Sen’s dark eyes swept over his men. “Are we clear?”

The monks nodded together, shocked and silent.

Skybright had not had a chance to speak with Kai Sen alone since waking. She wanted to show her gratitude, with a smile or brief touch, but those private moments between them were gone. She was glad to see him appear more steady and rested, clearheaded enough to steer his men. Without a word, she headed into the tunnel. Stone crawled behind her this time and climbed down the wall by himself. He manifested a small lantern and cocked his head to one side, then gave her a questioning look.

“No one has been down here since we left,” she rasped.

“Good,” Stone said. “Master Bei has set everything in motion and is simply biding his time. A direct attack will be the last thing he expects.”

She slithered back up the wall and whistled twice, signaling to Kai Sen to begin bringing the monks through the tunnel. Dropping back to the cavern floor, she slid up the corridor, toward where the rope ladder dangled from the trap door above. “No one is directly above us,” she said to Stone. “But I can sense Zhen Ni.”

“And Master Bei?” he asked.

If the ancient demon wasn’t within the manor, their chance at catching him would be lost. “There are ten demons above ground, but how can I tell if one is Bei?”

“You’ll know,” Stone replied. “He will smell different—more powerful than any other demon you’ve encountered.”

She cast her senses above ground, touching upon all the individual demons. The fourth presence reminded her of Ye Guai, ancient and formidable, pulsing with a suppressed energy that she would have missed if Stone hadn’t asked her to search for it. “He’s here, above ground in the manor; he feels very much like Ye Guai.”

Stone grabbed her wrist, surprising her. “How so?”

“The energy coming from him is exactly like Ye Guai’s, but I can sense his strength and magic, more potent than what any of us wield, Stone.” She glanced at him, trying to tamp down the fear rising within her.

“I would bet my life it
is
Ye Guai,” Stone said. “That traitor. He was biding his time, plotting and hiding his true power from me.” He slipped his hand from her wrist to clasp her fingers, squeezing it. “But your venom can still kill him, Skybright. Use the element of surprise to your advantage.”

She felt the first monk drop to the dirt floor farther down the long corridor. She changed back into her mortal form. “I want you to conjure something resplendent for me, Stone, fit for an empress.”

“As you wish.” He spoke an incantation and a dress of jade green pooled into his outstretched hand, the fabric shining even under the dim lantern light.

Skybright swept her palm over the silk fabric. The dress was embroidered with chrysanthemums in deep and pale pinks, accented with gold thread. A pair of gold slippers, embroidered as magnificently, appeared on top of the dress. This would be her armor. Stone’s eyes were downcast, but there was that recognizable scent of desire exuding from him, even as he tried not to look at her, to pretend she was not fully naked less than an arm’s length away. She took the dress and slippers from his hand, murmuring thanks, and he turned his back to her, a knot of annoyance and frustration directed toward himself.

She slipped the dress on, tying the intricate belt around her waist when Stone turned, holding a gold hairpin encrusted with jade and rubies, and a pair of large emerald earrings. She tucked the hairpin into her braided bun, saying, “You’d make an impressive handmaid.”

He gave a small laugh as she put in her earrings, their weight heavy against her lobes. “You cannot meet him unadorned,” Stone said. “He obviously takes pleasure in beautiful things, believes he can have a place again in this earthly realm and pretend he isn’t a demon at his core.” He touched an emerald that hung from her ear, his fingers grazing one cheek. She stopped the shiver in time but couldn’t quell her attraction to him. “It is foolish to deny your true self, to pose as something you are not. I believe he’ll meet his match in you, Skybright.”

She steadied herself before saying, “Should I carry a dagger?”

“No,” Stone said. “He would sense the weapon, but he won’t be able to sense your magic. Use this against him.”

He stepped back as Kai Sen came through the corridor, followed by twelve monks. “The rest are on their way,” Kai Sen said and stopped midstride when he saw Skybright. “Ah,” he said. “You look beautiful.”

She smiled at him, though it was not one of mirth. “I’m ready to fight.”

Without hesitation, he drew her into his arms, embracing her for a moment before letting go. His men, wisely, kept silent. She breathed in his familiar sandalwood scent, underscored by steel. Kai Sen untied a leather pouch from his waist and handed it to her. She had seen him slip the divining stone into it earlier. “Keep this safe for me.”

She nodded and tied it to her sash but didn’t like the gesture; it seemed one of finality. On impulse, she reached out and caressed his cheek, not caring what the monks might think. They stirred behind their leader, as uneasy as a flock of hens near a wolf. But Kai Sen smiled at her, eyes aglow, before saying, “You follow Skybright now. Do as she commands.” Kai Sen unsheathed his saber, although where he and Stone were headed, there was no need for such weapons. She tasted his courage, brash and bright.

They waited until the other monks joined them; then Kai Sen used his metal magic to manipulate the lock set in the wooden trap door above. It popped open a moment later. Skybright began climbing up the rungs, the rope ladder swaying as she did so, and she was grateful for the grip her slippers provided. Halfway up, she glanced down and saw both Kai Sen and Stone’s faces turned up to her, their grim expressions a mirror image. But there was determination too, so strong it was like something tangible rising from beneath, buffeting her upward.

When she finally reached the top, she pushed the trap door, and it opened with ease. Skybright knew there was no one within these quarters and pulled herself through. The chamber was dark, except for the wan light from a lantern outside casting an eerie yellow glow. She ran her hands down her dress and touched her hair, making certain everything was in place, then waited as the monks each climbed up to join her.

They were swift and moved noiselessly, yet she was still eager to leave this place—to confront Master Bei and find Zhen Ni. But as the last monk closed the trap door beneath him, Skybright sensed one of the demon guards veering their way, swift as an animal. She lifted her hand. Thirty pairs of dark eyes followed the motion, and the monks all snapped to attention, poised, reminding her of cats about to leap. She raised one finger and motioned to the courtyard beyond the quarter, then at the door leading into the empty study. Using hand signals, she sent four monks out to meet the demon guard. She couldn’t shift and kill the guard herself, wanting to keep her demonic side secret until her encounter with Master Bei.

The remaining monks were so silent that she was convinced they had turned into ghosts. But a moment later, they could all hear the scrape of the main door from the courtyard sliding open. Then nothing, until a guttural shout erupted from the other chamber to theirs. A monk began to chant in a low voice, and she felt the ones in the room with her lean forward, as if ready to surge into the other room.

“No,” she said, loud enough that she knew they heard her. The sounds of fighting came fast and intense from the main chamber, and the floorboards actually shook beneath them like someone wielding a giant hatchet was slamming it into the ground over and over. Other than the one monk’s low chanting of a magical mantra, no other monks made a sound—not a grunt, a shout, or cry. But the demon roared, in rage and in pain, loud enough to warn the other guards and Master Bei.

Finally a loud
thud
resounded through the floor and walls. The door between the main hall and the study slid open; all the men with her tensed. One of the monks stuck his head in, his face splattered with black blood. “It’s dead,” he said in a grim voice. “Kai Sen was not exaggerating when he said your tracking ability is keen, lady.”

“I can sense all around me,” she said in a clear voice as the other three monks rejoined them. Two were bloodied and one was limping, but they were all still able to fight. “Well done.” She nodded to them. “We have little time. The estate is large, but four more guards are already headed this way. You can separate and intercept them.” Quickly, she gave the location of all the demon guards at the moment, sketching a rough map on the wooden floor with a piece of charcoal a monk passed her. “Master Bei is in the southwest corner. Leave him to me. You cannot win against him, even if all thirty of you attacked at once.”

“And you can, lady?” asked one of the bolder monks hidden in the shadows toward the back.

“Yes,” she said. If she could not kill Master Bei, she’d injure him enough so Zhen Ni could escape. There were no alternatives.

The monks filed out of the empty chamber, taking the raw scent of fear and excitement with them, each gripping a steel blade. The powerful stench of death from the giant demon guard assaulted her. Skybright averted her eyes and followed the monks outside into the courtyard.

The men, dressed in black, disappeared into the shadows like wraiths. She doubted now that the gods listened to their prayers, but she whispered a protective mantra for them anyway, and another for Kai Sen and Stone, facing their own impossible task below. She moved as quietly as the monks did on her slippered feet, avoiding the covered corridors that were brightly lit with lanterns, her serpentine senses alert, even in human form.

She could feel where Zhen Ni was, near Master Bei, but not within the same chamber—probably in an adjacent quarter. It took all her willpower not to run there first, to see her friend and make certain she was well. No. In order for Zhen Ni to be safe, for all of them to survive, she must find Bei. Stone had said once that the serpent demon had the best tracking ability among all the demons, and by the way she could sense every living being within the estate and their movements, she knew he was right. She would use this to her best advantage.