by Kali Willows
***
The maître d' greeted her at the door. “Do you have a reservation, miss?”
Lien nodded. “I’m here to meet someone for dinner. A man.”
“Very good, miss. What is his name?”
She sucked in a breath. “Shen Li.”
“Ah, yes. He is awaiting your arrival in the cocktail lounge. Follow me, please.”
“He’s…here?”
“Yes, he arrived fifteen minutes ago.” The salt-and-pepper haired gentleman waved her forward. A sudden chill crept down her spine, and she gasped.
“Miss?” With widened eyes, he gripped her elbow and supported her as she teetered in her patent leather heels. “Are you ill?”
“No, no, it’s just that, he’s early….” She fought to steady her breath. “It’s happening so fast.”
The man crinkled his brows. “What would you like me to do?”
“I’m fine.” Don’t be a coward, Lien. This is what you have waited years for. “Bring me to him. Thank you.”
As they crossed the room, Lien eyed the tables filled with ladies in colorful lace and taffeta, men in swagger suits and fedoras with slender neckties. The rustle of crinoline and clanging of glasses filled the air, amid laughter and chatter of the patrons having cocktails.
“I believe, that is Mr. Li at the table by the window?”
She gripped the purple orchid close to her pounding heart. “Yes, that’s him, thank you.”
As the man excused himself to attend to another couple at the entrance, Lien forced her shoulders back and approached the table with minute steps. When she reached his side, she lifted the orchid and cleared her throat.
Glancing up at her, he shoved his chair back and stood. His mouth dropped open. “You?” He reached over and trailed the pads of his fingers along her jaw.
“How I’ve missed you, Shen.”
The tender stare she had longed for was soon replaced with narrowed eyes and a grimace as he jerked away. “No, it can’t be.”
“Please, hear me out.”
“Why are you here?” he demanded.
“You wouldn’t answer my letters. You left me no other choice.”
“For good reason.” He tugged his wallet from his coat pocket. “I won’t discuss this in public.” He dropped money on the table and slammed his half-empty glass on top of it.
“Please, don’t be angry.”
“I said, not here.” He gripped her elbow and half-dragged her across the room. Her awkward heels wobbled as she struggled to meet his pace.
“You’re scaring me.” Lien stumbled and yanked away from his grasp. “Stop, Shen, now!”
The whole lounge went deathly silent as all eyes fell on them.
Shen straightened his posture and adjusted his tie. “My apologies, Miss Long,” He waved her ahead of him.
Chapter Two
Under the clear night sky, Lien trembled from the icy chill that encased her sheer stocking-clad legs. At the rail of the Golden Gate Bridge, they faced the water in awkward silence. Dense clouds of their cold breath surrounded them.
The tears she had managed to keep at bay trickled down her frozen cheeks. “You refused to talk to me.”
“I killed my brother. We can never be together again.” The harshness of his tone sent a dagger of sorrow through her chest.
“You didn’t kill him.”
“We were cursed. I gave in to my desire for you.” He rubbed his forehead and spoke with a hoarse voice.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Look, it’s ancient history. I’ve moved on, and you should, too.”
“I could never move on without the chance to at least tell you in actuality what happened.”
“You and I made love, and he died. What more is there?” Through gritted teeth, he forced an even tone.
“I don’t expect you to fall in love with me again. I just needed to show you….” She hitched a breath. “You deserve to find peace. If that means without me, I will manage, but not until you get closure.” Lien clutched her handbag and the orchid tight against her chest and resisted the urge to caress his arm.
“How can I possibly get closure? Even tonight, as I try to find another, here you are again to dredge it all up. Did you follow me here from Shanghai? How the hell did you end up being my date?”
“You have forgotten so much, my darling. We planned to move here, go to college, and start our careers.”
“Those dreams were before….” He glowered.
“We may not have come here together as we had planned, but our goals remained the same. What is in the past belongs only there. Even if no one in our village will ever forget, no one in America knows. Here, is a fresh start.”
Lien unlatched her bag, and reached inside. “After you hear what I have to tell you, if you never want to see me again, I will honor your wishes.”
“Say your piece and be on your way.”
“You are still so angry.” She shook her head and let down her weighted shoulders with defeat. “Here, rather than listen, read.” She handed him the brown leather journal she had carried for the last few years.
“What is this?”
“It is some of the story we needed to know, but didn’t. It is a start, but there is much more to learn.” Lien moved away from him and closed her purse. “All I want from you, at this very moment, is to read that book. Once you’re done, if you desire to talk to me, at least one more time, I will be in the hotel room that is booked for us tonight.” She handed him the flower and stepped back. “I plan to have a hot bath, perhaps a drink, and if you don’t arrive, I will settle for the night and be gone by morning. As I promised, I won’t ever bother you again.”
With furrowed brows, he glared at her.
“Please, just read it. I hope it gives you the peace you have needed since we last spoke.” She ran along the walkway and left him alone on the bridge.
***
“I’m not sure, Priscilla. He seemed so coldhearted.” She raised a shaky hand to sip from her martini as she gripped the phone in the other like a life preserver.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine. The hardest part is over. I accomplished what I hoped. The rest is up to him.”
“Would you prefer to leave the room? You could call the concierge and have another—?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. If he decides to come, we can talk, but I don’t expect to see him.”
“You know where to find me if you need support, doll. We will do brunch tomorrow.”
“I’ll be okay. Thank you for all your help.”
“At least call room service for a bite to eat, since you didn’t have dinner.”
“Great minds think alike. I have already ordered. They should be up soon.” Lien smoothed the condensation along the martini glass.
“Try to relax. I will talk to you in the morning. You can let me know how your night goes, and if you still feel up to coming back to the office, we can finish selecting the colors for the penthouse suite?”
“Of course. I promised we would complete your newest location.” She sipped at her drink and set it down. “Who knows, if tonight doesn’t improve, I may just be ready to head straight to the Vegas hotel. I could get the painters started.”
“You’re the best. I’m here if you need me.”
“Good night.”
As she hung up the phone, someone knocked on the door.
Lien tightened the belt of her red satin robe and looked through the peephole.
On the other side of the door, Shen held up the orchid. In a panic, she scanned around the suite. She hadn’t expected him to arrive so soon, if at all. Her crinkled tissues from her cry fest were scattered across the couch.
“Just a minute.” She tossed the tissues in the trash and rushed back to let him in.
She drew in a long, calming breath and opened the door. “Please, come in.”
With his head hung low, he handed her the flower and walked past her to
the couch. He plopped down and removed his fedora. In his right hand, he held the leather book she had given him.
Lien closed the door and thought quickly. His arrival could mean so many things. He wanted her. He wanted to be even more clear about his desire for her to stay out of his life…. “Shen, may I pour you a drink?” Her heart raced with uncertainty.
“Please.”
“What would you like?”
“Whatever you’ve got.” He loosened his necktie.
“How about a martini?”
“Perfect, make it dirty.”
At the bar, she tucked the orchid into a pitcher of ice water and mixed his cocktail as shakes of raw nerves coursed through her veins. Lien brought the glass to him and parked herself in the adjacent chair.
“I don’t know where to start.” He sipped his drink and shuddered.
She waited quietly for him to talk.
“Where did you get all of this?” He tossed the journal onto the coffee table. “I researched, too, but I never found information like this.”
“I journeyed to Tibet and studied the sacred scrolls to find anything about our problem. We come from a long line of—” Lien bit her lip. “It’s all there.”
“It never occurred to me.” He nodded at the book. “Any of this could even be possible.”
“You were stuck in grief. My motivation to learn the truth proved stronger than yours. You just accepted what you believed to be fact.”
“It’s just like you.”
“What is?”
“Always determined. So, you had to go in search of answers instead of respecting my wishes.” A soft smile filled his face.
“My determination had no bearing on right or wrong. It was about your unrealistic sense of responsibility.”
“Ling should have been the one to survive.”
“I didn’t choose, Shen. Nature decided.”
“We were identical. You could have been with him, and he would be here….” He shook his head.
“And you wouldn’t be, is that it?”
“Exactly.”
“How dare you,” Lien growled
Shen stared at her with wide eyes. “What?”
“Belittle our love, like it meant nothing to you.” She glared.
“Of course, I had the most incredible experience of my life…but we were wrong to do it.”
“You make our bond sound like a sin.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Shen Li, if I weren’t a lady, I would slap you for that.” Lien crossed one leg over the other and tossed her drink back.
“I don’t mean to offend you.”
“Well, you’ve developed quite the knack for it.”
“It never should have happened.” He finished his martini, took both their glasses to the bar, and mixed another round.
“Guilt is a useless and detrimental emotion,” she murmured.
“Perhaps it is intended to help us determine right from wrong.” He returned and handed her the filled glass, with an olive in it.
“Tell me, did you read all the entries?”
“I did.” He averted his eyes from her stare and slumped into his seat.
“Then, you must have read the portion I wrote about the difference between true and false guilt?”
“I suppose I skimmed over it.”
“Let me enlighten you, my love.” Lien set her drink on the table and spoke slow and clear. “True guilt comes when you have completed an action you never intended to do, that caused harm.”
“Your point is?”
“False guilt comes when you accept another’s blame for your choice or choose to wallow in self-pity because you followed your heart.” She stood up, unable to sit still another moment.
“What is your point?”
“Is your guilt true or false?”
“True. I would never have hurt Ling.” He banged his drink on the table and jumped up to face her.
“Then what you mean to say is, if you could go back in time, you would never have chosen to be with me, ever?” How could he?
“To save my brother, yes.”
“You never knew Ling would die. Neither of us did.”
“None of it matters. This won’t bring him back.” His eyes narrowed.
“Neither will denial of your love for me.”
“We can’t be together.”
“Do you have another twin I don’t know about?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It is you who is being ridiculous.” Lien stormed out to the balcony. Past the glass door, the vicious cold burrowed through her skin and contrasted with the burning rage inside.
“Lien.” His voice faded to a whisper as she turned around to face him. “Lien, what’s wrong with you?”
She was unable to force her lips to move, the heat consuming her. Shen’s face and the scene behind him glowed red.
Chapter Three
“Your eyes, they’re glowing.” Shen cupped her cheeks and studied her face. “Lien, can you hear me? I don’t know what to do.” Her skin sweltered, and perspiration beaded on her face. “Lien, please?”
What’s wrong with her? Can’t be just a fever; I’ve never felt anyone’s temperature so hot.
Terror flooded him, and he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bathroom. “I have to get you cooled down. Please, my darling, forgive me. I’m so sorry.” Shen placed her in the oval bathtub with her head resting against the ledge and turned on the cold water. Her eyes still glowed a luminous orange.
He ran to the phone and dialed zero.
“You have reached the concierge, how may I help you?”
“I’m in room 603. I need lots of ice and a doctor. My—” What do I call her? They can’t know this is a one-night stand. “My wife is very sick. She’s burning up.”
Lien blinked. She shoved aside the thick blanket. How had she ended up in bed?
“Her temperature is down now. She’ll be fine soon enough,” a deep voice rumbled from the living room.
“Is she sick?” Shen’s familiar tone, but shaky.
“I can’t find a thing wrong with her. She should be seen by her physician as soon as possible and have her blood drawn for tests, but, sometimes, we can develop a high fever to fight off germs and such.”
“What about her eyes?”
“I didn’t see what you described. Perhaps your worry for her caused you to imagine it? No one’s eyes would glow. That’s not human.”
Shen cleared his throat. “Thank you for coming so quickly, doctor.”
“You did the right thing when you put her into the ice bath. You may very well have saved her life. A temperature that high can be fatal. If it happens again, call me.”
The outer door banged shut, and Shen entered the room with a pitcher of water, a glass, and a bottle of aspirin.
“What happened?” Lien asked.
“I’m not sure, but I’m glad you’re okay now. You…your eyes were glowing, and your temperature was so high. You had me scared.”
“I could almost get the impression you care about me.” She accepted the glass of water as he settled on the bed beside her.
“I always have, Lien.”
“I thought you hated me.” And it had almost broken her heart.
“I hate myself, not you.”
“Are we at this again?”
“I don’t see how I can get past it.” He hung his head.
“Will you please go get me the journal?”
“Of course.” As he left the room, she put the glass on the nightstand and smoothed her disheveled bouffant updo.
He returned. “Here.”
“Sit.” She patted the bed beside her and accepted the book. “I will read to you. I imagine, since you arrived so quickly after I left you on the bridge, you didn’t read all of this.”
“I said I—” He exhaled. “I skimmed through it.”
“Where should I start?” She flipped through the mass of handwritten pages.
“You, have referred to our ancestry as a curse. I prefer to call it a unique legacy belonging solely to twins born in the year of the dragon. Once upon a time, there were twin brothers, who were very close. When they matured, they were drawn to the arms of a single woman. They both thought they loved her.”
“That is how it felt.” He fidgeted with his loosened tie.
“She could save one, but not both of them. Because these brothers were the embodiment of a single dragon spirit, divided into both bodies before birth. Over time, one would draw on the other’s strength and absorb his essence back into one body. The other would change into the form of a dragon and then die.”
“I don’t like this story.” He squirmed on the edge of the bed.
“Hush, trust me.” She patted his arm. “The woman they loved was a dragoness, a twin herself, but her sister had died before birth.”
Shen snapped his head up and gawked at her. “You never told me that before.”
“You never asked. Now, be quiet, and listen.” She gave a slight grin. “Unable to resist the raw power of nature, she came to him, and they bonded. She expelled the dragon’s breath into him, which unified his life essence.”
“Dragon’s breath?”
“Remember the flame?”
“When you kissed me, I remember the heat, the passion….” His cheeks flushed crimson. “It felt like fire.” He cleared his throat and grabbed her glass of water and took a long sip.
She continued. “We are descendants of the dragon, Shen.”
“I know.”
“It is the mating bond that only happens between a dragoness and her true mate.”
“The moment you bonded with me, Ling died.” His eyes held such anguish, she longed to hold him to her heart, but he needed to know everything, or he couldn’t make the decision to be with her—or not.
“But his soul rejoined with yours in your body. Do you not recall that rush of intense energy when it happened? Have you not noticed a difference in yourself in the past few years? Or have you been so consumed with grief, you can’t feel how your spirit has doubled in strength?”
