Long, flat stairs towered before her, cascading upward into the gigantic stone blocks fitted together to form the face of the structure. Four twisting towers peaked with flaming spindles.
Hmm. She shouldn’t be surprised Dì Xīn had built a palace for himself. Even in Dìyù he suffered his grand delusions.
The minions prodded her with their spears, urging her up the stairs. Twenty-eight of them and, at the top, enormous steel doors creaked open. Expecting me.
Onyx slabs spread beneath her feet like glistening pools of ink, rushing upward to form the walls, domed ceiling, and even the sprawling imperial staircase. Flickering torches lined the walls at even, four-foot intervals. Enough light to be able to peer into the ornate corridors, but not to assume any hint of comfort.
Unlike the environment outside, a crisp, icy breeze rushed through this palace, brushing her skin with a kiss of death.
The minions screeched at her, flapping their arms and wings for her to veer right. Her boots clacked on the tiles as she treaded down the long, arrow-straight corridor. Their images reflected off the mirror-smooth onyx, creating dozens of flickering shadows. At the end, an archway opened into a massive chamber. His throne room?
She paused at the arch, scanning inside. Dozens of yāoguài halted in their tasks, training their glinting stares on her.
Her throat tightened at the sight of him reclining on a carved throne—sculpted from human bones.
Grisly and gleaming white.
He smirked from his throne, leaning to the side and scratching his jaw. “Daji. It’s been a long time.” Shifting forward, he straightened to his full, burly frame. Thick, beefy shoulders. Long black beard blending with his stringy locks. His barreled chest bordered on rotund, yet boasted muscle enough.
It was his eyes which had changed. A flicker of light from the crackling fire in the hearth on the opposite wall swirled in those beady depths.
Demon.
He was a hybrid. Half-human, half-demon. A King among subservient slaves. Gods only knew what atrocities he’d committed to become such.
Daji halted a few steps from him and slid her hand toward her spine, but stopped, perching it on her hip instead. The knife was her only weapon. If she drew her blade at the wrong time and failed to slice off his head, she possessed no other defense.
She would be exactly the prisoner he’d hoped to claim.
“Why have you dragged me here? To gloat of your grand palace?” Sweeping her arm across the chamber, she scoffed. “Surely, one small húli jīng isn’t worthy of centuries of vengeful scheming.”
He rose like a bear onto its hind legs, displaying how threatening he was as he towered above her. “One small húli jīng who sent me through eighteen layers of Hell.”
His booming voice rippled beneath her skin, making her shudder. She pressed her lips together, fisting her hands, to hold in her strength.
“You were so clever, Daji. A student overpassing her master.” He seized one step forward, and she forced her muscles to freeze, instead of retreating like they begged to.
Lifting her chin, she met his demonic glare. “I’m flattered you’ve thought of me all these years. Truly, I have savored your absence.”
His eyes flashed, lightning striking in them, and he prowled forward. “Hmm, I don’t think so.” His rancid breath fanned across her skin as he halted at her side, cocking his head at her, and drawing one finger down her cheek. She clenched her jaw, refusing to flinch at the bristling contact.
“You could be so much more, Daji. I see the cruel heart beating within you. I perceive the truth. You never changed history’s depiction of you because you like to be feared. You feed off their terror, delight in the screams of your victims,” he jeered. “You may pretend all you wish, but you and I are the same. We are the result of our breeding, the product of our natures. Join with us, Daji, and we’ll rule together as we were meant to.”
“Us?” She frowned. Ah yes. “Lucy’s uncle, Xiaodan, and Nat’s father, Xing. Are they here?”
A cackle blew from his lips. “Trouble counting? You’re forgetting someone.” His lips spread into a sinister sneer. “Death.”
In many Chinese dialects, four (sì) and death (sǐ) were homonyms, and therefore, the number was associated with the other significance. Elevators in Asia often skipped the floors with the number four in them for this reason. Four residents would explain the four towers.
Who was the fourth Demon King?
“Enough about us. Let’s talk about you, my Queen. You don’t care about the survival or enslavement of humans. What you seek is for your people to thrive.” His finger stopped on her chin, and he cupped her jaw, jerking her head toward his. “I can give that to you. I can set them free.”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared into those endless depths. He’d gone mad with power, but she didn’t doubt he would do everything he declared. “Of course you can. You’re the one who stole their fox spirits from them in the first place.”
“Clever, clever.” He snorted and released her jaw. “Do you wish to see them? I knew they would draw you to me.”
Was this what Naya had uncovered? What had caused her to act so fool-heartedly?
Despite her will not to surrender, she answered, “Yes.”
Price exhaled slowly, deeply, and leapt over the ledge of the cliff. A fox spirit had opened a portal for him and Kassian into this realm. Up ahead, the real Ox Head and Horse Face guarded the entrance to Dìyù.
His accomplice copied his actions, about twenty yards away.
The stretch of arid, desert-like land was coated in a shadowy darkness. Not as pitch black as night, but similar to twilight, with an eerie reddish glow flaming the horizon.
Huh. Not exactly like the travel brochures.
The two guardians shouted.
Found me. Now you gotta catch me.
Ox Head’s “Who the fuck are they?” carried from the other side of the canyon.
To his left, Kassian released a bellowed walloping. The two guards glanced at each other and split up, sprinting toward him and Kassian.
Price crouched, slowing the pounding in his veins. Wait for it.
Best part of having an Ox around? Best tackler in the universe.
As soon as the two guardians were lined in a row, Kassian threw off his disguise, cloaked the real Ox, and charged.
He plowed into the two sentinels, knocking them aside like bowling pins. The crack and thunder of their crashing echoed into the canyon and was swallowed up. Yeah, they were down and out for the count. The guards sprawled on the ground, unmoving and seeming unconscious.
Price flung off his disguise and sprinted for the cave. Behind him, he detected the flare of a portal. He didn’t have a chance to look back, but he prayed like hell Kassian made it through. Those two guards would be pissed when they woke.
The cave was dark and reeked of death. The rotten stench of old blood mingled with the copper tang of the fresh stuff. Worse still, the dry heat sucked the moisture from his skin, parching his throat.
It didn’t matter. He fisted his hands and trudged forward, following the tingling of the tiny thread linking him to Daji.
She was alive. That much he sensed, from the strand. The link pulsed like a lifeline between them. As long as he detected her, his anxiety dimmed to a minimum.
The charades were over, and it was time to race through this maze and locate her. With any luck, she wouldn’t be in Dì Xīn’s clutches. Yet.
The set of stairs descended into the first level, and man, the muffled wailing chilled his spine.
Bastards deserved their punishments, though. Dìyù wasn’t home to any innocent victims. Whoever ended up in this place had committed some evil deeds in their lifetime.
He shrugged and headed straight for the other side. No need to take notes or to imagine what Daji had observed.
At least she had a strong stomach.
Cloaking Horse, he sped through the levels so fast none of the demons spotted him. He was almos
t invisible to them, which was good, because he wouldn’t survive any of the torments they dished out.
Definitely not on the top ten list of best places to vacay.
Level Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen. His hooves pounded through them, barely making contact with the ground. The deeper he descended, the more anxiety bubbled to the surface.
She wasn’t here, not in any of these chambers of horrors.
Am I too late?
Hell, no. The thread pulsed—a connection that grew stronger with each level he passed. Had to mean she was alive.
But for how long? He kicked Horse into high speed, galloping through Level Seventeen, and pausing before the gateway to Eighteen.
Shaking his head, he uncloaked the spirit animal. His worst fear was true. She was in this level somewhere, with him.
Being tortured or terrorized.
His hands fisted, but the weight of the box in his jacket pocket kept him grounded. He had the means to destroy that sonovabitch, and he would. The element of surprise was on his side, and he couldn’t afford to go storming in there. Yāoguài were one thing, a Demon King, quite another. Dì Xīn wouldn’t go down easy.
Oh, but he would crumble.
Price slipped around the stone stairwell’s corner, squinting into the blackness of Level Eighteen. Chamber of Saw.
Horse couldn’t see shit in this deep darkness, so the spirit animal would be of no help to him. This was one mission he’d have to go full Price on.
His first footstep sunk into the ground, squishing into a thick mud or…congealed pool of blood. Bile rose in his throat, but he swallowed hard and shoved it down. Disgusting, but not enough to deter him.
The gunk suctioned around his footsteps, sucking noisily as he trudged forward. So much for stealth. He crept along the stone wall, because he sure as hell didn’t wish to bump into any half-sawed bodies.
Doing that might make him squeal like a filly.
Ugh. Price shook off the jitters and trekked forward. An enormous, towering fortress posed arrogantly ahead. Compensating for something, Dì Xīn?
He crept up the staircase and slipped through the unguarded front doors. Good help sure was hard to come by.
Voices carried from down the corridor, several hundred feet ahead. At least Horse was good for that.
He tilted his head, tuning in, and caught the lilt of Daji’s accent. His heart thumped in his chest, but plunged the second he detected another voice. Deeper, and male. Most definitely demonic. The voices droned in and out, so he tiptoed forward, getting as close as he dared before either one would notice him.
“Join with me, Daji. Be my Queen once more, and together, we will rule every realm.”
Price grimaced. Did Dì Xīn presume poetic crap would work on Daji?
She didn’t answer him, so Price stole a few steps forward, around a corner, and spotted them through an archway.
Daji. The air squeezed from his chest, making the hot, sweltry atmosphere of Dìyù seem like an oxygen mask compared to the vacuum suck of space inside his chest.
He tore his concern off her beautiful form to observe Dì Xīn. Yep, just as motherfucking evil as he’d anticipated. Man, the being in front of Price was a sinister-looking asswipe.
“Join with me,” Dì Xīn repeated, his tone tight and impatient. “These souls will be my gift to you, to mark our union.” He swept his hand toward a glowing silver canister.
Suddenly, Daji straightened and unfolded her arms. “Yes. I will.” Her head turned, straight in Price’s direction. “And he will be my gift to you.”
***
Daji’s blood raced through her veins. Price was here.
He came for me.
Too soon.
Her reasoning warred with her thundering heart. Whatever foolish scheme he had in mind, she had to prevent, and instead, use his presence to her advantage. He was the distraction she required.
Beside her, Dì Xīn growled a menacing threat.
In the shadows, she glimpsed the betrayal and confusion pinching Price’s brows. If he loved her, he would trust her. Unblinking, she waited, holding his gaze.
The frown uncurled from his mouth. Yes. He understood. She wasn’t betraying him; she was saving him.
And everyone else.
Her heart lodged in her throat. Price had come for her. He’d trudged through the depths of Hell to save her.
If this wasn’t proof of his love…
“Look at him.” Daji tilted her chin toward Price. “He’s a Chosen. Horse. Whatever you have planned, he will stand in your path. I suggest you eliminate this threat.” She set her jaw, squared her shoulders, and enacted the picture history had painted of her.
A heartless, sadistic harpy.
“I accept your gift.” The corner of his mouth quirked and he stalked toward Price. “Did you presume to prance in here and stop me? Pathetic human.”
“Actually, I did.” Price withdrew a box from his jacket pocket and flourished it in front of Dì Xīn, snapping open the lid.
Nothing happened.
Cackling broke out from the ring of demons surrounding them. Dì Xīn’s underlings.
“Ah, hang a sec.” Price raised the box to his perusal, facing away from him, and opened and closed the lid several times, scowling. “Not as advertised.”
“You trespass in my Hell, Chosen, you’d better wield more than a trinket.” Dì Xīn’s hand whipped out and closed around Price’s throat, hauling him into the air. Price’s fingers clawed at the Demon King’s grip, but he did not relent.
Smirking at Daji, Dì Xīn pitched Price to the ground. “I hope he wasn’t your rescuer.”
“I don’t require one.” Daji lifted and dropped her shoulder, ignoring Price’s wheezing.
Show no weakness, play the part. The old mantra from centuries ago chanted in her mind. “Finish him, and we can seal our new alliance.”
Get off your ass, Price, and provide a real showdown. She required a better distraction to get close enough to wield a blade against Dì Xīn.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” Price stumbled to his feet, lowering his head and tossing it from side to side. “Now Horse is pissed.” The haze of the beautiful black stallion formed over Price, settling upon him like a dark cloud. Horse’s eyes burned a deep molten black, narrowing on its target. Impatient, the beast stamped its hooves on the slick tiles.
Dì Xīn chortled. “Ah, so the stallion is ready to be broken.” He lunged toward Horse, tackling the beast. Horse shrieked, twisted to the side, and sent a swift kick at his opponent, sending him stumbling backward.
A blow that would have killed a human merely hindered Dì Xīn’s attack. Lowering his head, he rammed into Horse’s flank, wrestling the spirit animal to the ground. His arms closed around Horse’s neck, his fist pummeling into the beast’s head.
No. Daji struggled against wincing, against shouting for Price to get up.
Horse dipped its head, dodging a blow, and nipped those razor sharp teeth at its adversary’s arm, slicing through his demon flesh.
Black ooze smeared across the wound and Dì Xīn clutched his arm to his chest as he staggered on his knees.
Horse seized the advantage to rise to its full height. Price slammed the box into the side of Dì Xīn’s head, a sickening snap cracking the air.
The Demon King clamped his head in his hands and twisted his neck, snapping his head back in place. A sneer curled his lips. “You can’t kill me. I’m already dead.”
But he was on his knees, successfully distracted by Price. This was her chance.
Daji shuffled to the side, padding in a circle around them until she faced Dì Xīn’s back. Her fingers closed around the blade’s handle.
Price tilted his face to her, fear in his eyes. “Daji, behind you!”
Sharp stings dug into her arms and she screamed. Yāoguài cackled, wrenching her backward.
Price dove toward her, but Dì Xīn caught his legs, stabbing a spear into Horse’s flank.
Its
screech shattered the air.
No.
Daji struggled against the demons’ clutches, their claws slicing into her flesh, down to the bone. She whipped her face toward Price.
The spear pinned him to the earth, Horse’s cloaking flickering.
Chortling, Dì Xīn rose to his feet and stalked to her side. “How foolish do you deem me, Daji, to fall for your manipulations once again? Did you presume I have learned nothing in centuries of Hell?” He scoffed. “Now, you will watch your lover die, and then your people. But you, oh, you, my dear, are already dead.”
No. She fought to contain her sobs. Her arms were pinned and she couldn’t pluck the blade at her spine. Price bled out on the ground in front of her.
But what did Dì Xīn mean about her death?
“Ah yes.” He smirked as she lifted her lashes to peer at him. “Enjoy that water, did you?”
The gourd. The foul liquid she’d consumed. “Poison.”
“Fitting, isn’t it?” Dì Xīn leered at her. “First I’ve poisoned you, and now you’ll burn.”
No. Fucking. Way. Price hissed in a shallow breath. Horse had been stabbed right through its flank, but the asshole had missed. Nothing vital was hit. The Demon King was distracted, taunting Daji, so he gritted his teeth and plucked out the spear, swallowing his groans.
This would be a bloody good time for Chosen magic. He sought out the connection between him and Delun. One perk was Chosen healed each other. A circle of hand-holding and chanting, but would it work through different realms?
He dragged in another lungful of air and followed the link binding him to Delun. Come on, Dragon. Horse needs you.
There. At the end of the thread, a glowing cloud. Price tugged on it, funneling the other spirit animal’s energy into Horse. Searing heat sizzled across his middle like a branding iron, but it was working. The bleeding stopped; the wound sealed.
The yāoguài around them screeched at Dì Xīn. Price’s ears perked.
“If I recall, this was your favorite. What a legacy.” The jackass whistled for his minions to erect a copper column in the middle of the chamber.
Reining Him In (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 5) Page 23
