“Exactly.” The sterner sister sneered. “You went to Dìyù to rescue her and you failed.” She puffed. “Some White Knight that makes you.”
He clenched his fists, the muscles in his jaw twitching. They’d struck on a sensitive nerve. “You’re right. I’m not a bloody White Knight. I’m Horse. The steed, not the hero. I may not carry a flashing sword and kill the bad guys, but I’ll tell you what I will do.” His hands unclenched. “I’ll race headfirst into any battle she asks me to fight. I won’t claim any of the glory, and I won’t ever stand down from her side. I’ll carry her with every ounce of strength in me. I’ll shelter her, protect her. I’ll be there for her whenever she needs me. I’ll be her best friend, her shoulder to cry on, and her listening ear. If it came to it, I would trade my life for hers.” He exhaled and murmured, “That’s what I am.” He pegged them both with his glare. “Take it or leave it. Help me or get out.”
Jiutou’s lips curved. “You passed.”
***
Pipa and Jiutou were gone. Gone to Price. Anxiety fluttered in Daji’s stomach as she wandered the brilliant hallways. This palace was far grander than hers, or even Dì Xīn’s. Stopping at a bay window, she surveyed the haze misting around the boundaries of this realm. She closed her eyes, searching for her connection with Price. If the clouds cleared, she might peer into the earthly realm, to where he was.
I hope my sisters are behaving themselves.
Pipa and Jiutou were abrasive around the edges, but they meant well. After Dì Xīn’s first death, she’d done her best to locate them, but they had vanished as well.
Though Daji had suspected they might be here, there was nothing she could do for them.
Nüwa wasn’t an evil goddess, but like many immortals, she was accustomed to having her selfish desires fulfilled. She might dream being Queen of the húli jīng was an epic fantasy, but the truth of leadership was far harsher. Sacrifice. Servitude. And self-denial. A Queen was the roots holding her people together. The role was a privilege, not to be abused for personal gratification.
If she explained this, Nüwa might relent.
If her sisters failed, discourse might be her sole option. She pried her eyes open and veered into the corridor.
A female halted in the entryway, curtseying. “My Queen.”
She smiled, but the female didn’t stroll away as most did. Curious, Daji stepped toward her.
The female lifted her face, bright blue eyes shining at Daji.
Familiar, refined bone structure and dark, curling locks.
Price.
Her heart thumped inside her chest. This realm was so vast she’d discounted the possibility of encountering his mother. Apparently, the female had sought her out.
“Charya. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The woman glided forward. “And you, my Queen.”
“Please, call me Daji.” She was used to being held in awe by her people, but not by her lover’s mother.
Awkward.
“I heard a rumor, that you know my sons.”
She tilted her head. “I do, indeed. You should be proud. They are admirable men.”
And I’m in love with one of them.
“Thank you.” Pain flashed across her eyes. “I’m sorry for my deception, for hiding them from you.”
Daji rested a gentle hand on the woman’s shoulder. “You did what you had to do to protect them, and you made the right decision.” She gave a small squeeze and withdrew her hand. “They are both well, and happy. You needn’t worry.”
A rush of relief swooshed from the woman’s lips. “Arkoun. Their father was…” She scrunched her nose. “I had to conceal them from the world, until they fulfilled their destinies.”
Price’s father? Daji leaned in. “Who was he?”
The woman raised thick lashes to reveal glistening eyes, full of pain and tears. “If I tell you, they will lose favor with you.”
She straightened, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. “I love your son Price. Nothing would halt my affections.”
The woman blinked. “So it is true. You mated him?”
“Yes, and my heir is in love with Ryden.”
The woman pressed a quivering hand to her chest. “That’s wonderful. I feared they wouldn’t find happiness. That the evil which spawned them would haunt them forever. I never would have mated with him if I had known. Never would have borne his children.” Her lashes lowered. “Sometimes, we receive the greatest gifts from the darkest places.”
Daji tensed, not liking this twist.
“I tried to hide from him, but he found me. Found…Price.” She swallowed hard. “I had to kill him, to protect my boys, but the wound he delivered me was equally fatal.”
“You were very brave.” She pressed a gentle hand on the woman’s arm. The play of emotions across her face exposed how difficult this tale was for her to share.
“His name is Shi Hung. When I became pregnant with Ryden, he revealed his true nature, and his lineage.” A sigh of resignation sagged Charya’s shoulders. “He is the descendant of Dì Xīn.”
Daji stiffened, grasping at those words. She nibbled her bottom lip, frowning, until the words repeated in her mind. “No.” She drew back, twisting from this woman and her ill revelations.
You think you’ve won, Daji? You’ll never be rid of me.
The sly glance he’d cast at Price.
Had he known?
How was he related to the one man she’d fallen in love with?
Dì Xīn’s blood runs through Price’s veins.
The blood of an evil, murdering fiend.
She pressed a hand against the wall, bracing. The gleaming white walls whirled around her, spinning her in an endless whirlpool of shock.
Four.
Trouble counting, Daji? Dì Xīn’s taunt echoed into her mind. The fourth Demon King.
Air choked into her lungs, too thick to inhale. She shot a glare at Charya. “He’s alive, isn’t he?”
The answer was in the woman’s pale expression and grim nod.
Price’s father is number four.
Daji blinked back the hot tears flooding her eyes. It doesn’t matter.
I love Price.
Whatever blood ran through him, he was a good person. He didn’t carry the taint of evil, no more than Lucy or Natalie.
But this… It wasn’t a coincidence these evil men were related to Chosen. Had they somehow manipulated the pairings of spirit animal and host? How had the Jade Emperor allowed it?
Where did the balance of yin and yang fit into everything?
That was it. Good and evil in balance. A dark father to a light son.
The news would devastate Price though, who’d taken great pleasure in dismembering and destroying his ancestor’s body.
“Can you forgive him?” Charya’s pleading voice broke through Daji’s storm cloud of thoughts. “He does not know. Neither does Ryden.”
Of course they didn’t. Price would never have kept that a secret from her. Could she pardon him, for being the progeny of the monster who’d terrorized her for centuries?
Even if she did, would he ever absolve himself?
***
“Hop in.” Pipa tilted her chin toward the shimmering portal she’d carved into the air.
Ryden rushed past Price.
“Ah, no fucking way.” He grabbed his brother’s arm. “You’re not coming.”
“I damned well am.” He jerked his arm free. “This is Naya’s fate too.”
“Exactly why I won’t risk both of you.” He stared his brother down. “If this fails, you have to get Naya safe, and make her Queen before that bitch has a chance to steal the throne out from under her.”
Ryden rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “I can’t let you do this alone.”
“I won’t be alone.” Price grinned. “I’ve got two badass spirits with me.” He jerked his chin toward Daji’s sisters. “If the four of us can’t defeat Nüwa, you tagging along sure isn’t going to
help.” His brother shuffled his feet, wavering. “You have my back on this.” He gripped Ryden’s shoulder. “Go with Naya to her realm and make her Queen. Keep our people safe, yeah?”
The tension eased from his brother and Price released his grasp. “Okay, but you’d better come back.”
“Never been able to get rid of me before.” Price winked and stepped through the portal, groaning for a second while his stomach flopped upside down. A hard, flat surface smacked into his ass. No, wait, that was his ass smacking into the ground. A tiled floor. His head spun, but he clutched it in both his hands and grimaced. He pried open one eye, and winced. Damned bright sun. Fucking white walls.
“Welcome to our Hell,” Jiutou snickered. “C’mon, loverboy. Daji’s waiting.”
Daji. His heart thumped in rapid time and he launched to his feet, ignoring the twisting inside his gut. He hurried after the two females, who pressed their fingers to their lips and beckoned him to be stealthy as they slipped from the room and along a narrow ivory corridor. What was with the white? Goddess had something against color?
The two led him to a winding stone staircase, descending two, maybe three floors, and opening into a darkened chamber.
He didn’t need his eyesight to see her, though.
Daji.
His heart slammed into his throat and he rushed forward, but Horse jolted him, sending him to a skidding halt. Her eyes flickered.
Yeah, her eyes did that. But not in the same way.
Not. Daji.
He whipped around, Horse’s eyesight piercing through the shattering façade of the chamber.
An earthy, sunny scent filled his nostrils. Hay?
His shoulder smacked into a hard surface, like a wall, but not. He twisted to peer at the wood divider.
A bloody horse stall? What kind of dungeon was this? A stable?
Ha ha. Very funny.
Except, he wasn’t laughing.
A female voiced hummed from outside his stall. “We’re really sorry about this, but we don’t have any choice.” Pipa?
“For what it’s worth, we do believe you love her. But some things aren’t meant to be. Sorry.” Jiutou?
He pounded his fist on the stall door, but it didn’t budge. Not made of real wood. Another illusion?
His gut had been right.
A slicing weight cut across his left wrist. He veered toward it, only to have his right wrist caught too. Two loops of rope slapped around his wrists and the sisters yanked on them, hauling his arms above his head on either side of his body.
Dammit. This wasn’t the type of bondage he was into.
He grunted and wrenched on his wrists, but of course they were magically fortified. Horse might be able to break through, but he’d be better off biding his time until the sisters were gone.
“Don’t bother struggling. It won’t do you any good.” Jiutou opened the stall door and slipped inside, followed by Pipa.
“The box, if you will?” Pipa stepped forward and skimmed her hands around his waist, frisking him.
The box was right there for the taking, and she slid it out of his jacket pocket.
“Daji trusted you.” The despair in her sigh suggested she didn’t enjoy her betrayal, but had to go along with it. Maybe he could turn her. “You do this, and she will never trust you again.”
“I don’t need her to.” Pipa’s lashes lowered.
Her words sank in and desperation clawed at his chest. “You can’t use the box on her. Please, don’t do this.”
Jiutou flinched.
Yikes. It was true. They were planning to trap Daji inside that box for eternity. Man, he trusted Ryden with his life, and he couldn’t imagine his sibling selling him out. “She would never betray you.”
“She might, if she’d ever been through what we have.” Jiutou waved for Pipa to join her. “Let’s leave.”
“Wait.” The longer he detained them, the better his act would come off. “What are you planning to do with me? Two can’t fit inside the box.”
Jiutou lifted and dropped her shoulder. “That’s for Nüwa to decide.” She shuffled Pipa out of the stall.
He tugged on both his wrists, a million curses spiraling through his brain. He’d hoped to be wrong about them. Daji would be devastated. At least his omission might save both their asses.
If he could get out of this damned stall. For the first time, his smart-ass mouth just might get him out of trouble, instead of into it.
Horse, show time, buddy.
Price tossed his head and cloaked the spirit animal. Horse pawed the dirt with its hind hooves, hating being tied up even more than Price did.
Let’s get the fuck out of here.
Daji parted from Price’s mother and wandered the hallways, pacing while she waited for her sisters.
Would he come for her? Of course he would. Every beat inside her heart sensed the truth. Whatever future they had to face, it would be together. Side by side.
Price would not fail her.
“Daji!”
She spun toward Pipa’s shout. Her two sisters hurried toward her. Alone. Daji glanced behind them, but Price wasn’t there.
A bitter pulse of rejection shot through her. There had to be an explanation. “Where’s Price?”
Pipa wrung her fingers. Jiutou frowned. “He wouldn’t come. I’m sorry, Daji, but he said he’s moved on. That he refused to be tied to you and your failing realm anymore. He’s a Horse and he has to be free.”
Daji narrowed her eyes. Nothing about their words rang true. Sure, Price was wild and untamed. Yet these past weeks, he’d fallen for her, just as much as she had for him. Should she place more faith in her sisters than in her heart?
No.
Why would they lie to her?
Nüwa. The goddess manipulated them, and who fathomed how deeply?
Daji shook her head, carefully choosing her words. “No. Price wouldn’t abandon me. He followed me to Dìyù.”
“He said that was enough. Sorry, but he was pretty adamant you two weren’t meant to be.” Pipa’s counter sounded strained. Forced.
Daji pressed her hand against the wall, reacting as they obviously expected her to. A broken-hearted, defeated woman. “I love him.” The tear slipping from her eye wasn’t fake. Fear about what had happened to Price jolted her. She buried her face in her hands, shaking her shoulders and forcing out sobs, while searching instead for her connection with Price.
The tie pulsed, warming her with his presence. He’s alive.
He’s…here?
Thank the gods—not Nüwa.
“Nüwa wishes to see you.” Pipa placed her hand on Daji’s shoulder. “She has a new assignment for you. It might help to get him out of your head. Forget about the loser.”
Forget him? Never. Daji smiled. “Yes, I would like that.”
Jiutou tilted her head toward the corridor and strolled away. Daji trailed her, Pipa behind her. Guarding me. Did they believe her lies as she’d pretended to fall for theirs?
If she broke free and located Price… Then what? Nüwa was a powerful goddess. An angry one too.
It made sense. Get Pipa and Jiutou to go undercover and determine how Daji and Price intended to defeat the goddess.
Did he have a plan? Was it ruined now?
Once inside the luxurious throne room, Jiutou bowed. “Goddess.” The walls were as gleaming and pristine as the rest of the palace, the throne carved out of an ivory stone. Nüwa was seated upon it, her snake tail coiling along the steps in front of her.
“Ah, you’ve returned. Is it done?” Nüwa’s eyes flared, a burnished bronze hue.
“Is what done?” Daji stiffened, acting the part, though unsure of what they spoke.
“It is.” Pipa treaded up the stairs and handed something to Nüwa.
A box?
The same box Price had attempted to use against Dì Xīn. It hadn’t worked then…would it now?
“This was your plan to defeat me, Daji?” Nüwa raised one thin brow. “Your
lover is crafty indeed.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t test me, youngling.” Those eyes narrowed, her palm opening on the armrest of her throne. “Your sisters may be of your blood, but they are mine.” Her fist closed, seeming to crush Pipa and Jiutou’s souls in her grasp. On either side of her, the two hissed cries.
“We’re sorry, Daji,” Pipa squeaked.
Poor darlings. They’d had no choice. Straightening her shoulders, she glared at the goddess. The box was impotent. It didn’t frighten her. Though she wished Price had devised a better plan. “Where is Price?”
“Ah, yes.” Nüwa opened her fingers, one by one, and her sisters gasped in wheezing breaths. “Your lover.” The corner of her lips curved in a cruel smile. “Perhaps he will become mine.”
Nüwa snapped her fingers, and the room swirled around them, darkening, a musty tang filling her nose. A stable?
Price faced them from an open stall, his arms bound on either side of his body, rippling biceps braced above his head. His eyes flashed as his gaze locked on her. Daji’s heart gave a thump, but she forced her attention onto the goddess.
Her claws curled into her palms, the sharp pricking a reminder of how dangerous her next actions were. He growled, his eyes pleading, but she ignored him. Play along, Price. “You can have him. He wasn’t worthy.” She unfisted her hands and flicked a glance at Price. These next words would cut him, but they might save his life. “Besides, his blood is tainted.”
“Tainted?” Nüwa’s tone pitched high, curious.
Daji focused on her. “Yes, he’s descended from Dì Xīn—the Emperor turned Demon King we defeated. Though, this male’s father, Shi Hung, continues to succumb to his evil nature.”
“Pray tell.” Nüwa folded her hands in her lap. “How did you learn of this?”
If the goddess sought to form alliances with the dark group, Price would be an asset, not a liability. Especially not if Daji renounced him.
“His mother.” She struggled not to peek at Price. “She confessed everything.”
“Did she indeed? Hmm.” Nüwa’s smirk passed over Price with more than interest and possession. “Like father, like son.”
Reining Him In (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 5) Page 27
