Rematch

by Rachael Slate

  “True, Li Tieguai, but he is not the only one with the ability to manipulate a spirit.”

  The hairs on the back of her neck spiked. What was the Matchmaker suggesting? How many tricks did she have up her silk sleeves?

  “Yes or no, Wen. I must have your answer.”

  She fingered the petals of the blossom in her hair. “If I agree to this, what will it mean for me?”

  “Aside from assuming Cat’s wondrous powers, you would be welcomed into my Lotus League. And…I am in need of a great ally on the Council.”

  Holy crap, that was one crazy promotion. From dusting vases to a place on the Council of Elders? Could the Matchmaker even pull it off?

  Wen bit down on her lip. Duh, what a question. The woman was as powerful as she was mysterious.

  And always, calculating.

  “You placed me here so I would meet Cat.”

  Those obsidian eyes glinted with cunning. “Yes. You were marked. I wasn’t certain, of course, until Cat claimed you. Until you claimed Cat. Your willingness to defend and protect the spirit proves you are worthy of hosting it.”

  Worthy? A few minutes ago, she’d agreed to stay here and train Cat not to eat the gardeners. Now, the Matchmaker proposed whisking her off to a seat on the Council of Elders.

  Away from Li.

  Her heart tugged in opposite directions. She’d craved redemption, but with Li, she’d yearned for something more.

  Love.

  She wrinkled her nose at the foolish idea. Li hadn’t ever offered love to her. He’d only pushed her away. Maybe he’d be glad to be rid of her at last. She’d caused him no end of grief since her arrival.

  “You will, of course, remain here while you learn to bond with the spirit. It is better to keep this in secret.” The Matchmaker winked.

  “How is this even possible? Did the Jade Emperor sanction—”

  “I have my methods.” She snapped her fingers and two figures strolled forward from around the corner. A man and woman, holding hands. “Meet my Chosen.”

  Behind her, Cat let out a low mewl. A greeting?

  The approaching man pegged her with his intense stare, a familiarity in the glint of his dark eyes setting her at ease. An instant later, he vanished as a giant, gray-striped tiger took his form. Like a hologram flipping, the image of the man disappeared into that of the creature.

  Cat leapt forward, slowing as it advanced toward the Tiger. The two large felines treaded closer to one another, not making eye contact, but finally nearing enough to bump noses in a feline greeting. The black panther was slightly smaller than the enormous tiger, but they were both powerful, giant cats.

  Whatever had happened at the Great Race, these two spirits weren’t enemies.

  Wen’s gaze whipped to the woman and she hoped like hell that wasn’t Rat.

  Her fears eased as the woman’s image shifted into the form of an enormous white rabbit.

  Cat left Tiger to greet Rabbit, but the bunny shied from the large feline and adhered to the Tiger’s side. Wasn’t Tiger also a predator?

  Odd. The relationship between the couple must transcend their spirits’ natural instincts.

  The man uncloaked the Tiger and the woman copied him. “I’m Sheng, and this is Lucy. I can’t help you, but she can.” He gave her a reassuring nudge forward, his hand coming to rest on the small of her back. The intimacy of their relationship was almost tangible.

  “Hi.” Lucy tucked a strand of her silver-streaked brown hair behind her ear and stuck out her hand.

  “Hello. I’m Wen.” She shook Lucy’s hand, assessing the woman. Her golden eyes were kind, soft. Gentle. Could she really do what they claimed?

  This whole situation seemed fantastical, but then again, she was living on a magical island with an immortal who’d kissed her like a man on the edge of death.

  Wen shook herself and focused on Lucy. “How exactly are you going to put Cat inside me?”

  Lucy glanced at Sheng, who nodded. “That’s the easy part. I’m a Shèhúnzéi. A Spirit Thief.”

  Behind her, a low whistle. Wen twisted to catch Li staring at the pair, his brows drawn together in deep bewilderment.

  “Oh, that’s right. Li Sheng, meet your ancestor, Li Tieguai.” The Matchmaker’s extended arm swept between the two men.

  The fluttering in her stomach sank. No wonder Sheng had seemed familiar to her. Those intense eyes. That broad-shouldered confidence.

  The two men regarded each other with caution, like two alphas who’d stumbled into each other’s territories. Awkward didn’t begin to describe this situation.

  “Wow. Your ancestor, Sheng.” Lucy beamed and stuck her hand out toward Li, but the immortal stared at it as though he didn’t know what a handshake was.

  The shock must be too much. After all, Li had to be Sheng’s great, great, great, whatever number of greats, yet they appeared nearly the same age. Each of the twelve Chosen was selected from the descendants of the Eight Immortals, but Li froze as if he’d never contemplated the notion of his lineage.

  Lucy edged closer to Sheng, claiming the space at his side in a united stand against the world. The longing to do the same with Li pulsed through Wen, but could anyone break through the hard shell of his demons?

  Could she?

  Li regarded the woman’s outstretched hand, then the man beside her. His descendant. How odd. In his younger days, he’d fathered many offspring. Children who’d borne more children. As the centuries passed, he’d lost track of them. Yet here one of his own flesh and blood stood before him.

  Not only that, but a male of worth—the Chosen host of the Tiger.

  The pride that arose inside his chest, puffing it outward, deflated just as quickly. He had no claim to this child other than his blood. If he placed Sheng’s age at around thirty, it meant Li had been entirely uninvolved in the events of the earthly realm during this man’s existence.

  They were strangers, bound by a tie he wasn’t worthy of.

  Li swallowed the bitterness of his shame and was about to excuse himself, but the male knelt before him.

  “It’s a great honor to meet you, my lord.”

  Bloody hell. The gesture of respect only made the ache in Li’s heart tear open. “There’s no need for such formality. You may rise.” He waved the man up, but the reverence remained etched onto Sheng’s features.

  If only this lad knew. He was not an ancestor to take pride in claiming. The awed admiration in his descendant’s eyes damn sure made him yearn to try.

  “Thank you.” The man dipped his head and turned back to the woman at his side, slipping his hand through hers. “What now, Matchmaker?”

  During all his hundreds of years, he’d only ever encountered a few with the gift of Shèhúnzéi. In a world falling into chaos, a talent like hers would be a game changer. No wonder the Matchmaker kept Lucy in her arsenal.

  “Lucy, you may proceed.” The Matchmaker waved her on.

  “Ah, okay.” Lucy rolled her shoulders and tucked back her hair. The slight female didn’t appear formidable, and neither did the Rabbit spirit she possessed, but he’d seen this gift before and he would not underestimate its power.

  “Come here, Cat.” Lucy cooed at the spirit, who, after a moment’s pause, padded toward her outstretched hand.

  “You do know what you’re doing, right?” Wen clasped her hands together in front of her.

  His instincts urged to rush to her side, to place his hand over hers in reassurance, but he’d not earned the right to offer such comfort. Besides, soon enough she’d move on to greater things. A position on the Council. An opportunity to aid the world. While he would remain here, on this isolated island, doing penance for his endless, immortal days.

  Cat rubbed its nose into Lucy’s palm. She extended her other hand to Wen, placing her hand on Wen’s shoulder. The three connected and Lucy dipped back her head. A hazy shroud enveloped the three, a rising indigo-hued mist swirling around them. The spirit of Cat flickered and condensed, creeping
along Lucy’s arm until it vanished from sight.

  Lucy’s body acted as the conduit. Absorbing Cat and transferring the spirit into Wen. The mist darkened and spread. Wen gasped and swayed on her feet.

  Li strode forward as the procedure finished. Wen wavered on her feet, and as Lucy released her grip, he slid one hand behind Wen, offering support. The deeper instincts within him urged to sweep her into his arms, yet her stance steadied.

  A chiming laugh escaped her while she stared at her hands. The image of Cat’s paw flickered over her hand—black, silky fur spreading across her creamy skin. A second later, Cat’s form overtook hers completely, and the spirit leapt to a balcony on the second story, then back down again, its tail flicking into the air.

  Cat landed in a crouch and mewled. Wen uncloaked the spirit and sprinted to his side, a bright smile sparkling from her eyes. “That was awesome!”

  He smiled at her enthusiasm, but his heart sank. She’d bonded so well and so quickly with the spirit, there wouldn’t be much training involved. Not much time, either.

  “Well done, Wen.” The Matchmaker clapped once, seizing everyone’s attention. “Lucy, Li Sheng, we must depart. Li Tieguai, I’ll return to collect Wen for her new position on the Council when the timing is right.”

  “Thank you.” Wen embraced Lucy, then shook Sheng’s hand.

  Li folded his arms and watched them. The couple turned to speak their farewells, but he just nodded at them. He hadn’t earned their respect. Not yet.

  Sheng dipped his head, and Lucy flashed him a nervous smile, before Sheng seized her hand and they followed the Matchmaker.

  They left him alone with Wen, twisting her hands, her lips parted in awe.

  “You know the best part about joining with a spirit like Cat?” She lifted her gaze and raised a brow at him.

  He tensed, stalking her sashaying hips as she strolled toward him. What game did Wen play now?

  She glided right up to him and wrapped one hand around his neck, then drew her lips to his ear. “I’m going to make one hell of a cat burglar.” Her murmur purred in his ear, spiking lust through his veins. He kept his arms folded, but hell, he’d love to grip them around her and plaster his body against hers, pinning her to the wall.

  She ignored his silence and pressed a soft kiss to his neck, sending a slow burn of passion straight to his cock. “Oh, come on, Li. Tell me what you want so badly. Hmm?” She trailed her fingertip in a lazy, meandering path along his crossed arms and down his chest.

  “I can’t.” He inhaled deeply. “You’d no longer desire me.” As much as it pained him, as much as his body protested, he plucked her finger off his abs. “You would regret this.”

  She lowered her stance and lifted her lashes to flash green eyes at him. “Try me.”

  Bloody hell, he wanted to. To confess what his soul couldn’t bear to face, and not be held in the shame he drowned in. If he gave her a reason to leave him, the rejection wouldn’t cut so deeply. Whatever bizarre logic that made, it would safeguard his heart. She would never be his because she could never be his.

  Her hand reached for him again, but he stopped her with an open palm and pressed her hand back to her side. “One day, I was summoned to Heaven. I left my body in the keeping of my servant.”

  “Okay.” She arched her neck at him. “And?”

  “This man did not follow my instructions and accidentally cremated my body. When I returned, I had no form to claim. In order to keep my immortality, I had to seize the first body I found, that of a diseased, elderly lame beggar who had just passed.”

  Her gaze dipped down his body and he guessed what she must be thinking. Why did he no longer look like the beggar?

  “To ease my frustration, my mentor gifted me with a magical gourd which could heal the diseased. I spent my days traveling the Earth and spreading this medicine among the sick. But I was not satisfied with my fate. I was vain, and the beggar’s body was…hideous. Yet there was nothing I could do, or so I believed. Until one day, at a banquet, I encountered the Monkey King.”

  “Oh.” Awareness flashed across her features. The Monkey King was infamous for his trickery. He traipsed the line between good and evil as no other being in the Jade Emperor’s world did.

  “He dangled temptation in front of me. Wen, you must understand, I had been tempted so many times by the gods, I believed myself immune.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I was not. For centuries, no one had touched or even gazed upon me. Not even those I saved. No man would shake my hand, no woman share my bed. I was a prisoner in that body…but at least I had a purpose.”

  “It doesn’t sound like much of a life, though.” She brushed her hand along his arm. “To have no one who loved you. Beautiful or not, everyone deserves love.”

  His throat tightened at her empathy. “Those were my thoughts as well. When the Monkey King offered me a solution, it was so simple I did not perceive its villainy.”

  She drew her brows together. “The gourd?”

  “Yes. The gourd. He claimed if we combined his spell with the gourd’s magic and used them upon my ashes, my body would rise again. So I consented.”

  She tilted her head. “It worked, right?”

  He wrapped his hand across the back of his neck, fighting the rising swell of disgust inside his chest and the seizing tremors threatening to fire through his body. “Yes, it did. And it also emptied the gourd.”

  Wen inhaled sharply. He didn’t dare look at her while she pieced his story together. In his one moment of weakness, he’d given everything up for vanity.

  “Now you know why I loathe this body. Why I hide here in shame.” He dropped his head and murmured, “And why there is nothing you can retrieve for me.”

  ***

  Empty. Li’s gourd. The Monkey King. Deception, temptation. Li’s story tunneled through Wen’s mind.

  How awful. To spend centuries serving people who were disgusted by him? He was a victim here, and yet he acted like he’d been the villain.

  The agony of the years he’d borne this burden alone washed over her. She skimmed her hand up his chest and caressed his cheek, even though he stood there as stiff as a statue. “Li, it’s not your fault.”

  “Oh, but it is.” He pried her off. “Deep in my soul, I sensed the trick. I must have. Yet I chose to betray humanity. You should hate me, Wen, for I couldn’t even save your brother from the Red Death.”

  Matthew. The anguish over losing him tore at her heart, but Li wasn’t to blame. “No, even if you still had your magical gourd, you couldn’t save them. The Plague God did this to the world, not you.”

  He sighed as though he didn’t accept her words. “Years ago, I strategized every path to retrieving the magic back from my gourd. Nothing worked. There’s nothing left to fight for.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Fine, I’ll show you. Come.” He led her to his chamber and to the bookcase, where he removed a heavy tome. After opening the leather bound pages, he reached inside and plucked out the gourd.

  “That’s a neat hiding place.” Wen peeked over his shoulder and he held out the gourd for her inspection.

  “It’s empty. There is nothing you can do to fill it. My mentor who gifted it to me claimed it would never empty, but resurrecting this body from ashes proved too much.” He shrugged.

  She pressed her lips together and tilted her head, searching for a solution. “You’re not the only being with medicine that heals the sick, right? Can’t you fill it with something else?”

  “It was not the act that emptied the gourd, Wen. It was the selfish intention behind it. My mentor warned me. I did not heed his advice. That is why I am ashamed.” He clenched his jaw so tight, the vein in his neck throbbed, and as his hands started to shake, he squeezed his fists. His guilt wasn’t just emotional; the physical regret ate away at him as well.

  “Oh, Li.” Instead of being repulsed by his confession, as he seemed to expect her to be, she was drawn in by his suffering. One tiny a
ct had defined his life. One mistake.

  Just like her.

  It wasn’t the mistakes in life that claimed one’s destiny. It was the perseverance. She’d push through with him. For him.

  Wen rose to her toes and slid her palm against his cheek, drawing his face to hers. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. Most people would have done exactly what you did.” She wrapped her other hand around his neck and stroked her fingers through his long, thick strands.

  His breaths evened and the tension eased from his shoulders, almost as though Li needed her touch. “I am not most people. I am an immortal. I should have risen above every temptation.”

  “You’re not the only one who’s messed up. I didn’t have to steal that scepter too, but I was bent on impressing the other trainees and I lost sight of my goal. If I hadn’t been so impulsive, I’d be a Lotus right now.” She thumbed over the tattoo on her wrist. “You might be an immortal, but you were human once. That means having flaws, making mistakes. Learning from them. You haven’t. Instead of fighting back, of finding another way, you’ve holed yourself up in here. Buried under this notion of shame.” She rested her forehead against his. “I won’t let you any longer. We’re going to make this right.”

  “How?” Desperation penetrated the deep rumble of his question. “How can you be so…forgiving?”

  “You’ve been hard enough on yourself. It’s time to feel forgiveness.” Words wouldn’t be enough, not to prove to him it was okay to accept his mistake and to move on. She brushed her lips against his jaw, inching toward his mouth.

  “Wen—” She cut him off, nipping at his lips until he growled deep in his throat and laced his fingers through her hair.

  “Let it out, Li. The hurt, the anger, the shame. Let it out, and then let it go.” She pulled back from his face to show him the sincerity in her eyes. The acceptance for his soul even he couldn’t embrace. This was why he’d pushed away from her, but not anymore. His desire was there, in his caress, in the dark depths swirling in his eyes.

  “No one has ever shown me the compassion you have.” A light scoff puffed from his lips. “What have I done to deserve you?”