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I wasn’t angry. I was furious. Hands at my bow, ready to kill anyone who dared to force my father to fight in a war he had no stake in kind of furious.

I was tempted to tell Siwang that this war wasn’t just killing soldiers, but also parents through heartbreak, and children through poverty. Widows sold their bodies on the streets for bread to feed their weeping babies. I had seen too much on my travels. The cost of war would always be greater than the justifications.

A year ago, I would not have hesitated to tell Siwang this.

“If we lose,” Siwang said, every word slow and deliberate, “worse fates will fall upon everyone in the empire. This war is only the beginning. The real bloodshed will come afterward, once Lan has Rong at its feet. Then they can do whatever they want, to whomever they want. Forget about conscripting your father into the army; he can slaughter your entire family in their own beds, or feed them to his demons…and that will be his right to do as Lan’s prince regent.”

“The stories are true?”

He nodded. “There are creatures who are not human in Lan Yexue’s army.Blood-drinking demons.The kind that should exist only in nightmares. Father’s scholars from beyond the great western sea call themvampires.Undead creatures who roam the night in search of human blood. We have other words for them from the various dynasties. Jiangshi. Xixuegui. The Undead. The names vary with regions and lore.”

“How much do we know about them?”

“Between our lore and the western scholars, we can piece together things here and there, though not enough.”

I thought of the red-eyed monsters from my vision weeks ago. “Where do they come from? Were they born like this or were they made?”

“Or invited here from the depths of hell,” Siwang offered. “We don’t know for sure. The scholars have different stories. Some say they are creations of ancient gods. Others say they are demons who escaped hell. All we know is that they are dangerous, and they are the reason behind Lan’s continuous victories. And that Yexue is capable of commanding them.”

“Can we kill them?”

Siwang hesitated. A beat longer than was comfortable. Dread twisted in my belly as I watched his face change, ever so slightly. “They are weakened by sunlight.”

“And they drink blood?”

“We think they need it to survive.”

I remembered how the demons in my dreams always had impossibly sharp teeth, and they killed not with blades, but by ripping open the throats of prey. “How many does he have?”

“At least one or two battalions’ worth. And because those demons need blood to survive, I have heard that Lan Yexue lets them feed on the civilians of the cities he has conquered.”

I shuddered to think what would happen if our people fell to the jaws of these monsters. If my family…“Do we have a chance of winning this war?”

“Yes,” Siwang replied without hesitation. A small boost of confidence for me.

“How?”

He leaned across the table and gently touched the tip of my nose with the nail of his forefinger. “??????.”The machinations of heaven cannot be shared.

I rolled my eyes.

And with that, he kissed me.

34

The vampires came in the dark of the night, followed by ear-splintering screams and the stench of fresh blood.

“Run!” Mother cried, pushing Fangyun and me through the window just as the door was kicked open. A large man with bloodred eyes crept into view. I could see Father’s limp, bloodless body in the background, impossibly pale, his eyes empty. “Run!” she cried one last time, and I obeyed.

Hand in hand, Fangyun and I ran into the forest. Snowy terrain stretched as far as our eyes could see. Pine needles and sharp stones bit at our bare feet; we didn’t stop.

Help. We have to get help.

Manic laughter echoed behind us. Footsteps. The vampires were coming. They—

From the shadows, a beast pounced on my sister.

“Fei!” She cried my name just as he wrapped both hands around her throat, and—