Page 79

“What is tomorrow’s plan?” I asked.

“Lan’s army is a mix of vampires and humans, with the vampires patrolling the night and the humans patrolling the day.” Siwang relented after a beat of silence. “We will attack before the vampires retreat to their tents, close enough to dawn so that even if we don’t succeed, the sunlight will aid us. When it’s just human to human, we have a much better chance. If things go well, we will send in more men with silver weapons.”

I knew the real plan had to be more complicated than this, but I didn’t want to force more military secrets from his lips.

Siwang had already said more than he should have.

I couldn’t sleep that night. How could I, when so much hung in the balance?

I counted the sunsets.Seven days. I will give you seven days to remove yourself from this war.

Seven days had passed since Yexue had snuck into my tent. According to the senior soldiers, this was the longest ceasefire between our two sides.

I see your prince still has a habit of keeping secrets from you.

What did he mean by this? Was this ceasefire for me, or was he waiting for something else? Biding his time, planning for—

A loud, spine-chilling scream pierced the night. Outside the tent, orange flames surged brighter than the bleeding dawn.

I jumped to my feet, wrapped my robe around me, and claimed my blade from the bedside.

Blood. I smelled blood as I ran for the door, my heart pounding in my ears.

????.Lure the tiger away from the mountain before attacking.With our best men sneaking behind the enemy lines with most of our silver weapons, the camp was left vulnerable to an attack.

We’d been tricked. There had to be a spy among us.

I pushed open the tent flap just as a cacophony of cries erupted. My phoenix’s mark burned at my forehead, and I caught blurred glimpses from an overload of visions, trying to warn me of the dangers that could come from all directions.

Run,my better instincts told me, as they had all those months ago when I witnessed that village being raided by vampires.

I drew my sword just as someone covered my mouth and forced me back into the shadows.

“Shh,” a voice cooed, soft and nectar-sweet, fingers firm yet gentle around my throat.

Yexue.

He pressed me against a wooden beam of the tent to keep me from struggling. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered, removing his hand from my mouth.

“You think I was born yesterday?” I tried to free myself from hishold, but Yexue grabbed both of my hands and tried to pin them above my head just as I changed course and opted to stomp on his foot instead, hard enough to break it.

Lan Yexue didn’t even flinch.Stupid magic.

His lips twitched, and he leaned even closer. “I’m not your enemy, Fei. I’ve never been your enemy.”

I thought of his blood, which had brought me back from the brink of death more than once now, and then Siwang, kneeling in his throne room, the white-robed figure with his obsidian blade…. Yexue might not be my enemy, but he could be Siwang’s killer. Which was worse.

“Need I remind you that you wouldn’t even be here if I didn’t save your life back in the mountains!”

“If we are talking about blood debts, then your beloved Prince Siwang istwicethe killer I’ll ever be.”

“Siwang is nothing like you.”

“If you think that, then you don’t know your prince at all, Fei.”

“Really? Well, how about—” I headbutted him, and it felt like smacking my head against a stone wall. At least it was enough to stun him for a moment, enough for me to pull my blade from its sheath. And drive it straight into Lan Yexue’s long and elegant neck.

Lan Yexue didn’t even try to move. When the blade met his throat, instead of piercing his skin, it cracked and shattered. His flesh, so soft when he touched me, was now hard enough to splinter iron.