Page 104 of The Cinders
The gown snagged, jerking Xian back, the fabric choosing the wrong time to display its strength.
A roar of triumph came from the captain, before his hands were grabbing, bundling, pulling Xian back; like a fisherman dragging in his nets.The left slipper, slick with blood, slid from Xian’s foot.
Another deafening boom came from overhead, with another close behind.The room lit red, then gold as the New Year marched in.Xian struggled to find some anchorage, his nails scraping uselessly against the wood.The sheer fabric moved him as easily as though he were sliding across an iced pond.Duan’s hand found the tight laces at the back of the bodice, hooking in and anchoring his hold.
Through it all, Xian didn’t make a sound, but inside his spirit screamed; the eerie, chilling cry of the fox in a night forest.
Captain Duan straddled him, his hand still locked about the laces, pressing down against his spine so hard Xian could not take a decent breath.Duan struck him across the head, causing Xian’s lip to split against the wood.Stars joined the stain of red in his vision.
Another boom came, the cheers of a crowd audible.Emerald light arrived, a blast of green so vivid it seemed the world would never return to rights.
The stage shuddered beneath Xian’s body.The captain sat his weight on Xian’s legs, crushing him to the floor.He pressed one hand to the back of Xian’s head, whilst the other tore at white and gold skirts, ripping through the layers in search of bare skin.
Xian wriggled uselessly, his cheek ground against the wood, sending his arms back to where they could scratch at Duan’s thighs.But he could not reach far enough behind him to stop the man’s hands from tearing at the silk panel, which formed the flimsiest of barriers against the wild assault.
Xian screamed for help, trying to make himself heard over the calamity of the fireworks.Duan grabbed at his hair, slamming his head against the floorboards.
The red edge of his vision shifted to speckled white.
Instinct flickered, fireflies lifting out of the darkness that threatened to take him over.A fox may not be the largest nor the strongest of animals, but it was among the most wily.
Xian closed his eyes, exhaled, and went limp.He slumped onto the floor, removing what Captain Duan coveted most.The fight.
Fingers dug into his arse cheek, the pressure on his legs easing as Duan leaned forward, the stench of him alone enough to have rendered Xian unconscious.
‘I’ll kill you.’Duan’s words were hot and damp against Xian’s cheek.‘If you die before I’m done.’
Xian moved as though he were back in the trance of his dance.A twist of his body, a sway of his hips, sent the unsteady Captain tumbling off his back.The man let out a bellow that the fireworks snatched up and vanished beneath their own tirade.
Xian sat up, reaching into the bunched layers of silk gauze, guided by a certainty that did not let him down.He pulled the bloodied slipper from the endless lengths of fabric and struck out at the man who laboured onto his hands and knees beside him.
The heel landed true.Square against the captain’s temple.The man cried out, clutching at his head and throwing himself sideways, seeking to escape.He toppled off the edge of the stage.
Scrambling onto his hands and knees, Xian fought with the tangled lengths of his gown wrapped around his legs, desperate to stand.
The iron tang of blood touched his senses.
A low gurgle came from beyond the stage, and the captain’s foot, all Xian could see of the man from where he crouched, twitched violently.Then stilled.
Red light, the colour of prosperity and good luck, illuminated the room as the fireworks continued to break open the sky.
He edged forward, crawling on hands and knees, grimacing against the scent; his spirit quiet beneath his skin.
Xian peered over the edge.
The cruelty had left the captain’s eyes.Drained from him into the pool of blood spreading around his head.Xian’s stomach twisted.
Fortune, fate, chance or luck, had landed Captain Duan upon the bottle he’d broken when he strove for Xian.A shard had pierced him through the neck; crimson pulsing from the wound still.
Death.Death.Death.
Xian’s spirit bayed at the fresh kill.The bringing down of a dangerous predator.But this was no victory to be proud of.
And he’d never needed Song Lim’s calming presence more.
The rich, cloying smell of blood made Xian’s throat tight, his own blood racing through him like it sought escape.He pulled off the other slipper and cradled them both to his chest.Xian made his way on silent feet to the main doors and rushed out into the freshly born new year.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR