Page 106 of The Cinders

And cries.

Not those of delight or awe, but terror.Shouts of disarray and confusion.

Xian stared at Sir William; the daemon was bathed by an aura that mimicked flame.

‘What have you done?’

‘Amused myself.And perhaps kept a promise I made to a pathetic little prince who was even lonelier than me.But if you breathe a word of that I shall wear your russet hide as a stole.’He inclined his head.‘You are very angry at me now, aren’t you?’

‘I don’t have time for anger right now, William.’Xian wasn’t angry; he was furious.‘I must find Song Lim, let me go.’

‘Ah, there now…perhaps I did not waste my time after all.You are quite radiant now, fox prince.’He waved his hand up and down Xian’s body.

‘What are you—’ Xian’s words died on his lips.

Radiant was hardly the word.His skin shone with hues of autumn’s fire, spilling from him in waves; so intense it permeated through the layers of his gown.Far brighter and grander than the aura that came after William’s kiss.It made his joints ache, and shivers run the length of his body.

‘What is happening to me?I feel peculiar, like I’m…’ The waft of smoke struck him.

Not the gunpowder stench of the fireworks, but that of a signal pyre; blazing fiercely to send its message great distances.His senses crackled with warning.The aches intensified, and the red fringe he’d experienced in his vision earlier now returned.

‘You feel like what?’William prompted.‘Are you having a fit of some sort?’

‘Don’t you smell that?There are fires…’ Xian stared beyond Williams’s shoulder.‘Everywhere…’

The reek made his eyes water, his hands jittery with nerves.

‘I don’t smell it,’ William said.‘but I am not a fox who is born fearing the forest fires.’

‘So you did not set any fires?’

The Englishman didn’t answer straight away, wrinkling his perfect face to consider.‘Not intentionally.But I have arranged it so that every single firework Feng has in his collection will be seen tonight, even those intended for the next fifteen days of celebrations.He’ll have nothing left for the Lantern Festival, which I’m sure will vex him.’He shrugged.‘But really, what does it matter if this place burns down?Neither you nor I are staying here.’

Panic prickled along Xian’s skin, making it itch so fiercely he scratched at his arms.

‘Are you mad?There are innocent people here.Song Lim…’ Xian rushed at the Englishman, determined to make his way past.William grabbed him, his hold fierce.

‘Your shoemaker might be dead already.Don’t waste your time,’ A spray of green flowered in the sky above them, its boom deep and rumbling and beating its way into Xian’s bones.

‘Let go of me,’ Xian cried.

‘I’m doing you a favour.Forget the shoemaker.Let him burn.’

Xian’s skin seared, his entire body shaken by a cruelty beyond words.Fury choked him, his chest too small to contain a heart that pounded like a gong.Xian punched at the man who held him, kicking and screaming, livid and wild.His entire vision streaked red.He raked his nails down the side of William’s face, and blood flowed.

The Englishman laughed, his eyes aflame.‘Oh you are so close now.Do you think he’ll cry for you as he burns?’

A terrible ache struck Xian, his spine cracking as he arched against the agony.William released him, and Xian went to his knees; jaw rigid, throat tight.Every bone in Xian’s body shifted, grinding against its neighbour, the cracking resonating in his ears.

‘What is happening…to me,’ he gasped.

His hands were bloodied at the fingertips where black nails pushed from his flesh; tapered at their tips to a sharp point any knife would envy.

William stood over him, the fireworks framing his head like temporary halos.

‘Finally.I thought we’d never ignite you.Best not to fight what was always mean to be, prince of the huli jing.’His smile was hard to define; it seemed too distant to discern.

Xian let his head drop, the strain upon his neck too much to bear.At every joint, he burned with painful fire.He was afire, just as the buildings that burned.