“You what?” she prompted.
“I . . .” Wolf shook his head as if dissuading himself from speaking. But then he looked at her again and said, “Your hair is still gold.” He reached a tentative hand out, as if he wanted to touch it.
She held her breath.
“You were ready to give your life for the empress,” he said, hand still hovering just a fraction of an inch away from her hair. “You could have died. You almost did. I’ve always known you were bold, but that . . . Fairy, I’m in awe of you.”
His fingers found a stray lock of hair. They grazed her cheek as he pinned it back into place.
Fairy’s entire body vibrated at his touch. She looked at his mouth again. He was definitely awake now. She could kiss him, feel his tongue on hers, press herself against that glorious chest she’d seen in the bathhouse.
She met his gaze and raised her eyebrows, just a little, as if asking permission.
He nodded, dipped his head, and parted his lips.
His mouth was warm and soft at first. Gentle, as if he didn’t want to hurt her.
But Fairy was no fragile thing. She pressed her lips against Wolf’s, showing him what they could do. Her tongue found its way to his—hot and fluid.
And then Wolf let himself go, threading his hands through her hair and pulling her to him, smashing their mouths and bodies together. It was like he’d been released from a cage, his wanting fueled even more by his relief that she was alive.
Fairy smiled as she pressed herself harder into him and wondered why she’d never thought to do this with him. It’s not like Spirit cared. She and Wolf were like Fairy and Broomstick—together since childhood, like siblings.
Wolf’s hands began to trail down Fairy’s neck, along the collar of her tunic. He was just about to slip them beneath the fabric when she gasped and pulled away. “No.”
He startled and backed away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s all right. I mean, I wanted it. But we can’t right now.” Fairy hastily pulled her disheveled hair back into the semblance of neatness. “The ryuu are coming. We have to help.”
Wolf cursed at himself under his breath. “How could I forget? I’m so selfish.”
“No, you’re not. You’re just human.”
He sighed.
“We’ll finish this later. I promise,” Fairy said. “Come on, we’re meeting everyone at the main gates. I’ll fill you in on the way there.”
She held out her hand.
Wolf took it.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Broomstick found Glass Lady in the armory. She was pacing through the weapons racks, taking inventory of what they had at their disposal.
“Commander,” he said, jogging to keep up with her long stride. “Can I speak with you?”
“Unless you are reporting a breach of our perimeter by the ryuu, I don’t have time,” she said, marching on to the racks of swords.
“No, they haven’t been sighted yet, but—”
“Then go back to your post, Broomstick. You are derelict in your duties.”
“No.” He planted himself in front of her and crossed his arms.
Glass Lady looked at him, aghast. “I beg your pardon?”
“Commander, you have to listen to me. We know how to defeat the ryuu.”
“You’re at risk of heaping more punishment upon yourself and your friends.”
“I know.” Broomstick took a step closer to her. “And that’s why you should know this is important. The ryuu’s one weakness is sight. They have to be able to see the magic before they can call it to do their bidding. We believe they’ll be here shortly. We have a plan to blind them, but then we’ll only have a short window of opportunity to take them out while they’re vulnerable.”
Glass Lady frowned, but it wasn’t the disappointed one she usually wore when it came to Sora and her friends’ shenanigans. She was thinking over what Broomstick said.
He was afraid to breathe while she considered it, as if even a slight puff of air could nudge her back into dismissing him as an overeager apprentice.
“I thought Sight was what gave them power,” she said.
He exhaled. She was actually listening. “Yes, it is. But ironically, vision is also their weakness. Like taigas have to use their hands to form mudras, ryuu have to use their eyes to control their power.”
She nodded slowly. “And what, exactly, is your plan?”
Broomstick explained how Sora was going to use a crystal wall as a magnifying glass to blind the ryuu when they approached the Imperial City. If they didn’t have Sight, they wouldn’t be able to access their magic. The taigas would have to be ready to pounce on the ryuu before they regained their ability to see. “It might only be a matter of seconds,” he said.
Glass Lady fingered the throwing stars on her belt. “Yes, but before the ryuu showed up, taigas were the most formidable warriors in the world. If the ryuu don’t have their magic, we only need a few seconds to neutralize them.”
“Exactly,” Broomstick said. “And we outnumber them.”
Thanks to Wolf, he thought. It was because of his reconnaissance that Empress Aki could interrupt her brother’s strategy to secretly amass an army. Prince Gin had managed to put together only a couple hundred ryuu on his way here. In comparison, there were now over five thousand taigas at the Citadel.
“They won’t all come to the front gates,” Glass Lady said.
“Most probably will,” Broomstick said. “Even though Spirit brought Fairy back here, the ryuu still don’t know that she wasn’t the empress. Prince Gin will likely march here as planned, believing he is the new emperor.”
“I think that’s right,” Glass Lady said, beginning to walk toward the armory’s exit and gesturing for Broomstick to follow her. “We’ll assemble most of our troops at the main gates, but we’ll leave in place some forces on the perimeters. Spirit’s crystal will have to do the brunt of the work. But I’ll order mirrors stripped from bedrooms for the patrols on the other edges of the fortress walls, in case they also need to blind ryuu incursions.”
Broomstick couldn’t help the stupid grin that plastered itself across his face. She’d really listened to him. His crew was back and safe. They had a plan. And Glass Lady had actually heard what he had to say. “Thank you, Commander.”
She glanced over at him as they left the armory and veered toward Warrior Meeting Hall. “For what?”
“For believing in me. For believing in us.”
Glass Lady shrugged as if it meant nothing. But then she gave Broomstick a small wink, so quick, he almost thought he imagined it.
“I always knew you and your friends had the potential to be great taigas,” she said. “I was just waiting for you to believe in it yourselves.”
Chapter Sixty-Six
Hana woke to the sky purpling with the dawn. She should have been excited about the march to the Imperial City. This was going to be a watershed moment in the dream Prince Gin had plotted for years.
Instead, there was a heaviness in her chest, like a ball of iron right beneath her sternum. Today was also supposed to be the day when she and Sora fought against the taigas, a sister ryuu team.
But that day would never be.
Hana lay on her sleeping mat for a few more minutes, the first morning in a long time that she hadn’t jumped out of bed. Had she made a mistake in letting Sora go?
Why do I care? I gave her a choice, and she chose the taigas over me.
The iron ball in Hana’s chest grew heavier, though. Love was an unwelcome guest in her heart.
And then she thought of something that made a dreadful morning even worse—if Sora had chosen the taigas over the ryuu, it also meant she’d chosen Empress Aki over Prince Gin.
“The body!”
Hana tore out of the tent and sprinted toward the cart at the edge of camp that held Empress Aki’s corpse.
Please let everything be where it’s supposed to be.
The ryuu who were supposed to be guarding the body were dead or unconscious.
“Gods dammit!” she screamed. “You fools! How could you let her past you? How could you allow her to steal the empress from right under your nose?”
The ryuu lay on the ground, unmoving.
But Hana’s questions were really directed at herself anyway. She had trusted too easily. She should have known. Sora’s priority had always been the Society and her friends.
Hana’s anger ripped the cart apart. The wooden frame that held the canvas cover broke into pieces and flew into the air, then rocketed straight down, spearing themselves just inches from each of the ryuu.
She stormed back into the main part of camp.
“Pack up now!” she yelled at the ryuu.
“B-but we haven’t had breakfast yet,” one of them dared to say.
Hana glared at him. Her fury could burn a hole straight through his head.
“I don’t care. Pack up camp and be ready to move out in thirty minutes. Today, we destroy my sister and her precious Society, and we put Emperor Gin on the throne.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven