Shifters of Grrr 1 (77 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY

“Well, it started with Lucy.” Sheng nudged her, giving her the task of storytelling.

“Many years ago, my father stole the Dragon from Delun and gave it to my uncle. When he disagreed with Xiaodan’s plans, he stole the spirit back. He must have believed removing the Dragon from Xiaodan would stop his schemes.” She drew in a shaky breath, and he squeezed her body in reassurance. “It didn’t. Afterward, Xiaodan took to drastic measures, releasing the Plague God, hoping to force my father to come back to the Council. Instead, Xiaodan got me. His connection to me kept him in your circle, but it was his scheming with the Empress and Snake that destroyed the world…” She lowered her gaze to the ground. “So many lost lives.”

Sheng growled. “They’ll suffer for it. Trust me.”

She shuddered in his arms, but the Matchmaker interrupted them once again. “What do you mean?”

“The Plague God,” he elaborated. “That trio figured out where the other gods had banished him and they were the ones who unleashed him. They’re responsible for the Red Death.”

“Why?” Lucy shook her head. “What do they have to gain by killing so many?”

He sighed. “Power, Lucy. For every soul killed, they reaped the evil ones, boosting their ranks. The cloud of demons? Way more where they came from. Stealing the warrior spirits was just one part of their plan. Most likely, insurance that the Chosen wouldn’t interfere with their greater schemes.”

“What cloud of demons?” the Matchmaker demanded. Sheng rolled his eyes and filled her in, finishing with, “I cut off his head and Snake is tied up somewhere. Boar escaped, but he has nowhere to hide.”

“I see.” The Matchmaker’s crimson lips pressed together. Whenever she got that look, he could never guess what she was thinking.

Except it wasn’t good.

“I must speak with the other Elders.” She moved to head down the stairs, but Lucy placed a hand on her arm.

“Wait. Can I ask you something?”

“Anything, child.”

“Why did you tell Sheng he couldn’t be with me?”

Both brows arched before her mouth settled into a smug curve. “I am the Matchmaker, Lucy. That isn’t the question you should be asking.”

Lucy frowned, crossing her arms. “What is?”

“Are you happy?”

“Yes, very.”

“You love him, he loves you?”

Lucy angled her face at him and he nodded.

“Would anything I say change that?”

“Never.” The conviction in her voice warmed his heart.

“Then you have your answer.” The Matchmaker strolled away a few steps but, at the last second, pivoted. “If I had simply told Sheng you were his destiny, the love of his past life, you would not be together now.”

“I was bloody right. I knew we’d been together before, Lucy.” He squeezed her tightly. “And you…you clever, cunning, conniving bitch.” He chuckled.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Today.” She winked before slipping away, sashaying her hips.

She fucking knew him too well.

Lucy tugged on his arm. “What did she mean?”

He spun her to face him in his arms. “She meant, sweetheart, I would have done anything to contradict her. The best way to make me realize you were mine, to make me fall in love with you, was to order me against it.” He swept her up in a kiss, sampling those once-forbidden lips, which had always been meant as his.

Mine.

She pulled back and licked her lips. “I’m sorry I’m not the Dragon you wanted me to be.”

Loving Lucy came as naturally as breathing. He didn’t need the Dragon or his tight rein of control. Just Lucy. He tipped her chin. “Hell, Lucy. Don’t ever apologize for
me
being an ass.” Her frown shifted into a smile. “You were bloody brilliant fighting today.
You.
” He tapped her on the nose. “Not Rabbit, not Tiger. I don’t care if you host the Dragon, the Rabbit, or nothing at all. You mean more to me than even Tiger.” He leaned his forehead to hers. “You’re my balance, Lucy. You’ve
always
been my balance.”

With the Ghee Hin conspirators either dead or locked away or off the charts for the moment, his mind drifted to finding the nearest dark corner and claiming her as his.

Delun shouted from down the corridor. “Li! Get over here. You too, Lucy.”

Apparently, that would have to wait.

He groaned against her sweet lips. “We’ll begin this later, yeah?”

“Begin?” She smiled against his mouth. “Don’t you mean finish?”

“Nah, Lucy. I’ll never be finished with you.” With that, he plundered her mouth until they both had to come up for air. Reluctance in his every step, he led her toward Delun’s shouting.

The second Sheng spotted Kassian, Fang, and Mei’s blanched features, plus the grim set of his brother’s mouth, his elation sank. They’d uncuffed Snake’s previous host, Zhao, and the four of them had boxed him in.

Zhao’s determined smirk didn’t falter as Delun smacked him across the cheek. He rebounded, cutting his gleeful sneer back to Sheng, then Lucy.

A fucking anchor dropped in Sheng’s gut, weighing down the buoyancy of his buzz at being with Lucy.

“Ah, you must think I’m going to miss the Snake, right? How fucking wrong you are. I don’t require that pathetic shield, not when I’m on my way to more power than you’ve ever dreamed of.” He tore open his shirt, revealing a chest inked with black, rippling tattoos. “Immortality.” The swirling pattern on his chest moved as though it lived and breathed.

What the fuck had Zhao done to himself? He appeared almost…half demon.

If that were even bloody possible. A human demon? Shit.

“You think this is over?” Zhao chortled. “That you’ve won? You don’t even fathom whom you’re up against.” He sliced one long fingernail into a tattoo. Through the oozing blackish red pus, he removed a glistening bead. He crushed the drop in his hand and the air between them twisted like a tornado, revealing a gaping hole at its center. “The Plague God will return and, when he does, there won’t be anything left for you to save. Bitch.” He spat at Lucy.

Mei leapt between him and the aperture. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“The hell I’m not.” His shadowy arm shot out to wrap a sinister hold around Mei’s neck. As she struggled, he pulled her to him. “You’re coming with me, Monkey. Anyone tries to follow me and I’ll snap your pretty little neck.”

Despite being in Zhao’s clutches, Mei winked at them. Ha! Clever Monkey. She’d planned on getting caught, on infiltrating Zhao’s lair. She was far more resourceful than anyone he’d ever met.

She’d uncover what they couldn’t from the outside. Mei just might be their best hope. Monkey would protect her. Zhao wouldn’t harm anyone he might turn to his side.

He regarded Delun and caught the triumphant glint in his brother’s eye. Ha! This had been Delun’s plan all along. Guess they were more alike than even their shared blood accounted for.

Let Zhao escape today. They’d be after him tomorrow.

With a fucking army behind them.

***

It happened too fast for Lucy to stop. Sheng blocked her path. Zhao snorted in glee, tightening his grip on Mei before he hauled her backward through the black hole.

The vortex sucked them in, yanking them into its blackness.

“Mei!” she cried, but Sheng held her back.

“It’s okay, Lucy. I sent her in.” Delun’s strong voice commanded their attention. “Releasing Zhao—with a prisoner he deems he seized himself—is the only way to get what we require.”

“Mei is just a kid!” She struggled against Sheng’s chest, but he cinched his arms around her.

“She’s a lot more resourceful than that,” Sheng murmured. “Don’t forget, Monkey is a fucking genius. Plus, they won’t hurt her, not when they might turn her to their side. His threat was empty, and he knew it.”

“We didn’t permit Zhao to capture her, Lucy. We planted a mole,” Delun reassured.

“A mole?”

Sheng nodded. “Trust me, she knows what to do. That kid is capable of way more than what she appears.”

“I haven’t spent all these years being Snake’s…what did you call me, Sheng? Lapdog?” Delun chuckled. “Well, lapdog, without damn good reason. I’ve been tracking his movements, just as Mei will now. We’ll go after her as soon as she sends the signal.”

“Signal?”

Delun nodded. “I’d never have sent her into enemy territory without a way out.”

Lucy shook her head, disbelieving the moves these people made. Always one step ahead of where the other planned on being. It was enough to make her dizzy. Luckily, Sheng’s arms were wrapped around her, steadying her. “How did you even come up with this?”

Delun shrugged. “Mei’s idea. Once we told the other Chosen what happened, they weren’t too fond of dragging Zhao before the Council only to have him receive a slap on the wrist.”

“It may not be the best option, but it’s better than any alternative.” Sheng laid his cheek against the top of her head.

“What happened?”

She whirled about in Sheng’s arms to spot the Matchmaker storming toward them, a flock of Elders flanking her like the formation of birds in flight.

Pissed off ones.

“Where is the prisoner?” she demanded.

Delun stepped in front of Sheng, shouldering the responsibility. “It seems he has escaped, Matchmaker.” He heaved a sigh, appearing aggrieved. “With Monkey as his captive.”

“Monkey?” Her inspection pierced each of them before landing again on Sheng. “Li, I hope you know what you’re doing. If any harm comes to that child—”

“You’ll what? Eat my balls for breakfast?” He chuckled while the Matchmaker fumed.

Instead of answering him, she whispered to the Elders at her side who then retreated down the corridor.

“Do you still possess the Snake?” This time, her interrogation fell on Lucy.

She gave a slight nod. “The spirit is hiding. I think Snake is traumatized from being with Zhao for so long.”

“Indeed.” Her voice dropped low. “Do not, under any circumstances, reveal this gift of
Shèhúnzéi
to any of the other Elders. Do you understand?”

“Yes, but why not?”

The Matchmaker straightened, the flash of hesitation in her features so unlike her usual cool confidence.

“Another one is in on it. Working with the Empress.” Sheng answered for her and, judging by the look the Matchmaker exchanged with him, he wasn’t wrong.

“Perhaps. I require more time to follow this lead.” What lead, she didn’t elaborate.

“Dragon.” She switched her focus to Sheng’s brother. “Welcome.” Her slow appraisal of him ended with a satisfied curve of her lips. “My, won’t you be quite the challenge.” A challenge she appeared keen to commence.

He crossed his arms over his expansive chest, his massive biceps bulging. The corner of his mouth curved in an I’m-a-hell-of-a-male-specimen-and-I-know-it expression. Oh yeah. Dragon had definitely begun to pimp out Delun. He leaned in to purr, “Think you can handle me, Matchmaker?”

She toed up to him and murmured, “Why don’t I answer after I’m through with you?” She patted his cheek as if he were a child, smirking, before backing down.

Guess everyone played this game of cat and mouse with the Matchmaker. No one wished to succumb to her methods, which spurred her harder.

Like Sheng, for example. She’d read him to perfection. Would Sheng have seduced Lucy if the Matchmaker hadn’t told him she was off-limits? Lucy shoved aside those musings. What mattered now was she and Sheng were in love.

Point to the Matchmaker.

A fact she seemed intent on flaunting. “Li, tell me. Now that you have Lucy’s heart, thanks to me, of course, how about the Rabbit?
Hmm?
”

Sheng bent forward, one corner of his mouth quirked. “Gloat all you like. I wouldn’t change a damn thing.” He spun Lucy to face him and planted a kiss on her lips. He peered at her while he answered, “Rabbit is the most stubborn spirit I’ve ever encountered.”

She pressed her palms to his chest. “I’m sorry. Rabbit can’t join with you so long as, well, it has company.” She whispered the last in case more ears listened than she’d invited. “I can’t give the loyalty of one without the other. Doing so would screw things up once we find Snake’s new host. You’ll have to wait.”

“Figured as much,” he grumbled.

The Matchmaker sighed. “I will search for the one worthy of Snake. Until then, be careful. I’ve only ever met one other
Shèhúnzéi
.”

She jolted. “My dad?”

“Yes.” The Matchmaker smiled. “I knew your father.” She buffed her long red nails against her silk sleeve and held them up to admire them. “May have even set him upon the course to meeting your mother.”

“Braggart.” Sheng chuckled.

“My mother?” She leaned closer. “You’ve met both my parents?”

“No, I never met your mother, Lucy.” A gentle hand landed on Lucy’s shoulder and the Matchmaker squeezed her arm. “Your father came to me after seizing the Dragon from your uncle. He was uncertain of what to do. Where he belonged. I told him he wasn’t meant for the Dragon, but to be its keeper and, one day, he would give the spirit up. To you.”