Tao didn’t know.
He no longer thought of the man as his enemy. Gao no longer existed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Suyin rode behind Jun in the saddle, clinging to youth’s waist so tightly that her arms ached. The forest rushed by on either side of her in a flood of browns and greens. This time, the blind fear came not from the horse or from the speed of the ride. Her fear came from the inevitable drip of time.
She held her breath in a useless attempt to hold back the minutes. Her heart beat out each second, one after another. She urged Jun to go faster, but she didn’t know whether he heard her. The rush of the wind swallowed her shout and swept it away.
Li Tao was somewhere close, ready to plunge a dagger into Gao’s heart. A cold sweat broke out over her brow and an odd sensation caught in her throat. She fought down the wave of nausea. Whether it was from the motion or from pregnancy, she couldn’t tell.
She had to stop Li Tao. She had to.
A red bridge appeared ahead, with the tea house beside it. The ornate building stood over the river in a deceptively tranquil welcome. An Ying knew of the meeting place between the two warlords. Their spies seemed to know everything.
Jun dismounted just outside the tree line and helped her down from the saddle. Her legs wobbled as her feet hit the earth. She tried to centre herself, inside and out. Success. She’d only think of success, and not failure.
The boy steadied her with one arm awkwardly around her shoulders. Jun wasn’t merely a boy any more. He didn’t appear so young and vulnerable when she looked at him now.
‘Be careful, Lady Ling,’ he said, before pulling himself back on to the horse. ‘You’re going?’
The corner of his mouth lifted in a rueful smile. ‘You forget how I betrayed Governor Li.’
‘I didn’t forget.’
‘Neither will he.’ He nodded toward the tea house in the distance. ‘Go quickly, Lady Ling. They’re already inside.’
She turned to the river and spied the horses beside the bridge. Beside them, Li Tao’s guards stood in a silent watch. They faced away, their attention focused on the opposite bank, in the direction of the approaching armies.
When she looked back, Jun had disappeared. She heard nothing, not even the stamp of hooves to signal his retreat. The woods were silent and shadowed as she searched the dark patches between the light. Was the clan hiding in there, watching and waiting to report on Li Tao’s failure or success?
She hurried to the tea house and slipped in through the side entrance. The echo of voices floated through the deserted structure. She heard two, both resonating down to her very bones. One was Li Tao’s, deep and familiar, curling around her and tugging her forwards.
He was alive. She quickened her step.
The second voice was one she hadn’t heard in years. One she’d hoped to never hear again.
Suyin came to a halt in the main room. Li Tao’s back was to her. He was stalking forwards with deliberate purpose and she caught sight of a long-forgotten face over his shoulder. Gao Shiming. The man who wanted her dead, who wanted Li Tao under his control.
Li Tao’s fingers flexed at his side. It was going to happen.
‘Governor Li.’ Louder. ‘Tao, I’m here.’
He swung around and glared at her with black eyes devoid of light. Her heart skipped dangerously.
‘Ling Guifei?’ Gao sputtered.
The old warlord was startled. His guards, confused. And Li Tao was angry, angrier than she’d ever seen him. The muscles in his jaw wrenched tight.
Of all of them, Gao recovered first. ‘Please join us.’ His smile was welcoming, his gaze keen.
‘You have no place here,’ Li Tao growled.
He angled himself to shield her from Gao as she stepped forwards. The fluidity of the movement shocked her.
‘But Lady Ling must stay! We need something more engaging to look at than our own frightful faces.’
All the smooth charm that Li Tao didn’t possess. Gao looked at the two of them with growing amusement. He didn’t know how close he’d come, how close he still was, to death. All three of them dangled preciously close to it.
Lao Sou had his men take her to the meeting place. They’d left her to disappear into the forest, but they would be waiting. The leader of the assassinations would demand her obedience now, as well as Li Tao’s. But she couldn’t think of that now. The immediate danger was before her, gesturing