Passion - By Lauren Kate Page 0,95

the gold silk curtain to peer outside. The telescope was heavy and cold when she held it up to her eye.

She was in the center of a great walled city, looking down from a second story. A maze of stone roadways connected crammed, ancient-looking wattle-and-daub structures. The air was warm and smelled softly of cherry blossoms. A pair of orioles crossed the blue sky.

Luce turned to Bill. Where are we? This place seemed as foreign as the world of the Mayans, and just as far back in time.

He shrugged and opened his mouth to speak, but then--

Shhh, Luce whispered.

Sniffling.

Someone was crying soft, hushed tears. Luce turned toward the noise. There, through an archway on the far side of the room, she heard the sound again.

Luce moved toward the archway, sliding along the stone floor in her bare feet. The sobbing echoed, beckoning her. A narrow walkway opened up into another cavernous chamber. This one was windowless, with low ceilings, dimly lit by the glow of a dozen small bronze lamps.

She could make out a large stone basin, and a small lacquered table stocked with black pottery vials of aromatic oils that gave the whole room a warm and spicy smell. A gigantic carved jade wardrobe stood in the corner of the room. Thin green dragons etched into its face sneered at Luce, as if they knew everything she didn't.

And in the center of the chamber, a dead man lay sprawled on the floor.

Before Luce could see anything more, she was blinded by a bright light moving toward her. It was the same glow she'd sensed from the other side of the Announcer.

What is that light? she asked Bill.

That ... er, you see that? Bill sounded surprised. That's your soul. Yet another way for you to recognize your past lives when they appear physically different from you. He paused. You've never noticed it before?

This is the first time, I think.

Huh, Bill said. That's a good sign. You're making progress.

Luce felt heavy and exhausted all of a sudden. I thought it was going to be Daniel.

Bill cleared his throat like he was going to say something, but he didn't. The glow burned brightly for another heartbeat, then snapped out so suddenly she couldn't see for a moment, until her eyes adjusted.

What are you doing here? a voice asked roughly.

Where the light had been, in the center of the room, was a thin, pretty Chinese girl about seventeen--too young and too elegant to be standing over a dead man's body.

Dark hair hung to her waist, contrasting with her floor-length white silk robe. Dainty as she was, she seemed the kind of girl who didn't shy away from a fight.

So, that's you, Bill's voice said in Luce's ear. Your name is Lu Xin and you lived outside the capital city of Yin. We're at the close of the Shang dynasty, something like a thousand BCE, in case you want to make a note for your scrapbook.

Luce probably seemed crazy to Lu Xin, barging in here wearing a singed animal hide and a necklace made out of bone, her hair a wild and tangled snarl. How long had it been since she'd looked in a mirror? Had a bath? Plus, she was talking to an invisible gargoyle.

But then again, Lu Xin was standing vigil over a dead guy, giving Luce don't-mess-with-me eyes, so she seemed a little crazy herself.

Oh boy. Luce hadn't noticed the jade knife with the turquoise-studded handle, or the small pond of blood in the middle of the marble floor.

What do I-- she started to ask Bill.

You. Lu Xin's voice was surprisingly strong. Help me hide his body.

The dead man's hair was white around his temples; he looked about sixty years old, lean and muscular underneath many elaborate robes and embroidered cloaks.

I--um, I don't really think--

As soon as they learn the king is dead, you and I will be dead, too.

What? Luce asked. Me?

You, me, most of the people inside these walls. Where else will they find the thousand sacrificial bodies that must be buried with the despot? The girl wiped her cheeks dry with slender, jade-ringed fingers. Will you help me or not?

At the girl's request, Luce moved to help pick up the king's feet. Lu Xin readied herself to lift him under his arms. The king, Luce said, spouting out the old Shang words as if she'd spoken them forever. Was he--

It is not as it appears. Lu Xin grunted under the weight of the body. The king was heavier