The night hung thick as spilled ink, a damp wind slithering through the palace corridors without a sound.
I followed the letter's instructions to the rendezvous point—an abandoned warehouse. But the moment I stepped inside, I knew something was wrong.
The air reeked of killing intent.
"This is a trap—!"
Before I could react, a blade flashed from my flank. I barely dodged, my dagger meeting three black-clad assassins mid-swing. Their movements were precise, rehearsed—they'd come for me.
But... how had they known?
A cold realization struck just as I parried the first strike. Then—a whisper of wind.
"Down!"
A powerful yank wrenched me backward. A silver dart embedded itself in the wall where my throat had been.
I looked up into fathomless eyes—
Mo Xuanli.
"You...?"
He didn't answer, hauling me against his chest as he rolled us behind a hidden passage. The stone door sealed shut with a groan, locking the killers outside.
We were trapped in a claustrophobic chamber, damp walls pressing close. The space was so narrow I could feel the unsteady rhythm of his heartbeat.
"How did you know I'd be here?" I whispered, desperately ignoring the blood streaking his jaw.
A pause. When he spoke, his voice was low, rough with something unspoken:
"I told you—you trust too easily. For matters like this, you should've come to me. Not him."
My breath caught.
"...I thought you were just an observer."
"Observers don't risk their lives."
Suddenly he crowded closer, one arm caging me against the wall. That usually impassive gaze burned with strange intensity—
"Do you know who sent those assassins?"
I shook my head.
"The Crown Prince."
The words struck like lightning. "Impossible. He wouldn't—"
"He wanted you to learn the cost of defiance. Or—" his voice turned icy, "—to make you cling to him in desperation."
"And you?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.
He stilled. When his eyes found mine again, they'd darkened unbearably.
"I... want you to choose no one. Except yourself."
We stayed like that—until the air between us kindled into something molten. I knew he wanted to kiss me. And I—I wasn't sure I had the will to stop him.
ns216.73.216.168da2
and then Add to home screen.