My blood ignites at the opportunity presented to me. By ‘extract’, Gaozu is giving me permission to torture the man. It’s not something I often do, but when I do, I allow my demons free rein. It’s my way of numbing the pain I still feel as a result of what happened to my parents, and Gaozu knows it. I’m an enigma—a warrior who tries not to kill in battle but stick me in a room alone with someone to interrogate and the mask falls. I don’t see the person I’m torturing any longer. I see revenge.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I inform the guard and collect my t-shirt.
Zhàn is still lying on the floor staring up at me. His eyes wide with an emotion I can’t fathom. But an emotion I need to put a stop to. If he is wrapping me in his spell, then seeing my demonic side will put a stop to it.
“On your feet,” I order, and he jumps up and bows his head. “I think it’s about time you learned the true nature of what we do here to protect the people in San Francisco and beyond. Follow me.”
I’m not sure what just happened with Jaxon, but I know it can never happen again. When he landed on me and our eyes met, I wanted to lean forward and kiss him. A strange desire pooled between my thighs at the thought of his lips touching mine. It can’t happen, though, because now and forever more, I’ll be Zhàn to him. I’ll never be Lia.
As I follow him through the corridors of the compound we call home, there’s a malevolent look on his face, and I worry about what’s going to happen and how it could change me even more.
“This could be the breakthrough we’ve been looking for.” Jaxon claps his hands together in glee. “We know the Jīn have been planning something big for a while now but haven’t been able to discover what it is. If we can find out, maybe we can finally get one step ahead of them. To take out their most important general would be a massive achievement and the possible blow we need to win this war.”
We descend a narrow staircase, Jaxon having to twist his body to fit through the gap, and head toward a steel door at the other end of an underground passageway. I’m scared for the first time since I arrived at the training camp. I don’t like this place. The smell of death is all around me. I realize we’re heading to the dungeon—a place I doubt any Jīn who enters ever comes out of alive. I know torture exists in this cut-throat world, but I don’t ever want to see it.
“Hurry up, boy,” Jaxon snaps at me when my steps falter. “This is all part of making you a man.”
I want to scream I’m not a man or a boy, but the heavy steel door in front of me warns me to keep quiet. I could be on the receiving end of what’s behind there if my true identity is ever discovered.
Please don’t let this room defeat me.
I send a plea up to the ceiling, knowing no one will be listening.
Jaxon knocks a rhythmic pattern on the door, and I can hear large bolts being moved across on the other side. The door is opened, and the stench of death hits me. I lean over to the side and gag, a stupid, involuntary reaction that shows a weakness in me.
Jaxon laughs. “Don’t worry. I was the same the first time I came down here. What goes on in this room, it changes a man. I don’t even notice the odor now—piss, vomit, and feces. You’ll get to experience it all while I work. If you’re going to pass out, just make sure you’re sitting down. I don’t want to waste valuable time and resources, having someone watch you all night for potential head injuries.”
“Yes, sir,” I reply and take another sniff before gagging again.
Jaxon strides confidently into the room, and I follow him. It’s dark with only a central light in the ceiling. The wattage is low, but it’s sufficient to illuminate the bleeding and bruised man tied to a chair with hand cuffs. The chair is bolted to the floor. He’s got no hope of getting himself free, and I know the cuffs won’t be removed by his captors until he’s dead.
“Take a seat over there.” Jaxon motions to a chair in a dark corner of the room.
Why do they have to keep everything so dark? As I walk to where Jaxon pointed, I hit my leg against a table laid out with various instruments. I curse until I realize the instruments are torture devices: tongs to pull teeth, knives to cut skin, hoods to cover a face, and a contraption that looks like a miniature guillotine—I can only imagine its use. No, I don’t want to think about any of it. I swiftly move past the table, looking back at Jaxon as I do. He has an amused look on his face at my discomfort. I ignore him and take a seat on the padded leather chair he directed me to.
Jaxon turns around and faces the man he needs to extract the information from. The other men, Yi Shu guards, disappear into the dark edges of the room, their presence an eerie reminder of what can lurk in the shadows of our world.
“Hello, Shen, how are you today?” Jaxon asks. The man secured to the chair looks up but doesn’t acknowledge him. “I see your manners left you when they brought you here. You should at least give me the respect I deserve as the blond demon.”
“Fuck you,” Shen responds and lowers his head again.
“See, Zhàn, this is the respect the Jīn have for their own lives. It’s why they are dangerous. They don’t care. Shen here is one of Wang’s most respected men. In the past, he’s proven himself to be a successful killer of the Yi Shu. His family is protected but only as long as Shen remains loyal to his master. He will die a hero’s death today in the Jīn’s eyes, but only until they find out he’s given me the information I require. I’ve never failed to torture what I need to know out of a man before, even if he’s one of Wang’s most loyal men. When Wang finds out what’s been divulged here today, an example will be made of Shen’s mother, father, even his younger brother and sister. That’s what Wang does, isn’t it, Shen?”
“You’ll get nothing from me. I’ll protect my family even in death. So you might as well kill me now and get it over with.”
“You know it doesn’t work that way. You give me the information I require, and I’ll kill you quickly and make sure your family is protected—you have my promise. You know it’s the only way to keep them safe. I don’t want to have to do this the hard way, but I will. It’s been a while since I let my demons out. I hide them deep within me, but they’re clawing at my soul to escape. Say the word, Shen, and I’ll free them.”
This is a new side to Jaxon I’ve not seen before. He’s always been calm and collected, a fountain of knowledge and a patient teacher, but he’s right, there is something dark within him. I can see it now, and it’s calling to me.
A darkness
We both have.
A mask.
We both wear.
I push up onto my feet and move back toward the table. Jaxon turns his head to watch me as I run my hand over the instruments laid out there.
“Do we really rescue their families?”
Jaxon nods. “We do. Wang rules by fear, so promising protection for the families of those we capture is the only way to ensure they’ll tell us what we need to know. I can’t allow Shen to live as he’s killed too many of our men. Justice demands his death, but we won’t allow his family to suffer. We’ll bring them into our fold and keep them safe, and Shen’s brother will take his place in our army when the time comes.”