CHAPTER
25
Sister.
How many days, weeks, months had it been since anyone had called me that?
Tears burned in my eyes, but I forced them back. I couldn’t be weak now that Alex and I were finally face-to-face. There were no mirrors this time. No more nightmares or visions.
Alex was Alex. And he stood in front of me, in flesh and blood. Alex as the Heaven Breaker and leader of the Jade Emperor’s army, wielding Fenghuang.
I couldn’t show my brother all my weaknesses that had been brought out in his absence. I had to prove I was stronger than Alex. I had to make him regret choosing the Jade Emperor over doing what we both knew was right. And I had to convince him to help me complete Ba’s memory elixir and then join my side.
The tense silence was shattered by Jordan’s bemused voice. “Am I missing something? Did that punk with the weird hair just call you sister?”
“Alex,” Ren growled in greeting.
“Dragon boy,” Alex sneered.
“A-Alex!” Moli interrupted.
My brother froze. His body clenched up. I watched his eyes grow wider and rounder in recognition.
“Alex,” Moli said shakily, “it’s me. Remember me? It’s Moli.”
“Seriously, what’s going on? You three know this guy?” Jordan asked.
Slowly, as though every movement cost him a great effort, Alex faced Moli. I read the pain etched across his features as he gazed upon the girl he had a massive crush on. He raised a hand in a half-hearted wave. “Oh … hey, Moli. You … came back as a spirit?”
“Yeah, I came back to haunt you, traitor.” Moli looked ready to smack Alex.
“This is weird,” Jordan whispered. “Does anyone else get the feeling that this is weird?”
“Shut up, Jordan,” I hissed. He must’ve—correctly—interpreted the warning tone in my voice, because he clammed up.
Alex started, “Moli, I-I’m sorry about—”
“Don’t talk to me.” Moli whirled around on her heels, folding her arms across her chest—but I didn’t miss the ghostly tears glittering in her eyes. “I have nothing to say to you. And don’t you dare apologize. Not to me, at least. I’m doing well. Very well. The person you owe an apology to is your sister.”
Alex flinched, a wounded expression on his face. I guess one thing would never change—Moli’s hold on my brother. His eyes slid toward me. “My … sister?”
I wanted nothing more than to embrace Alex, but I knew I couldn’t—not yet. I had to appear strong, at least on the outside. Even if I was slowly crumbling to pieces on the inside.
“Don’t call me sister. You don’t deserve to call me sister,” I declared in a remarkably steady voice. “Not until you do what’s right—and join our side.”
The ghost of a smile rose to Alex’s lips. In the darkness of the night, it looked more terrifying than anything else. “Not a chance.”
He raised Fenghuang. I ignored the pang in my chest at the sight of my brother wielding the weapon that had once belonged to me.
“Alex!” Moli called, but he ignored her. I guess when Alex’s mind was really made up, even Moli couldn’t sway him.
Ren and Jordan unsheathed their swords at the same moment, but I held out my arm to stop them. I had to give this one last shot. Alex was still my brother, after all.
The rest of the world disappeared. There was no Ren, no Moli, no Jordan, no spirits. Nothing. Just Alex and me. My brother and me. Like always.
“Wait. We don’t have to fight, Alex. I … I found Ba,” I blurted out.
Alex lowered his weapon and gaped at me. The animosity in his expression disappeared, replaced by vulnerability. It reminded me of the little brother I’d spent years protecting from bullies in the Jade Society.
“Ba?” Alex’s voice trembled.
“He’s alive, but he’s lost his memories,” I explained. “The only way to restore them is for you to put some of your essence—just a piece of hair—into this elixir.”
Alex stared at the container. Then his features steeled. “You’re just trying to trick me.”
“What? No! You’ve got to listen—”
“I don’t have to do anything you say. I don’t have to listen to anyone who’s in the Jade Emperor’s way.”
“Please, Alex,” I begged. “You have to help Ba—and me. You have to do the right thing.”
“Oh, the right thing?” Alex barked out a harsh laugh. “As if you can talk to me about right and wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were the one who chose everyone else over me, Faryn,” Alex spat, his eyes shining with fury. “You sided against the Jade Emperor—against me—for a bunch of humans who never cared about us.”
“I didn’t choose anyone else over you,” I said quietly. “I chose what my heart told me to do.”
“Spare me the dramatics.” Alex rolled his eyes. His grip tightened around Fenghuang, and the weapon glowed brighter. “What matters is that in the end, you didn’t choose family.”
“You’re wrong, Alex. In the end, family is precisely what I chose.” I spread my arms out, gesturing toward the spirits who hovered around us. The spirits of my ancestors.
Sheer surprise replaced Alex’s sneer as he seemed to take in the spirits’ presence for the first time. His eyes swept over the figures.
“Ah Li.” Nai Nai’s firm voice echoed in the tense air.
Alex’s gaze snapped to our grandmother. Shock slackened his jaw. The anger in his expression faded. “You …”
Our grandmother shot him an impatient look, as though he were a schoolboy who’d underperformed on a test. “You know who I am, don’t you?”
After a beat, Alex murmured, “Nai Nai.”
“Do you recognize these people around me?” Nai Nai gestured toward our other ancestors. Cixi, Hongyi, and a few others who bowed their heads. “They’re all your family. We’re your family, Alex.”
“Not by blood,” he said bitterly. “The only family I want to see is my blood family.”
“There are bonds stronger even than blood,” Nai Nai said sternly. “If you don’t believe me, ask your sister.”
My brother’s eyes darted to mine. For a moment, his gaze softened. I gave him a small smile, but then he turned away.
“We’re always on your side,” our grandmother continued.
An emotion flashed across Alex’s face, too fast for me to catch. Then that hardness returned to his expression once more. “What use is it if you’re on my side? You’re all dead.”
Nai Nai stiffened. Cixi stormed forward. “Liu Ah Li!” she barked, but then my grandmother threw out an arm to stop her.
“You have to make a decision now, Ah Li. We’ve all chosen. We’re siding with your sister—and humanity.”
Gratitude swelled inside me, replaced by sadness when I glimpsed the crestfallen look on Alex’s face. But I had to remain firm. I’d made my choice. I had to stick to it. “You know on which side your family is choosing to fight. Will you choose your family, or will you choose war?”