Page 107 of The Nightblood Prince

“Come with us!” he cried, and tried to grab me.

“Get off me!” I pushed him away and fell to my knees, pressing my hand where the arrow had struck Luyao.

Pressure. I need to apply pressure.I ripped a piece of my robe and pressed it against his throat, but the blood wasn’t slowing.

“Fei,” came Yexue’s voice from beside me as his hand touched my cheek, where Caikun had hit me. “Who did this to you?”

It took all my will not to drive another dagger through his chest.

The shuffle of footsteps. His men quickly surrounded us, keeping us safe from Siwang’s advancing soldiers.

Swords clashing.

Bodies falling.

“Let’s go,” Yexue repeated.

I didn’t take his hand. I didn’t even look at him. The only thing I could do was cry.

“Luyao…” On my knees, I clung to my friend. “Don’t die. Please, don’t die….”

“Tell Zhangxi that I love her,” Luyao choked through the blood. “Tell my son that his father died protecting him. Tell my Zhangxi that I hope our baby meets me through her stories, that our baby grows up knowing his father loved him. From the moment she told me the news, I’ve loved him. Please…Tell him…”

His words came to a stop.

“Luyao!” I cried, shaking him. “Please, Luyao, wake up. Wake—”

I flinched when I felt a hand touch my shoulder again, as if to comfort me.

Yexue.

“Save him,” I begged, grabbing him by the hand, pulling closer to Luyao’s limp body as if the mere presence of him was enough to changewhat had already been done. “Save him like you’ve saved me. He’s a good man. He’s kind. He has a wife and a child, and his baby needs to meet his father and know how good a man he is. He doesn’t deserve to die. Ifanyonehere deserves to live, it’s him.”

Yexue gave one fleeting glance down at Luyao, then shook his head. “He’s dead.”

Two words, plain and simple. “But I’ve seen you save others. You saved that boy!”

“Men die all the time, Fei.” Yexue knelt until we were face to face, his lips thin as if it pained him to tell me this. But if Yexue wanted to save Luyao, he could. Right? “I can’t bring the already dead back to life. Not even for you.”

I held Luyao tighter. “You are lying.”

“Even my magic has its limits. I can heal someone, or steal them from Death’s arms. But once someone is gone, they are gone for good. Believe me, I’ve tried before.”

Though his voice held a somber weight, there was no remorse or guilt in his eyes, as if he felt nothing over the death of a man. I wondered how many men he had killed in the past year, and whether he felt remorse for any of them. It wasn’t fair, how he and Siwang got to remain high and mighty in their palaces while men like Luyao died.

Enough.

“Everything stops here. Today,” I said.

“Take your hands off her!” Rong’s soldiers broke through the circle of blue-uniformed men who had surrounded us, a man in black armor leading the way.

Siwang charged for Yexue, a silver sword in hand.

“Fei, we have to go,” Yexue said, his eyes still lingering on me.

Which gave Siwang the chance to cut a path through the clashing soldiers and thrust his silver blade into Yexue’s abdomen.

Yexue moved out of the way just in time to avoid the brunt of the impact, but not quickly enough to miss the blade entirely. A slash of crimson at his side, staining his impeccable white robes.

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