Free Sacrifice by Cindy Pon

them.
    “Aren’t you going to stop her?” Zhen Ni asked, knowing she couldn’t be heard by anyone but Kai Sen.
    “I sense someone else near—Stone.”
    “She’ll kill the man!” she said in a loud whisper.
    “No. And if so, only in self-defense.”
    “Or perhaps she lured him out here. I know you love her, but she is a serpent demon, Kai—”
    Zhen Ni broke off mid-sentence at the sound of retching. It was eerily quiet now that the man had stopped screaming. He lay motionless on the cobblestones, dead. Murdered.
    Skybright was on her hands and knees, naked and returned to human form, head bowed as she continued to throw up the contents of her stomach. She looked small now, frail compared to the monstrosity she was mere moments before. Zhen Ni stared at Skybright’s curves, her full breasts, the soft roundness of her hips, with a detached sense of fascination mingled with revulsion.
    The immortal called Stone appeared from nowhere, his back to them, standing over the dead man. He made no move to help Skybright, and she did not acknowledge his presence. “Well done,” Stone said in that rich voice Zhen Ni would never forget even though she had only met him once.
    Kai Sen spoke beneath his breath, and a flicker of flame shot forth like a blue star and hit Stone on the back of his neck. The immortal, speaking intently to Skybright, didn’t react.
    Feeling hopeless and sick to her own stomach, Zhen Ni wrenched herself away from Kai Sen’s grip on her shoulder, stumbling noiselessly backward onto her rump, before rising and running down the dark alley back toward the canal. She couldn’t bear to watch anymore, to have to acknowledge Skybright as a murderous demon, the seductress that the old wives’ tales warned everyone about. She couldn’t stand to witness more between Skybright and Stone—to see them talk and behave completely unlike ordinary people.
    Her lungs burned by the time she reached the canal and emerged back into the daylight. The sun felt so good on her skin. She ignored the curious glances cast her way and leaned against the stone railing, peering down into the swirling water. Zhen Ni knew she must have looked like some runaway handmaid, but she didn’t care. Kai Sen was beside her after a few moments, not even out of breath.
    “She’s not the same girl we knew, Kai Sen.” She swept at the tears on her cheeks in an angry motion. “I know you love her. I love her too, but you can’t be so foolish to be blind to what we saw. How can we know how many other men she’s killed?”
    “No. This was the first time, I’m certain—”
    “How can you be certain?”
    “She was upset after.” Kai Sen’s jaw flexed. “You saw. She didn’t enjoy it.”
    “What does it matter if she enjoys it?” she cried out. “She’s still a murderer!”
    An old woman carrying a basket of eggplants paused mid-shamble and stared at them. Zhen Ni glared at her until she moved on, too riled to be polite, and twisted back toward the water. “I’m not convinced Skybright wants to be saved,” she said in a low voice.
    Kai Sen made a strangled noise beside her. “You would give up on her so easily?”
    “I don’t know.” Zhen Ni’s shoulders sagged.
    “Have you considered that you might be resentful, that she’s not yours to command any longer?”
    “I love Skybright not because I could command her!” she exclaimed, feeling her face grow hot from anger.
    “But she catered to you your entire life,” Kai Sen said in a quiet voice. “You were her mistress, even if you loved each other like sisters. She was always your Skybright. And now …”
    Zhen Ni felt the tears gathering behind her eyes. Kai Sen was right. No matter what, her relationship with Skybright had always been defined by their status in society. Now nothing defined them. Everything was now unknown, uncomfortable. Unfathomable. Zhen Ni had believed she’d never see her again. “I don’t know how to help her,” she finally said. “I am