Free The Sword Dancer by Jeanne Lin

disrupt Wang Shizhen’s activities to keep him from seizing more power within the province.
    The danger hadn’t seemed real until that moment. At the time, the heist had seemed a grand challenge and that angry part inside of her had wanted to strike out at something to make up for all that had been taken from her.
    At one time, she had believed deeply in the cause, but it was no longer her battle. Bao Yang, the leader of the rebels, had drawn her into his cause with his lethal charm. She regretted becoming so involved now.
    Han watched her reaction. ‘There was someone else at the head of it, wasn’t there? If you were misguided or coerced—’
    With every word and every action, he was testing her. She needed to understand where exactly they stood with one another.
    ‘Are you still pursuing me over the jade?’ she demanded.
    ‘I’m interested in much more than that, Miss Wen,’ he replied, keeping his eyes locked on hers.
    She gave him an evil-eye at the double meaning. ‘Scoundrel.’
    The corner of his mouth twitched.
    They were interrupted by a booming voice in the front hall. Footsteps marched downstairs. Han moved to the door and opened it just a crack before returning to her.
    ‘Wang Shizhen’s men,’ he reported.
    She glared at him. ‘You brought them here!’
    ‘I didn’t—’
    She was at the window without another word. The street below was clear and Li Feng let herself drop down, landing with knees bent and rolling on to her shoulder to absorb the impact. A moment later, the thief-catcher landed with a thud beside her, not quite as softly. She waited until he straightened, then sent a throwing knife sailing past his ear.
    Han flung himself aside as the blade embedded itself into the post behind him. He stared at it, then back at her.
‘She-demon!’
    ‘I spared your life, thief-catcher. You owe me,’ she said.
    He frowned at her. ‘What sort of logic is that?’
    Overhead, soldiers tore through the pavilion, searching for her.
    ‘Don’t follow me,’ she warned, backing away.
    ‘If General Wang catches you, he won’t be concerned about justice.’
    ‘Then I won’t get caught.’
    There was no more time for talk. With a running start, she scaled the wall behind them and caught the edge with a hand to pull herself up on top of it. The manoeuvre was a little more difficult with the drag of the courtesan’s robe, but she managed it. She crouched at the top and glanced back down at Han.
    Scaling a city wall was a punishable offence. A single shout and Han could have the night watchmen and Wang’s soldiers chasing after her. But he didn’t sound the alert. He stood his ground and watched her with a grim expression.
    Li Feng leapt from the wall, her feet landing deftly on the packed dirt of the alleyway. She continued through the city, slipping through spaces, finding handholds and footholds in hidden corners. Her movement was like water, shifting around and over obstacles, finding a path where others saw none. The ancient texts spoke qing gong, lightness training, but it had less to do with being as light as air than a sure-footedness that came from strength, balance and endless practice.
    The silk of her robe rustled around her as she ran. There was freedom here, in the constant flow of motion. More freedom than she’d ever found in the open, quiet landscape of the mountains. She was walking on walls and flying over eaves, putting more distance between her and Han.
    Thief-catchers were notoriously a corrupt lot, easy to deflect with bribes. Zheng Hao Han may be one of those rare men of honour and conviction, but she still couldn’t trust him. He spoke of justice and truth, but for her, justice could only be found through the edge of a blade.

Chapter Six
    M emories were fragile and fickle things. There were minute details she remembered very clearly, insignificant as they were. Her hair had been tied in two little pigtails. The thread in her sleeve had come loose. It unravelled into a