Yuemu shook Diyiren till his head nearly fell off.
"Where is she?"
Diyiren searched his room. Aoibh occasionally curled up in front of the fire, but usually she would crawl under the blankets with him. As if he really thought she might be there, he lifted layer after layer.
"Mother!" Yueme screamed, tears coming down her face. The skinny woman dashed out of the room.
Diyiren pulled out Aoibh's lock of hair, tumbled into a run, chased after Yuemu, but Niang grabbed him in the hall, pinned him to the wall by the neck.
"Niang, Aoibh is missing."
"You have studies," the Chinese woman growled.
"But Niang—"
Diyiren's insides started to churn. Not just nausea. The saliva in his mouth choked him and the blood in his veins exploded out of the vessels. His heart enlarged, the valves flapping on the ooze. At first, it seemed like snot, but the metal tang was on his tongue and spilled out over his lips.
Diyiren blinked. His eyes stung, but the goo coming from the tear ducts was red. The surface of his skin was glass, little breaks and cracks ripping him apart. As young as he was, he couldn't heal fast enough.
"How did you get out of your cage?" BoBo teased and smacked her in the head with a vase.
His mother threw Diyiren down the hall and turned her rage on BoBo. Just as she had with Diyiren, BoBo's blood erupted from every orifice. His white sect robes were dyed a shade that could have been mistaken for wine. Then she ripped his head off his shoulders.
Diyiren's whole body vibrated.
"Stand up," she yelled.
Diyiren couldn't control his legs, but he found a way to pull himself up the wall.
"Things are going to change around here."
BoBo's body wobbled, was directionless, but in a moment, it honed in on its head and returned the skull to its shoulder. Once the head was in place, it was just a bit of adjusting for the sinews to lash the neck back together. The blood soaked back into his skin.
Madame Long's knees buckled, but she stayed erect, one hand steadying her against the wall.
BoBo said, "Did I mention that I'm immortal?"
"The pain I inflicted—"
"My father is Lucifer," BoBo said, folding his hands in front of him. "You think I'm impressed by you?"
YOU ARE READING
The Lamb and the Gray Battle
FantasyEvie has spent the last 575 years on the North American continent, now called America, the Pure and Clean. She smiles, volunteers and makes cakes and pastries for her neighbors, hiding away her demon blood. She wants nothing to do with her estranged...
