I thought burning the poison would keep me safe for at least one night.
I was wrong.
I fell asleep in the huge bed, still wearing the white dress. In my dreams I was back in my old apartment eating noodles. Then suddenly I couldn't breathe.
Something was around my throat. Tight. Real.
I woke up fighting. A red silk cord was wrapped around my neck and pulling hard. Someone was behind me on the bed, strong arms holding me down.
"Quiet," a man's voice whispered in my ear. "His Majesty will thank me when you're gone."
I knew that voice. The Ghost Blade... the emperor's secret assassin. In the novel he kills Seo-Hwa quietly in her sleep. Clean and fast.
Not tonight.
I threw my head back hard. Something crunched... his nose probably. The cord got looser for a second. I rolled off the bed and grabbed the jade hairpin from my hair.
Moonlight came through the window. The assassin stood up slowly. All black clothes, black mask, only his eyes showing... bright red eyes that didn't look human.
He smiled under the mask. Blood dripped from his broken nose.
I smiled back and threw the heavy mirror at him. It broke into a million pieces. While he dodged, I grabbed the fire pot and threw hot coals everywhere. The curtains caught fire immediately.
He came at me through the flames. Super fast.
We fought like animals. He was stronger and faster, but I was desperate. I bit his arm when he grabbed me. He hit me hard across the face. I tasted blood.
I found the emperor's jade seal on the table... the super important one with the dragon carving... and swung it like a weapon. It hit his arm with a loud crack.
He still didn't scream. Just laughed quietly.
Then the door slammed open.
Guards rushed in with spears. And behind them... Emperor Taehyun.
He wasn't wearing his crown. His black robe was open at the chest, hair messy like he ran all the way here. His eyes went straight to my neck where the cord marks were already turning purple.
He looked... scary. Like a dragon who just woke up angry.
"Who," he asked very softly, "touched what belongs to me?"
The Ghost Blade disappeared into the smoke like magic.
The emperor walked straight to me. He touched my chin gently and made me look up. His thumb brushed the bruises on my neck.
"Who did this?" he asked.
"Your Ghost Blade," I said. My voice hurt to use. "Someone really wants me dead because I didn't poison anyone tonight."
His eyes got darker. Scarier.
He took off his outer robe... heavy black silk with silver dragons... and put it around my shoulders. It was warm from his body.
"You sleep in my palace tonight," he said. Not asking.
"And tomorrow?" I asked.
"Tomorrow we hunt," he said. His hand moved to the back of my neck, thumb stroking the bruises gently. "Nobody kills you but me... when I decide."
My heart was beating crazy fast. I should be scared.
But I wasn't.
"Good," I said. "Because I'm not done living yet."
The fire kept burning behind us. Guards were shouting and running around with water.
The emperor picked me up suddenly... like I weighed nothing... and carried me out of the burning room.
In his palace, in his huge bed that smelled only like him, he put me down gently. Then he kissed every bruise on my neck until I forgot how to be afraid.
Somewhere in the flames, my old life burned away completely.
The real story was just starting.
And that red cord... the one with tiny gold dragons... lay on the floor waiting to see who it would choke next.