The single word arrived with such force that, involuntarily, Lily took a step back.

I balance the fate of your world in what I say to you, when I say it, what I imply, what I leave for you to learn elsewhere or not at all.

Lily sucked in a breath. He meant it. He'd spoken as he always did, with inhuman precision-no rhetorical flourishes, no dramatic exaggeration. "The world. The entire world."

I said that my people battled in the War's aftermath. We are uniquely suited to fighting the Chimei, and there were many Chimei in realms outside their own, so the fighting continued for some time. The cost to us was great. It was decided there was need for a treaty to stop the killing. Almost all Chimei agreed to return to their home realm, where certain alterations rendered them less dangerous. They are not allowed to leave. Some Chimei, such as this one, refused to return. The treaty binds such Chimei in other ways-and, unlike treaties made by humans, it binds in an absolute sense. Chimei and dragons are unable to kill each other-unable to act directly against each other.

"Directly," Lily repeated. She knew a loophole when she heard one. "You can't just pounce on this Chimei, but indirectly you can do something?"

Operating against her indirectly is possible, but difficult. Small actions, intent, words-all may have cumulative power. Applied at the wrong time, in the wrong way, this power could break the treaty. If dragons break the treaty, two things may happen. Any Chimei still outside their own realm would be free to travel here. And any Chimei here would be able to breed.

"This treaty prevents their breeding?"

It does. This Chimei is still in attenuated form. She is extremely powerful, but without physicality to anchor her, she is unable to use her power effectively. If she succeeds in manifesting herself fully, San Diego and much of this coast will be lost. If she breeds, or if other Chimei travel here and manifest themselves physically, they will send your world spiraling into chaos and madness.

"Chaos and madness. The world. You're speaking literally."

Sam didn't deign to answer. Probably he figured he'd said it once, and that should be enough.

Lily's heart was pounding. Possible disasters spun through her head-or was it all one enormous tragedy, on a scale she couldn't conceive? And couldn't stop trying to imagine.

She looked at Rule. She wasn't sure what she wanted from him. He couldn't have any answers, either. He met her gaze, his eyes dark and troubled. And reached for her hand.

Oh, yeah. That's what she'd wanted. The reminder that they were in this together . . . whatever the hell "this" was. She turned back to Sam. "Can't the Old Ones who drew up this treaty-I'm guessing that's who was behind it-do something?"

They have bound themselves to not interfere. It is an imperfect situation.

Imperfect. Yeah, that was one way of looking at it. Lily had an ancient, not-quite-physical demon who couldn't be killed disrupting the minds in her city. Eating the fear her nightmares caused. What was she supposed to do? How did she fight such a creature?

Lily took a slow breath. Start where you are. That's what Grandmother always said. For Lily, that meant treating this like a cop. "Okay. I saw an Asian guy at Clanhome last night shortly before Cullen was attacked. No one else saw him. How does he fit in? He does fit somehow, doesn't he?"

I will not answer that at this time. I suspect you will be free to confer with the others about it, however.

Well, duh. Of course she was. That didn't- Lily Yu. A tinge of exasperation lent the faintest warmth to Sam's words. There is no "of course" to this. Do you not see? It is likely you will be bound, to a greater or lesser extent, by the treaty.

That did not make sense. "The treaty was between dragons and Chimei. I'm human."

Your grandmother chose to return to her original form, but she has been dragon. It is impossible for one who has been dragon to ever be fully not-dragon. The treaty binds her, and you are of her blood.

Lily went blank. She wasn't-couldn't be- Did you not ask earlier why I can mindspeak you despite your Gift?

She had, but he couldn't be right. That couldn't be the reason.

Rule squeezed her hand. His eyes were dark, concerned. "This troubles you? I remember Fagin saying something along those lines. That he'd heard a suggestion that sensitives were born of dragon magic, or something like that. You weren't upset by the idea then."

Because she hadn't believed it. Besides . . . "That's not the same. Being touched by their magic isn't the same as being, well . . ." She couldn't say it. It sounded stupid. Presumptuous.

She received what felt like the mental equivalent of . . . a chuckle? In this, you are not like your grandmother. I do not believe Li Lei is capable of applying "presumptuous" to herself. In this, she was dragon before she was dragon.

No, you are not a dragon, Lily Yu, but you partake of a portion of dragon nature. You sense magic directly, as we do, although you are blind to it and unable to shape it. You have already begun to manifest one ability common to dragons, though you seem determined to overlook it.

What was he talking about?

You are capable of acquiring mindspeech and possibly other skills common to dragons, though I have seen no suggestion that you know this or wish to spend the necessary years of study to do so. Most notably, you possess an immunity to worked magic that is equal to that of an adult dragon.

Her Gift. He was talking about her Gift, which he claimed wasn't a human thing at all. It was a dragon thing. All these years she'd insisted that being a sensitive didn't make her anything other than fully human, and now . . .

Your mind is unpleasantly noisy.

It was pretty noisy from her perspective, too. "You think this treaty enacted however many thousands of years ago will affect me?"

Affect you, yes, and be affected by you. I do not know to what extent. Neither does the Chimei, for the situation is unprecedented. For now, she goes warily. She does not strike directly at Li Lei or at those of Li Lei's blood.

"Strike at Grandmother." Who was missing. "And us. Me and my sisters. She wants to strike at us. You mean the Chimei intends to hurt my family."

She craves revenge as a human drunkard craves alcohol. More. I believe she remained here chiefly so she could seek revenge.

"For over three hundred years?" Lily asked, incredulous. "If this Chimei has been seeking revenge all that time, she isn't very good at it."

She has been largely unable to act. The Turning changed this.

"More magic around, you mean." With sudden urgency, Lily asked, "Where is Grandmother?"

Unhurt. And hidden.

"And my mother. God, my mother isn't of Grandmother's blood. If this Chimei wants revenge and doesn't dare go after those of us who might-who partake of dragon nature-"

Two things protect your mother. Li Lei gave her a charm carved from one of my scales. It may not be necessary. Your mother is mated with your father and has borne him children. This comprises a bond which the treaty will recognize, though again I cannot say the precise degree of restraint it will impose on the Chimei. In essence, all residents of San Diego are at risk. Your mother's risk may be higher than most. It may be lower.

"But if mating with someone creates a bond that the treaty recognizes . . ." Lily couldn't figure out how to arrive gracefully at the end of that sentence. She glanced back at Li Qin.

Who rose gracefully, smiling, and came to her. "You are kind to be concerned, and to offer respect for my privacy. Clearly, I have not borne your grandmother's children, Lily. She concluded this was a critical factor, and that I would not be safe from the Chimei. That is why I am here. The Chimei will not attack those directly under Sam's protection, for in such a case he would be allowed to strike back."

"Okay." Lily nodded. "Okay." She had long wondered about Grandmother and this woman, whom she'd been raised to think was a distant cousin. A few months ago she'd decided their relationship went beyond that-if, indeed, Li Qin was any sort of blood relation at all. But it was weird to have Li Qin confirm it. Weirder than she'd expected.

Not really because of the same-sex thing. Grandmother was precisely as conventional as it suited her to be-she especially approved of conventions involving respect for your elders-and profoundly disinterested in any rules or norms she didn't agree with.

No, it was knowing for certain that her grandmother had a lover of any sort. Not in the past. In the present. That was just . . . weird. "Rule wouldn't be protected, then."

"We do not think so, no." Li Qin put a gentle arm around Lily's waist. "This is a great deal to hear all at once. I have been able to absorb pieces of this tale a little at a time over the years. You are trying to arrange it inside you all at once. This is difficult."

For no reason, Lily's eyes teared up. It infuriated her. She blinked frantically. "I'm . . . sort of topsy-turvy."

"Will you indulge me by taking tea once more? It is not your practice, I know, but I do not have a garden here to offer you. Perhaps a few quiet moments will allow your insides to settle."

"That . . ." Lily hesitated. "Okay. Yes. Tea would be fine." For maybe the first time in her life, she actually meant it. If nothing else, the ritual would give her something to do where she knew the rules. Speaking of which . . . As Li Qin released her and moved away, Lily looked at Rule.

He held her hand still, but was watching Sam, who'd risen from his curled posture. His wings were slowly unfolding as if he were about to depart for the sky. "One question before you go. No, two questions."

Sam didn't respond, but he paused.

"Was this Chimei behind the attack on Cullen?"

Certainly. Sorcerers are dangerous to Chimei.

"How?"

I will not explain. Was that your other question?

Rule grimaced. "No. You spoke of the consequences of your indirect actions breaking the treaty. I assume the Chimei can act indirectly, also."

She can.

"What happens if the Chimei's actions cause the treaty to break?"

There was distinct amusement in Sam's "voice" this time. Lily Yu is not the only one to joust with questions. If this Chimei causes the treaty to break, I kill her.

"But you said-"

I said the creator of the Chimei intended them to be fearless and impossible to kill. He achieved the first goal, however disastrously. He nearly achieved the second goal. Nearly, but not quite.

He did not allow for dragons.

Sun Mzao gathered a body whose nose-to-tail length might have stretched out over the entire twice-a-football-field span of his landing pad. He crouched, then sprang for the sky. The great wings unfurled fully and beat once, twice, again . . .

And he disappeared.

"Ah, good," Li Qin said. "Sam heated the water for us before he left."

NINETEEN.

The city of Luan; Shanxi Province, China; nineteenth day of the eleventh month of the forty-fourth year of the Ching Dynasty FOUR people waited outside the home of Chen Wu Yin, the man who held the license for collecting night soil in the district where the sorcerer had taken up residence-two hungry, desperate women, a middle-aged man, and Li Lei.

She had planned to arrive after the women, who came every day. She had not planned on the man.

He had long hairs growing out of his nose. Li Lei regarded those hairs with disgust. How had he heard that the collector would have a job available today? After all Li Lei had gone through to make that possible, it was patently unfair for the man to be here.

She'd needed to find a young employee, one without a family of his own who would be left behind to starve. Whatever bribe or blackmail the sorcerer had used to procure his place, it had been effective. The sorcerer controlled the city and its gates. It was not too difficult to slip a single person through the gate, but smuggling out an entire family without the proper papers would have been impossible.

Then she'd had to persuade the young servant man to leave. She had plenty of coin, which is a fine persuader, but by then she hadn't been able to speak to him . . . or to anyone. In the end, she'd had to use one of the three stones Sam had given her as part of her training.

If he thought she was foolish to have used his gift on such a paltry target when she could simply have killed him, well, he could laugh at her later. If she had a later. If not, he might still laugh. But she hoped he would also burn things. A great many things.

Oh, she had considered killing the man. She was not squeamish, whatever Sam said. She could have told herself that the man died in service to the city or even the whole of China. Sam believed the sorcerer would not be satisfied with a single city, that his power would only grow . . . as would that of his leman, whose hunger was never sated. Eventually the sorcerer might turn his eyes on that shiniest of baubles, the emperor's court.

He could do great damage there. His lover could do even more.

But Li Lei was not here to save China, the emperor, or even the city. Nor was she here to further Sam's plans and manipulations. Her eyes had been open from the first. He had said he would have a use for her, and had bound her to fulfill it when the time came.

She called him Sam. That was a little joke between them, born of a punning game he enjoyed. To others he was Sun Mzao, much-storied and seldom seen. According to the peasants, he had lived in the mountains near Luan for one thousand years. According to the scholars, he had been killed many years ago at the Battle of Shanhaiguan, where he had fought against the Mongol invaders.

Sometimes the scholars were silly and the peasants wise.

Sun Mzao had known that the sorcerer and the Chimei would come long before they did. He had first called to Li Lei when she was fifteen, knowing she would one day run to him-and that she was the tool he would need to act against the Chimei when the time came. He had told her none of this until he considered the time right.

But he had not known Li Lei's family would be killed. She did not blame him for it. He was what he was.

Still, she was not here for him, or because of the word she'd given him when he took her as apprentice. She was here because the sorcerer and his lover had taken those who were hers.

"Lad, you might as well look elsewhere," said the man with the hairs in his nose. "You know I'll be chosen instead of you or those two poor women."

He was right, but Li Lei did not wish to agree. She ducked her head to hide her scowl-she had difficulty at times appearing properly subservient-and shook it in a firm negative.

"You were told to come here, eh? I guess you can't disobey, but you waste your time."

Li Lei wondered why a healthy man of thirty or so would seek a job hauling feces. He wasn't starving or coughing or marked by the pox, but there must be something wrong with him. Well, he did not wear the queue, which was stupid, but there were still those who resisted the Manchu emperor's edict for his Han subjects. Personally, Li Lei found it convenient. With her head partially shaved and the rest of her hair drawn back in a braid, people looked at her and saw a boy of fourteen or so. It never occurred to them she might be female.

The man shrugged and turned away. "Don't be sensible, then."

Perhaps she was not the only one who'd thought that working such a lowly job might gain her entry into the sorcerer's residence. It was a disconcerting thought. He might be a thief.

Was he with a tong? Surely he would have threatened her, if so . . . but no, he thought she was no threat to his getting the job. How would she get rid of him? She did not want to kill the man, even if he did have disgusting nose hairs.

The battered door of Chen Wu Yin's house opened. His wife stood there, eyeing the four of them. Chen Wu Yin's wife was very fat, very shrewd, but Li Lei had learned that she was prone to stealthy acts of kindness.

"So, you want a job, eh?" She studied the peasant man out of eyes reduced to new-moon slits by the greater moons of her cheeks. "Oh, quiet, quiet," she told the two women, who had begun bleating of their need for a job. "You know I do not send women with Wu Yin. My honorable husband has no sense with women. I do not know why you still come."

Li Lei knew why they came. Chen Wu Yin was a lecherous old goat, which was why his wife would not hire women. But when others were not around to take note, she often found an errand for these two women, and paid them with a bowl of rice. Li Lei thought she was wise not to let her kindness be known. Too many would show up at her door, looking for handouts or small jobs. She couldn't feed all the city's poor.

As for how Li Lei knew of it-why, it was winter, and Li Lei had learned much as apprentice to Sun Mzao. Chen Wu Yin's wife liked to be warm. She kept a small fire burning most of the time; Li Lei had listened through the fire. It was a use of magic, yes, and so a risk, but the sorcerer could not purge the city entirely of magic. Fire-listening took very little power for one of the fire-kin like her, and could easily be mistaken for some charm the woman had bought, if it were noticed at all.

"Mistress," the peasant man said, his voice soft, his gaze appropriately downcast, "I have hopes you might have a job for me. I am a good worker-strong and healthy-and I have a wife and two small sons. I need to work."

"Hmm."

Li Lei had a sudden inspiration. From behind the man's back, she pointed at him and made the sign for tong. The woman might not recognize it, but if she did- "You look strong enough," she said grudgingly, "but I have promised to speak with my cousin's wife's sister's son today and see if he can do the work. It is a matter of family, you understand? If he does not work hard, I will speak with you again." For the first time she looked directly at Li Lei. "Well, boy? Are you going to keep me waiting forever? Come in, come in."

The house where the night soil collector lived with his wife was nowhere near as fine as the house where Li Lei had lived, of course. The small public room she entered was crowded and none too clean. But a fire burned cheerily in the hearth on the far wall. Its warmth was welcome.

"So the man was part of the tong, was he?" Chen Wu Yin's wife demanded.

Li Lei hesitated, then shrugged, tapped her head, and nodded. I think so.