Chosen by Desire (3 page)

“Yes.” The scrolls were distributed to separate Guardians because their powers were so strong. Too corrupting. For one person to possess all five… He shook his head. “I thought the Book of Water was sent to its next Guardian.”

“Sent. And refused.” Sun Chi stood and walked the room in slow, measured steps, hands behind his back.

Max frowned. “The Guardian didn’t accept his duty?”

“Some Guardians are thick-headed.” He tapped Max’s shoulder before returning to his contemplative stroll. He suddenly stopped and lifted his head, piercing Max with his all-knowing gaze. “You must go after her.”

From the moment the bus drove away he’d known this was coming, but a part of him still didn’t want to accept it. All he wanted was to go back to his cell and forget he’d ever seen the duplicitous angel. “No.”

His mentor nodded as if Max hadn’t spoken. “You use your family’s diplomatic connections.”

“I gave all that up seven years ago. I’m on a different path now.”

“You choose the wrong path. Your path is to follow that woman. I feel it here.” The monk beat his fist over his heart. “Find who she is. Retrieve the scroll and the journals.”

“No,” he said again, shaking his head. “Seven years ago—”

“Seven years ago, you came to the monastery to heal,” Sun Chi interrupted. “But you stayed in the monastery to hide.”

“I haven’t been hiding,” he said, but even as the words came out of his mouth he knew they were a lie.

“You hide. From the past, from the present, from the future.” His mentor’s narrowed gaze dared him to contradict those words. “You are letting yesterday kill tomorrow.”

“My future—”

“Your future is back in your world.” Sun Chi pointed at him. “You are not a monk. You are Maximillian Prescott, Guardian of the Book of Metal. Heir to your own dynasty. Your path”—he pointed into distance—“leads out into the world. After that woman. You must find her,” he said, his voice low and insistent.

Max knew from experience that the Keeper’s will wouldn’t be denied. To fight it was wasting energy. He gritted his teeth. God help that woman when he caught up to her. “What will I be up against?”

The monk had the grace not to gloat. “The Book of Water is not claimed by its Guardian, so the powers are free. They will affect the person who holds it.”

Remembering how unprepared he’d been for the onslaught of his own powers, he said, “That could be to our advantage.”

“Her powers will be weaker than yours, since she is not a Guardian. Unless she studies the scroll and learns to harness its secrets.” Sun Chi shook his head. “You must recover it. And the journal.”

Max heard the implied
do whatever it takes
in his master’s words. He recognized the chance to redeem his mistake with Amanda seven years ago, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. He rubbed his neck, his fingers sliding over the familiar ridges of the burn scar—a constant reminder of that night.

Sun Chi placed a hand on his shoulder. “To heal, you must go. This last step exorcises the ghosts of your past.”

More likely this was just going to attract another ghost—one with big doe eyes and lips made for sin.

No, this time he knew better than to let a beautiful woman’s appearance sway him. He drew on
j
n ch’i.
His powers settled around him like a cloak, giving him the cool distance he needed from his thoughts. “I’ll leave immediately.”

His mentor nodded. “I never doubted that you would. Go in peace.”

Bowing his head, Max strode out of the room, not happy in the least to be reentering the life he’d left behind.

C
lutching her bag to her chest, Carrie stared at the closed office door and tried to imagine what her doctoral advisor would say when she found out Carrie had proof of the existence of the Scrolls of Destiny. Proof that Wei Lin had used them to, in effect, alter Chinese history.

Leonora Hsu was going to freak. And she’d be ecstatic that one of her students was the one to unravel the mystery of the scrolls.

Not that she’d unraveled all the mysteries yet. Carrie had returned from China only three days ago, and, in between sleeping and her one shift at the Pour House, she’d spent most of her time in the narrow stall of her shower. For some reason, she just craved it—maybe to wash away the long flight and the jetlag. So she’d barely had time to read much more than the first part of Wei Lin’s journal. She hadn’t even looked at the other scrolls.

But what she had read was exciting. And enough in itself to earn her the position and have her name known as an eminent Chinese scholar.

At least she hoped so.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Leonora’s soft voice called. When Carrie opened the door, the older woman’s smile shifted, becoming just a touch more friendly. “Carrie, you’re back. How did you find your first trip to China?”

“Awesome. Exhilarating.” She sat down across from her advisor. Normally, she liked to ooh and ah over the array of antique swords Leonora had hung on the walls—they were so cool. But today she gave them only a cursory glance, her attention on Leonora.

And her bag. Carrie held it snug in her lap. She’d been toting the book and scrolls around with her, and protecting them had become a quick habit.

Well, she couldn’t leave them at home. Her apartment was smack in the middle of the worst of the Tenderloin. It’d never worried her before—she was a poor student, and it was cheap compared to the rest of San Francisco. But she wasn’t naive enough to think anything she had was safe there.

Tightening her hold on the bag, she leaned forward in her seat. “That’s why I came to talk to you.”

“About your travels?”

“No, about what I found on my travels.”

Leonora’s thin eyebrows arched.

When she first met Dr. Leonora Hsu she would have read her reaction to mean disinterest. But in the years she’d first earned her masters and then her PhD, Carrie had gotten to know her advisor well enough to know she was extremely interested, just in her understated way.

In fact everything about Leonora was understated. From her conservative, dark-colored suits to the tight bun of her hair. She was the most proper and demure woman Carrie had ever met. So totally different from herself.

Carrie gripped her bag and leaned forward. “You know how you said the board was reluctant to consider me for a position here unless I did something to differentiate myself from the pack? That my dissertation wasn’t sexy enough?”

“Of course.”

She couldn’t keep her silly grin in. “I’ve found what’ll make it sexy.”

“Found what?”

“Well—” Carrie didn’t have all the proof yet, and she didn’t want to make claims she couldn’t substantiate. But she wanted so badly to tell someone what she’d found. Someone who’d understand and recognize the significance. “I have a source that claims the Scrolls of Destiny existed, and that Yongle used them to foster peace through his kingdom.”

Leonora sat still. She didn’t even blink.

Not the reaction Carrie expected. She frowned. “Leonora? Did you hear me?”

“Of course.” Her advisor resettled the glasses on her face and folded her hands on the desk.

Carrie waited, but when no questions were forthcoming, she gaped in disbelief. “I’m not sure you got it. I said I have reason to believe the Scrolls of Destiny were reality instead of myth.”

“What led you to this conclusion?”

Finally—some interest. “When I was in China I found a source that documents their existence and use.”

Leonora’s brow wrinkled. “You just happened to come upon this source during your travels?”

“Well, no.” She grinned sheepishly. “I kind of went there on a tip that turned out to be right.”

“A tip from whom?”

“I can’t say.” Because her source—her best friend Gabe—didn’t know she’d given Carrie the tip. And Carrie wanted to keep it that way.

“You can’t say,” Leonora repeated flatly.

“Uh, no. Confidential information.” She’d arrived early to hang out with Gabe and accidentally overheard Rhys, Gabe’s boyfriend, say he’d read it in Wei Lin’s journal while he was at the monastery.

Carrie hadn’t known what
it
was, but the second she heard the name
Wei Lin,
everything in her froze. In her research, she’d found several obscure references to Wei Lin and the Scrolls of Destiny tied to Yongle.

The chances that Rhys’s Wei Lin and Leonora’s Wei Lin were the same person? Fairly slim. Maybe nonexistent. But the more Carrie thought about it, the more curious she got. If she could prove there actually was a historical basis for Wei Lin and the scrolls, a position at Berkeley was guaranteed. Leonora taught a special myths class, and Wei Lin and the Scrolls of Destiny were a particular favorite topic of hers. If her advisor got excited about her thesis, Carrie was a shoo-in for the job.

It hadn’t taken much research to find out which monastery Rhys meant—there was a lot of press on him, which shouldn’t have been surprising, given how affluent and entrepreneurial he was. She found a mention in one article, complete with the name of the monastery and the province where it was located.

What
was
surprising was that Gabe and Rhys were talking about Wei Lin. Why? Carrie wanted to ask, but she couldn’t. Not without revealing that she’d spied on them.

She bit her lip. She’d never been one to lie, and that’s exactly what she was doing. Not to mention the thievery and smuggling, if you wanted to put a fine point on it. This whole thing was turning her into someone she didn’t recognize, and she wasn’t sure she liked it.

It’d end soon. It’d all work out, and she’d never do it again.

She just hoped her conscience survived intact.

“Carrie?”

Blinking, she returned her attention to her advisor. “Yeah?”

Leonora stared at her with her myopic dark gaze for a long silent moment before she shook her head. “I’m not sure how you expect to prove this if you can’t reveal your source.”

“My source just led me to the proof. The proof is all that counts. That’s what I’ll publish.” She wrinkled her nose. “This is enough to put me on the map, right?”

“Certainly this is enough to attract the interest of the board. If you can prove that the Scrolls of Destiny existed, even historically, you’ll have every major university in the world clamoring to have you.”

“It’s nice to be wanted.” She grinned. “But my first choice is Cal. I love it here.”

“How close are you to proving your theory?”

Not close enough, but she’d get there. “I have some reading to do.”

“What are you reading?”

Had to be careful here. “I have, uh, a copy of Wei Lin’s journal.”

Leonora sat bolt upright. “You found a copy of his journal? Where?”

“I can’t say.” She headed off her advisor before she could protest. “But don’t worry. I’ll be able to prove authentication, too.” She hoped without getting arrested.

Mark that down as something to work on.

Leonora studied her without saying a word. Carrie thought she’d ask more questions or at least bring up more doubts, but Leonora surprised her simply by saying, “Keep me apprised of your progress.”