Chapter Five: A Kiss Takes This Life Away

The guards watched the eastern sky, waiting for sunrise to fix their borrowed identities. Gu hummed two notes of the Song of Returning Names. The flute trembled, and crescents closed on the guards' necks. Shen Wu cut Wen Mo's bonds. The prisoner opened her eyes and traced words on Shen Wu's palm: He loves you. He is also deceiving you. An alarm rang. Zhou stood at the entrance with his hand on the switch and Lu Bainian's calm pity on his face. "Love is the least stable identity," the mayor said through him. "Therefore it most requires management." Gu blew the silver flute. Its note sliced the black stitches from Wen Mo's lips. She spat blood and sang her own name. "Wen—Mo."