Chapter Three: The New Manager's First Midnight Meal

Su Li reached for it, but fire leaped to the ceiling. Something beyond the wall laughed in a voice gentle enough to freeze her blood. “Let them see. Secrets only feed fear.” A white umbrella formed upon the broth. Su Li glimpsed an inverted street packed with Otherfolk wearing human guises. They had no faces. They asked one question: Why must we hide? Her mind slipped toward the pot. Xie Chenzhou seized her wrist. His palm was cold as snow, but the dragon-song in his chest held the noise at bay. “Hear your own voice,” he said. “Mine is swearing.” “Then swear louder.” Su Li bit her tongue. Pain and spice hauled her back. She struck the pot with the bronze ladle. One clear note overcame the whispers.