Bai Long Qiang gripped me under my arms and lifted me up on the counter.
Leaning forward so I could see, I quickly inserted the contact and blinked a few times so that it could settle into place.
"It's a shame," he said softly, his gaze never leaving my reflection in the mirror.
"What is? That I hit my head so hard I got two different colors of eyes? Or it's a shame that I am a freak in more than one way?" I asked, my voice more than a little snarky. But this was my Achilles' heel, the one thing that was guaranteed to set me off.
And apparently, I was taking Ye Mei Hui's comment about me being a freak to heart more than I thought I would.
"That you have to hide something so beautiful," he continued, his hand cupping my cheek as I turned around to sit on the bathroom counter. It was more than a little cold, but the temperature helped snap me out of the daze Bai Long Qiang's words put me in.
I raised an eyebrow at his words, refusing to give in to the seductive charm of them. I had hidden this secret for almost as long as I could remember. Pretty words weren't going to change that.
Besides, I didn't think I could handle being even more of a freak.
"No one knows," I snapped, preparing to jump off and go downstairs for dinner.
"And they won't find out from me," he promised, reaching down so he could hook his pinky with mine. "Finally, we have a secret." He smirked like that idea was the best thing to ever happen to him. I just wish that our secret was him failing a test or something, not my eye color.
I lunged forward, done with the conversation, but he casually picked me up and carried me in his arms out of the room.
"I'm too big for this," I said, not at all impressed to be carried around like a child.
"Hush," he said, jostling me a bit until I let out an undignified squeak and clung to his neck. How the hell was this guy 15? He was huge!
"You're back! Just in time for dinner!" said Mom as soon as she saw us coming downstairs.
"Perfect!" replied Bai Long Qiang with a huge smile on his face. "I am hungry!"
I rolled my eyes at him. Clearly, he was getting more than enough food. The worst part was that he still had at least one more growth spurt due before he reached his full height.
I needed to eat more to catch up. There was no way I was going to be constantly carried around like a wayward toddler.
"What's for dinner?" I asked as Bai Long Qiang gently placed me in my chair and grabbed the seat beside me.
"All your favorites," promised Grandma with a big smile on her face.
"Yay!"
----
"How did you know?" asked Father as we drove home from the Song Family Mansion. "About the book?"
"She had been looking for it for a while," Bai Long Qiang answered as he looked down at his phone. There were more than a few missed calls from Ye Mei Hui and even more texts. He guessed that she was one of those people who needed to learn the hard way.
He blocked her number, deleted the texts without reading them, and threw his phone across the seat, not caring where it landed.
"Huh," grunted Grandpa, sharing a look with Father.
The two men smirked, but Bai Long Qiang had no idea what was going through their heads.
"Ye Mei Hui is trying to get a hold of me," he said in the interest of full disclosure. "I've blocked her number, but I don't think that would be enough to stop her."
"We'll take care of that," assured Grandpa. "But if we take the kill away from the Songs, Song Xian Liang is going to be pissed."
Bai Long Qiang nodded his head. Patriarch Song deserved the finishing blow, but she had impacted him too by touching someone who was under his protection.
"I think it is time we stepped up your training," said Father, cutting through Bai Long Qiang's thoughts. "You are three years away from entering the military, and if you want to do good, you are going to have to work harder."
He wanted to let out a groan at the idea that he needed to work harder, but at the same time, being in County K's military was the only thing Bai Long Qiang had ever wanted to do.
But if he left… who would look after Wang Tian Mu?
"We'll start tomorrow morning at 5 am," continued his father, not bothering to look anywhere but at the road in front of him. "Once you get home from school, we'll continue it."
"Yes, Father," he agreed. There was no other answer that would have been acceptable, and anything else would have made him look like a whiney brat.
"It is not going to be easy," sighed his father in a soft voice. Bai Long Qiang sat up in the back seat and looked at the man in front of him. "We are…"
"Special," laughed his grandfather with a shake of his head.
"Special," agreed his father. "For us, once we find someone we want to protect, we will do anything and everything to protect them."
Somehow, Bai Long Qiang got the feeling they weren't talking about protecting their fellow soldiers or their countrymen.
"And there will be only one," said Grandfather softly. He spun his wedding ring around his wrinkled finger a few times, and Bai Long Qinag knew he was thinking about his grandmother. She had died 30 years ago, and not once had his grandfather ever looked at another woman again.
"Which is why you need to train," continued his father.
"I haven't—" Bai Long Qiang was about to protest, but his father held up a hand to stop him.
"Don't."
"But—"
"Doesn't matter," said Grandfather. "I met my wife when she was four and I was eight. I knew ever since the first time I laid eyes on her."
"Your mother was 16, and I was 19. Her father had just transferred to the base," smiled Father, a dreamy look entering his eyes.
"But there is only one," stated Grandfather. "Only one."