7
Jian
The fire crackled, sending sparks into the night. Jian stared into the flames, remembering the heat from the night before. Fighting Yu’s men in the Minglans’ home seemed like another life. In one moment, everything could change.
They made camp with Luca and his men that night after spending all day sorting through the wreckage of their lives. After a simple soldier’s supper, they sat around the fire, needed more for light than warmth on the summer night.
Jian and Luca hadn’t yet finished their earlier conversation, but maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe none of this did. Watching Hua’s every movement, Jian couldn’t help but wonder what would happen the next time the dragon let itself be known.
She’d barely spoken a word to anyone all day, opting to stay apart from her family, a fami
