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and she staggered, but the stranger held her up. His fingers dug into her shoulder and she tried to claw at him. The powerlessness overwhelmed her. He struck her again and then tossed her to the ground.
    She tasted blood, blood and the salt of her own tears. The pain wouldn’t go away.
    The stranger stood over her like a conquering lord. The faint rustle of cloth sent a new stab of fear through her.
    “Zhou said to come begging at his doorstep and he might be generous. That is, if you can still walk when I’m done with you.”
    He stepped closer. She clutched a hand to her cheek. She forced herself to look up, otherwise the fear would choke her and she’d drown. Her master had defied warlords and defied men far more powerful than this vagrant. Mei Lin tried to summon that fighting spirit into herself, but all she could find was a ghost of her master’s strength.
    “When I see that coward Zhou—” Her swollen lips trembled. “I’ll cut his throat.”
    She hated that tears stung in her eyes. Hated that he laughed at her, this man who was there to violate and possibly kill her. All because she had dared to say no to an appointed official.
    A coldness took over and her body no longer felt like her own. She bit down hard against her lip as the stranger loomed overhead. He loosened his belt and his tunic hung open. She screamed at herself to flee, to fight, to do anything.
    Suddenly he was dragged away. Another figure appeared before her, lean and tall and strong. One she would know anywhere.

Chapter 4
    Shen Leung grabbed the man and planted a fist into his nose. His knuckles jarred against bone and flesh. He caught sight of Mei Lin crumpled on the ground and hit the man again.
    “Get up.”
    There was no skill involved. Only brute strength and anger. He flexed his fingers and ignored the dull throb in them as he advanced on the coward. The man was larger than he was, yet he dared to hit a woman. Not any woman. His Mei Lin.
    His.
    A film clouded his eyes and a dark wrath filled him. The surge of power was nearly frightening. The fiend stumbled back against a tree with blood pouring from his broken nose. The man made the mistake of reaching for his knife.
    The sight of a weapon sparked some instinct within Shen Leung. His hand closed over the hilt and the knife became part of him. In a single smooth motion, he stabbed the blade through the man’s palm, pinning it against the tree.
    The scream tore through the woods.
    The sound woke him from his bloodlust and he was able to break through the anger and look at this animal impassively. Violence was sometimes unavoidable. Men like this only responded to swift, decisive action.
    He leaned in close while the man cursed him. “Run far,” he commanded quietly.
    Shen Leung didn’t watch to see how the man detached himself or where he fled to afterward. His anger refused to cool as he listened to the fading footsteps.
    Mei Lin stood with her arms hugged around herself. She spoke his name as he circled an arm around her shoulders.
    “Are you hurt?”
    “No.”
    But he could see where she’d been struck. He touched her mouth gingerly. “Zhou?” he asked through clenched teeth.
    She could only nod. Mei Lin had tried to be strong. He should have expected that when she insisted that the old tyrant was harmless. She pressed against his side and fitted herself against him, trembling. He led her to the river and sat her down on a flattened stone on the bank. Without a word, he bent to soak his handkerchief in the water. She sat with her hands folded, watching him. Her lip bled and he could see the darkening signs of a bruise over her cheekbone.
    He pressed the damp cloth against the swelling. The grateful look she gave him pierced straight to his heart.
    “I didn’t know Shen Leung could lose his temper like that,” she said.
    He stiffened. “I don’t like to.”
    “Why didn’t you draw your sword?”
    “If I had, I would have killed that man.”
    These weren’t the