Burden Of The Beast [5]

"But that's hardly fair," Chang Chang said. "I have so few friends left, thanks to you." She reached into her pack and pulled out the stack of letters. "Do you know what these are?"

Cerest stood and walked toward her outstretched hand. Chang Chang allowed him to approach but kept her body squarely between Ju  Feng and Cerest, noting the irony of her protection of the yaomo.

Not for long, she thought, as the viper took the letters from her hand. I won't need you for long.

Cerest shuffled through the letters, and Chang Chang could tell he recognized the handwriting immediately. "These are Chang Wei's," he said, handing them back to her. "I never would have credited him with the strength to write them. He was in poor shape when I left him in Luskan."

She thought she'd been prepared for anything, but at his words, Chang Chang felt a cold kiss on the back of her neck, as if one of the wraiths had drifted down to whisper hateful truths in her ear.