Chapter Eighty-Four

Seishirou doubled back and wrapped an arm around Syaoran's throat.

"What are you doing?" Syaoran demanded, before his trachea collapsed for the second time in ten minutes.

"Using you to my advantage," Seishirou hissed in his ear. Still clutching his throat, Seishirou addressed the others. "If you would step aside, please."

"Like hell!" Kurogane shouted. "Drop him."

The arm tightened around Syaoran's throat. I have to do something, or I'm going to get killed for real. He closed his eyes, bringing his magic to his hands. Flames licked up between his fingertips as he summoned his sword.

"None of that," Seishirou said, snatching his wrist. His fingertips must've hit a pressure point because Syaoran's hand went numb. His sword clattered to the ground. "Now let's work out a trade, shall we?"

The others were closer now. Syaoran opened his eyes to see Fai and Kurogane twenty feet away. Sakura alone hung back, eyes wide. "Syaoran-kun!"

"Drop him," Kurogane snarled. He'd fallen into a fighting stance. "Or I'll kill you both."

He can't mean it, Syaoran thought, redoubling his struggles. He can't think I'm party to this.

Of course he can. You betrayed them. His fingers wound uselessly around Seishirou's arms, claws digging into flesh as he fought to break free. The arm loosened enough to let him breathe, and he managed to squeak out one word. "Kurogane-san—"

The ninja's eyes flashed to his for just a second, and they shared a wordless communication. Kurogane lowered his sword. "What did you plan to do with the boy?"

"I needed him to help save Fuuma."

"You needed him specifically?"

Syaoran knew enough of Seishirou to know he was smirking. "I didn't. But I already knew him from Clow, and you all seemed more than willing to abandon him."

Black smudges, spawned by the lack of oxygen, obscured the glowing moss around him. Syaoran began to wonder if Seishirou had forgotten he needed to breathe.

And then he felt the steel edge resting against his throat. "He's useless to me after this world," Seishirou said. "You can have him back when I'm done."

Syaoran felt the barest flutter of magic next to his face. A second later, the arm released him, and he heard Seishirou's sword clatter to the ground. Syaoran staggered away, gasping for air. As soon as he was out of Seishirou's reach, he heard Kurogane calling something in some other language. An attack, Syaoran thought wildly. That's one of the only things Mokona doesn't translate.

White light filled the massive room, blinding him.

As his lungs filled with oxygen, his head began to clear. The flutter of magic he'd felt before had been familiar, but given the reaction it had prompted from Seishirou, it was not the dark-haired man's magic. Syaoran was pretty sure he hadn't done anything either. So that leaves Fai, he thought, turning to look at the place where Kurogane's attack had landed.

Chips of stone had broken off from the wall in the blast, leaving a massive, circular indent where the attack had landed. No one couldn't have survived that, Syaoran thought. A moment later, a voice pierced through the air.

"That was a close one," Seishirou called from halfway across the room.

Of course he'd survive that, Syaoran thought wearily, letting his claws slide out.

"It seems I've upset you, Little Wolf."

"Don't call me that."

The bespectacled man swept on. "I know, I should have warned you ahead of time, but your reaction wouldn't have been as authentic."

Was he always like this? Syaoran wondered, eyes flashing back to the sword that had fallen from his hands a moment ago. Its position on the ground had allowed it to escape the blast, but there was no way he could retrieve it before Seishirou intercepted him.

"You don't believe me?" Seishirou said in mock incredulity. "Syaoran, I'm stunned. Haven't I given you everything you've asked for, since we started traveling together?"

The words were mocking, but Syaoran couldn't ignore the flood of guilt they brought. He put his and his brother's needs ahead of mine, but he still helped me. Teaching me how to shield my mind, how to survive. Giving me something to keep away the nightmares . . .

"Don't listen to him!" Sakura yelled, tearing him from his guilt. He looked up to see her jade eyes shining with nascent tears. "Syaoran, don't listen to him, you belong with us!"

She . . . called me by name. He took half a step toward her, his breath catching in his throat. Was it an accident? Is it because of the stress of the situation, or . . .

"You don't owe him anything!" Kurogane yelled, almost glaring at him as he pointed his sword in Seishirou's direction. "So don't let that impact your actions anymore!"

"Come, Little Wolf. We have work to do."

Syaoran shook his head infinitesimally. Seishirou's glasses reflected the luminescence of the pedestal as he frowned.

"Won't you help me out, just one more time?" the dark-haired man asked.

Syaoran lifted his hand to his neck, fingertips probing the swollen spots of purple left by Seishirou's strangling fingers. "No."

Seishirou's eyes glinted with a dark light. His sword shivered under the force of his anger. "I was really hoping you wouldn't say that."

Something about the words—the cool, dangerous edge to his voice—sparked a rush of thought in Syaoran. Something was wrong here.

Think. How does Seishirou work? How does he handle situations like this? His mind flitted back to Infinity. He burned down the Ephemeral Apartments, risked Sakura's life. Why? The way he explained it, it seemed like he thought I would agree to help him if the others were out of the way.

But what if that wasn't it? What if he wasn't trying to kill them? If he knew ahead of time that they'd get out, there would've been no point in going after them in the first place. Unless he was manipulating me into a confrontation. Like he tried to do when he broke into our apartment. But why would he want to fight me? If we were allies . . . He tilted his face up to the bespectacled man again. "There's something I don't understand."

Seishirou smirked. "Oh? Ask away."

"In the country of Infinity, you set fire to the Ephemeral Apartments. Why?"

"I told you, Syaoran. If they were out of the way, you would've been much more likely to join me. Isn't that true?"

He ignored the question, trying to work through his reasoning aloud. "And before that, when you broke into the apartment—your explanations were vague, like you were making them up just for the sake of having an explanation."

The others were watching him now; they hadn't been there for that, and he hadn't mentioned the bargain Seishirou had tried to strike then. I'll worry about that later, Syaoran thought. "Did you concoct those explanations just so I would go willingly? Were you planning on taking me against my will if I didn't?"

Seishirou smiled. "Such astute observations, Syaoran. That's just like you."

"And the first time I saw you in Infinity," he went on, trying to coax a genuine response out of the man. "Was that planned? Did you already know I was in Infinity? Were you trying to . . . What were you trying to do?"

"Actually, I didn't think of my plan until after that. But it turned out to be quite lucky that I happened across you right when I needed you."

"That still doesn't explain the rest of it!" Syaoran yelled, and for the first time, he realized his whole body was shaking under the weight of his frustration. He'd known from the beginning that Seishirou had kept things from him. That had been easy to accept—he'd had secrets, too. But, even now, even in the last world Seishirou needed him, the man had explained nothing—it was too much.

I need to get control of myself, he thought, forcing his fists to loosen. I can't trust myself if I'm not in control of my emotions. "And after Infinity," he went on, keeping his voice level. "Things were okay for a while. You treated me like I mattered, like I belonged. I had a purpose, even if I didn't know what it was. I never questioned you. Until Cirrus."

Syaoran watched Seishirou's face for a reaction. If he had one, his smile concealed it well. "That was when I started to question things. That was when I started to see you for what you were. Not a traitor—not like me. But you lied to me, in Infinity. You said you wouldn't try to hurt them." He jerked his chin toward the others, wishing they knew what he was talking about. "That was part of the deal. Yet we stayed there and fought. Why?"

"Why do you think, Syaoran?"

"I don't know! I don't know what you're trying to do, or what your price is, or how that involves me. What were you trying to make me do?"

Seishirou lost his smile. "Think hard, Syaoran. What did I teach you, about your magic? About all magic?"

He would've erupted again, except his mind was busy going over everything Seishirou had taught him. He'd improved his range and accuracy with spells, learned how to control them and how to enhance them, but he was almost positive those weren't the things Seishirou had meant. How does Seishirou work? he wondered again. He's always trying to get into people's heads, trying to toy with their emotions, manipulate them to his advantage. I saw that when we arrived in Sapphirine. Is it possible that was his goal all along? Not to enlist my help in something, but to manipulate me into something I wouldn't normally do?

Think. What else did he teach me about magic?

"My, it doesn't seem like you're getting it," Seishirou said. "Well, it doesn't really matter if you understand. All I need are results."

His movement was almost too fast for Syaoran's eyes to track. Certainly faster than the humans in the room could follow. Before anyone could react to his sudden movement, he had Sakura by the waist, his sword pressed against her throat.