Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Kai was making him crazy.
How were they supposed to discuss this problem if Kai kept storming off and disappearing every time he lost his temper?
As soon as the thought occurred to Xiang, he swore he could hear his shifu laughing from the underworld. Karma was coming back to bite him hard.
Yes, he had a temper.
Yes, he jumped to conclusions and had poor listening skills when he was angry.
There was no need to throw it in his face as a godly dragon who’d existed since the dawn of time.
Xiang punched a pillow and shoved to his feet, storming off to the kitchen. There, he snatched up the teakettle and filled it with water. He slammed it on the burner and turned on the fire to heat the water.
Kai was being unreasonable. The idea of returning to his clan while riding on a dragon hadn’t even crossed his mind. It wasn’t a bad idea once Kai said it out loud, but it hadn’t been his intention. He genuinely wanted to know what it was like to fly around with a dragon.
And sure, going with Kai to spy on the fae sounded brilliant, but he hadn’t thought of that either.
That damn dragon had serious trust issues.
He grabbed the tin of tea and halted. So maybe Kai had a good reason for having those trust issues. He’d already suffered from the fae sneaking into his hoard and stealing his most prized possession. There was no telling if the fae had stolen other things from him while his attention was elsewhere.
In addition, the fae were now using Kai as some attack dog. That was unspeakable. Kai was a dragon! The most revered and honored of all the creatures in the world. They stood for strength, intelligence, grace, beauty, and power. Most from mythology had risen to the level of godhood and those who hadn’t were a tiny step behind.
Xiang wanted to slaughter the fae for even daring to degrade Kai in such a fashion.
But was he any better? He’d lied to Kai. He hadn’t truly needed to hunt.
Well, he hadn’t been as desperate as he’d made it sound. His goal had been to reach his family. Maybe if he’d told Kai he wanted to reassure them he was still alive, he would have gone along with it.
Instead, Xiang had sneaked behind his back.
Groaning, Xiang finished preparing his tea even though he’d lost his appetite for it. His temper continued to simmer at Kai for jumping to conclusions and not giving him even a sliver of a chance to defend himself, but at least he could see Kai’s point of view.
There, Shifu! See? I am learning.
It might have taken him about two thousand years to get the lesson down in his thick skull, but he’d caught on at last.
Kai would never trust him without proof that he could. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure if Kai was ever going to give him the opportunity to prove he was trustworthy.
Xiang had another two hours to stew in his frustration before Kai reappeared in the treasure room. The dragon in human form walked over to him with a look of expectation on his face, but Xiang turned away, stomping over to a little-used corner of the hoard to flop onto a very uncomfortable divan. He glared at his phone, refusing to lift his eyes from the game of Solitaire he was playing. He would not be the one to apologize for that ridiculous blowup. Kai hadn’t even given him the chance to explain anything.
Kai made a disgruntled noise as he followed Xiang. “Why do you keep fighting my efforts to keep you safe? Don’t you understand how dangerous the fae are?”
His teeth ground together so hard and tight, it was a wonder they weren’t pulverized to dust. The damn dragon was missing the entire point, but he wasn’t talking to him. Nope. Wasn’t even going to look at him. Just keep his eyes on the game until either Kai apologized or left the hoard.
“Xiang!”
“Take a hint. I’m not talking to you.” Xiang swung his legs off the divan to stand, and Kai dropped into the empty spot. He grabbed Xiang’s ankles and pulled his legs across his lap, trapping him on the divan.
“We are talking!”
Xiang struggled against Kai’s firm hold before giving up to growl at the man. “What’s the point? You have no interest in listening to anyone but yourself. You jump to conclusions and then storm off so you don’t have to hear how fucking wrong you are. No, I didn’t want to spy on the fae, and I wasn’t using that as an excuse to return to my clan. I really did just want to fly with you.”
Kai jerked, his face clouding as if his brain was struggling to take in Xiang’s words. But after less than a second, his brow was furrowing and his lips dipped into a hard frown. “Fine, but don’t deny that you still want to return to your clan. Maybe not that time—”