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)
Why wouldn’t they?
He’d stolen away one of their brothers. They probably thought he’d eaten him or ripped him to shreds after that one phone call Xiang had made during his hunt. Even if they didn’t believe that, they had to hate him for fighting at the side of their enemy.
But even aside from their loathing, it was the idea of releasing Xiang forever that was chilling him to the bone. The vampire belonged in his hoard. He was happy there, and Kai always knew he was safe from any kind of harm. The moment Xiang returned to his clan, he was going to leave Kai behind. There would be no more quiet conversations while Xiang attempted to not burn whatever he was cooking. No more snuggles on the cushion mound. No more games of weiqi and crazy stories from Xiang’s younger years.
No more Xiang.
Yet as much as his every instinct screamed to turn around and take Xiang to the hoard, Kai continued on. The vampire wasn’t a thing to be collected. He couldn’t continue to live within the hoard. Life and adventure beckoned. His family needed him. It was time for Kai to let go.
The only thing that made the flight tolerable was the hoots and cries of pure joy from Xiang. The vampire sat on his back, his hands twisted in his long hair as Kai cut through the air hundreds of meters above the earth. He’d never carried a person like this and Xiang’s happiness squeezed his heart, leaving him wanting to keep flying for the rest of the night.
All too soon, they arrived at the expansive manor that belonged to the Zhang clan. A little smile teased his soul as he took in the upwardly curved eaves tipped by dragon sculptures. The courtyard glowed with lamps, echoing of a place and time so very far away from where they were. Surprisingly, it made him homesick for a region he hadn’t realized was important to him.
As soon as Xiang’s feet touched the ground on the driveway, Kai turned into his human form and stood beside Xiang, ready to accept whatever fate threw at him.
“Huh,” Xiang said, his shoulders slumping as they stood out in the middle of the driveway for several seconds.
“What’s wrong?” He knew this was the right home. He’d visited it once to check on Xiang’s clan. There were soft noises coming from the interior, voices drifting out through open windows, so people were home.
“Is Moon’s protection ward not set on the grounds any longer? I thought an alert would sound the second you set down.”
Kai snorted. “Do you think I can’t find my way around a witch’s ward?”
Xiang cracked a grin at last and rolled his eyes. “Silly me. Forgot I was with an imperial dragon. Of course you can get through spells and wards.”
It was tempting to give Xiang a shove, but he was afraid that if he did, it would be the exact moment someone peeked out a window and saw him abusing their brother. Not the first impression he was going for.
Xiang placed his hands together and rubbed them. His smile turned into something worthy of a comic strip villain. “But that means I might get to surprise them.”
Kai followed as the vampire hurried up the front stairs and slipped into the house. He was barely a step behind when a woman’s scream cut through the peaceful evening, followed by a loud crash. Footsteps from multiple people thundered across the wood floors, but Kai’s eyes were locked on the young woman who threw herself into Xiang’s open arms.
“You idiot!” she cried as she wrapped up Xiang tight enough to choke him. “What took you so long?”
“Well, you know escaping from a dragon’s lair isn’t the easiest of things,” Xiang countered, as he tossed a playful wink in Kai’s direction.
Kai was content to retreat a step and fade into one of the elegant paintings that graced the walls of the foyer. The anxiety in his stomach grew worse as the young woman—who Xiang called Meimei—was joined by the rest of the clan. Kai recognized two faces from that fateful night in the woods, but they were all strangers.
Each of them greeted Xiang as they reached the foyer. Many gave tearful hugs, while others gripped his neck and touched their foreheads together. Only the elf seemed to hang back. His eyes left Kai to welcome Xiang home, but they returned, loaded with questions and possible speculation.
Kai had plenty of experience hiding and cloaking his true nature from the rest of the world, but the fae were a different matter. They didn’t fully belong in this world and their use of magic differed from how the witches, huli jing, and even dragons used it. If the elf didn’t recognize him as the dragon who stole Xiang in the first place, he at least knew he was not what he appeared to be.