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)
Then the noose tightened around his throat, and he was dragged across the sky. Called back to the queen of the fae.
Chapter 22
Li Xiang
The second Xiang could slam the SUV into park in the clan’s driveway, he hopped out of the vehicle and stared into the sky, squinting at what he was sure was a flash of golden dragon scales. Kai!
“Was it him? Did you see him? Rei demanded as he leaped from the car as well.
“I don’t know,” Xiang replied. He ran to the front door, only to have it swing open before he could even touch it. Yichen and Xiao Dan were standing in the foyer, their faces tense and pale.
“Kai’s gone,” Yichen blurted out.
“Queen Belladonna summoned him. He tried to fight it,” Xiao Dan explained.
“He can’t fight it. She’s getting stronger,” Xiang snarled. He continued through the manor, not stopping to talk about what they’d learned from Trin or discuss options. There were no options. Winding his way down the hallway with the others following him closely, Rei recapped their brief meeting with his half brother. Xiang ignored it all. He had to keep moving to his final destination. If he stopped moving, his legs could give out in a swell of fear and panic.
At the pair of only locked double doors in the entire manor, Xiang submitted the complicated combination and pulled both open to enter the armory. The few things he and Rei had packed against Trin and his army wouldn’t be nearly enough for what he had planned.
“Xiang, you can’t go after him,” Xiao Dan announced. His voice was firm and left no room for argument, but this time, he couldn’t listen to his shixiong. Kai needed him. He was not abandoning his dragon to that bitch.
His eyes skimmed over the wide variety of weapons filling the room, but the weapons Kai had added to their collection drew him in. Yes, that was what he needed. The fae needed to be cut down and his dragon freed with the very weapons he’d given to them for their protection.
“Xiang!” Xiao Dan shouted when he didn’t react the first time. Behind him, he could hear the rest of the clan gathering outside the armory where Yichen and Rei were catching them up on what was happening.
“Xiang!”
A hand touched his shoulder, and he whirled around, shouting directly into Xiao Dan’s face, “I’m not abandoning him!”
“But it’s still early in the day. We can’t go with you. Going alone is suicide. You don’t stand a chance against the fae army, and Kai won’t be able to help you.”
Every word Xiao Dan spoke was a dagger plunged straight into his heart. He wasn’t saying anything Xiang didn’t already know, but nothing could make him stand aside, praying to all the gods and his ancestors to help Kai escape. Not after seeing what he’d suffered the first time.
“Then I’ll die with him,” Xiang gritted out. He jerked his shoulder free of Xiao Dan’s hold and grabbed a curved, black-bladed dagger.
“Would Queen Belladonna risk destroying Kai if she couldn’t control him?” Chen asked from the hallway. “Isn’t he more valuable alive to mold into a weapon?”
“The fae who escaped the battle with the Variks would have reported that Kai was fighting with us,” Rei answered, his voice nearly a whisper, as if he didn’t want Xiang to hear him, but he caught every word. “If she can’t control him, she would rather destroy him than allow him to fight at our side.”
“All the more reason for me to go for him now. I can’t waste any time. He’s well ahead of me, and it will take far too much time to reach the fae castle.” As he spoke, Xiang returned to the task of placing weapons about his body.
“Xiang, please think about this,” Xiao Dan pressed.
His hand tightened on a short sword in its sheath. “I don’t need to think about this. You didn’t see him the last time he returned from being summoned. He fought her with everything he had and returned close to death. Blood soaked his clothes. He could barely breathe. He slept for days.” Twisting around, he glared at his shixiong and then the others watching him. “She’s stronger now. He won’t break free without help, and he’d rather die than obey another of her commands. Kai is mine, and I will protect him.”
Xiao Dan’s eyes filled with pain and his lips parted to likely try to command or plead with Xiang to wait until sunset, but the words never left his tongue.
“I’ll go with him,” Rei cut in.
All eyes snapped to the blond elf as he walked into the armory and grabbed a hand-carved bow from the rack. For once, all of his mocking smiles were gone. There was a coldness in his eyes that sent a chill through Xiang, but it was also reassuring.