Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“So, you were trying to convince him to give up the field? One less enemy to worry about, allowing us to remain focused on the king and queen.”
Rei surprised him by giving a little shrug. “I might have also pointed out that I’ve never had a problem with his existence. In fact, his lot in life could see significant improvement if I sat on the Dawn throne.”
Yichen pulled away from him so he could fully face Rei. His heart sped up. It was so tempting to seize the elf by his slender shoulders and shake him while screaming to not go back, never return to that hell.
But he didn’t. Instead, he asked, “Do you think he’d change sides? Would he help us?”
Another shrug, this one even more nonchalant than the last.
He was going to strangle the man. Rei was leaving him with no choice.
“I’d say there’s about a thirty percent chance right now. If my loving father threatens or irritates Trin, I’d say that chance will increase dramatically. There’s nothing I can do to convince him right now. It’s all in the hands of my father and his continued asshole-ish behavior.”
“At least there’s one thing we can count on in this world,” Yichen muttered, but his attention was already turning to the house at the sound of the door opening and closing.
Junjie was walking toward them, a smile teasing the corners of his lips. “We’ll be ready to go soon. I wanted to tell you that Fox called Moon. Apparently, Rafe Varik is attempting to locate Zelda for a meeting. If anyone can fix the blood tie between you, it appears Zelda is the one to do it.”
Yichen glanced at Rei, who had a lopsided grin on his lips. At least he wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand most of what Junjie said.
“Try that again with footnotes,” Yichen instructed. “Who are Fox, Rafe, and Zelda? Are these people the clan trusts?”
Junjie slapped a hand to his face and groaned. “That’s right.” He dropped his hand and took a deep breath. “The Variks are the ruling clan for this region, and they helped us to free you and Rei. Rafe is one of the Varik brothers. The second oldest, I think. Or maybe he’s one of the twins.” Junjie paused and sighed. “Anyway, he apparently knows this ancient and powerful witch named Zelda. They think she can help, but she wanders around, so she can be hard to locate.”
“And this fox? Is he like the huli jing harassing Shixiong?”
Junjie’s hands shot up, and he waved off Yichen’s words. “No! Fox is just his name. He’s a witch, and he’s the mate of Winter Varik. He sort of mated into the clan the same way Moon joined ours through Chen.”
“The important thing is that someone who is a friend of the Zhang clan is trying to locate a witch to help us,” Rei summed up.
“Yes. That’s it.” Junjie sighed heavily. “Rafe will contact us when he can set up a proper meeting.”
“When?” Yichen demanded.
“No idea.”
Rei placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Cheer up. People are trying to help. You won’t be stuck with me for much longer.”
Yep, he was going to strangle the elf.
Stuck was not the word he would use to describe their situation, but the softer words that came to mind didn’t do them a bit of good.
No, he was not stuck with Rei.
Chapter 10
Rei
How long does it take to find an old witch?
Apparently longer than a week.
Rei wandered through the rear garden, breathing in the warm night air. They’d been waiting to hear from this Rafe Varik for ten nights.
Patience was one of his strong suits. He was young among his kind but ancient among the humans.
Okay, nearly ancient. The Zhang clan still made him look like some reckless teen.
The point was, he’d lived this long and had learned to be as patient as a willow tree.
But it was hard to remain patient when his father and mother were out there creating havoc among the humans and plotting their brand of evil to let loose on the world.
He couldn’t even guess what their next move was going to be. The local news reports had announced another increase in human disappearances. The only difference was that their bodies weren’t popping up. Were they still alive? He prayed they weren’t. Nothing good came from being the new toy of King Ash and Queen Belladonna. He’d witnessed that firsthand with Yichen.
They couldn’t continue to wait for the fae to launch a fresh attack. They needed to act. Now.
Except they couldn’t.
Not until his Yiyi was free of him.
It didn’t take a genius to see that Rei’s odds of surviving a confrontation with his father weren’t very good. While no one was saying it, Rei could see it written in the eyes of every vampire in the Zhang clan. They had to keep him alive, if only for Yichen’s sake. Once they broke the blood bond, they would shove him out the door and demand he deal with his family drama. Preferably somewhere far away.