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)
“Excellent. This is excellent. Thank you, Zelda,” Chen said.
“Is…is this…” Yichen began and then shook his head hard, pressing his lips into a thin line as if fighting to hold in the question.
“What’s wrong?” Rei inquired, putting his hand on Yiyi’s arm. The process sounded simple enough. What was the problem?
“I bet I know what you want to ask,” Zelda almost purred, a smile spreading across her lips. “Is this a one-time thing?”
“Yes,” Yichen spit out, leaving Rei’s mouth hanging open. “What if…we cure me and…something happens and I need to drink his blood again?”
Zelda’s slow smile caused Rei’s heart to pick up its pace. Like she believed Yichen was suggesting more intimate reasons. Thinking that he wanted to bite Rei.
“Why would—” Xiang started to demand, but Zelda’s hand snapped up and the question died a quick death.
“No, this isn’t a one-time thing. However, the stone will only hold so much fae magic. Probably two or three cleansings, maybe more if it’s a larger stone. To empty the stone, bury it in a wooded place under a full moon. The energy will drain into the earth, but it will need to stay buried for at least a year. The longer it’s buried, the more power drains out.”
Rising to his feet, Yichen cupped his left hand over his right and deeply bowed to the witch. “Thank you for your wisdom.”
Rei knew he should do the same, but he was still too flabbergasted by Zelda’s response to his question. Even after Yichen was completely free of him, he might still have one more embrace, a chance to hand part of himself over to his one love. It was more than he could have ever hoped for.
“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could be of help to you and Moon.” Despite talking about others, her eyes remained locked on Rei as if she were expecting him to say something.
Belatedly, he rose and bowed in the same fashion as Yichen. “Yes, thank you for your help. I’m relieved to know that Wu Yichen won’t be bound to me for much longer.”
Zelda huffed. “There’s nothing you want to know?”
Rei froze. Was there something he should be asking her? Something she could help him with that he wasn’t thinking of?
Stay! How can I stay?
His brain screamed the words, but he couldn’t say them out loud. Speaking them meant having some hope of remaining at his Yiyi’s side, but that wasn’t an option. That was insanity. Someone had to force all the fae back through the door. Someone had to sit on the throne to take care of his people. No, he didn’t want to do it, but who else was going to slide into that role?
The old witch made another displeased noise and leaned forward. “Since we’ve planned for the possibility of needing to feed from the elf in an emergency, why don’t you ask about how to keep the crown prince alive if he were somehow trapped in the human realm, cut off from the fae realm?”
Rei sat hard. It was really more like collapsing into his chair. His legs gave out. The witch had known exactly what he was thinking. Now that she’d spoken the words, she had to have an answer. She couldn’t be so cruel as to bring it up and not know a way to keep him here.
“Can you do it?” Yichen asked.
“It was our understanding that any fae left in the human realm after the door closed would wither because of a lack of magic from their homeland,” Chen chimed in.
“That’s true,” Zelda nodded.
Rei got his tongue to work at last. “Would the magic removed from Yichen using the bloodstone be enough to sustain me?”
“No, but it would buy you some time. Depending on how much magic you capture, you might sneak a month or two. But you can bottle some very potent magic that lives in the human realm.”
“How? Where? What do we need to do?” Yichen practically lunged in front of Rei, stealing the elf’s breath away with his desperation.
“It’s a bit simple, and a bit difficult. You need a sandstone rock about the size of a half dollar.” Lifting her hand, she formed a circle with her index finger and thumb, giving an approximate size. “Drill a hole in it so you can wear it around your neck against your skin.” She paused and sighed. “This is the hard part. You need the blood of a huli jing, phoenix, or a dragon. Older the better. They are among the few creatures in this world that are filled with earth magic. Soaking a sandstone in the blood of one of those creatures for fourteen days—from new moon to full moon—will give you an amulet that’s as powerful as stepping into your home world. After the power has saturated the stone, you need an earth witch to seal it.” She turned her attention to Moon. “Your friends, Redstone and Maddox, would do the job fine. Don’t let Sky touch it. He’d muck up the magic, and you’d have to start over.”