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The Blood Witch Has Changed Everything.

Chen traveled to the US with his clan, hoping to rescue his kidnapped brother from the fae.

They just need a witch to find the exact location of where the door between the human world and the fae world will open.

The one thing Moon can’t do.

Chen grabbed the wrong type of witch.

That’s not stopping Moon from clinging to Chen as he guides them through a new territory, introducing them to the witches, shifters, and vampires who can help them.

The longer Moon remains at Chen’s side, the more he hopes the witch might consider staying with him always.

Except that the king of the fae might have other deadly plans for Chen.

Two Thousand Dreams is the first novel in the Kings of Chaos series, which is a spin-off from the Lords of Discord series. This book contains one very grumpy vampire falling in love with a very perky blood witch, shifters, overprotective witches, other non-human surprises, snark, angst, found family, brotherly bickering, magic, chaos, vampire cuddles, and an endless love that grows stronger with each kiss.

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Prologue

CHEN BO CHENG

91 BCE

Chang’An, The Imperial Capital

His knees ached.

The hard stone floor of the emperor’s private audience chamber was cold, sending a chill deep into his bones. Chen only noticed the pain after he shifted his position. His body pointed out that he’d been kneeling for at least twenty minutes now. Muscles burned and threatened to tremble through his arms as he continued to hold them out in front of his body, left hand cupped over right fist. His head remained bowed, waiting.

He blinked open his eyes, and his first sight was the stark white sash wrapped around his waist. It trailed down to the floor over the pool of black robes.

White for mourning.

White to honor his lost shifu.1

White to honor the lost masters of his clan who’d died in the five days of fighting that had gripped the capital.

White for the brothers who would never return home.

Why had this mess happened in the first place? Chen clenched his teeth, grinding them together to hold in the curses he wanted to level upon the heads of Crown Prince Ju and his mother, Empress Wei. Yes, he struggled to believe the accusations of witchcraft that tainted both of them, but how had things gotten so out of hand? Why was revolting against the emperor the only way?

And why did it have to happen at the very moment that Shifu and the other masters were in Chang’An, awaiting the return of the emperor?

“Your Majesty,” Zhang Xiao Dan, on Chen’s left, began. “It pains us that you have suffered these past several days. The remaining warriors of the Sword of the Heavenly Garden Sect are your faithful servants, awaiting your commands.”

“What?”

Chen peeked at the throne. The emperor jerked his head up from where it had been resting in his hand. His bleary eyes swept the opulent room filled with cinnabar red and glittering gold to settle on those kneeling in front of him. It was as if the man had only now noticed the people he’d summoned.

His shifu had always described Emperor Wu as a stout, vigorous man with midnight-black hair and sharp eyes that saw everything. Emperor Wu was an astute scholar and crafty strategist who’d maneuvered through countless plots to steal his throne and shrink his nation.

That was not the man who sat before him now. Withered and broken, this man possessed a sallow face and eyes almost cloudy in the dim light of the private chamber.

The emperor would turn fifty this year. It was supposed to be an auspicious time for the kingdom, celebrations and special offerings to the heavens to welcome in a new era of prosperity and happiness.

But rumors had plagued the empire over the past few years. The emperor had ordered entire clans executed under the excuse of witchcraft and treason.

It had made Shifu even more determined to keep all of the sect safe within the clan’s walls in Luoyang. Let the emperor forget about the Zhang clan and the Sword of the Heavenly Garden Sect.

At least until the dark clouds blew away from Chang’An and the imperial palace.

“You’re Zhang Xiao Dan. Where’s Zhang Shi Lei? We sent for…” Emperor Wu’s harsh voice faded into nothing as it trailed off and his head dropped to his hand.

Zhang Shi Lei was dead. Along with eight other brothers from their sect.

With a sigh, Emperor Wu lifted his left hand toward them, motioning for Chen and Zhang to rise. They regained their feet, though Chen’s knees attempted to protest. It had been a few years since Shifu had last punished him with kneeling for hours on end. Even then, Shifu had taken pity on him and cut his punishment short. Shifu had known Li Xiang had been the one to instigate the fight.