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With his hands balled into fists in his lap, Moon closed his eyes and took a few calming, deep breaths. He could do this. When he opened his eyes again, it was to find that Huli had moved close enough that their noses were almost touching.

“Aahhh!” Moon screamed, throwing his hands into the air and falling backward.

Huli darted away as well, his ears tucked low to his head. “What?”

“Just…just don’t sneak up on me like that.” Moon pressed his hand to his chest, trying to push his frantic heart to where it belonged. He needed to hurry. Chen had likely felt that scare, and Moon didn’t want the vampire racing out here before he settled things.

“I got the impression that you liked Xiao Dan. Don’t you want to score some brownie points with him by finding Yichen?”

Huli sat up straight and his ears perked up. Even his tails froze behind him. “Brownie points? What’s that? Do I get them for hunting brownies?”

Fuck. Wrong choice of words. He’d forgotten there was a type of fae creature called a brownie.

“No. No. What I mean is that Yichen is important to Xiao Dan, and he’s been hurting since his family was stolen. If you locate Yichen, I’m sure Xiao Dan would be very grateful. He’d probably be free to spend more time with you, because he wouldn’t need to search for Yichen. The entire clan would be grateful if you could help.”

Nine orange-and-white tails flicked from side to side as Huli listened to his words. His eyes narrowed on Moon. “You’re saying that if I find this Yichen, the clan would be grateful. They would have to be nice to me. They might even be nice enough to allow me to visit Xiao Dan more often.”

“All the clan wants Yichen home safe and healthy. Free of the fae. If you help them save Yichen, I think they would be more willing to give you a chance.”

“Hmmm…I wasn’t expecting you to be so sneaky, witch. I’ll do it.”

Moon opened his mouth to argue that this wasn’t being sneaky or underhanded, but he never got the chance. A blast of icy wind ripped across the lawn, coating the leaves on the trees and the grass in a white frost.

“Get away from him!” Chen roared as he raced toward them with an ice sword gripped in his right hand.

“Shit!” Moon crawled, stumbled, and slipped to his feet. It was the most awkward run of his life, but he needed to get between Chen and Huli before the vampire’s overprotectiveness ruined what he’d achieved.

Unfortunately, the icy ground was keeping him from being even remotely graceful. When he was a few feet from Chen, he slipped. Chen flung his sword away and caught him in both arms, pulling him in tight against his chest.

“Baobei,” Chen exhaled in a mix of terror and relief.

“It’s okay! Everything is okay! He helped me set the protection wards into the wall. Huli says he can find Yichen,” Moon blurted out, stopping Chen from issuing threats.

“What?” Chen choked out. His eyes turned brown as the shock knocked all the rage out of him.

Moon grabbed Chen’s arm and dragged him over to the wall. “See! He helped me get all the perimeter walls inscribed with wards. I just need to activate it, and you’ll be safe.”

Chen shook his head. “No! The other part. He can find Yichen?”

“I think I can,” Huli answered. Moon glanced at the fox, who was hanging his head down while staring up at Chen. His tails were waving from side to side like a cat plotting something evil. “But if I find him, you’ll have to be nice to me.”

“Why didn’t you—”

Moon slapped his hand over Chen’s mouth to stop the question he was attempting to shout at the fox. That was not the way to go if he wanted the huli jing’s help.

“He will! I promise!” Moon shouted, earning a growl and a glare from his mate. “You find where Yichen is and lead the clan to him, and they will all be nicer to you.”

Huli nodded once and bounded off. The fox moved fast, becoming little more than an orange blur as it disappeared into the deep shadows of the grounds.

Chen grabbed Moon’s wrist and jerked his hand from his mouth. “What are you thinking, trusting him?”

“I’m thinking that we don’t have a lot of fucking options. I’m thinking you’ve got a powerful fox spirit with a crush on Xiao Dan and the ability to sneak past the fae. Let him do some legwork for us.”

The vampire scowled at him. “I don’t trust him.”

Moon grinned and pressed a kiss to the tip of Chen’s nose. “I know you don’t, babe. I don’t trust him all that much either. At least not until he proves himself. But if finding Yichen gets Huli one step closer to Xiao Dan, he’s willing to do it.” Moon paused, his smile turning wicked enough to make Huli proud. “What? You don’t trust your shixiong?”