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Chen said something under his breath that sounded like a curse, but they couldn’t fault the fox. It yipped, snapped, and lunged at the strange ripple, forcing it to dodge and move to stay away from the fox’s teeth.

“Fuck,” Sky groaned. “Give it up, Winter. They found you. Come out!”

“Winter!” Moon shouted. He attempted to step past Chen, but the vampire grabbed him and held him in place.

“Who’s Winter?” Chen demanded.

“Winter Varik, one of the sons of King Aiden Varik,” Moon clarified, dropping his forehead onto Chen’s shoulder.

“All right! I surrender!” A new voice rang out. Moon lifted his head to find that the golden field was gone alone with Chen’s long hair and robes. They were once again standing in front of the Zhang house in the twinkling darkness as Winter stepped out of a rip in the air, his hands in the air.

The huli jing gave one last snarl at the intruder, then bounded over to Xiao Dan. It sat next to him, head tipped up as if waiting for some kind of nod of approval while a couple of its tails wrapped around the vampire’s leg.

“Shixiong!” Chen snapped.

Xiao Dan sighed and nodded once. He gazed at the fox, his lips lifting into the gentlest smile. “Go, Huli. You’ve helped enough.”

The huli jing turned its head and huffed at Chen before darting off to the woods near the back of the property.

“So, we have two unexpected guests,” Chen sneered as Winter approached between Junjie and Mei Lian. His vampire turned and glared at him as he tossed aside the ice sword still in his hand. The weapon shattered upon striking the concrete, causing Moon to wince.

“I didn’t know Winter was coming with them. Or Maddox. You heard the call. I asked for Red and Sky. That was it,” Moon argued.

“He didn’t know,” Mad jumped in. “Red called me after he got off the phone with Sky. There was no fucking way I was letting them come here without me. Not after Moon disappeared.”

“And then Wyatt spots him at a grocery store with this weird guy who smelled like a vampire,” Red chimed in. “What the hell! He could have been kidnapped!”

Moon glanced over at Sean, who’d jumped down from the roof and was walking toward them. He sent a little shrug Moon’s way. Was that supposed to be an apology or an “oh well, shit happens” shrug?

“Besides, you said you wanted a meeting with the Variks,” Sky replied.

“An honorable face-to-face meeting of equals. Not someone sneaking into our home.” Sean pointed his sword at Sky as he spoke.

Winter stopped close to Chen, his eyes narrowed and a smirk playing on his lips. The vampire was wearing jeans and an oversized black hoodie that made him appear so fucking young. “I guess we know now who killed those vampires downtown this morning and stirred up all that trouble.”

“He saved my life,” Moon interjected before Chen could breathe a single word. “Both vampires followed me from Phoenix and tried to drain me. Trust me, Chen’s approach was much kinder than what I would have done if either had laid a hand on me.”

Silence hung heavy in the driveway, and everyone watched everyone too fucking closely. A wrong word, a wrong move here, and it could all explode.

Carefully, Moon grabbed Chen’s wrist and squeezed as he moved to step in front of him. He answered the vampire’s questioning gaze with a reassuring grin and a wink.

“Look, I think it would be wise if everyone took a step back. Winter fucked up by sneaking into your territory, but I’m pretty sure he’s here as a scout to protect his clan and preserve the peace in the city. He doesn’t know that you’re here to save your clan brother. All he knows is that someone killed two vamps in a pretty spectacular fashion, and one witch went missing. Right?” He directed that question at the Varik who’d kicked this hornets’ nest.

Winter smirked at Moon but gave a small nod. “Right. We’ve heard whispers there was a new clan in town. I’ve been searching for you, especially after the deaths of the vampires, but Sky provided us with the first actual lead to your location. My father wants to know your intentions and asks that you keep a low profile.” Winter turned his narrowed gaze on Chen. “No more extravagant killings. And if you have to, at least clean up after yourself. The humans don’t need more proof than they already have that weird shit goes on in this town.”

Moon huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “If you want to cut down on the weird shit, you need to talk to those three right there.” He jerked his chin at his friends.

“What?” All three squawked like someone knocked over a chicken coop.

Moon pointed at his three friends in succession and said, “Purple fungus took over his house, turned his ex-boyfriend into a pig, let underworld hellhounds run loose. And that was just in the past week!”