Page 44

“Whoa! Shit, Moon. Nobody’s saying that,” Maddox countered. He held up his hands as if he were expecting Moon to come after him.

“You know we’d go after our coven mate if they were stolen,” Red grumbled. He folded his arms across his chest and flopped against the sofa, continuing to give Moon the stink eye. “Like they’d take Sky. Scary motherfucker would raise a few hundred pixie corpses and terrorize them all,” Red muttered under his breath. Sky rolled his eyes and dropped his face into his hand.

“As aggrieved as we are over the loss of our brother, we want no more fight with the fae than necessary. We simply want Yichen returned,” Daniel continued.

Winter nodded and ran a finger across the rim of his teacup. “But a fight is what you’re going to get. If the fae stole him, I can’t imagine they’d willingly give him up. I’ve never encountered the fae, personally, but I’ve heard stories about them having strict rules and etiquette for everything. If your Yichen was taken, I would think he’s a possession now, in their mind.”

“This is why we need a witch to help us locate where their door will open in one day,” Chen interjected. “If we can strike the second they step foot in our world, we have a chance of catching them off guard. It’s our best chance of hurting them and taking our brother.”

“Any witch that helps us will be given full protection. We won’t allow any member of the fae to harm them while they are giving their assistance,” Daniel stated.

Maddox sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “No offense, but how great is your offer, considering you lost one of your own to the fae?”

Moon was on his feet in a flash. “What the fuck, Mad!”

Daniel held out a hand toward him, his expression warm and gentle. “Moon, it’s okay.”

“It’s not fucking okay. That was beyond rude!” He balled his hands into tight, trembling fists at his sides while Mad and Red glared daggers at him.

A hand on his hip squeezed and Moon glared down at Chen to find the vampire smiling at him. Really? Smiling now? All of Moon’s hackles were up as hurt and frustration raged in his chest. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t be the one who helped Chen and his clan. It wasn’t fair that Chen was steadily growing in importance to him and there was nothing he could do to prove his usefulness. All that magic at his fingertips, the years of study, and it felt like a fucking waste.

The one tiny thing he could do was introduce him to someone who could help, and his friends were being total dicks.

“It’s a fair question,” Chen murmured while the fingers on his hip squeezed. “They have to look after themselves. Your friends know nothing about us. Would you so easily place your safety into the hands of a stranger?” Chen tugged his hip and Moon dropped into his seat.

“I already have, and I have no regrets,” Moon grumbled under his breath.

“Yeah, well, we’re not all lunatics like you,” Red shot back.

“However, it’s not like we’re going into this totally blind,” Sky spoke up. “They were scary impressive when they spotted Winter, who has said that no one but me has ever spotted him. And then there were the two ice-bound vampires.”

“Vamp-cicles,” Maddox snickered. Moon pressed his lips together even harder against the temptation to smirk. Of course, he and Maddox would think the same thing.

“Speaking of, that wasn’t Chen’s fault.” Moon leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “Those two assholes tried to bite me after I left Phoenix.”

“Oh, shit!” Sky gasped and his three friends looked at him with mixed expressions of horror. Not so much because Moon had been in danger, but no one knew what would happen if a vampire bit him.

“Chen saved me!” Moon pressed. And the expressions of horror turned to skepticism. Moon threw up his hands. “I didn’t say I needed saving. He just swooped in and handled it.” Moon knew more than enough nasty spells that would have taken care of the annoying vampires. It was nice to be rescued occasionally. “The point is, Chen handled it and kept me safe. They can all keep you safe.”

“May I ask how your brother came to be in the hands of the fae?” Winter asked.

The hand still resting on Moon’s hip flinched. Chen tried to pull away, but Moon caught it and held it pressed to his body, not allowing Chen to withdraw from him.

“It is a simple story,” Daniel admitted, but there was a new fragility to his voice. “Fae were in our territory a hundred years ago, but we didn’t realize it. At the time, we had little contact with the outside world. After seeing so many centuries roll by and after losing so many of our clan mates, we withdrew.”