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“Yeah, he understood. Showed up at the sect with this giant chip on his shoulder.” Sean threw his arms out in front of him to show that Yichen’s chip was boulder sized. “Jun-Jun and I heard some talk, but we didn’t care that he was some prince. We treated him like all the other juniors.”

Moon reached out and poked the vampire in the shoulder. “You mean, you tormented him.”

Sean held up his index finger and thumb an inch apart, indicating that he might have engaged in a little torture. “But after the first year, I think we all forgot about the reason he’d been sent. He was another student. Another brother to fight with and train with and run through fields with. Or someone to waste the day fishing in the nearby stream with.”

“Someone to get in trouble with,” Moon added. “He was family.”

The vampire gave a single, sharp nod and swallowed hard. Moon grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t worry. You’re going to get him back.”

“And make the fae pay for ever touching him in the first place,” Sean snarled. “But first, I think we might need to take care of that.”

Moon’s gaze followed where he pointed and jolted to see three women cutting through the woods not too far away from them. They’d missed him and Sean because they were busy talking to each other while carrying bags and bundles of wood. They could almost be mistaken for a group of hikers preparing to set up camp, except for the thick miasma of magic that surrounded them.

Witches.

This was unexpected…and strange.

Was it possible that the same group of witches who’d helped Sky with his underworld prison break were now working to block the fae?

Or were they there for another reason?

“They’re witches, right?” Sean whispered. They both retreated a couple of steps and squatted, trying to use the surrounding brush to hide their presence while still being able to spy on them.

“Yep.”

“So…are they good witches or bad witches?”

Moon snorted and choked, trying to hold in his laughter as the damn vampire paraphrased a Wizard of Oz line. He didn’t know if he’d done it on purpose, but it didn’t matter. He now imagined him and Sean skipping through the forest on their way to the wizard.

“No idea,” Moon murmured when he could speak without giggling. “They might be here to stop the fae.”

Sean turned his head to look at Moon, blinking slowly. “No offense, but you didn’t sound convincing at all.”

“Maybe because there has been zero chatter on the message boards about a plot to stop the fae. Such a thing would be a big undertaking. They’d need all the help they could get.” Moon shoved a hand through his hair, moving it from his face. He wiped his brow to keep the sweat from slipping into his eyes. “But helping the fae…”

“Would take fewer,” Sean finished.

“And they’d want to keep it quiet since all the witches I know don’t want the fae here.”

“We need to get closer,” Sean declared. He rose, but Moon’s hand shot out, grabbed the vampire’s arm, and jerked him down. “What?”

Moon released Sean and pulled a knife from its sheath on his hip. “Not to be rude, but you won’t get all blood lusty if I cut my hand, right?”

“Oh yeah, I’m so going to lose my shit. Totally going to tackle you and drain you dry,” Sean stated, packing an amazing amount of sarcasm into his tone.

Pointing the knife at Sean, Moon narrowed his gaze. “Listen here, Li Xiang, I’m going to tell you what I told Chen—you bite me and you might die. My blood is chock-full of magic. I don’t know what it would do to a vampire. But I’m afraid it could kill you.”

Sean’s lips parted, but no sound came out as he stared at Moon. If anything, he seemed paler. “And…you told Chen this? Why does it feel like that’s going to limit private time fun?”

Moon rolled his eyes. Of course, this was Chen’s first thought. He gave the vampire a small shove. “You know many people have a happy, fulfilling sex life without a lot of biting and blood drinking.”

Chen smiled at him and shrugged. “It’s a vampire thing.”

“Naturally,” Moon muttered. He drew the blade across his left palm and tucked it away again in the sheath. He dabbed two fingers in the fresh well of bright-red blood. “Hold out your left arm, palm up.”

With no question or hesitation, Sean presented his hand to Moon. The witch drew a symbol on the inside of his wrist while whispering the words of the cloaking spell. A tingle rose in the air as it normally did, but this time, it felt as if there was something more to it. As if he’d supercharged the spell with a hemi.

“You okay? Feeling any itching or burning?” Moon asked when he was done.