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“Would you stab a bitch for me?” Kai demanded in a ridiculously loud whisper right in Xiang’s ear.

“I believe we’re getting a bit off topic,” Xiao Dan announced in a rousing voice as he tried to get control of the meeting.

Aiden coughed, his hand almost covering the smile on his lips. “I think you’re right.”

“If you would like to help us with Jiang Chong, what we need is information about your gift, Winter,” Junjie interjected, trying to give Xiao Dan a hand in pulling them away from the silliness.

That got the vampire to sit up straight. “Huh?”

Junjie nodded, fighting off the chill that gripped his entire body every time he spoke of his old creator. “Jiang Chong has the same ability to disappear into the dead realm and reappear at will. It’s part of the reason he was able to keep us under his control for so long. It’s a hard power to fight against.”

“Are you sure it’s the same?” Winter shifted in his seat, rubbing the palms of his hands on his jeans. “Have any of you had him use his gift on you? I could take that person into the dead realm, and they can compare.”

“I believe we’ve all been pulled into that dark realm with him at least once,” Xiao Dan said in a low, barely audible voice.

It wasn’t that Jiang Chong had taken them inside. It was that he’d abandoned each of them there more than once with the threat that they’d stay trapped there for eternity if they didn’t obey his wishes.

“Okay. I can take someone now,” Winter offered.

Total silence was the immediate response.

One of them had to speak up, but even Xiao Dan and Chen, who were always the first to jump ahead of their brothers to protect them, were now quiet. The place Winter spoke of so easily held endless horrors for them.

“I-I’ll do it,” Xiao Dan stammered.

Junjie shoved to his feet. “No, I’ll do it.”

“Jun-Jun,” he argued but stopped when Junjie held up a hand.

“I was the last to enter the realm with him. I’m sure I remember it the best. This makes the most sense.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking nonsense at all, but no one argued with him.

“No problem. We’ll make this super fast.” Winter’s sudden reassurance made him realize they were freaking out the rest of the Variks with their shared trauma.

Junjie forced a smile and stepped away from his chair, moving to the rear of the room. To his knowledge, Winter needed at least a little space in which to move so they could step through the doorway he created.

Winter joined him and held out his hand. “We’ll never even leave this room.”

“Just don’t let go of me,” Junjie choked out, not even bothering to hold on to his fake smile.

“Nothing could make me release you,” he said, and Junjie believed him.

A long vertical slit appeared in the air to Winter’s left, running from the floor to almost the ceiling. It widened, revealing a vast darkness in the middle of the room. Winter motioned toward it and cocked his head, still giving Junjie the choice to enter or retreat.

Fear threatened to choke him with countless nightmarish memories, but this already felt different. There had never been a choice with Jiang Chong. Winter’s hand tightened around his, squeezing until his knuckles cracked. A painful reassurance that this was now, and Winter was not letting go.

“Okay.”

Winter walked into the blackness, and Junjie followed. The room shifted into a false night. A sharp chill that made it feel like it was now January rather than September bit into his flesh. After taking two steps, he gazed back to see the doorway seal disappearing from sight. In front of him, his family and the Variks remained in their seats, staring at the last place they’d seen them. The Variks were calm, unshaken by their vanishing act. The Zhangs were not so composed. Xiao Dan sat gripping the arms of his chair, seeming on the edge of crushing them. Chen was on his feet, hands balled into fists so tight they were trembling.

“Hey! Eyes on me!” Winter snapped.

Junjie’s head swung to see Winter’s expression had grown fierce and deathly serious. “Stay with me here. I’m not letting you go. No matter what, you’re leaving with me and returning to your clan.”

“Yes.” Junjie sucked in a loud and harsh breath. “Yes, you’re right. I’m safe with you.”

“Better?”

He nodded. “Better. I’m okay.”