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“Jiejie said you like these.”

Erik turned his head on Junjie’s chest and stared at Winter for a couple of seconds before finally sneaking a hand out to take the cookie.

“What do we say?” Junjie prodded.

“Tank yooo.”

“Good boy.” Junjie pressed another kiss to the top of his head, his heart swelling.

Instead of handing him to Mei Lian, Junjie was content to return to his seat with Erik in his lap. Mei Lian slipped around the room to squeeze into the seat directly next to Ming Yu, wrapping both of her arms around one of Ming Yu’s. The other woman blushed and whispered something to Mei Lian that made her laugh.

Junjie lifted his gaze at the sound of a soft sigh escaping Aiden. An expression of joy and envy filled his handsome face.

“When I met my boys for the first time, Winter was already older than him. I never got to see or hold them as babies,” Aiden explained.

Ronan wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Longing for the pitter-patter of little feet through the mansion?”

“Maybe,” Aiden murmured. He seemed to wallow in dreams and wishes for another moment before shaking his head and straightening in his chair. “But not right now.” He turned his attention to Xiao Dan. “Are you planning to take him to China with you?”

“Yes. His family is dead, and the cat shifters cannot take him in. He will return to China with us,” Xiao Dan answered firmly, chasing away any fears that the clan might be reluctant to have a human child growing up among them.

Aiden clapped his hands on his knees. “Good. Winter, can you help them?”

“I can get a birth certificate, social security card, and adoption papers all drawn up for you in a few weeks, so you won’t have any trouble traveling with him.” He paused and his lips twisted as he gazed at the boy. “If you want a Chinese passport, that will be more complicated. However, I got a guy who I think can manage it.”

“Excellent. Thank you for your help,” Xiao Dan said.

“No problem. Least I could do after scaring the small fry.” He held up a finger. “Speaking of which, I checked out most of the rooms and saw nothing to show that Jiang Chong has been in here. Right now, if Jiang Chong can get past all the magic barriers you have set up outside, I think your best warning systems are going to be him”—he pointed at Kai—“and him.” He moved that finger over to Erik. “Kai has dragon magic, but I can’t guess why a kid can see me.”

Fox snorted. “Really? You can’t?”

“What?”

The former witch threw up his hands and laughed. “He’s acatshifter. You’ve got to know the old wives’ tale that cats can see the dead. People say that’s why they’re always staring at empty space and meowing at the wall when nothing’s there. They see dead people.”

“But I thought that was all bullshi—nonsense,” Winter corrected himself at the last second.

Fox dropped his hands and glowered at his mate. “You come up with a better explanation as to why a kid can see you in the dead realm.”

“Jun-Jun, has Leo ever mentioned something like that to you?” Chen inquired.

He frowned, arms reflexively tightening on Erik. “No, but Leo hasn’t been forthcoming about the gifts of his kind. However, he has agreed to continue to visit and share more information so we can answer Erik’s questions when he gets older. I will ask him about seeing the dead realm. I will also ask if he would help Huli and Kai with their investigations during the day.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t hold my breath on either of those counts. He seems pretty selfish and useless to me,” Xiang grumbled. As much as Junjie wanted to argue with Xiang, he couldn’t.

Leo’s actions so far had been pretty self-centered, but he’d never minded because he’d never needed or wanted anything from Leo other than some companionship. Junjie had wanted a friend to keep him from feeling lonely and Leo had wanted food. It had been a good arrangement.

But now his clan and Erik needed more from him. If Leo couldn’t step up and think of someone other than himself, maybe it was time to cut ties for the sake of his family and the boy in his arms.

“Sadly, I can’t see Winter when he is in the dead realm like Erik,” Kai admitted. “What I can pick up is a ripple of magicjust before an opening is formed between the realms. As long as Winter, or even Jiang Chong, is only observing, there is no way for me to know either is close.”

“I know you were hoping for some secret to detect when Jiang Chong is near but unseen,” Winter began, but he was already shaking his head. “I’m sorry to say that I have nothing for you. In all my years, I’ve never run across anyone who can sense it. Not even Fox. He can shield me from ghosts when we are near, but he has never been able to tell when I’m close to him while in the dead realm. As far as I know, Erik is the first living creature who has ever seen me.”

“Thank you, Winter. Do you know of any way for someone, who has been dragged to the dead realm and abandoned, to escape?” A slight waver entered Xiao Dan’s voice, and he appeared to pale as he spoke.

“No, but if that ever happens to anyone in your clan, call me immediately. I’ll come to wherever they are. As long as they stay in one place, I should have no trouble locating them and bringing them out.” Winter turned his gaze on Junjie, his expression hardening. “No one is getting trapped in the dead realm. I swear it.”

“I think this is a problem for Bel,” Aiden suddenly announced, snapping every eye back to him. “He needs something to focus on, and this is perfect. With his science, he might come up with a solution.”