Page 3

“Chen, Xiang, keep watch for any sign that Jiang Chong has returned. Yichen, please take Mei Lian and Ming Yu to the villa. Tell the others what occurred here,” Xiao Dan ordered.

Junjie watched as Yichen, Mei Lian, and Ming Yu slipped out of the orchard in the growing darkness, while Xiang and Chen took up a defensive position near them.

In the fight’s chaos, the sun had finished its descent, disappearing below the horizon. The sky that was visiblebetween the tree branches was darkening from orange and pink to deeper shades of blue and purple. The first stars were peeking out. Even the wind had calmed, as if nature were holding its breath against the return of the monster.

Xiao Dan lowered his face to the top of Junjie’s head and whispered, “You scared me to death, Didi.”?4

His heart squeezed. It was rare for Xiao Dan to call him that. Zhang Shi Lei had always treated them like sons, and Xiao Dan had taken the role of older brother seriously.

“I had his heart in my hand, Gege.?5 I could have saved our clan. It’s what Shifu would have wanted,” Junjie replied around the knot of unshed tears growing in his throat. He licked away the last drop of blood from Xiao Dan’s wrist. He would need to go into town to feed more, but at least he’d regained his strength.

“Shifu would have wanted you to survive so you can go on fighting for your clan,” Xiao Dan countered.

“How do you know you didn’t kill him?” Chen inquired in a low, even voice. “You nearly pulled his heart out, and I saw that final gash you opened in his neck. Right now, he’s trapped in the ghost realm with no access to the blood he needs to heal. How long could he possibly survive there before becoming a ghost himself?”

“He’s dead. He has to be dead,” Xiang declared.

“Only time will tell. For now, the clan will remain vigilant. Everyone must report any sign that Jiang Chong is lurking about. The important thing is that he now knows that we will not go back to being under his control. That life is over.” Xiao Dan wrapped an arm around Junjie and squeezed. His words grew rough. “We will celebrate every night we have free of him, whether it is one or a thousand. We are free and we will remain that way.”

1 Shifu – master of a clan or sect

2 Shixiong – elder martial brother

3 Shidi – junior disciple/brother

4 Didi – younger brother

5 Gege – older brother, denotes familiarity and not necessarily a family relation. Can sometimes be added to a name such as Chen-ge

Chapter 1

Zhang Junjie

August 31, 2023

Zhang Clan Manor, Connecticut

The cat.

The cat wasn’t a real cat.

He was a human. Or a shifter. Or maybe…a cat spirit? The same way Huli was a fox spirit. But did those exist?

Junjie thought his brain was going to explode any second now as he stared at the naked man lying on his bed, just barely covered by one of his white robes. Yiguo wasn’t a common house cat that he’d given some food and belly scratches.

Oh, gods! He’d scratched this man’s belly!

Think. He needed to think clearly, and not about the questionable things he may or may not have done to or around this cat…person.

“Who are you?” Junjie demanded in a trembling voice.

“I already told you. I’m Yi?—”

Junjie held up one hand while keeping his eyes squeezed shut. “Don’t say it. I named you Yiguo because I thought youwere a feral cat without a home. You are not that. What is your real name, and why are you here?”

“Jun-Jun,” he purred, and Junjie’s head snapped up, eyes blazing as he glared at the stranger.

“Donotcall me that. You have not earned the right to speak to me in such a familiar tone.”