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“Twenty-four.”

Leo whistled. Twenty-four sounded insanely young, but it had also been two thousand years ago. Everyone accomplished big things earlier in life during that long ago time. He would have been married with kids and the lord of an entire manor at that age.

At twenty-six, Leo still felt he was far too young to settle down and be responsible. Getting a regular job seemed like it was too much. He couldn’t imagine it.

Thankfully, Erik ran over on his chubby legs with his ball in hand, wanting Leo to play with him. His thoughts drifted away from Junjie’s old life to the present day’s worries of keeping Erik and his new gege safe. The evening passed in lazy conversation for a few hours before the boy grew fussy.

“I should take him inside for lunch. He’ll need to take his nap soon,” Junjie announced as he gathered the grumpy child in his arms with an expert ease.

“Okay. I should mosey on as well. Got things to do,” Leo said, even though it was a complete lie. He didn’t have anywhere to be or anything to do. At least, the only thing he wanted to do was hang on Junjie, but space was a good thing.

“Thank you for the information you’ve given me. I will guard it closely.” Junjie walked into the house but stopped in the doorway and partially turned to Leo. “After our talk today, I’m regretting our kiss much less now.”

“Cool. Cool,” Leo replied with a slight bob of his head.

He held it together until Junjie left the room and disappeared along the hall. He thrust his fists into the air and threw back his head. “Yessss!” he hissed.

That was some damn good progress.

Chapter 11

Zhang Junjie

The wind cried out as Junjie sliced the air with his blade. He spun, the sword cutting another arc through the empty space around him as he methodically ran through the training exercises Shixiong had arranged for him. After so many years, it was amazing that Xiao Dan could still think of new techniques and arrangements to keep them from growing bored and complacent.

But tonight, boredom wasn’t his primary concern. It was fear and worry that distracted Junjie, forcing him to go through the sequence of moves again and again until they were perfect.

He was stuck on the team who remained at the manor while most of the clan was in the woods searching for Trin’s stronghold. He had a feeling his injury during the last trip had earned him a spot on the bench, even though both Xiao Dan and Chen denied it.

It was hard not to feel a bit like a loser, but at least he wasn’t worried about Erik. The little boy was inside napping, Ming Yu watching him. Just a few steps away.

Last he’d seen, Moon had crashed on a couch and was snoring loudly. The fledgling vampire had made the mistake of arguing with his mate and master about accompanying himon their next excursion into the woods. In response, Chen had set his lover on a brutal training regimen that had left Moon practically crawling into the house.

He saw Chen’s point. Moon was a new disciple within the Sword of the Heavenly Garden sect. Two thousand years ago, when new disciples were joining, they went through years of training prior to joining dangerous missions or fighting alongside their older students. Moon didn’t have the experience to jump into the fray.

One of the key differences, though, was that Moon was twice the age—if not older—of those new disciples. He was an independent young man, accustomed to making responsible decisions for himself and using magic as protection.

Another key difference was that Moon was Chen’s mate, and Junjie would bet a million yuan that Chen was letting his fear of something happening to Moon cloud his judgment. This was all going to come to a head soon. Moon would not be content to sit on the sidelines for much longer in the name of needing more training.

As clear as this was to him and pretty much everyone else in the clan, he was keeping his mouth shut. Sticking his nose into Chen’s private life was a good way to get his nose broken. This was something for Chen and Moon to figure out.

Junjie’s heart went out to Chen, though. As much as his er-ge tried to maintain an aloof and untouchable exterior for the world to see, there was no missing that Chen was soft and very fragile on the inside. Shifu’s death had cut a deep wound within him that had never healed. Losing Moon—particularly to Jiang Chong—could very well shatter him.

Not that he was sure he’d be any better if he were lucky enough to gain a mate within his lifetime.

With a grunt, Junjie brought his sword down in front of him and held the position, only to frown at his weapon. His stance felt overextended. That shouldn’t be. Not after so many years.

No, he was distracted.

Not by the clan being in the woods with the fae or even the Moon and Chen dilemma. It was Leo who kept sneaking into his thoughts. He hadn’t seen the damn cat in two days. It wasn’t the longest he’d gone without seeing Leo, but when they’d last parted ways, it felt like something had shifted between them. Some tiny bond had strengthened. He thought he’d see Leo again much sooner.

And what about the fae? Had they found him? Was he hurt or in danger? He had no idea. Leo hadn’t bothered to give him a way to reach him. Of course, Junjie hadn’t been smart enough to ask for one, either.

Junjie relaxed his stance, lowered his sword to his side, and sighed. Leo was turning him into an idiot. He couldn’t get the cat and his infectious smile out of his head. There were more important things to worry about than whether Leo was going to visit him and Erik.

A cool wind stirred the trees, growing in intensity as if a storm was rolling in. Limbs swayed overhead and birds took flight in search of more sturdy protection from the wind and rain. Would this storm force the clan mates out in the woods to return home early?

A new thought crept into his head as he gazed up at the black clouds rolling across the night sky, blotting out the stars. Was this a natural storm, or had the dragon who controlled rivers and rains called up this storm in reaction to a fight they’d found?