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Still unsteady on his feet, he moved to the bureau and swept his arms along it, throwing everything on top to the floor with a loud crash. Glass and clay shattered, but it was nothing compared to the destruction of his heart.

He swayed, mindlessly searching for something else to destroy, but the only thing that would satisfy him would be Jiang Chong. If he could kill him now while Leo was away shopping with the others, the prophecy couldn’t come true.

But it never worked that way. He couldn’t force Jiang Chong to appear prior to the appointed time.

“I’ll kill you!” he shrieked.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around him from behind and Junjie fought them on instinct until Chen’s calming voice broke through his panic.

“What did you see? Tell me. What did you see?” Chen demanded in his ear.

“Jiang Chong…” Junjie panted. His lungs were squeezed so tight with pain, he couldn’t draw in a full breath. “Jiang Chong…”

“What did Jiang Chong do?”

“He…he killed Leo.” Those few words broke from Junjie in a sob and his legs gave out. Both he and Chen sank to the floor. The arms that restrained him now shifted into a bone-crushing hug as Junjie fell apart. He turned to Chen and pressed his face into his neck as a torrent of tears fell from his eyes. How could this happen? They’d just found each other. They were still falling in love, but Jiang Chong was going to steal that away like he’d stolen so many other lives away.

“We’ll stop him,” Chen stated in a low, rough voice. “We will stop him. Leo will be safe.”

But there was no comfort in Chen’s words. Jiang Chong had killed dozens of the Zhang clan and the Sword of the Heavenly Garden sect. Junjie had seen nearly half of them in his visions, and they’d been unable to stop a single one of those deaths. Over the years, he’d seen his brothers and sisters fall in battle and even from suicide. Not one of those deaths could have been stopped.

What made Leo different?

Nothing.

“I will kill Jiang Chong,” Junjie swore as his heart splintered in his chest.

1 Kau cim – a fortune-telling practice in which a question is asked and numbered bamboo sticks are shaken from a tube. The number on the stick that falls from the tube is matched to a written oracle that should interpret the answer to the person’s question.

Chapter 20

Leo St. George

Something was up with Junjie.

The vampire had been acting strange since he’d returned from the grocery with Ming Yu, Erik, and Xiao Dan. His face was exceedingly pale, and his eyes had a glassy look to them, as if he’d been crying or on the verge of crying. Everything about him just seemed twitchy. He moved constantly, his hands fluttering about his body like he didn’t know what to do with them. What was worse was that Junjie refused to meet his gaze.

Something had happened while he was away, and Junjie refused to tell him. It also wasn’t reassuring when Chen of all people swooped in after Junjie received his initial hugs and kisses from Erik to take the boy away to play with him and Moon. The vampire might be coming around to the little boy, but Chen never stole Erik from Junjie’s arms or volunteered for play time.

Grabbing Junjie by the hand, he dragged the vampire down the hall, away from the rest of the clan, until he found an empty room. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Jun-Jun, I’m not an idiot?—”

“I never said you were!”

Leo frowned at Junjie. “No, but you’re treating me like one. I know something is wrong. You’ve been acting strange. Did Jiang Chong show up again? Was anyone hurt?”

Junjie swallowed hard as he shook his head. “No, he didn’t come near the manor as far as I know.”

“Is it the fae? Have you heard from Trin? Did they attack a new city? Did you get news from the Variks?”

Junjie’s eyes darted away from him. “There’s been no news regarding the fae.” He brought his eyes to Leo and forced a smile so brittle on his lips it looked as though it were going to shatter into a million pieces. “Everything is fine.”

“Everything isnotfine. Something is bothering you.”

“It’s not. Nothing is bothering me.” His grin grew sharper, and he took a step toward Leo, sliding his arms around his waist. “Maybe…maybe I’m nervous about us.” As he spoke, Junjie dipped his head and brushed his lips across his cheek. He placed soft pecks across his face to the corner of Leo’s mouth.