Page 33 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy (Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch #5)

THE WORKER HANDS me my strawberry matcha soft serve and Kai places coins on the counter.

My boyfriend thanks him, and we walk up the sidewalk to one of the many hilly parks here in Hong Kong.

If anyone notices two dudes linked hand-in-hand, they don’t react.

In any case, I’m safe when I’m with my big, studly, Chinese boyfriend. How lucky am I!

Boats float by in the distance. The breeze from the bay fills my nostrils with saltwater, and I make a mental note to go to a fancy seafood restaurant for dinner.

The weather is cloudy and just as pleasant as it was a year ago.

That’s right, today marks the anniversary of my solo vacation to Asia.

A part of me wants to thank my d-bag of an ex, because him ghosting me led me to Kai.

In the past nine months, we’ve been back here several times thanks to the Union portal system.

It was thrilling at first, hopping around the world with a literal flick of Kai’s wrist. But he helps a lot with stopping monsters from that dark reality attempting to breach into our own.

It’s tiring working with the agents, so we don’t travel that frequently anymore, opting to chill at home a lot.

“How is it?” Kai asks, licking his cone.

“It’s good.” I bite a chunk of ice cream off the top. “Maybe I’ll make my own when we get home.”

“Maybe a homework assignment?” He grins, and I chuckle.

I’ve been at culinary school for a month now, and Kai has been my biggest cheerleader.

My parents love that I’m advancing in my career and that I have a handsome, successful boyfriend to protect me.

He was so polite to them when they came to visit during Christmas; my folks were totally impressed by Kai.

They don’t know that he conjures my books, clothes, and meals with magic, saving me a ton of money. My folks don’t like knowing about the specifics of witch life, so the less they know, the happier we’ll all be.

Speaking of conjuring, we spot a homeless guy sitting on the sidewalk with a paper bag by his feet. Kai snaps his fingers, and I know he conjured something good for him. “Tieu lei guo doi yut bein,” he says to the man, and we keep walking to the park.

I snicker and bump him with my hip. “What did you say?”

“I left him a few meals inside that bag of his.” Kai smiles, and my heart warms at the thought. Even though we can’t do a lot of successive money conjuring, my man is so generous, making food whenever he can for the needy.

He’s also smoking hot and gives me that good dick. Again, how did I hit the jackpot?

Before we can enter the park for our day off stroll, I spot a familiar sight. A dark figure crawls out from behind a trash can. I freeze, and Kai keeps walking, then turns around.

“No way,” I murmur.

“What is it, babe?”

When the creature darts off, I promptly swallow the rest of my cone and follow it.

“Sebastian!”

I run off, and Kai follows. Down the alleyways I go, chasing a memory. After two turns, I come upon a small storefront. I gasp and take in the sight before me

“Sebastian, where are you going?” Kai asks when he catches up.

“This…this is…” I point to the door.

“What?”

I gaze up and read the word “Antiques” on the sign. I recognize the brown door and storefront. It’s exactly like it was!

I frantically tap Kai’s chest and look back at the store. “This is…the store where I found you!”

Kai gives me a confused expression and swallows the rest of his cone. “I thought you said it was on the other side of the bay.”

“It was,” I say. “Maybe it’s a chain or something?”

Without saying another word, I walk into the store. It’s just as dusty and dark as it was a year ago. After my eyes adjust, I spot a figure sitting on the desk.

“Good to see you again,” the woman says. She’s still smoking a pipe, and it’s as if the entire year didn’t change her.

“You…you remember me?”

“But of course.” She shoots me a coy grin, and I sense Kai standing behind me. “I remember all. Too much, to be honest.”

I turn and smile at Kai, then back to the woman. “I spotted that cat again. The moon cat. Is he in here?”

She chuckles and puts down the pipe. “Oh, that creature never stays still.” She hops off the desk and walks toward us. “And he won’t be back.”

“Why not?” I ask with a frown.

“He looks for witches and wizards who have a void in their lives. Usually men.” She stands by a wooden drawer on an old armoire, then opens it. The woman looks at me and adds, “But you, dear boy, seem very fulfilled. Both of you.”

My cheeks warm, and I can’t help but grin. “But I thought your store was over the bridge? Or do you own many?”

“My store and I go where we’re needed. But only in this dimension.” She rummages through the drawer. “Unlike that cat with the moon-shaped mark. Haunted hearts, that lucky feline gets to traverse the multiverse, finding witchy men in alternate dimensions who are pure of heart.”

I exchange a confused look with my boyfriend. “Multi…what…how do you know that?”

She shrugs. “The cat told me.” When she pulls out a small book, she smiles in satisfaction. “Ah, here it is.”

She saunters over to Kai and hands him an ancient, leather-bound tome. The intricate carvings on the cover appear to be mystic in nature.

“What is this?” Kai asks.

The woman smiles coyly at us. “Something that I believe belongs to you.”

Kai opens one page to reveal a faded, tenuous drawing. I gasp. The sketch resembles something I haven’t seen in, well, a year.

“The jade lion totem,” I murmur. I touch Kai’s shoulder. “That was you! Your imprisonment.”

“Ah, there is much to learn from the past,” the woman says.

Kai ponders the drawing and leafs through to another section of the book. Each page has unfamiliar symbols, and sketches of other animals. Kai gazes at the first page, then quickly shuts the book. He sternly looks at her and says, “You kept me in your shop for decades. Why?”

She shrugs and saunters back to her desk. “I don’t know what you mean.” She picks up her pipe and puffs on it three times. “Forces of good are rewarded with patience. Life has a way of putting us all where we’re meant to be, and when.”

I share a resigned look with Kai. I highly doubt we’ll get any straight answers from this pipe-smoking woman, ever.

Before he can interrogate her further, his cell phone vibrates. He picks it up and turns back to the door. The only calls he gets are strictly for business, so this could be urgent.

He taps the green button and covers his other ear. “Luther?” Kai asks. He nods intently, and I know that he’s being summoned. I gaze back at the woman for a few seconds and watch as she lights a fresh pipe.

“Be there shortly.” Kai hangs up and grimaces. “I need to go,” he whispers.

I nod, then glance at the woman. “Um, thanks for the book, I guess. Goodbye?”

She gives another knowing grin, like none of this is surprising. Maybe for her, nothing is. Smoke leaves her lips, and she appears almost ethereal.

Kai reaches the doorknob, then looks back at her. “We will converse again. I have questions,” he says firmly.

The pipe-smoking woman smiles and nods. “When you need me, you’ll find me.”

I frown and head out the door. We stride down a sidewalk, and fortunately, no one’s around. “What was that?” I ask.

“The Union. A monster from the Other Side has been spotted here in Hong Kong.”

“Yeah, I figured. I meant the book.”

Kai looks at the small tome, then puts it in my hands. “I need to go through it closer, but so far it appears as though…” He cranes his neck around and looks away in discomfort. “I am not the only one of my kind.”

I gasp, and we walk to a shady corner of a nearby park. “Are you saying…?”

Kai nods. “There is much I need to learn. About all the years I was gone.”

“Sounds like we have our work cut out for us,” I say with a grin. “I’ll help you find out more about the past you never had.”

He lifts up my chin and slowly kisses me. Like the first time, his touch is the greatest magic I’ve ever known. “You, Sebastian Suarez, are the only past, present, and future I want to have.”

I laugh softly and kiss him again. “You can’t get rid of me now, Jade Lion.”

He smiles against my mouth. “I love you so much, baby.”

“I love you, too, Zhou Kai.” I pocket the book, then firmly grab his ass. He yelps, and we both laugh. “Now let’s get a move on. You need to save the world.”

He handily picks me up in a bridal carry. One day, I’m going to ask the Jade Lion to marry me; I bet my life savings on it. “We need to save the world.”

I beam at him. “The continuing adventures of the Jade Lion.”

“And the witch boy,” he adds. With that, he waves one wrist, and magical fog surrounds us. In moments, he propels us into the air as I cling to him.

There are monsters to face, mysteries to solve, and a magical community that needs protecting. But as he flies me up into the air, I know we can do it all. Kai holds me up, and I’ll always have his back―I can’t think of a stronger magic than that.

The End