Page 17

It felt too easy.

They were welcoming him in because he was a dragon. Or more specifically, the imperial dragon Yinglong, famous for aiding Huangdi.

Under normal circumstances, his ego would argue that they were doing the proper thing, but these weren’t normal circumstances. He’d stolen away a member of their clan, held him against his will. They should hate him. Threaten him. At the very least, they shouldn’t have him staying under the same roof as him.

However, Kai knew he wasn’t strong enough to turn them down. He was determined to remain close to Xiang. The vampire too easily found himself in danger, and someone needed to look after him.

As the meeting broke apart and the others rose to their feet to go about their usual routines, Xiang leaned on the table and grasped one of Ming Yu’s hands in both of his. Kai bit the insides of his cheeks as the vampire blessed the woman with his sweetest smile.

“Jiejie, can I beg a favor?” Xiang pleaded.

She clucked her tongue at him and gave a roll of her eyes, though Kai didn’t miss the grin she was hiding poorly. “What is with all this nonsense? What could you want?”

“Sweet Jiejie, could you make Kai some of your special spareribs? Maybe some soup? Kai is still recovering from the injuries he suffered from the fae when he was protecting me, and he had only my cooking to see him through.” The extra jut of his bottom lip was unnecessary.

Ming Yu jerked her hand free of Xiang’s on a gasp, her wide eyes snapping to Kai with such a look of sympathy. “Absolutely! Li Xiang, I can’t believe you were so thoughtless. You should have brought him to me immediately.” She placed gentle hands on Kai’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. I will make you something good to fill your stomach. You’ll be feeling better in no time at all.”

Kai unstuck his tongue to argue that he’d not given Xiang a chance to bring him to the clan sooner, but he never got the chance. Rei and Moon were climbing over furniture and almost knocking over their own mates to hurry to Ming Yu’s side.

“Jiejie, what about me? I need your yummy cooking too,” Rei cried.

“Shijie, I’m still getting used to my vampire body. I need your cooking, too,” Moon begged. It was a pathetic sight, but Ming Yu smiled at them, touching their cheeks.

“Of course, I’ll make enough for you both as well,” she promised before disappearing down a corridor into what Kai guessed was the kitchen. Moon and Rei trailed after her, continuing to sing the praises of her cooking and offering to keep her company as she worked.

Kai looked over to see Xiang smirking at him from where he was still half laid across the table. The vampire appeared so smug, but also very relaxed. Yes, he’d relaxed well enough while stuck in Kai’s hoard, but this was so different. It was clear Xiang was in his home territory and hidden layers of tension had fallen off his frame.

“I told you that my shijie would take care of you. She is the best cook. All her food is made with love. Way better than mine.”

“You didn’t need to ask her for that. I don’t like that she’s going to that trouble for me.”

Xiang made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat and pushed to his feet. “Su Ming Yu is a natural-born caretaker. She’s told us many times that she feels most useful when she’s cooking for us and making sure we’re happy.”

Kai narrowed his eyes at him. “It must have been difficult for her when the clan became vampires. While I’ve seen you eat, I feel you were forcing yourself to eat so that I would not feel uncomfortable eating alone.”

The vampire’s nose wrinkled a second before he rubbed it. “Noticed that, huh?”

“Yes.”

A brief chuckle left Xiang, and he dropped his hand to his side. “Yeah, I rarely eat human food. Prior to Moon’s arrival, we’d limited it to holiday celebrations and even then, it wasn’t as much food as it used to be. But when we added Moon and Rei to the clan, Jiejie started cooking all the time. She even started singing in the kitchen again.”

“So, feeding a dragon won’t be a problem?”

Tossing his head, Xiang laughed loud enough to almost knock himself off his feet. “The honor of cooking for a dragon.” The vampire paused, his expression hardening. “Yinglong. Great helper of Huangdi. Can’t believe you waited until we were in front of my family to drop that bomb on my head.”

Kai grunted and rose from his seat as well. “Nonsense,” he muttered. In truth, he’d forgotten about those long, distant days. They felt like they were several lifetimes ago.

Yet he could feel his own smile tugging at his lips. It was impossible to not feel Xiang’s happiness. There was some lingering unease twisting in his stomach, but he shoved that aside. He didn’t want Xiang to know he was worried. Not when he was so happy about being home.

Xiang grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the large meeting room. He drew him through the large house that was a series of large square buildings connected by several long hallways. Here and there, the structure created a central courtyard that was filled with rich green plants, flowers, stone paths, and koi ponds. Every inch of the home echoed a time long past that teased memories he thought had been packed away centuries ago.

He admired the elegant paintings, the rich wood floors, and the lingering scent of incense that danced through the air. Here and there voices echoed from the open doors, punctuated by bursts of laughter. He’d never lived in a place where there were so many people. Here and there, he stayed at inns while he traveled through the world, but most of the time, he was curled up in his hoard, away from the noises of humanity.

Kai’s heart stuttered as Xiang stopped in front of a series of memorial tablets. The vampire snagged a trio of incense sticks, lit them on a candle, and blew out the tiny flames so that thin smoke curled up from the tips. After dropping hard to his knees on a cushion, Xiang bowed so deep to the tablets, his forehead almost touched the floor.

“Sorry, Shifu. I should have stopped here the moment I returned, but you know how easily I’m distracted,” Xiang murmured, bowing three times to his teacher. He placed the incense sticks into a pot in front of the center most tablet and sat on his heels. “But you will be happy to hear I have dragged a very honorable and distinguished dragon to our clan. He can be grumpy like Chen, but I promise to protect him and keep him safe with the Sword of the Heavenly Garden Sect.”

Cupping his left hand around his right, Kai bowed to the memorial tablet. “Master Zhang Shi Lei, your students honor me.”

Xiang popped to his feet and grabbed Kai’s hand as he pulled him down the hall. “I’m sure Shifu is very disappointed he didn’t get to meet you in person. He told the best stories about dragons and gods.”

After a few more corners, Xiang flashed him an excited grin as he stopped in front of a pair of large double doors with a unique combination lock. Xiang was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he unlocked the doors and pulled them open with a flourish.

It was a room worthy of a flourish. Xiang had brought him to the clan’s armory. Swords, spears, pikes, bows, and many other bladed weapons lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Truly, a breathtaking collection.

“I know it’s not as impressive as your armory—” Xiang began, but Kai hushed him by placing his fingers over the vampire’s mouth.

“Shhh…you’re insulting these weapons. They can hear you,” he admonished as he withdrew his hand from Xiang’s face. He strolled around the room, admiring the weapons displayed there. Most were ancient creations that hadn’t seen battle in several centuries, but they were all in pristine condition. The clan took their weapons seriously and maintained them perfectly.

But there were troubling holes within their collection.

Standing in the middle of the room, Kai closed his eyes and summoned up a little ball of magic within his chest, connecting himself with his own armory. “Bitter Frost. Scorpion Sting. Flash of Lightning. Strike of Vengeance. Shattered Heart. Chain Breaker. Goddess Tear.”

With each name he spoke, he felt an answering thrum of excitement before the chosen weapon streaked across the hoard and burst into the air, flying straight into the house and to the clan armory. An answering shout erupted from Xiang as each sword in its own sheath appeared withing the armory.

Kai opened his eyes and smiled to see the seven swords hovering in the air in front of him. With a wave of his hands, the swords laid themselves on a table in the center of the room. “My gift to the Zhang clan.”

“What?” Xiang demanded, his voice cracking.

“The same master who lived during the Han Dynasty and made many of the swords within your collection made these swords. They belong with their brothers and sisters here, rather than in my hoard.”

“You can’t be serious.” The disbelieving words tumbled from Xiang while his trembling hand reached for Bitter Frost. He caressed the sheath, his fingers not even daring to close around the hilt as if he were afraid Kai would take it away.

“I am very serious.”

Xiang jerked his head up, his brow wrinkling. “But they’re in your hoard. I didn’t think a dragon would ever be willing to part with anything from his hoard.”

The funny thing was that Xiang was right. Kai had never heard of a dragon giving away parts of his hoard. Especially something so beloved as ancient swords from his armory. But he didn’t feel even a twinge of regret. No, if anything, his chest swelled with joy at the idea of these swords now in the possession of Xiang and the rest of his clan.

“This is where they belong,” Kai stated. “Use them well to protect your family.”

“I will. I swear.” Xiang’s eyes were locked on the weapons, his fingers dancing across them as if they were the most precious things in all the world. Yes, they were in safe keeping with Xiang.

After calling Junjie and Chen to marvel at their new acquisitions, Xiang took Kai’s hand again and led him down the winding hall to a very different room. A bedroom that smelled thickly of Xiang. This must have been his private quarters before being stolen away.

The joy that had bubbled up in his chest fizzled and drained away. He tried to look at it through objective eyes. It was a handsome room with many dark colors and fine furniture. There were a few paintings on the walls that appeared to be done by the same artist featured throughout the house. Kai suspected that one of Xiang’s clan mates had painted them. A few more weapons hung on the walls. But other than that, the furnishings were simple and sparse.

No matter how hard he tried to appreciate that he was standing in Xiang’s personal space, a feeling of frustration and hopelessness was welling up within him. Naturally, now that Xiang was home, he would want to sleep in his own bed, surrounded by his own possessions, rather than sleep within the hoard.

His every instinct was to whisk Xiang to the hoard and not let him out. This was a dragon thing. He knew it. Humans didn’t have this possessive need, and they had trouble understanding it. Kai needed to let Xiang go. Give him space.

Space did not mean losing Xiang.

Space was just…space.

Xiang would be fine. Safe. Happy without him.

As he stood frowning at the bed that didn’t look as nice as the grand canopy bed in his hoard, Xiang darted over to a small door and pulled it open. He snagged a black backpack, tossed it onto the bed, and crossed over to the dresser.

“Don’t frown and pout,” Xiang called over his shoulder. “I’m going to pack a few things to bring to the hoard. The clothes you’ve got in there are nice, but I miss my clothes.”

Kai blinked. His tongue forgetting how to work for a couple of seconds as his brain processed what Xiang was saying. “I don’t understand,” Kai said. “Don’t you wish to stay here with your clan?”

Xiang dropped an armload of shirts, pants, and undergarments on the bed next to his bag and smirked at Kai. “Of course I do. I figured it might be a good idea to stay close to you in the hoard while we try to get your sword back. Just in case the queen tries to issue another command. I want to be there to help fight it.” He narrowed his eyes and pointed at Kai. “You also seem the type to run off and hide your wounds instead of letting someone help you. If I’m in the hoard, you can’t hide from me. You need someone to take care of you.”

Lowering his hand to his side, Xiang took a step closer to Kai, whose heart was threatening to pound right out of his chest. He was tumbling into Xiang’s smile, getting so very lost in everything about this man. How did Xiang know him so well?

“Plus,” Xiang drew out as he tapped his index finger on the center of Kai’s chest, “I have to finish convincing you to stay with my clan. This is where you belong now.”

“You don’t think the rest of your martial brothers and sisters will mind adding a dragon to their ranks?”

Xiang snorted. “No, I really don’t think they’ll mind. You protected me and brought a very excellent gift of weapons. How could they not love you?”

“I kidnapped you,” he pointed out.

The vampire made a dismissive noise and lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Against your will. You didn’t choose to kidnap me. You were forced. Besides, Chen kidnapped Moon and was allowed to keep him.”

“What about this?” Kai dipped his head the short distance between them and captured Xiang’s parted lips in a soft, quick kiss. He pulled away enough to break off the kiss, but his mouth still brushed Xiang’s as he spoke. “Will we discuss this?”

“This is called kissing,” Xiang teased. He tipped his head up, stealing another kiss. It was longer than the first and a touch hungrier. Kai wasn’t ready for it to end when Xiang pulled away. He chased after his mouth, his forehead touching Xiang’s. Their noses bumped and breaths mingled together in an intoxicating dance. “Kissing isn’t something that needs discussing. It just needs practice. Lots and lots of practice.”

A smile spread across Kai’s lips as Xiang punctuated each of those last few sentences with another kiss. This was something he could enjoy practicing. Along with other things. He liked kissing Xiang. He hadn’t really wanted to discuss it. Talking about it meant that Xiang had a chance to change his mind about it. That was a horrible idea.

No, they needed to continue this.

Preferably in the hoard that rested safely in his cave under their feet. Where no one could reach them.

Kai tilted his head to the side, deepening the kiss, loving the flick and slide of Xiang’s tongue along his own. The joyful noise that rumbled up Xiang’s throat. The bite of his fingers as they sank into Kai’s biceps, pulling him in closer as if he couldn’t get enough.

A loud knock broke them apart with a jump. Before Kai could snarl at the person who dared to interrupt them, a shout followed the knock.

“Variks are in trouble! We need to go now!”

Xiang swore under his breath as he leaped out of Kai’s arms for the door. Kai had heard many mentions of this vampire clan. Were they really worth stopping this important kissing?

Judging by Xiang’s pale face and expression, the answer was yes.

Sigh.Maybe after he saved these Variks, it would earn him some more kisses from Xiang.

Yes, that was a very nice plan.