Page 18

“Idon’t like this thing,” Kai muttered under his breath as he placed his hand on the window for the third time. He might have touched it to steady himself, but it looked as if he expected it to explode inward on him at any moment.

Xiang leaned close so that his cheek pressed into Kai’s shoulder. “Do you mean this vehicle, or cars in general?”

“All cars,” the dragon grumbled. “They’re metal death boxes, the way they speed about. I don’t like them.”

Xiang had to turn his face into Kai’s shoulder to hide his smile. Even then, he was sure he’d done a poor job of it. Apparently, the dragon did little traveling by car, because his face was pale and the muscles in his jaw were tight from where he was clenching his teeth. As much as he wanted to blame it on Chen’s driving, his er-ge wasn’t doing a horrible job of it. Fast but not utterly reckless, which was more Xiang’s style.

Unfortunately, there was no flying to the Variks if Kai wanted to remain close to Xiang, who was determined to travel with his family. Xiang would have loved to have flown on Kai, but he needed an update on what the fuck was happening.

“Baobei?1?” Chen prodded his mate in the front passenger seat without taking his eyes off the road. “Anything else from Fox?”

Xiang lifted his gaze to the fledgling vampire to see him shake his head. “Nothing.”

“Why don’t you call Yichen or Junjie in the other car so they can hear what you know?” Chen suggested.

“Got it.” Moon flipped through screens to call one of their other clan mates while Kai turned his face toward Xiang.

“Another huli jing?” he whispered.

Xiang’s brow furrowed for a second before he caught on to his companion’s confusion. “Fox isn’t a huli jing. Just a man. Witch, actually. His name is Fox. He’s the mate of Winter Varik.”

“And these Variks are friends of your clan?”

“Mn. Good friends. They helped us to get Yichen back from the fae, and they’ve worked hard to fight the fae to protect the humans.” Xiang winked at him. “For vampires, they’re good people.”

Kai sniffed. “Not everyone can be a dragon.”

Xiang choked on a laugh, but Junjie’s voice coming through the speaker on Moon’s phone cut it short. “Moon, what have you heard?”

“Nothing more since the initial call. I’m hoping they haven’t been overrun yet.” Moon sucked in a ragged breath and shoved his free hand through his white-blond hair. “What I know is that both Bel and Winter have houses close to a thick section of forest land that separates them from the land that belongs to the local wolf pack. The wolf pack has been in the process of moving in with another pack who lives farther west. Fox wasn’t clear, but I think the fae have attacked the shifters. They’re the family of Bel’s mates, so Bel has also jumped into the fight.”

“And, naturally, Winter and Fox joined in to help their clan mates,” Xiao Dan murmured.

“Fox called us first because we’re closer than the rest of their clan. But I talked to Ethan as we were grabbing weapons. Aiden, Marcus, and the rest of the Variks have been contacted and are on their way,” Moon continued.

Xiang grunted. “But we’ll be the first to arrive. We’ll give Bel a hand, push the fucking fae back.”

“Kai…” Xiao Dan began, but his voice cut off as if unsure what to say. “Do you have any…concerns about joining this fight?”

“None. I don’t foresee the queen being able to use the sword against me so soon. I am happy to assist in this matter.”

Xiang nearly rolled his eyes. Assist in this matter. Kai made it sound like they were heading over to the Variks’ to hang curtains, not kill as many members of the fae as they could.

No, Xiang was excited to cut down their enemy at last. Over the last several months, he had met all the Variks and their various mates. They were an interesting, bickering clan who clearly cared for each other as well as the humans. They only hoped to live in peace with the humans. Not to mention, they’d helped the Zhang clan when they’d had no stake in the matter. It was time they repaid the Variks for the risks they’d taken on behalf of his clan.

“Very well. Everyone, please pay attention to any information or instructions from Rei. We don’t know that we face. I—” Xiao Dan’s voice cut out, and Xiang thought Moon’s phone must have dropped the signal.

But as he lifted his eyes to the front windshield, his brain was wiped clean. Black, acrid smoke filled the night sky, tickling their throats and burning their eyes. They wouldn’t have been able to see it if it weren’t for the fire consuming a long string of homes. What had been a quiet residential street was now filled with cars and people running on foot, faces twisted in fear, as they fled their homes. Xiang’s heart tripped and his hand tightened on Kai, some urge driving him to protect the dragon.

Thankfully, reason kicked in. Kai was a dragon. As long as Queen Belladonna wasn’t there to stir up trouble, Kai was going to be just fine.

Chen jerked the SUV up onto the curb and slammed the vehicle into Park. “We travel on foot from here. Grab weapons. Protect the humans. Slaughter the fae.”

“Bel and Winter have homes at the end of the block closest to the woods,” Moon instructed.

Meimei snorted as she jumped out of the car. “They’ll be the easiest to find. They’ll be the ones in the middle of the fight.”

Xiang moved to follow her out of the back seat when a powerful hand clamped on his arm, holding him trapped. He jerked around to find Kai glaring at him, his brow deeply furrowed and his face pale in the flickering light. Gone were the soft gray eyes, replaced with a sparkling gold. Dragon’s eyes.

“I am allowing you to enter this fight because I respect your skill and years of training,” Kai bit out, sounding as if saying these words were killing him by bits and pieces. “But I do not give you permission to become injured. Do you understand me?”

Something inside of Xiang melted into a puddle. What was this dragon doing to him? If anyone else had uttered those words, they’d be chewing on the end of his sword. But Kai—a dragon who placed him in his hoard and saw him as his own property—was trying so very hard to let him be his truest self. This was as bad as Kai fighting the commands of the heart of his hoard to keep him safe.

Xiang wrapped his hand around the nape of Kai’s neck and pulled him forward, slamming their mouths together in a brutal kiss that held a bevy of promises for the future. They would survive this and continue that kiss later.

“Hey!” Chen bellowed from the open trunk. Xiang released Kai, and they looked over the rear seat to see Chen pointing a dagger at them both. “Work out your weird relationship nonsense on your own time. We need to move now.”

That asshole!

Like he had even a centimeter of room to talk about weird relationships.

Later. He would deal with that later.

Xiang and Kai jumped out of car and rushed to the rear, where Xiang loaded himself up with weapons while Kai stood at his side, not touching anything.

“You don’t want a weapon?” Xiang inquired.

“I am a weapon,” Kai countered with a very smug smirk. “My collection preserves their beauty and perfection. I don’t actually use them in a fight. They might be damaged.”

It was hard to argue with that. Xiang nodded. “Then, before you take on the fae, can you try to do something about the fire? I have a feeling at least one of those homes belongs to a Varik.”

“Understood.” The word had barely left Kai’s lips when he was streaking toward the sky, his human body disappearing, replaced with his long, scaled dragon form as he rose into the air.

A sharp metallic clang tore his eyes away from Kai to see Chen’s empty hand open and a sword lying on the asphalt. Er-ge’s wide eyes were locked on the sky and his lips were parted. “He is a dragon,” Chen choked out.

“You didn’t believe me?” Xiang cried.

Chen jerked his gaze from the dark, churning clouds and hurried to pick up his weapon. “I believed you, but I don’t think my brain fully comprehended the words until…” His words faded and he awkwardly motioned with one hand at the sky.

Xiang reluctantly had to give him that point. Understanding that Kai the human and Kai the dragon were the same person didn’t kick in until he shifted in front of you.

“Come on! We need to find Bel and the others!” Moon shouted. As he finished speaking, a crackle of thunder cut through the skies, followed by the patter of rain. It steadily increased from gentle spring rain to a monsoon, dropping water in thick, blinding sheets.

Unwilling to wait another second, Xiang ran in the direction of the fighting, which was now muffled under the rain. He ran past the houses where the fires retreated, hissing as the rains saturated the buildings. Smoke cleared from the air, and the fleeing humans grew scarcer.

But not the fae.

The army was massive, and predominantly elves armed with bows and swords. Here and there, he caught sight of smaller creatures that scrambled up trees to hide within the thick leaves as they shot tiny arrows at him. Xiang focused on cutting his way through the fae with his clan.

Hot blood splattered across his skin, but the cool rain chased the sensation away as it washed him clean. Countless creatures fell to the slice of his blade. Dwarves, elves, fairies, even creatures he didn’t know the names of. If they attacked, he countered with the singular goal of ending their lives.

A trio of elves attempted to surround him. Blood splattered their leather armor and stained their swords. For only a blink, Xiang wondered if Rei knew these men. Were any of them relatives? Old friends?

But the thought was gone when they tried to move on him in unison. He blocked one blade with his and dodged the other two with a spin. He slid his sword free, plunged it into the chest of one elf, and slugged another hard enough to break his jaw. With one dying and another staggered, Xiang sliced through the third’s throat and returned to disembowel the attacker with the broken jaw.

Before they had fallen to the ground, Xiang was continuing on, his blade singing as it sliced through the rain to take out every foe who dared to cross his path. The earth squished under his feet, the downpour saturating the dry summer ground. Trees thrashed wildly in the wind seemingly possessed by the spirit of battle, demanding to join in.

“There! On the rise!” Xiao Dan shouted.

As soon as he had a free second, Xiang looked to his left to see Bel and Fox surrounded by a pack of wolves. Magic swirled and sparked angrily around Fox while Bel shouted commands. With a wave of his arms, the sky blackened and a thousand caws screamed above the rain. The clouds shifted and plunged as hundreds of ravens and crows dive-bombed the fae horde, attacking them with beaks and talons. The wolves who’d retreated to protect Bel and Fox also dove into the mix.

Breaking free from another elf who tried to attack him, Xiang darted through the mess of dead bodies and bloody mud to reach the hill Bel and Fox were still holding.

“You made it!” Fox shouted, his voice rough and hoarse as if he’d damaged his throat from shouting.

“Where’s Winter?” Xiang demanded.

Fox waved a hand at the chaos in front of them. “Out there somewhere. He darts in and out of the dead world, scaring the shit out of them and killing them.”

Xiang was about to ask where he wanted them when a loud, earth-shaking thud rumbled through the woods, followed by a deep, ear-piercing roar.

“Holy fuck! They have a dragon!” Fox screeched, his voice cracking on the last word.

“He’s on our side! He’s our dragon!” Xiang immediately cried before Fox or Bel could direct their attack at the giant creature whose scales were shifting from shimmering gold to a brilliant blue.

“Thank God for that.” Bel sighed, his shoulders slumping. His normally wild black hair was plastered to his head. Gone were his neat bow ties and dapper suits. The vampire was dressed in muddy jeans and a black T-shirt that clung to him like a second skin. His features were pale and drawn, but there was a determined fire in his eyes.

Fox thrust his fists into the air and jumped. “Whoohooo! Dragon power!”

“Bel, can you call the wolves? Order them to retreat while we provide them cover?” Xiao Dan asked as he came to stand on the other side of the vampire.

“Yes! Yes, I can do that!” Bel pressed his fingertips against his skull and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Chen, Moon, Xiang, and Mei Lian—I want you to take the right flank. Push the fae back and cover the wolves as they escape. Junjie, Yichen, Rei, and I will take the left. We hold them until Bel says the wolves are in the clear,” Xiao Dan ordered.

With a nod, Xiang turned to the fight and launched himself into the mess. Two thousand years of fighting experience coursed through his body. He was faster and better trained than the fae. Each swing of his sword was another life cut down, another wolf shifter saved.

Rain pummeled them, washing away blood only for it to be replaced by mud. The wet earth sucked at his feet, slowing his steps, but he pushed forward, mindless of the chill biting at his flesh. Just a few hundred meters ahead, his dragon growled.

The massive creature tossed his head, his white mane and snakelike whiskers snapping around him. Kai flicked his tail and Xiang ducked low as three elves flew through the air to crash into trees, their bodies broken as they hit the ground. Xiang wasn’t the only one happy to get some payback. Kai would undoubtedly deny it later, though. With every movement, the dragon caused the ground to tremble. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled as if a second dragon bellowed out from the clouds.

It was slow work. Even as the battle turned in favor of the vampires, the fae seemed reluctant to call a retreat. They pressed on, surrounding Xiang and each of the vampires as if trying to separate them. Not that it mattered. They’d yet to bring high enough numbers against him to put him in real danger. Eventually, they would either kill them all or the fae would scamper into the woods, away from the residential area.

As it was, the wolves were already breaking free to safety. He glimpsed only River and Wyatt—Bel’s mates—sticking close to their vampire, far on Xiang’s left.

But if Bel had left the hill to pursue the fae…

“No!”

The panicked scream slashed across Xiang’s soul. He twisted to spot Winter standing close to him, but his haunted gaze was locked on the hill they’d been standing on. Xiang followed his stare to see Fox standing on the hill, his red hair stuck to his head and face from the rain, while an elf drew a short blade across Fox’s throat.

Xiang’s feet carried him forward, moving at the same time as Winter. But they were too late. As the elf lifted the blade from Fox’s throat, he plunged it into his back, bowing Fox’s torso forward.

Winter arrived in time to catch Fox as he collapsed to the ground. Xiang didn’t lift his eyes from the elf. The bastard didn’t even try to protect himself as Xiang cut him down with two quick strikes of his sword. No, the elf had known he was dead the moment they’d spotted him attacking the witch.

Were they too late to save Fox?

1 ?Baobei – yep, just what it sounds like. Baby. An endearment