Page 22 of Two Thousand Shadows (Kings of Chaos #4)

Chapter 21

Zhang Junjie

L eo would never forgive him for this. Not that he blamed the cat shifter. Junjie had crossed all the lines. He’d pretended to be insane, locked his would-be boyfriend in the armory, and set a dragon to guard him.

Well, maybe he wasn’t pretending as much as he would have liked to be.

But none of that mattered. He’d watched too many people lose their lives at the hands of Jiang Chong. Leo would not join them. He would save Leo. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take the risk of allowing Leo to run around on his own until he figured this out.

His visions almost never provided an exact time when the events would happen. There was no way of telling if Jiang Chong was going to attack tonight or in a week, or possibly even a year. The trees in the background had looked about how they were right now. They hadn’t changed to a deep orange and gold with the progression of fall. That meant Jiang Chong was likely to attack any day now.

Sadly, Leo was right in that he didn’t know how to find Jiang Chong. There was no way he could track down his creator and challenge him to a fight to the death. They were left waiting for the asshole to appear.

But there was one other option. If he couldn’t stop Leo from dying, was there a way to make sure that the death wasn’t permanent?

And he knew of one person who might have the answer to that question.

He drew in a shaky breath as he drove up the long curving driveway to the Variks’ mansion. As far as he knew, the only members of the clan not currently living within the mansion’s walls were Rafe and his mate, Philippe. Bel and Winter had moved in with their mates after the fae had burned their homes to the ground.

Junjie had visited the Varik home once before, but then he’d been with several other members of his clan. This time, he was alone. He’d been afraid to draw anyone else into his desperation, mostly out of fear of someone trying to talk him out of it. There were no other options, and there was no time to wait. Bel Varik was the one person who could help him now.

He jumped out of the car and hurried up the broad staircase. The front doors burst open and Winter rushed out. He was wearing a black hoodie that threatened to swallow up his smaller form, but there was no missing the worry that filled his bright-blue eyes.

“What happened? Has Jiang Chong struck?” Winter demanded.

Junjie shook his head. “No. Everyone is fine. I need to speak to your brother Bel.”

Winter blinked at him, his mouth open, but no words were coming out. He blinked again, and it was like his brain engaged. “Uh…yeah, he’s inside.” Winter motioned for Junjie to enter the house, and he followed behind him.

The youngest Varik showed him into one of the parlors while shooting a text off to his sibling. Junjie’s gaze skimmed the elegant decorations that covered the walls and the thick rugs that stretched over the floors. There was a regal opulence about the place that reminded him of pictures he’d seen of European palaces.

“Your clan is okay? The fae haven’t attacked?” Winter repeated as they stepped into the parlor. A dark mocha-brown tufted sofa and a matching pair of black rounded-back chairs waited for them. It was a warm and inviting room with a more modern feel, as if the Variks reserved this area for close friends rather than strangers.

“Yes, everyone is fine. There have been no encounters in the past several days.”

“And the little boy? Erik? He’s adjusted to living with you?”

For the first time since seeing Jiang Chong plunge the sword into Leo’s chest, Junjie felt like he could take a real breath. His lips moved into a soft smile, and he nodded, letting the joy he always felt when he thought about Erik blossom in his chest.

“Erik is good. Adjusting well. His sleep has improved, and he’s loving nearly everything Shijie makes for him. His toy collection has become enormous.” As he spoke, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He swiped through a series of frantic text messages from his clan mates and pulled up the photo gallery to show off several pictures he’d snapped of the boy while he played. “One of his favorite things continues to be feeding the fish each day. They look forward to seeing him too.”

“Wow! Could that kid be any more adorable?”

Junjie’s head popped up suddenly. “I’m sorry. I forgot to ask. How are you and Fox?”

Winter’s grin became crooked. “Don’t worry about it. We’re good. Fox is adapting to being a vampire faster than I am. He’s eager to discover what his vampiric power is going to be. I’m praying it’s something benign like Yichen’s language skills, but with his luck, we’re going to have another pyromaniac like Ethan.”

“Hopefully, the gods will take pity on you.”

Brisk footsteps echoed through the hall a second before Bel appeared in the open doorway, followed by his two shifter mates, River and Wyatt. Bel seemed to be his usual frazzled self with his wild hair of loose curls that were completely incongruent with his neat bow tie with tiny yellow lightning bolts on a dark navy background. The wolves were more informally dressed in T-shirts and jeans. Both were even barefoot. That was something he noticed Leo seemed to enjoy. The first sign of the cat shifter growing comfortable in the Zhang manor was that he eschewed anything on his feet.

Even little Erik was the same. Every chance the child got, he was pulling off his shoes, socks, and slippers.

“Junjie!”

“Hello, Bel, River, Wyatt. I’m sorry to come over unannounced. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“No! No! No!” Bel answered with a wave of his hands.

“Your timing is perfect. Bel needed a break from work,” Wyatt said, causing Bel to throw him a disgruntled look.

“I’ll let you guys talk. Shout if you need me for anything,” Winter interjected and quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

Bel motioned for Junjie to sit in one of the chairs. He took the sofa with his mates on either side of him. “What can I do for you? Is everything good with your clan?”

The warm feeling he received at Winter’s questions about Erik continued to swell. Their concern for his clan was so very touching. Leaving behind a vampire clan who had become such good friends was going to be hard when they returned home to China.

“Everyone is good. Thank you.”

River bounced on the couch cushions. “Winter and Fox told us you’d adopted a cat shifter. We can’t wait to meet him. Has he tried shifting yet?”

Junjie struggled to hold on to his smile while the panic in his chest rose. “Leo says he’s too young for that. Cat shifters don’t usually shift until their late teens to early twenties.”

Wyatt grunted. “That’s not too far off from wolf shifters. We’re usually in our teens.”

With a scoot to the edge of his seat, Junjie moved closer to the trio. “That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about. Shifters, I mean.”

“Sure,” River replied with a grin. “We’re happy to help anyway we can.”

“Can you change a shifter into a vampire?”

As soon as the words were off Junjie’s lips, all three faces fell. River cuddled closer to Bel, and Wyatt reached out to wrap an arm around both men. Bel’s eyes were wide and took on a haunted feel, as he slowly shook his head.

“No. You can’t. It’s…it’s impossible…and very dangerous to even attempt it.”

“What?” Junjie croaked. It was as if a hand had reached inside of his chest and squeezed his heart, threatening to turn it to dust. “But…but why? Are you sure? What if?—”

“No!” Bel snapped. He turned to River and hugged the slender shifter, pulling him in as close as he could get without climbing into Bel’s lap.

“I’m assuming you’re asking for the cat shifter, Leo,” Wyatt said, drawing Junjie’s heart-broken gaze over to him. Junjie could only nod. His throat was raw and tight, making it impossible to sneak out any words. “A few years ago, the local wolf pack attacked our home. River suffered horrible injuries and was near death. He was losing blood too fast and couldn’t heal. We were forced to give him some vampire blood to speed up the healing. As a result, River went berserk. It took almost the entire clan to hold him down, and he was still weak from his injury. If he’d have gotten loose, he would have killed the entire clan.”

A tiny whimper slipped out of River, and he shuddered in Bel’s arms. The vampire pressed kisses to his head and cheeks, soothing him.

“A short time later, he regained his sanity and finished healing. However, Bel and I believe that if we’d attempted to actually change him into a vampire, he would never have recovered his sanity. He would have gone on killing until he was finally stopped. There was nothing of River in that monster when it had control of him.”

“Our blood and powers aren’t compatible,” Bel stated in a low, rough voice. Still holding River, Bel looked over at Junjie. “Have you tried drinking from Leo yet?”

“Twice,” Junjie whispered. “The first time, I…I suffered an injury during a fight with the fae, and Leo offered me his blood as we ran.”

“And?”

“It’s not like human or vampire blood. I didn’t take much, but it was like I’d become intoxicated on it.”

“The same thing happened to me,” Bel admitted with a small, crooked smile that didn’t reach his sad blue eyes. “Vampires have no problem taking in shifter blood, but it’s toxic in reverse. Thankfully, shifters seem to live extremely long lives. We don’t have to worry?—”

“I had a vision of Jiang Chong killing Leo,” Junjie blurted out, cutting Bel off and silencing everyone in the room. No one breathed.

Junjie squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head into his hands while resting his elbows on his knees. He’d come to the Variks hoping to find a way around Leo’s death sentence, but this was a dead end.

Pain and panic blanketed, making it impossible to think. He didn’t want to lose Leo. Not yet. Not after they’d only known each other for a few months. The wily cat shifter had been this bright spark in his long, dark life. How could that light be snuffed so quickly?

“Then…then we kill Jiang Chong before he kills Leo,” River announced to the suffocatingly quiet room.

Junjie dragged in a loud, shaking breath. “I’ve had countless visions of Jiang Chong killing people, and I’ve never stopped one of them. It’s as if they were fixed events in time. Unchangeable.” He lifted his eyes and narrowed them on Wyatt and Bel. Those were the science-minded people. “Are you sure? Wolf shifters and cat shifters must have some differences.”

“That is very likely,” Wyatt admitted. “If you could get us a sample of Leo’s blood, we could run some tests, compare it to my blood and River’s.”

A soft smile spread across Bel’s face as he stared at his mate, but it disappeared when he turned his attention to Junjie. “I know what’s going through your head, Junjie. You want to try it anyway. I’d be the same way, even after seeing what happened to River. But you need to remember, if you’re wrong, Leo will die regardless of your efforts. The only difference is that if you bring Leo back and he becomes a berserk monster, it will be your job to kill him.”

Could he do that? Could he kill Leo if he woke a monster? There was no way that Leo would want to harm anyone in his clan.

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t lose him,” Junjie choked out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bel rise from his place on the sofa and come over to kneel in front of Junjie. He took his hands, pulling them away from his face so he could meet his gaze. “We won’t let Jiang Chong hurt Leo. That’s what we’re going to do.”

“But there’s no way to stop him. I’ve seen it happen so many times before.”

“True, but that was thousands of years ago. Times have changed. We have more tech, more magic, and a hell of a lot more crafty vampires to help you. We’ve got someone here with the same power as Jiang Chong. That’s got to make a difference.”

“Yeah!” River exclaimed suddenly. “We’ll send Winter to live with your clan until we can kill this Jiang Chong.” He stopped and scratched his jaw. “You’d probably end up getting Fox, too.”

“They’re a package deal,” Wyatt added.

A tiny spark of hope flared to life in his chest. Would that be enough to make a difference? They’d never been able to predict Jiang Chong’s movements. Taking away his element of surprise would level the field if not give them an edge at last over him.

“Okay. Thank you. I…I need to talk to Leo and the rest of my clan. Make…make some plans,” Junjie replied.

Bel gave his hands a last squeeze before pushing to his feet. “Whatever you need. I know Winter would be happy to stay with your clan for a while. He’s been very curious about your fighting style and would love to learn more. This would give him a chance to spend time with your clan while acting as an early warning against Jiang Chong.”

“And Bel is always happy to run new experiments,” Wyatt said.

“I know!” Bel gasped. He spun halfway toward his mates. “Could you imagine if we could get our hands on some actual cat shifter blood? The comparative studies we could run would be so fascinating! I can think of so many things I’d love to study.”

“Thank you again. I’ll talk to Leo and see what he thinks our next course of action should be.”

Not that their next conversation was going to be an easy one. He might have lost it a bit when he’d locked Leo in the armory. The cat shifter would not be happy to see him. And Junjie wasn’t sure any amount of groveling was going to make this better.