Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“We were trapped under his control for several decades,” Chen continued the tale. “He’d been a vampire for more than a hundred years already. He was faster and stronger than all of us combined, so we had no hope of fighting back.”
“And then there was his vampiric power,” Meimei whispered with a shudder.
Xiao Dan grunted. “Like Winter Varik, Jiang Chong can pierce the veil that separates the living world from a type of limbo where ghosts exist prior to moving on to the underworld. It took us a very long time to figure out a way to track his movements when he disappears, and even that’s not much of a warning. Less than a second sometimes.”
“How did you escape him the first time?” Kai inquired. He didn’t want them lingering on these old memories, but focusing on their escape. If they did it once, they could do it again.
A derisive noise escaped Xiang. “It wasn’t even planned. Not really. We all wanted away from him, though we were scared to talk about it for fear of him overhearing. It was one day near sunset that I lost my temper and attacked him.”
“And I jumped in to help,” Junjie added.
“In the blink of an eye, we were all fighting him, most of us getting scorched by the sun,” Ming Yu murmured. “But after so long, it was better to be dead than serve him.”
“Jun-Jun nearly cut out his heart,” Chen stated. “That was what we thought was the killing blow. He staggered back, falling into the dead realm. He closed the door before we could follow.”
“The nights passed, and he didn’t return. The weeks turned to months and then years. We all assumed he’d died from his injury in the dead realm,” Xiao Dan murmured.
“But he escaped and went off to cause trouble somewhere else.” Rei huffed a bitter laugh. “No wonder he’s teamed up with Trin. Sounds like a very fae thing to do.”
“That does lead to a very sticky predicament,” Chen stated, as he lifted his teacup to his lips for a small sip of the steaming liquid.
“I’m sorry,” Rei whispered. “I feel like this is all my fault.”
Yichen grabbed Rei’s slumped shoulders and forced him to face his mate. “What the hell are you talking about? How is any of this your fault?”
Rei lifted his empty hands and stared at them as if he were expecting to find the answer there. “I should have seen it coming. Maybe not Jiang Chong, but I never thought Trin would follow in my parents’ footsteps. I don’t know him well, but he’s never given me any sign that he was power hungry. I was sure he would take our people home. Instead, he chooses the madness of the king and queen.”
“So, he had you fooled. He had us all fooled,” Yichen snapped. “That doesn’t make any of this your fault. We took our shot, and it didn’t quite work out how we wanted.”
“The queen is dead, and Kai got his sword back. They no longer have any chance of sending a dragon to kill us. That’s fucking progress!” Xiang chimed in. Rei’s head lifted, and the faintest smile lifted one corner of his mouth.
“The wall will continue to protect us from the fae. Or at the very least, warn us when they get too close,” Moon said. He paused and tapped his lips with one finger. “The problem is keeping Jiang Chong out. Or some kind of warning system.”
“And it can’t be blood based,” Chen pointed out. “Since his blood runs in all the Zhang vampires.”
Moon gulped. “Even me?”
“No,” Xiao Dan stated firmly. “The line breaks there. You mark the start of Chen’s individual bloodline and family.”
The fledgling released a deep breath and leaned heavily on Chen, his arms tightened on his waist and his head rested on his heart. “Thank God for that.”
“I think I can smell him,” Kai announced, causing every eye in the room to snap to him.
“Crap! That’s what you were talking about!” Xiang exploded.
“While we were searching for my sword, I caught a faint whiff of an odor that seemed familiar. It reminded me of the Zhang clan, but I knew it wasn’t any of you. Something about it was just different enough that I couldn’t place it,” Kai explained.
“Yes! I smelled that too!” Huli stated with a mouthful of the gods only knew what.
Xiao Dan smiled warmly at him before moving another plate of treats closer to the fox spirit. “I think it might be best if you remain close to the clan for the time being. Don’t go searching for Jiang Chong. He’s dangerous, and I don’t want you to be injured.”
Huli bounced up on his toes. “Can I sleep in your room?”
“I think we can arrange your own private room.”
The fox spirit dropped to the flats of his feet, his lips drawing into a frown. That was clearly not the answer he’d hoped for.