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)
At the very least, Kai could get some sleep without worrying about him. Was this what it was like to keep a pet? Constantly worrying they would get themselves into trouble, hurt by doing something they shouldn’t, or even eating something they shouldn’t? Kai squeezed his eyes shut at the brief image of trying to force the vampire to spit out something he shouldn’t have put into his mouth.
No, definitely not.
This was the danger of collecting something living, though. Books, swords, and gems were better. They all stayed where he put them. No random moving about or complaining about not seeing their family.
Content that he’d gathered the information he needed, Kai prepared to slip over the wall. Only there could he shift into his natural form and fly to his temporary cave.
However, that had to be put on hold. The huli jing had spotted him and was approaching. For a moment, he debated darting away before the fox reached him, but he was more worried about the creature following him to his lair. He didn’t need more trouble than he already had.
Kai walked farther into the woods, putting some distance between himself and the house so as not to catch the attention of the vampires.
“Ha! I knew my nose didn’t lie to me!” the huli jing announced as he bounded closer, his nine fluffy tails whipping through the air behind him. The creature was bigger than the normal fox, but not by a lot. Most of his bulk came from his many tails. Kai had known enough jiuweihu in his day to understand that each one of those tails was hard won. Also, the more tails a huli jing possessed, the more trouble they were.
Nine equaled god-level trouble.
“I have no quarrel with you, huli jing,” Kai grumbled the second the creature stopped approaching.
The fox’s triangle-shaped ears flattened to its head, and his black eyes narrowed. “We will have a quarrel if you try to steal my vampire, dragon.”
That…was interesting. The huli jing wasn’t there to torment all the clan, just a particular vampire.
“Have you come to steal another vampire?”
“No. The one I’m holding wished to know if any of his clan members suffered an injury during the fight with the fae.”
“Oh.” The fox spirit jumped up onto a fallen log and stretched almost catlike, its tails dancing behind it. “And you’re not going to steal another one?”
“No, I don’t wish to possess any more vampires. The one I have is more than enough.” That was all he needed. Two vampires plotting against him.
The huli jing sighed and lay on the log. “You can take one or two of them. That’s fine with me. Just not my vampire. He’s off-limits.”
“Fine. Whatever. I’ll leave your vampire alone.”
“Shall I tell them that the annoying, angry vampire is still alive?”
Kai had been about to step away from the fox spirit and head for the wall, but his question stopped him. “Do you mean Li Xiang?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s his name.” The huli jing appeared utterly indifferent to the vampire’s existence. “My vampire is worried about him.” He cocked his head to the side as if thinking. “However…when he’s worried, he seems to cuddle me more often.”
“I would prefer it if you didn’t tell them we spoke. Li Xiang is unharmed and being kept safe within my lair for now. That is all you need to know.”
“That’s fine with me.”
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Kai got a few steps away from the fox, but his feet stopped as his curiosity got the better of him. “Just so I know which vampire to avoid, which one is yours?”
“He is called Zhang Xiao Dan, and he is the leader of the clan.” The huli jing’s voice started off dreamy but turned sharper as his eyes snapped back. “You will not touch him, dragon. He is mine.”
“Good to know,” Kai mumbled.
He couldn’t get away from this clan fast enough. A cluster of ancient vampires complicated by the addition of an elf and a very possessive nine-tailed huli jing. That was far too messy for him to ever want to touch again.
Kai swore he would not check on the vampire when he returned to his lair.
And within ten minutes, he was breaking his promise to himself.
In his defense, he didn’t trust Xiang.
It wasn’t like he was checking in on the vampire because the man represented something interesting to break up the monotonous passage of time. Li Xiang was a strange, chatty creature with many questions and a peculiar way of looking at life that, more often than not, left him scratching his head. Kai couldn’t remember the last time he’d met someone who confounded him quite like Xiang.
Besides, the vampire currently occupied the most comfortable location in the entire network of caves Kai had claimed as his own. He hadn’t loved the idea of placing the vampire within his hoard, but it was the most secure spot with its intricate web of protective spells. How else could he be sure the vampire wouldn’t escape?