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)
Yet that was what made Xiang great. He didn’t think about Kai’s power. No, his mate turned completely around to face him, his face flushed and eyes sparkling. “I will not let you get so close to death ever again! This is the one way I have of keeping you safe. If we can’t get the sword from her before we can kill her, she’s going to summon you and command you to kill us. Staying here will buy you and us more time.”
“This is my sword. A thief violated my hoard. I have suffered years of humiliation. I demand retribution!” Kai shouted.
“And you’re my mate! I’m not letting you get hurt by that elf!” Xiang bellowed back in his face.
“Actually, I don’t think the sword is going to have the same power over Kai any longer,” Chen broke in, snapping both of their glares to him.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Xiang demanded.
Chen rolled his eyes and flicked a bit of ice in Xiang’s direction in irritation. Kai’s hand zipped out and caught the ice, crushing it in his fist. It wouldn’t have hurt Xiang, but no one could throw things at his mate. “What are you saying?”
“You said that the sword was a special gift from Huangdi because of a great deed you did. Its importance to you made it the heart of your hoard, and that’s why it has power over you.” Chen paused and smirked at Xiang. “However, I would argue that its level of importance in your life has changed over the past several weeks. Especially recently. What if you had to choose between Xiang and your sword?”
“Xiang,” Kai blurted out. “I would choose Xiang.”
Chen shrugged and dusted his hands off against each other. “I’m convinced she won’t be able to control you any longer. At least not to the point of putting your life in danger. The real threat is if she gets her hands on Xiang, which is unlikely to happen. First, she’d have to know that Xiang has usurped the sword’s power. And second, she’d have to catch him. With Kai there to protect Xiang, it won’t happen. Plus, Xiang is somewhat skilled. He should be able to protect himself better than a sword.”
“Screw you,” Xiang snarled, looking around as if he wanted to find something to throw at Chen’s head.
Kai’s heart frantically thudded in his chest while his thoughts raced in his brain. It was a struggle to round them up and analyze Chen’s logic, but he could find no fault in it. “No, he’s right. I would give up all of my hoard to keep you. My every desire is to place you in my hoard and keep you safe. You are the heart of my hoard now.” After sucking in a deep breath, he turned to Xiao Dan. “Chen is right. I am going.”
“What? No!” Xiang shrieked.
“I am going, and that is final.” Another crash of thunder punctuated that sentence.
And to make sure Xiang couldn’t argue with him further, Kai disappeared from the room and reappeared in the center of his hoard. Of course, he could still hear what was happening in the meeting room, particularly Xiang.
“Where did he go?” Ming Yu gasped.
There was a moment of silence before Xiang growled. “I bet he went to his hoard.” Above Kai’s head, he could hear the stomp of a foot on the wooden floorboards. “Get back here, you freaking dinosaur! We’re not done arguing!”
Dinosaur!
Kai was more than happy to show the vampire what this dinosaur could do.
1 Mantou – steamed bun that doesn’t have a sweet or savory filling
2 Baozi – steamed bun that contains a meat, vegetable, or meat and vegetable filling
Chapter 28
Li Xiang
Xiang blinked, and his clan was gone.
He wasn’t in the meeting room any longer. It took only a second to recognize the heavy congestion of antique furniture, the wall of weapons, and the giant mound of pillows. A haunting scent of incense drifted past his nose, and the warm flicker of candles cast a pleasant and familiar glow. Kai had magicked him to the hoard.
“Kai!” he bellowed. This was not how they dealt with an argument. One person could not storm off and then use magic to steal the other away.
“You called me a dinosaur.” His stubborn mate’s voice drifted out from the far corner of the hoard in the direction of the canopied bed on the dais. At least Kai was in the hoard with him. He hadn’t simply trapped Xiang here while he went off to pout somewhere else.
Xiang marched toward Kai’s voice, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “Kai.”
“I’m not a dinosaur. I’ve never even seen one.”
He didn’t know whether to shake or strangle his lover. He was focused on something entirely unimportant.
As he reached the bedroom area of the cave, he found Kai seated on the end of the bed with his arms folded over his chest and a sour expression on his face. Something about seeing Kai in his cave made Xiang’s heart stutter and skip. It was as if he could feel the dragon’s power wrapping around him, blanketing and protecting him. When they’d been living with the clan, Kai had felt more human and fragile to him. Especially as wonder had filled his face as he’d experienced new human things for the first time.