Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“Life, of course,” Su Ming Yu instantly answered. “We have only ever wanted you to live and be safe.” The female vampire turned to Rei and bowed her head. “Your Highness, on behalf of my clan, I apologize for our rudeness. Our worry for Wu Yichen has made us cruel and thoughtless.”
Yichen grunted. “Yes, I depend on his blood, but I am still alive, searching for a way to break this dependency. What does the crown prince have to show for his mercy? Crippled by his parents, cast out and hunted. And if he stays behind after we close the door between the realms, he will die. He got nothing out of this arrangement when he helped me.”
Rei closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the side of Yichen’s head.
I got you.
The words danced like a song around his soul, but they never left his lips.
Even if it was for only a little while, I got to remain by your side.
“Your Highness…”
He wasn’t sure who spoke that time. With a smile, he lifted his head but didn’t open his eyes yet. “Truly, Rei is just fine. This one has never shown me an ounce of respect for my title. I’ve gotten quite used to the nickname he’s given me.”
Yichen huffed, the sound dismissive. “Because Wistari Elnaril Reymaris takes too long to say and is so fucking pretentious.”
“Rei, thank you for saving our brother’s life,” Xiao Dan said.
“Yeah, um…sorry about…earlier.” Rei opened his eyes at Xiang’s apology to see the vampire scratching the back of his head, appearing very uncomfortable. “Aside from Meimei, Yichen is the youngest. I guess we’re all accustomed to watching out for him. We can be overprotective.”
This time it was Meimei who snorted from her perch on one of the sofa arms. “I can vouch for that.”
Moon clapped his hands together in the silent room, making everyone jump. “Now that we’ve tried that option, there’s one thing left. Magic!”
“No!” Chen roared. The vampire swung about and wrapped one arm across the blood witch’s chest while slapping his other hand over his mouth. Even though it was muffled, there was no missing the witch’s wild cackles.
That was not the response he’d been expecting.
It was more than a bit frightening.
Why wasn’t the blood witch allowed to perform magic?
Chapter 5
Wu Yichen
Somewhere along the line, his clan had become…odd.
He was beginning to think, though, that a good chunk of that oddness was thanks to the giggling blood witch in Chen’s arms.
Straight-laced, boring, predictable, follow-all-the-rules Chen was acting as if he meant to drop the witch over his shoulder and bolt from the room. The Chen he knew would never do something so disgraceful.
What the hell happened while I was away?
Moon pulled an arm free, caught Chen’s hand, and lowered it from his mouth. “I can do this! I swear. We’re talking a tiny bit of magic to dig into their problem. Nothing big.”
“Baobei,”1 Chen pleaded, rubbing the tip of his nose across Moon’s cheek. “It’s dangerous. We agreed you would refrain until you improved your meditation skills and we spoke to that witch, Zelda.”
“Pfft. No one knows when Zelda is going to pop up. The old witch does what she wants on her own schedule. Yichen and Rei need help now.”
“Baobei,” Chen repeated, his voice softening even more.
“You’re playing dirty. This isn’t nice,” Moon grumbled. “You know I can’t argue when you call me that.”
“Aarrrggghhhhh!” Xiang moaned loudly before flopping down on one sofa with a bounce, covering his face with both hands. “Newlyweds! I swear to the gods and ancestors, if you keep this up, I’m going to throw up in the corner like Didi.”
Lovely.
Xiao Dan cleared his throat and partially covered his mouth as if trying to hide his smile. “I think if Moon is cautious and only uses a little magic, he can safely attempt a minor spell. Outside. We’ll be vigilant and stop the spell if it has an ill effect on him.”
“Yes! I’ll go get my knives!” Moon shouted. He broke out of Chen’s embrace, proving that the vampire hadn’t been restraining him that tightly, and darted from the room. Chen threw a dark look at Xiao Dan as he followed his mate.
Yichen opened his mouth to ask what the hell was happening, but Ming Yu chimed in first. “Shidi,2 would you like me to show you to a bathroom where you can clean up? Shixiong can give Rei a tour of the gardens while we wait for you and Moon.”
He glanced at Rei, and the elf smirked. “I think I’ll be safe with your shixiong for five minutes. Go clean up.”
Rei was right. Now that they all knew his life was tied to Rei’s, they wouldn’t allow anything to happen to the elf. And just maybe they would now stop watching Rei as if he were the enemy.