Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“I will stay right by your side. I promise to not leave the estate until you are on your feet.” Xiao Dan pressed a kiss to Huli’s ear. “But the second you are, I’m going to destroy Min for daring to touch a hair on your precious head.”
The corner of Huli’s mouth twitched slightly. Just the hint of a smile.
Yes. Min’s nights were numbered. No one touched his mate and lived.
Chapter 18
Huli
Consciousness crept into Huli’s brain.
But the moment the world shifted into focus, he could feel it. The hole. The new emptiness inside of him. His magic had diminished. He was less now because he had lost one of his tails.
Not lost.
Stolen. One of his tails had been stolen from him.
Min had stolen his tail, and he had no doubt that she planned to take more from him. All of his tails before killing him.
How was he supposed to keep his Xiao Dan safe? He was weaker now. He couldn’t beat her at his peak. What was he supposed to do?
Huli squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to curl his body up into a tighter ball, pulling his remaining tails up over his face, except something was wrapped around his middle. He blinked his bleary eyes open and stared at the white bandages covering his stomach. There was another on his front left leg.
Ming Yu. He could smell her on the bandages and a whiff of her soft scent on his fur. He could remember Kai taking him away from the woods, back to the manor. Ming Yu must have cleaned him up and wrapped him in bandages while his body healed.
His sharp nose could also pick up lots of Xiao Dan. He was in the vampire’s comfy bed. His beautiful scent was on his fur. Vague memories of Xiao Dan whispering to him danced through his head. He didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious in this room, but the impression of Xiao Dan being at his side was very strong. His lover had stayed with him while he recovered.
But where was he now?
He needed to find Xiao Dan, apologize for his failure.
If he was going to do that, he needed to do it properly with human eyes and a human mouth.
Gritting his teeth, he gathered up the broken strands of magic throughout his body, weaving them together in a rough tapestry to cover up the new hole within him. In time, the magic would meld and flow together so that it would be like the hole created by the missing tail never happened. At least, that was what he hoped. He still had more than enough magic to shift.
With a soft grunt as the magic surged through his battered frame, he changed from fox to human. At the same time, the bandages disappeared, replaced with the soft pajamas that belonged to Xiao Dan. Despite his long rest, his body ached down to the bones.
Carefully, he swung his feet over the edge of the bed and sat up. He couldn’t help looking at where his tails would have been. Even though they weren’t there, he swore he could feel the hole where one was missing.
She’d stolen his tail. He wasn’t a jiuweihu any longer. Just a silly huli jing with eight tails instead of nine. He was less. Smaller. Weaker.
Most importantly, he wasn’t worthy of Xiao Dan. The leader of the Zhang clan deserved to have someone who was powerful and achieved great things. He needed someone who could protect him against any foe and threat.
Huli dropped his head into his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. He’d brought this threat into the Zhang clan. She’d come after Xiao Dan and even sweet little Erik. It was his responsibility to get rid of her, but he couldn’t.
He was more than willing to die to get rid of Min, but what good was that? He’d die fighting Min, and she’d become more powerful.
Huli’s throat grew tight, threatening to choke him. It was time to face Xiao Dan. To tell him the truth. Huli opened his eyes and held out one hand. With a burst of magic, the jade yupei Xiao Dan had given him more than seven centuries ago rested heavily in his palm. His one treasure. More precious to him than all of his tails combined. It shone as brightly today as it did the night Xiao Dan had gifted it to him. Only the pale-green ribbon had grown worn and faded with time.
When they were apart and Huli was alone, he would pull out the jade and nuzzle it, searching for Xiao Dan’s scent to keep him company. In those early days of learning to shift, he would summon up a human hand so he could trace each of the intricate lines and feel the silky softness of the ribbon.