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)
And they would be right.
He was a worthless huli jing. No good to his kind—not that he cared about other huli jing—and no good to Xiao Dan.
He shifted into the human form that Xiao Dan was most fond of and magically summoned his most precious treasure in all the world.
Huli cupped his hands together, and a soft glow rose for a moment, engulfing his hands. As it faded, a brilliant green jade pendant with a worn green ribbon dangling from the top rested in his palms.
He squatted, all of his attention on the fine details of the piece of jade that had been so expertly carved. But it wasn’t the incredible workmanship or the fact that the jade piece was several hundred years old that made it so valuable.
No, it was that Xiao Dan had given it to him.
His amazing gege1 had walked into a shop and spent his money to purchase this yupei2 for him and him alone.
Huli had treasured it long before he’d understood the meaning of the gift. It had been a shiny thing his human had given to him.
But now he knew it was a promise.
This pendant meant Huli belonged to Xiao Dan and no one else.
He hoped to one day give Xiao Dan a gift like this jade that would mean Xiao Dan belonged to him forever, but he was waiting for when he knew he was worthy of the vampire.
Huli squeezed his eyes shut against the sudden burn of tears and bent his head, pressing the edge of the pendant into his forehead. Now he would never be worthy of Xiao Dan.
Huli’s head jerked up, and he strained all of his senses. Someone was close. As he was still locating the intruder, Huli magically tucked the jade away to its secure hiding spot and shifted into his fox form.
He slunk around a large oak, sniffing the air. There was nothing but a sharp tingle of magic. Yet, not huli jing magic.
“Xiao Dan is worried about you.”
Huli swallowed a groan. It was dragon magic.
Ever since the dragon had latched on to the Zhang clan, it had become impossible to sneak onto the grounds and spy on the clan. The dragon always knew where he was, but at least he was more tolerable than Chen or Xiang.
“You’re confused, dragon. Gege is angry with me,” Huli mumbled as he stepped out from behind a tree to find Kai as a human. He sat on an elegantly carved wood bench that had not been there a second ago.
For a creature that was content to sleep at the bottom of rivers and lakes, his human form seemed very fussy about dirt. He was always smartly dressed and surrounded by expensive things. How could two such different personalities exist in one creature? And if Kai was this fussy, how could he love such a meatheaded brute like Xiang?
“I’m not confused. Xiao Dan told me specifically that he was not angry. He is worried about you. Are you injured?”
“No,” he whined.
Why couldn’t he have been hurt, at least? If he was wounded, Xiao Dan would have felt bad for him and maybe be more willing to forgive him.
No. That was stupid. No amount of bleeding or broken limbs would convince Xiao Dan to forgive him. Even if he died, Xiao Dan still wouldn’t forgive him.
“Will you return to the manor with me so we can discuss what happened?”
“No. I can’t face him yet.”
Kai sighed and nodded. “Very well.” With a wave of his hand, a table appeared in front of him with a clay teapot and a pair of cups. A thin curl of steam trickled out of the pot. Kai picked up the teapot and poured some tea into both cups. “Shift into your human form. Have some tea with me and tell me about this other huli jing.”
“No.” Huli frowned and belatedly tacked on, “Thank you.” Kai was a dragon and nearly a god. Huli was all too aware that Kai could transport them to the Zhang manor with nothing more than a snap of his fingers.
“You need to talk to someone. Who will it be?”
Irritated, Huli opened his mouth, but the name lodged in his throat. He had been about to blurt out Xiao Dan. He talked to Xiao Dan about everything. Except for this.
“Moon! I’ll talk to Moon. He likes me.”
Maybe not after he learns the whole truth, though.
Kai blinked, and his lips twisted into something a little more mocking. “Moon?”
“What’s wrong with Moon? He’s great!” Huli’s fur bristled, and a faint crackle of magic entered the air.
“Moon is great. I like the young man a lot.” Kai paused and took a sip of his tea. “But please consider that Moon is only twenty-four in human years. Plus, he’s an American. He knows nothing of our heritage, our history. He doesn’t understand the long, complicated past of huli jing.”