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)
“Jiejie, have you seen my mate?” Xiao Dan called out as he walked toward the kitchen. He turned the corner to find Huli standing behind the center island with Ming Yu, a wide grin on his face. “There you are! What are you up to? Sneaking snacks?”
Huli tipped his chin up and squared his shoulders. “Why not? Jiejie always makes the very best snacks.”
“That is very true. I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk with me through the garden.”
“Yes, please!” The playful fox pressed a quick kiss to Ming Yu’s cheek and skipped to the rear door with his hand held out to Xiao Dan.
Xiao Dan winked over his shoulder at Ming Yu, who was now silently laughing at the fox, and escorted him outside. The dark sky was full of twinkling stars, and a deep chill had settled in the area. It felt as if they were mere days away from the first snowfall. He was torn about wanting to stay to see their American home covered in a sparkling white blanket and wanting to hurry to China so that they could see the snow descending on a place they all loved so much.
Of course, Chen could stir up their own personal blizzard anytime he wanted, but it wasn’t the same. He wanted to watch nature’s magic as it fell on their home.
He gave Huli’s warm hand a squeeze as they followed the stone path over the small bridge and into the trees. His lips twitched to see one of Erik’s red cars by the brook, nestled by a couple of bushes. He would need to remember that so he could take it back in after their walk. Their littlest clan member would be searching for that later.
“Huli, I was thinking…I don’t know when your birthday is.”
“I don’t have a birthday.” The fox spirit gave a shrug of his shoulders, his free hand swinging at his side. “Fox spirits aren’t born the same way humans are. Min believed that our essence escaped the underworld and after a lot of time, we developed enough magic and consciousness to become a creature. I think I was born a fox near some magic, and that enabled me to cultivate into a fox spirit. Either way, I don’t know when all of that started.”
“So, by that logic, you could be older than me.”
Huli stared up at Xiao Dan for several seconds before bursting out in laughter. “That’s silly. There’s no way I could be older than you. Besides, you are Gege, and you will always be Gege.”
Xiao Dan lifted their joined hands to his lips and brushed a kiss across Huli’s fingers. “I will always be yours.”
As they reached the trees, Huli skipped a step ahead of him and turned so that he was facing Xiao Dan while he walked backward. “But if I had a birthday, does that mean I would get cake and presents?”
“Of course.”
“Can I pick any day out of the year to be my birthday?”
Xiao Dan nodded, his smile growing wider. “Do you have one in mind?”
“I do. I want my birthday to be the same day as yours.”
“December thirty-first?”
“Yes. I want us to celebrate together. We’ll eat cake and shoot off fireworks.”
“That is a wonderful idea. I can’t wait for our birthdays.”
Huli pulled his hand free and shifted into his fox form with his eight tails dancing behind him. He bounded and leaped around their private forest, darting between the trees and disappearing into the shadows, only to reappear a second later.
Xiao Dan leaned on a tree and watched his mate stretch his legs. Everything Huli did was so full of joy and energy. It was impossible not to smile when he was nearby.
Yet, Xiao Dan’s happiness faded as his eye caught on the flurry of fluffy orange and white tails that flowed behind the fox. Min had been destroyed. They were free of all hindrances and threats to their clan at long last. They could return to China, but the white huli jing had left a mark on them. Specifically, Huli. He was still missing a tail.
Gaining all nine tails and becoming a jiuweihu had been his lifelong dream. For centuries, he’d let nothing stand in his way to attaining his goal.
Now that he was one short, Xiao Dan couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to lose his sweet fox all over again. A fist closed on his heart and squeezed. The selfish part of him dreaded it. They’d lost so much time already. He wanted to support Huli, but he also didn’t want to go another night without his smiling face.
“Huli?”
The fox stopped sharply in his running and darting through the woods. His head snapped around to focus on Xiao Dan before he zipped between the trees to stop right in front of the vampire.