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And if he succeeded in his plan, he was going to pull them apart permanently.
Chapter 3
Wu Yichen
“Are you sure I should have brought my bag?”
Yichen’s head whipped around at Rei’s question, his brows furrowing and mouth falling open at the elf. He was usually the logical one of the two of them, but that was the craziest, most unexpected question.
They sat in the back of the ride share on their way to the Zhang clan’s temporary home. The call to Chen-ge had gone about as he’d thought—a lot of questions if he was safe and demands to allow Li Xiang to fetch him since the vampire possessed the ability to move around during the daylight hours. That way, they could leave Hartford the second the sun was down.
After many reassurances and promises, Chen gave them instructions for hiring a car the next evening. This arrangement was safer, as it allowed Yichen and Rei to watch for fae spies.
Naturally—or so he thought—they packed up the meager belongings they’d picked up after escaping the fae. Nothing much. Mostly clothes. It made sense that they would move in with his family after contacting them. Yichen was certain his brothers and sisters would not let him out of their sight for quite a while.
“My presence might make them uncomfortable,” Rei murmured. His tone was as light and indifferent as it usually was, but the elf was keeping his eyes locked out the window on his right. “I can return to the place we have rented.”
“No.” He said nothing more. Just waited. Nearly a full minute passed by before Rei dragged his green eyes to Yichen’s face. “We’re not separating. I believe we made an agreement prior to our escape that we would stay together. You need me to help watch your back, and I clearly need you.”
“Your family—”
“Whoa! When did they build this all the way out here? Someone put a castle behind those walls?” the driver interrupted, calling a halt to their discussion. The car slowed and turned into a driveway, but came to a stop a short time later in front of a wooden gate that remained closed. A man stood off to the side, his hand raised in front of his face to block the glare of the headlights.
Yichen’s heart sped up at the sight of those walls. They were identical to the ones surrounding his clan home in Luoyang. It was as if Shixiong had built the place to make him feel as if he were home again. As if he’d never left China.
“This is good here,” Yichen blurted out, throwing open his door. He glanced across the rear seat to tell Rei to get out of the car, but the elf was smirking at him as he opened his door.
They approached the man together, but there was no shaking the feeling that he felt familiar. As the car reversed onto the road, the stranger dropped his hand to his side.
“Good grief! Do they have to make headlights that bright?”
Without the bright glare of the headlights, it was easier to make out the slender man with almost-white hair dressed in baggy shorts and a T-shirt. “You’re the one who was with Chen-ge at the castle!” Yichen cried out, some of the tension falling off his shoulders.
“Yep. That’s me. I’m Moon. It’s good to see you.”
Yichen couldn’t help looking around the area in front of the gate, but there was no one else. When he returned to the sect, he’d expected to be greeted by all of his brothers and sisters. Not by a stranger.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not the welcoming committee.” Moon laughed as if reading his thoughts. “I’m here to get him safely through the protective barrier.” As he spoke, he pointed right at Rei.
“So, you are a witch,” Rei breathed.
“I am. Witch and mate to Chen Bo Cheng, if you can believe it.”
“I’m not sure I can,” Yichen muttered.
“Most can’t.” Moon snickered. He knocked twice on the wooden door behind him and then strode toward Rei with one hand extended. “But we can talk about all that later. I’m sure we have a lot of catching up to do. First, though, I need to walk your elf friend through the barrier. Right now, it’s keeping out some not-too-powerful fae and acting as an early warning system. Walking you through means you’re not breaking it and forcing me to set the whole thing up again.”
Rei stared at Moon’s hand and even took a tiny step closer to Yichen. “If I allow you to take me inside, will I be your prisoner? Will I be able to leave?”
“Whoa! No! Definitely not a prisoner.” Moon backpedaled, his hands up in front of him. “You’re Wu Yichen’s friend. Not a prisoner. My barrier won’t stop you from leaving. I just don’t want you to break it. Once you are past the walls, we’ll make some spell adjustments so you won’t affect it. You’ll be able to come and go whenever you want without setting it off.”
“What’s taking so long?”
Yichen’s heart leaped into his throat at that familiar voice. His head jerked up to find a smirking Li Xiang standing on the wall with his hands braced on his hips.
“San-ge!”1 Yichen shouted, the endearment slipping from his lips before he could stop it.
“Don’t let Moon scare you off. If he does, he’s not allowed inside. I don’t care whose mate he is,” Xiang teased.
