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“Very similar. If I had to guess, Shixiong probably designed this,” Yichen replied.
Xiao Dan paused and turned to smile at him. The vampire was of average height with a soft, gentle face and warm brown eyes, but there was something more. A calming but authoritative presence to him. Rei had spent his lifetime around powerful creatures, but this was the first time he wanted to obey simply to make him happy.
“You would be partially correct,” the clan leader stated. “I handled the house. Ming Yu, Junjie, and Chen oversaw the courtyards and garden.” He motioned to a sitting room that opened onto a garden courtyard.
Tiny yellow lights glowed along a winding stone path through a variety of plants and a small koi pond. Without thinking, Rei reached out and grabbed Yichen’s hand, squeezing his fingers. It was perfect. Even from within the house, he could feel nature’s energy sweeping from the courtyard to seep into his soul. It was like being home, but better because he wasn’t in danger of encountering his parents or any of the wicked creatures that prowled the fae realm.
The slow walk through the house continued, tension seeming to mount with every step they took. Not that Rei could honestly blame them. As long as he remained at Yichen’s side, they couldn’t speak freely. Each and every one of them had to be dying to ask, “What happened to you?” and, “Who the hell is the elf?”
“Your rooms—”
“It’s okay, Shixiong. That can wait,” Yichen interrupted with a stiff smile. “I’m sure you have questions, and there’s a lot we need to discuss.”
Xiao Dan’s brow furrowed as he turned to face them. “You don’t want to rest? There will be plenty of time to talk later.”
“We’re good.”
“We’ve been renting a place downtown for the past few weeks,” Rei chimed in.
The elder vampire’s expression clouded, his eyes darting between them. “You…you are staying, aren’t you?”
Yichen lurched forward, pulling free of Rei’s grasp to grip one of Xiao Dan’s hands in both of his. “We’re staying, Da-ge. I swear, we’re staying. I don’t plan to leave the clan ever again.”
Pain sliced sharply through Rei’s chest when it shouldn’t have. There was nothing surprising about the vampire’s words. Pure misery filled every second of Yichen’s time with the fae. Of course he wished to be with his family and never look back. The last step in Yiyi’s run for freedom was breaking free of Rei. Yiyi was going to be so happy to be free at last.
The only problem was that Rei wasn’t ready to be free of his Yiyi.
“Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry. I—” Xiao Dan stammered.
“Breathe, Da-ge.” Xiang chuckled. “We’ve got our didi. He’s never escaping.”
“That’s true,” Junjie agreed.
“Yes.” The single word escaped Xiao Dan on a heavy sigh of relief, and Rei tamped down the ache and his own wishes. There was no keeping Yichen, not when his family needed him more.
Xiao Dan led them to a large room with several long sofas with cushions covered in the softest fabric. Much better than the rough, lumpy sofa they had in their apartment. He rubbed his hand across the material after he sat, and shot a smirk in Yichen’s direction.
His companion snorted and gave his shoulder a shove. “Don’t start with me.”
“What?” Rei aimed for an innocent tone, but Yichen’s glare declared he wasn’t buying it. “I’m only saying that this is nice. You might have to get the Blood Witch to kick me outside your wall.”
“And I thought it was you rubbing it in that we could have been living here weeks ago if I hadn’t been so stubborn,” Yichen grumbled.
“Well…that too,” Rei drawled. He could feel the tilt of his lips turning a little wicked.
“I don’t understand,” Meimei interrupted. “You didn’t want to return?” She pointed at Yichen and then snapped her head around to Rei. “It wasn’t…”
She didn’t need to finish. Every member of the clan had been thinking it. The elf had to be the one keeping Yichen from his family.
“No! Not Rei. It was me.” Yichen shoved a hand through his incredibly long hair, pushing it away from his face. It slid over his shoulder to caress Rei’s bare arm. Yichen dropped his hand into his lap with a loud slap in the silent room.
Everything in Rei screamed to reach over and touch his hand, his cheek. Something to reassure him that he wasn’t alone, but he froze, his hands resting on his knees. He wouldn’t do anything that would cause Rei’s family to hate him more.
“There’s a lot I don’t wish to talk about.” A slight tremor crawled through Yichen’s words, but his voice grew stronger as he continued. “Not now. Maybe never. The one thing you need to know is that I would never have survived my captivity if not for the man sitting next to me right now. This is Crown Prince Wistari Elnaril Reymaris, the child of King Ash and Queen Belladonna of the fae. Heir to the Dawn throne.”
Otherwise known as traitor, Rei thought, but kept that to himself. His level of guilt about turning on his parents was fairly nonexistent. His father had lost his mind and was going to destroy the humans and his own people.
Did he care about the imminent demise of his people?
