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He appreciated the effort, even if it was heavy-handed.
But that was Rei. The elf was only subtle when he was in the mood to be. The rest of the time, he couldn’t be bothered with such nonsense.
So here he was in a large SUV with darkly tinted windows. Chen was behind the wheel while his mate was lounging in the front passenger seat. Shixiong sat serenely on his left in the back seat, seeming to take in the passing scenery that was growing more densely wooded the farther they traveled.
The goal was to go to Moon’s house and pick up some spell books and notes that his mother had left behind for him. The former blood-witch-turned-vampire was still stuck on how to solve Yichen’s blood problem, but he wasn’t giving up yet.
Tension tightened his jaw as the silence of the car was broken by the rush of the tires along the road.
“Is your room to your satisfaction?” Xiao Dan suddenly inquired.
It wasn’t easy to stop his stunned expression. His shixiong made it sound as if he were a guest in what should have been his own home. Not that he meant it like that. Yichen knew that. It was that they didn’t know what to say.
“It’s very nice. Thank you,” Yichen murmured.
“That’s good. Very good.” A long pause settled in the car that was almost more painful than the earlier silence. “Meimei and Chen picked out a few things from your old room in Luoyang. They thought it would make it feel more like home.”
“I noticed. Thank you.”
When he’d entered the room for the first time, there had been an echo of home that had hit him right in the chest. Small things caught his eye. The same quilt that had been resting at the foot of his bed in China, a painting hanging on the wall he’d completed centuries ago, the lingering hint of his favorite incense in the air. Then, of course, his sword had been waiting for him on a low table—gleaming as if he’d last touched it a day earlier instead of a century ago.
A huff drifted up from Moon and the witch turned toward the back, sticking his head between the two front seats. He grinned broadly at Yichen, mischief glinting in his amber eyes. “Did you know Chen kidnapped me the first time we met?”
“What?” Yichen’s exclamation nearly drowned out Chen’s weary moan. He glanced over to find Xiao Dan partially covering up his smile, but his shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter.
“Yep. Your clan mates were searching for a witch to help them locate where the fae door was going to open, so Chen staked out a nightclub called Phoenix. It’s owned by a vampire and a lot of vamps go there, but it’s also a cool place for humans to hang out. My friends and I love to go drinking there. Lots of eye candy.”
“Hey! You belong to me now. There will be no more eye candy for you,” Chen snapped.
If it was at all possible, Moon’s grin grew even wider as he tipped his head over to rest on Chen’s shoulder. “You’re the only eye candy I need, Ah-Cheng.”
Yichen leaned closer to Shixiong and whispered, “Eye candy?”
“I take it to mean a person who is pleasing to the eye. A sweet treat to visually appreciate,” Xiao Dan replied in the same soft tone.
“Yep, that’s it. We go, have a few drinks, and enjoy the sights,” Moon agreed as he turned his full attention to Yichen. “I was there with my friend Redstone, who is an earth witch. He was totally worried about the arrival of the fae, and I took him out to help him relax. After Red and I part ways, some fucking vamps—no offense—from the bar stop me and try to drain me! Just as I’m about to whip out some sick magic, Mr. Sexy jumps in and claims that I’m going with him.”
“I can hear my ancestors moaning from the afterlife,” Chen muttered under his breath.
“Whatever. You were so bossy and sexy. I would have turned into a puddle of useless goo. Anyway, the vamps get pissy about Chen stealing their hot meal.” This earned a smirk and a waggle of his eyebrows. “Before they could do anything, Chen does this cool motion with his hands and freezes them both into giant vampire ice cubes. That’s how Chen and I met for the first time. He rescued me.”
“I thought you said he kidnapped you,” Yichen countered, his brain still trying to reconcile the image he’d always held of his er-ge and the fantasy Moon painted.
“Rescue. Kidnap. It’s all the same. He rescued me from those vampires and kidnapped me. But I would totally have gone with him if he’d asked. Like I was about to let my hot rescuer escape me? Pfft…my momma didn’t raise no idiot.”
“I wonder sometimes,” Chen mumbled, but that made Moon smile and kiss his shoulder.
“But you were able to find the location of the door…” Yichen prodded.
Moon opened his mouth and held up one finger, seeming to freeze. “No. Actually, I couldn’t.” The sassy vampire-witch deflated, but only for a second, and then he was rebounding and smiling again. “Blood witch powers really don’t work well when dealing with the fae, because they’re all earth-based magic. I can do some protective spells and if I have their blood, I can do some tracking spells, but that’s about it. Luckily, I have two friends who are earth witches, and they were able to cast some tracking spells that located the door.”
“You must thank them for me. Rei and I appreciate their effort since it enabled you to find us,” Yichen said with a bow of his head.
“I will, but I’m sure you’ll meet them. I’ve been trying to convince Chen that we need to host a BL TV-watching night at the house.” It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what in the world those words meant, but Moon continued without missing a beat. “Every week or so, my coven would gather at one of our houses. We’d make food or order in a bunch of junk food, and we’d binge watch some boys’ love shows. Sappy love stories and intense dramas. Good stuff.”
“Soon, baobei,” Chen promised. “We’ll do it soon. Let’s give Yichen some time to feel settled in the house prior to inviting people over.”
“Of course. Not a problem.”
