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A wicked smile stretched his lips, lifting the corners higher and higher with every twang of the string. Cut them all down. Anyone who would rather see him dead than confront the madness of his parents. Destroy everyone who would harm his Yiyi.
As soon as the thought of his adorable vampire crossed his mind, he paused his rapid firing to search the battlefield. There had been a mere glimpse of Yichen as they approached, but now that they were in the thick of the chaos, he’d lost Yichen to the mounting bodies and growing mist as the ice and snow melted in the summer heat.
Snarling, Rei leaped from the roof of the SUV and charged forward, launching arrows into anything that dared to look in his direction. A few more steps and he shouldered his bow so he could draw his sword. More fell to his blade, but when he lifted his eyes, it wasn’t Yichen that he saw.
It was Trin.
The elf snarled and plowed through the other fae, knocking them aside so he could reach Rei, who was happy to meet him halfway.
Their swords met with a vicious clang. Trin’s pale-blue eyes sparkled like ice in the rising sun while his long black hair clung to his sweaty neck. His thin lips pulled back in a sneer, revealing clenched teeth. The ring of their swords clashing rang out again and again, dulling all the other noises to almost nothing. There was only Trin. His half brother.
“How could you side with the king and queen? They’re mad! They’re going to destroy all our people,” Rei bit out as they exchanged more blows.
“Our people,” Trin snorted. “They’ve never been our people.”
“And you’re never going to see the Dawn throne. Even if you kill me.”
Trin swung wildly for his neck as if he wanted to send his head soaring into the trees, but Rei easily ducked out of the way. “Ash will never let you live long enough to steal it from him, Your Highness,” he finished with a sneer.
“I want the throne to stop this insanity! This plan may kill off some humans, but I swear to you, it will destroy all the fae!”
The elf huffed a laugh as he completed a spinning strike that sent his black robes embroidered in gold thread flaring about his muscular frame. He’d encountered his half brother a handful of times during his centuries and had fought him once to a draw—but then, that fight had been about ego and nothing more. However, he’d watched plenty of Trin’s fights in front of the Silver Court. Their mother had gotten him a fencing instructor who was heavy on finesse and style, light on improvisation.
He could kill Trin given enough time, but he didn’t want the elf dead. He wanted to use him.
“Besides, we both know that putting me on the Dawn throne will cause an immediate improvement in your quality of life,” Rei stated with a smirk.
As he’d hoped, Trin retreated a couple of steps but still held his sword at the ready, staring at Rei through narrowed eyes as he likely swirled those words around in his brain. Rei had made it clear on more than one occasion that he had no quarrel with Trin. He was content to allow the elf to live in peace so long as he made no moves against Rei’s life.
The same couldn’t be said for King Ash.
While the asshole king made it a priority to kill his legitimate children to protect his place of power, he enjoyed killing off his bastard children and the illegitimate children of his wife for pure amusement. According to their laws, only a child of the king and queen could ascend to the Dawn or Twilight thrones. Bastards need not apply.
Before Trin could reply, Yichen roared, plowing through the last remaining fae who had yet to run away, heading straight for Trin. His half brother threw Rei a final disdainful look, then bolted away from Moon’s house. Yiyi’s timing could have been a little better, but he couldn’t complain too loudly. Not when his relief at seeing the vampire in one piece was threatening to choke him.
“What the hell were you thinking!” Yichen roared the second he reached Rei’s side. He stabbed the point of his sword into the blood-saturated ground and grabbed Rei with both hands. “Shooting arrows from the roof of a moving vehicle! Charging into the middle of a fight with no one watching your back! What was the point of protecting you in the fae realm if you’re going to throw it all away here?”
Despite Yichen’s angry, shouted words, the touch of his fingers was tender, treating him as if he were delicate crystal. As Rei’s eyes slipped closed, he caught a questioning gaze from Xiang, the vampire’s thick eyebrows raised in an almost mocking question.
Never mind him. Rei shut his eyes and tipped his head to the side, rubbing his cheek against the calluses of Yichen’s fingers and settling into the cool palm of his hand. He soaked in every touch, tucking the feeling away deep inside of his heart, where he could hope to remember them after they were separated.
“You’re insane. You’re fucking insane,” Yichen muttered, but he pulled Rei’s head forward and pressed their foreheads together as a shuddering breath escaped him. “Thanks for charging to my rescue.”
“Just a tiny rescue this time,” Rei mumbled. “I think Meimei and Xiang were bored.”
His sweet Yiyi snorted and released him. “Probably right.” He stepped away and Rei stomped down on the ache in his heart. It was better this way. Friendship was the only future they had.
Chapter 9
Wu Yichen
Yichen stepped away from Rei and plucked his sword out of the ground. He needed to get control of himself. His brain had almost broken to see the damn elf standing on the roof of the SUV as he’d fired arrows into the crowd of fae attackers. When he’d jumped to the ground and rushed forward, Yichen had tried to move in his direction, but a fresh wave of elves and pixies swarmed between them, forcing him to fight his way to his friend’s side.
His heart certainly hadn’t relaxed at the sight of the black-haired elf fighting Rei. The man looked vaguely familiar, but he could only assume he was one of the king’s many generals sent to slaughter the crown prince.
“Well, this is a giant mess!” Moon’s voice rang out through the trees, followed by a slam of the car door. “I can’t believe you made me stay out of it!”
Yichen glanced over at Rei to find a smirk growing on the elf’s lips to match his own. Apparently, Chen was in trouble with his mate, and it was all Yichen could do to not snicker, especially when Chen answered in a placating, coaxing tone.
