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The elf wrinkled his nose and curled his upper lip at him. “I might be a child of nature, but I appreciate things like comfort, you heathen. Moon must have a sofa or at least a bed for me to rest on briefly.”
Yichen snickered. “Idiot.” He grabbed Rei’s wrist and ducked slightly as he pulled Rei’s arm across his shoulders, supporting him as they followed the rest of the group to the front door.
“Besides, I haven’t peeked into a typical American home in centuries. I’m curious to see what they look like now,” Rei added in a whisper.
“Me neither,” Meimei chimed in, using the same silly whisper as she came up to walk beside them. “Actually, I’ve never been to a typical American house.”
Okay, so maybe Yichen was also a little curious to go poking around the witch’s house. He’d read plenty of stories about witches who had chaotic, crumbling homes packed with spell books, broomsticks, cobwebs, crows, black cats, hundreds of dusty jars and containers with faded labels, and of course, one giant, bubbling black cauldron over an open fire.
Upon stepping over the threshold, Yichen let out a breath in a rush.
This was nothing like the books.
“Are we sure Moon is a real witch? This…isn’t what I expected,” Meimei called out.
At least he wasn’t the only one disappointed.
The home appeared very normal, though chaotic. But a moving kind of chaotic, with half-packed boxes and stacks of random items everywhere.
“Oh, ha. Ha. Ha. All my witchy stuff is on the second floor,” Moon shouted across the room.
“And since he’s a blood witch, his witchy stuff is an extensive collection of knives rather than cauldrons and crystals,” Chen added.
Rei perked up to the point of almost allowing his arm to slide from Yichen’s shoulders. “I like knives.”
“No knives for you. Rest.” Yichen steered the elf away from the stairs and into a large space that held a giant black leather sofa. Before Rei could argue, he dumped the elf onto it and received a long, deep sigh of happiness in return.
“Okay, this is nice too,” Rei mumbled.
“Besides, I think you’ve seen enough knives for one day.” As he spoke, he held out his own bow right in front of his face while still holding the sword Rei had chosen in his left hand.
The sneaky elf smiled broadly and placed his hand lightly over Yichen’s, pushing it slightly to get him to lower it so he could meet his gaze. A frown tugged at Yichen’s lips, not because of his touch, but because of the tremble in Rei’s cold fingertips. That damn spell to bury the dead had taken more out of the elf than he was letting on.
“And as you’ll see, I took excellent care of it. Not a single scratch. I’ll even clean it and properly restring it when we return to your home,” Rei promised with a flutter of his eyelashes.
A rough scoff scraped the back of his throat as he pulled his hand from Rei’s touch. What Rei needed to do was rest, but was that even enough? Was Rei becoming too drained being this far away from the rest of the fae cohort? Was it even possible for him to properly rejuvenate while living with the Zhang clan?
“Stop,” Rei grunted.
“What?”
Even though his eyes were closed now, and he was reclining on the sofa while the others wandered about Moon’s house, Rei stuck out one finger and motioned to all of Yichen’s face. “Stop making that face. I’m fine. It required more magic than normal because Moon’s land has also been saturated with blood magic. Surprise, surprise,” Rei added with a sardonic twist of his lips.
Yichen glanced around to make sure that none of his family was paying attention to him before he perched on the arm of the sofa, facing Rei. He leaned close, lowering his voice as he spoke. “Is the energy you’re able to draw at my family’s home enough for you? I know living downtown was miserable, but are things truly better? If not…” His words faded, as he wasn’t quite sure what he would do to help Rei. Returning to the castle wasn’t an option, since the king would have them executed on the spot. But if that was what Rei needed, they would need to move up their plans to kill the king and queen.
The elf’s eyes partially opened and a devilish grin spread across his thin lips, making Yichen’s heart give an awkward flop in his chest. He did not need Rei looking at him like that. It was…it was just ridiculous.
“Stop, Yiyi,” Rei purred. “If you continue, I’ll think you care about me.”
“Enough. We’re in this together. That was the deal we made all those years ago. Besides,” he snarled through clenched teeth as he pressed one finger into the center of Rei’s forehead. “I need you alive and in peak form if we’re going to have any hope of sending the fae back where they belong.”
Rei captured his hand and drew it lower so that the tip of his finger almost graced Rei’s pursed lips. “Yes, and you’ll finally be rid of me for good.”
Hot breath gusted across his finger, and he tensed. His throat tightened, but he forced the words out all the same. “Don’t give me that crap. We both know that you’re dying to be away from here. There’s nothing to keep you here.”
Rei’s eyes opened a little wider and his smile grew while his fingers tightened on Yichen’s hand. “Oh, I don’t know about that. It seems like things have improved. Might be a new reason or two for me to hang about.”
Yichen’s heart attempted to shout “What?” but his panicked brain cells acted in time, lodging that single word in his throat. It was better not to know.
