AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He almost giggled into the spoonful of soup in front of his lips at Xiang’s question. He swallowed it. “That I love him? Of course not. I merely kissed him and reassured him I would not do something so reckless as standing on a moving vehicle again.”
“Crap.”
“What?”
“I wanted you to show me how you kept your balance while shooting. It looks like fun.”
Rei tossed his head back as laughter broke from his throat. “It was fun! Yiyi is a worrywart. He doesn’t trust in my sense of balance. Elves are very light on their feet.” He leaned toward Xiang and grinned. “However, I was wondering if it’s possible to lift the rear door while the car is in motion.”
Xiang’s brow furrowed. “We might need to test that. It would be much safer and more convenient if we sat in the trunk and fired arrows at attackers from there.”
“Exactly!” Rei pointed his spoon at Xiang. “Yiyi couldn’t complain about that.”
Xiang grunted and shoveled more of his soup into his mouth. “We’ll test it later. Get Junjie to drive for us.”
A smile played on Rei’s lips as they finished the last of their soup in silence. At least he knew he had a comrade at his side who liked to be a little reckless. He treasured Yiyi’s cautious nature, but humans had finally made vehicles faster than horses. They needed to be fully explored in regard to the ways they could be used.
“More?” Xiang inquired as he finished his bowl of soup.
Rei shook his head, placing his spoon in his empty bowl. “No, thank you. It was delicious. I shall thank Su Ming Yu properly when she wakes.”
Xiang grunted again as he picked up both their bowls and carried them over to the sink. He quickly washed them and put them on a small rack to dry. As he was wiping his hands with a towel, Xiang turned to face Rei, a scowl twisting up his normally handsome features.
“I’m sure I won’t be the only one to say this, but I’ll at least be the first.” He leaned across the center island, meeting Rei’s gaze with an unwavering icy glare. “If you hurt Didi, if you’re playing with his emotions in some twisted fae game, I swear to you I will hunt you down, even if it takes until the very end of time. When I catch you, I will make what he suffered in your realm seem like a fucking vacation. Do you understand me?”
His heart fluttered, but not out of fear. Mostly a mix of amusement and familial warmth. He loved that Yichen’s clan cared so much for him that they would do anything to protect him. His vampire needed all the love and cuddling he could get. Of course, Rei placed himself to be at the very front of that line to love and cuddle him.
“I would rather die than cause him even a flicker of pain. Wu Yichen is the one person who matters to me. The only person. I will protect him from everything and everyone.” Rei rested his forearms on the counter, smiling coldly at the vampire. “That includes his own family, if I think they mean to hurt him.”
They held each other’s stare unblinking for several seconds before Xiang retreated first with a grunt. “Good. Fine. As long as we both have what’s best for him in mind. I’m guessing that means you’re going to have no problem killing your own father and mother.”
Another wild laugh jumped from Rei to fill the kitchen. What was with these vampires and their disbelief that he would have an issue with patricide and matricide? This human world really was a strange place.
His giggles at the end must have taken on a slightly mad edge, because Xiang had stepped away from the counter and appeared as if he were searching for a weapon to protect himself.
Rei held up his right hand and wiggled his three fingers and thumb. “A gift from my mother. I refused to fight Yichen, so she ordered guards to hold me down while she sliced pieces off me until I agreed to fight. Thankfully, she got just one finger. Yichen broke free and caused a ruckus.”
“Shit,” Xiang whispered, retreating another step.
“Ever seen an elf with a limp? That’s a gift from my father, who has been trying to kill me since I was born. I was lucky to have a few nurses when I was young who hid me for the first thirteen years of my life. But aside from those happy memories,” Rei murmured with a wave of his hand. “A member of the Silver Court organized a hunt for my father’s amusement. They set Yiyi and me free. We were supposed to have an hour head start, but as we left the castle, my father had his head archer put an arrow in my left knee. He tried to cripple me to make the hunt more fun.”
Xiang snarled. “He wanted to see if Yichen would leave you behind.”
“He didn’t. Yiyi carried me on his back while we searched for a safe spot to remove the arrow and wrap my knee. Yichen has never left my side, no matter how bad things were.”
The vampire’s smile returned and his chest puffed up with what was likely pride. Yichen was no fucking coward. He had more honor than pretty much every member of the fae, as far as Rei was concerned.
“Got it. Your family sucks and you wouldn’t mind killing them all. Good to know.” Xiang relaxed, leaning on the sink, his arms folded loosely across his chest.
“The question becomes, how the hell are we going to do that? Even while we were stuck in the fae camp in the human realm, I knew nothing of my parents’ plans other than they had no intention of leaving. To stay, they need to get rid of as many humans as possible.”
“That would match what we’ve been seeing. Hundreds of humans have either disappeared or been killed. The forest is spreading at an alarming rate, pushing at the human cities and towns.”
Rei nodded. “The more nature there is, the stronger the earth magic.”
“Which helps the fae.”
“Yep.”
