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He ducked under a low branch and came up grinning. The smile was lopsided while his eyes sparkled in the starlight with laughter. Gods, an eternity looking at that smile wasn’t long enough.
“I think he wanted to, but Marcus kept a tight grip on his didi as they left. We didn’t even get the chance to talk about our blood bond issue.”
Rei snorted as he walked around the tree, dragging his right hand along the rough bark. “If we’d done that, there’s no way he would have left prior to sunrise.”
“True.” Yichen chuckled and when he stopped, he cocked his head to the side. “I like him.”
“Really? Should I feel threatened?”
Yichen shoved his shoulder and then grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the tree to walk deeper into the shadows and away from the garden lamps glowing along the stone path. Warmth spread up his arm at that simple touch. Yichen had taken his arm or hand plenty of times to pull him along, guide him, help him, but this was different. Their fingers tangled together and Yichen’s thumb caressed the side of his palm, threatening to melt his brain. So many years dreaming of exactly this and now he had it. Nothing could ever make him let go.
“Ridiculous,” Yichen scoffed. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it.”
Squeezing the vampire’s hand, Rei moved closer as they walked, letting their arms brush. “What do you mean? He was definitely sweet and eager. Like a puppy.”
“Just that I didn’t get the impression that he hated being a vampire. He’s accepted it. Revels in his immortality. He wants to study and understand everything, which you can only do if you’re going to live a very long life. And yet, he’s trying to cure vampirism. Most of us who’ve become vampires either learn to accept it as an unchangeable fact, or self-destruct, usually within the first few decades. I can almost hear his brain rationalizing, ‘I was turned into a vampire. Logic states that I can be turned back.’ ”
Rei moved to stand in front of Yichen. “It’s not so much that you like him, but you admire him. You admire his persistence.”
A slow grin spread across Yichen’s lovely lips and his eyes widened as he said, “I do. I’ve got a thing for strong, persistent people.”
A low groan rolled from Rei’s throat, and he tried to leave the damn vampire behind. He stepped right into that bit of corny nonsense. “Have a heart, Yiyi! You can’t say such things while holding my hand. My heart can’t…I…”
Yichen’s answering laugh followed him while he tightened his hold on Rei’s fingers, refusing to let him escape.
“I couldn’t help it. I figured you’d be out here brooding about our current situation.”
“Don’t laugh! You shouldn’t feel so proud of that nonsense!” But there was no point. His rebukes rolled right off Yichen like beads of water.
As the laughter faded away and they resumed their stroll between the trees, Yichen bumped his shoulder. “What is on your mind?”
“Mostly how useless I am,” Rei muttered. “As a single elf, I can’t do much against the fae army or my father’s plans. My only use is as an assassin sneaking into the castle—”
“Which isn’t an option unless I’m also at your side, protecting you,” Yichen interjected.
“I can’t even warn those who want nothing to do with the king’s plan to take over the human realm. Most of the fae just want to go about their normal lives. They don’t want power and destruction, which is all this promises to be.” Glaring at the ground with his teeth clenched, he wanted to shout at the unfairness of it all. “There’s no way to warn them. To give them a chance to return home before they’re killed or trapped here. Warning them means giving my father a heads-up of what we’re planning.”
Yichen stepped in front of him and cupped his cheek with his free hand, guiding him close until their lips met in the sweetest kiss. A light brush, a tiny taste, and all the anger was melting like snow in a spring rain.
“Do you know why I fell for you?” Yichen asked, their mouths so close their lips rubbed, allowing Rei to feel his words.
“No.” The single word barely escaped his clogged throat. He was drowning in the special magic Yiyi was weaving.
“Because you talk to the flowers.”
Rei jerked away, his mind a complete blank. He hadn’t been sure what Yichen would say, but that hadn’t crossed his mind. “What? Really?”
“Mn. I love watching you talk to them.” Yichen’s fingers caressed his cheekbone, trailing down along his jaw. His light touch sent goose bumps down his arms, and he wanted him to never stop. “Soft, whispered words of encouragement. A soft touch of your finger on their petals and they’re unfurling, stretching, trying to be everything you say they are. You care about those smaller and weaker than you. It’s why I think you would do a lot of good for your people if you were on the throne.”
The ball of warmth and joy growing in his chest cracked and withered at his last words. He pulled away from Yichen’s touch and slipped his fingers free. Sitting on the Dawn throne meant returning to the fae realm. It meant leaving his Yiyi behind.
“I would never get the chance to help those smaller and weaker creatures,” Rei muttered, his now empty hand balling into a fist. “My entire existence—assuming I survived the upcoming battle to claim the Dawn throne—would be dedicated to staying alive and killing off my parents’ old supporters and anyone else who wanted to steal power from me. If I was lucky, my child would take over protecting the small and weak after I was murdered.”
“That’s never going to happen,” Yichen snarled. He stomped to Rei’s side and gripped his shoulders, forcing Rei to face him. “You’re with me now and forever. Do you understand?”
Rei’s mouth fell open, but he couldn’t make a sound. This vampire was destroying brain cells every time he spoke. Had he been speaking hypothetically when he’d talked about Rei sitting on the Dawn throne? Did he want him to remain in the human realm with the blood-soaked sandstone and Yichen keeping him safe? He wanted to ask, to hear Yichen’s answer and remove all doubt from his brain, but he couldn’t speak.
Since meeting Yichen, all he’d wanted was to stay by this damn vampire’s side for all time. To bask in his wry smiles and wrap up in his warm, sly laughter. But it had only ever been a silly dream. Something so impossible, he’d never dared to whisper it aloud. He’d reconciled himself to being happy with the time they had left.
