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Rei shifted to the left and then right, trying to peer behind Yichen. “Ming Yu said that she enjoys cooking for me. I love her food.” He put his hands on his stomach and grinned. “I can feel the love she puts into all her dishes.”
“You’ve got to be the first elf to succumb to vampire magic. That’s her gift. Warmth and healing suffused into every bit of food she makes.”
The elf scoffed and resumed his attempts to peer behind Yichen. “Hardly. I succumbed to your vampire magic the first time I saw you. Besides, I’m not talking about her gift. Your shijie adores me. She said so. She said she’s happy to cook for me because no one loves her food like I do.”
“Shameless! My ancestors are embarrassed for you right now.” He pressed on Rei’s chest again, this time to hold him at a distance. “Go sit on the bed, and I’ll give you a surprise.”
The crazy elf leaped across the room and sat on the edge of the mattress with a bounce, a wide smile on his face. At the very least, this entire encounter had gotten Rei to stop moping and sighing.
He sat next to Rei on the bed and placed the velvet bag in the center of Rei’s palm. “This is something that I’ve been wanting to do since we came to my clan’s home.”
Rei’s brow furrowed as he rubbed his thumb into the bag, pressing it into his palm so that the contents softly clattered and clinked. “I can’t imagine what this is…” Rei murmured to himself.
After flashing Yichen a nervous smirk, he opened the string tie and poured the contents into his hand. More than a dozen gems, beads, and rings sparkled on his palm. Gold, sapphires, rubies, emeralds. All of it was nearly priceless in cut and quality. It had taken Yichen a couple of days and several trips with Xiao Dan, but they’d tracked down every bit of jewelry Rei had sold when they’d settled in Hartford. The money had gone to pay for clothes, food, and a roof over their heads.
Watching Rei pawn those pieces of his royal heritage had sliced chunks off Yichen’s soul, and Rei hadn’t looked much better. That night, Yichen had sworn he would get back everything Rei sold.
“You got it all,” Rei said, but there was a dull quality to his voice that Yichen hadn’t expected. In fact, the playful light in his eyes died the second he saw the gems and rings. He wasn’t happy.
“I did. Why aren’t you happy? I thought this would make you happy.”
Rei’s head popped up and the smile he presented to Yichen was tight and so very forced. “I am happy. Thank you. I never expected to see these things again.”
“Don’t lie to me. You’re not happy. What’s wrong?”
Rei stared at the glittering contents of his hand. “Nothing is wrong. I am happy. This is wonderful. I just…” He paused as he moved some of the items with his thumb. “I guess it felt like I’d left this part of my past behind when I sold these. My mother gave me some of these baubles. Others came from past lovers.”
This was a mistake. A huge mistake.
“But it’s good. I’ll need them when I return to my realm and claim the throne.”
That was the final nail in the coffin.
Yichen wordlessly scraped the contents of Rei’s palm into his own hand and snatched the velvet bag from the other. He poured all the items into the bag. A couple of gems slipped from his fingers and bounced across the floor, but he didn’t care. The second it was closed, he threw the bag, so it angrily thudded against the door.
“No! You are not going back there. You’re not claiming the throne. And no one is making you be that person ever again,” Yichen snarled.
“What?” Rei gasped, though the question was almost lost to his laugh.
Yichen placed his hands on Rei’s shoulders and shoved him onto the mattress. He hovered over the elf, who was watching him with wide eyes and a crooked grin. “You’re not returning to the fae realm, and you’re definitely not allowed to wear gifts from former lovers. The only gifts you’re allowed to wear now are mine.”
“You want me to stay? With you?”
Yichen stared dumbfounded at the elf for a moment. “What…how…how could you think otherwise? We’re going to make the sandstone necklace that will give you the magic you need. I’ve kissed you and told you that you’re mine. How could you not know that I want you to stay here with me always?”
Rei blinked at him, his green eyes glittering in the dim lamplight. A beautiful flush painted his cheekbones, and it was spreading to his ears. “But a few nights ago, you said that I’d do so much good on the throne. I could protect the small and weak.”
“I was speaking hypothetically. Yes, you’d make an amazing king, and you’d protect the weak, but I’m a selfish bastard and I refuse to part with you.” Tears leaked from the corners of Rei’s eyes when he blinked, and Yichen bent to kiss them away. “My ray of sunlight,” he whispered, his own heart cracking at those happy tears. “We’ve been together for nearly a century. You can’t think of leaving me now. I don’t know how to live without you any longer. You are the sunlight cutting through the dark nights. My beating heart when this old body wishes to give up.”
Lifting his hand, Rei gently wiped away a tear that had slipped along Yichen’s cheek without him even noticing. His smile was fragile, but his emerald eyes were glowing with joy as he gazed up at Yichen. “In that case, do you have any gifts for me to wear, since I’m not permitted to touch things from old lovers?”
“Actually, I do.”
He pressed a quick kiss to the tip of Rei’s nose and shoved off the bed. A surprised squawk jumped from Rei’s throat and his fingers grazed his arm as if the elf was trying to hold on to him, but he was too fast. Yichen pulled open the door, ran along the hall to his room, and darted inside. It took only a moment for his eyes to locate the large brown paper bag with handles resting beside the closet door. This was the secondary gift he’d planned for later, but since the first one was a dud, it was better to hand it over now.
He snagged the bag and ran to Rei’s room to find that the elf had not remained where he left him. No, he was sitting on the bed, his hair down, and his fingers deftly braiding the typical lock of hair near his right ear, but the braid now contained a gold ring with a small, sparkling sapphire. The nefarious bag of evil gems and rings was now on his nightstand instead of on the floor.
“That better not have been a gift!” Yichen snapped, pointing at the ring in his hair.
