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Rei remained still for a heartbeat, breaking it only to suck in a deep breath. His long body shuddered as he released it, some of the tension that had wound him tight going with the air.
“He speaks the truth,” Xiao Dan announced.
Yichen released Rei and turned to find Huli cradled in his shixiong’s lap while he wrapped the fox spirit’s wrist with a pristine white bandage. He lifted his eyes from his work and grinned. “If you belong to Yichen, then, as his clan, we can do no less than to make sure his word remains unbroken. You’ve forsaken the fae and joined with our didi. That means we must protect you as we would protect him.”
“Thank you,” Rei choked out. “I know I’ve done nothing to earn your protection or trust, but I will give my life to protect your clan.”
“Not quite,” Chen argued. He shook his head, a hint of a smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “According to Yichen, you’ve risked your life many times to keep him safe for us. That alone is enough to earn you the respect of our clan.”
“Yeah, and um…you don’t need to worry about this sandstone.” Red stepped back from where the bowl was resting, rubbing one hand through his hair. Maddox moved forward and whispered a few quiet words while waving his hands over it. A glowing white box formed around the bowl for a second and disappeared.
“Done,” Mad grunted.
“Mad put a protection spell on the bowl so it can sit out here to soak in all the positive earth energy along with the energy from Huli’s blood. The rain and wind can’t reach it,” Red explained.
“Other animals won’t be able to reach it either,” Mad added. He nodded to Yichen and Rei. “We’ll return in two weeks to remove the protection spell and finish the sealing spell. Nothing will be able to break that stone when we’re done with it.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. Worst-case scenario, we can always make another if we get this one wrong,” Red reassured.
“Wait! I didn’t agree to that!” Huli shouted, sitting upright from his luxurious lounge across Xiao Dan’s lap.
“But couldn’t you? For me?” Xiao Dan tilted his head so that he was meeting Huli’s gaze, batting his large eyes at the fox spirit. Yichen had to slap his hand across his mouth to hold in his laugh as he watched the devious huli jing deflate before his eyes.
“Maybe. Okay. For you,” Huli mumbled, cuddling into him again.
Yichen turned to Rei and touched his cheek. “We will find a way.”
Rei closed his eyes as he nodded. “We will.”
They weren’t alone anymore. It was no longer them against the world.
They had a family.
And now he had a way to keep his prince at his side for all time.
Chapter 24
Rei
The days following the creation of what Rei was calling his little rock of hope passed quietly and all too slowly. His father and the fae army were amassing in the forests of Connecticut, scheming their annoying schemes while taking out the odd human here and there. It was enough to keep the humans on edge but not stir them into a frenzy of venturing into the woods. The losses they suffered the last time were enough to teach them caution.
He watched a few minutes of the news programs each evening to see that some were arguing for the torching of all the forest lands to chase out their enemy. Thankfully, those voices were still in the minority. For now, the National Guard surrounded the forest lands and chased the humans away for their own good.
But just because human forces were guarding the land to keep humans out, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that the fae were being kept in. Nope, not at all. His kind had spent countless lifetimes sneaking past humans.
Even now, within the protected bounds of the Zhang clan home, he could feel his people lurking not too far away, their eyes trained on the stout stone walls. They could sense him inside and were waiting.
However, the fae also knew the buildings and grounds belonged to the vampires. The shifty huli jing prowled the area as well, and while the creature pretended to be flighty and ridiculous, he didn’t fool Rei. A fox spirit didn’t grow to be as old as him or possess nine tails unless he was powerful.
This was the safest place for Rei.
The only problem was that there wasn’t much for him to do until they figured out how to take out King Ash. Attacking the fae army seemed a poor option. They didn’t have the numbers on their side.
No, the “better” choice was to sneak into the castle and try to take the king by surprise.
Unfortunately, Yichen wouldn’t even listen to that plan, and there was no way in hell Rei was allowing Yichen to accompany him on such a mission. While Yichen was fast and sneaky, Rei could still move faster alone. He also didn’t think the rest of the Zhang clan could stomach the thought of Yichen being out of their sight long enough to accomplish that assassination. They’d lost their didi once. Rei wouldn’t allow these people to suffer through that a second time.
So, for now, he was stuck.
