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When their path was clear, Chen dashed out from cover, glancing over his shoulder for a heartbeat to make sure Moon was right behind him. He didn’t tap into his vampiric speed, not wanting to lose Moon. He was also trying to save his energy in the event that they ran into trouble.
His eyes skimmed the first two doors they passed. They were closed, and no light shone from within. At what was supposed to be Yichen’s door, there was a sliver of light flickering inside, as if from a candle.
“Yichen?” he called out in a low whisper. “Yichen?”
There was no sound from within the room, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t inside. Tightening his fingers around his sword, Chen lifted his foot to kick in the door but stopped. The door was already open a crack.
No!
He rushed forward into the dimly lit room to find it completely empty. A tear-drop flame danced on the end of a small red candle that rested in a ceramic saucer on a table. A cot rested against one wall with a single thin blanket. Nothing else. No other furniture and no Yichen.
Chen rushed outside and looked about. It was a slight relief to see there was no blood splattered about and no body. There was no sign of a struggle, so there was a chance the fae had moved his brother. But to where?
“Yichen!” Chen bellowed at the top of his lungs.
Moon grabbed his arm, fingers biting into his biceps. “Stop! We need to go now!”
“No! I can’t. He’s here!” Chen argued. His heart was jagged fragments of shattered glass. They were so close. How could he be gone? Yichen had to be somewhere within the castle, but how could just the two of them tackle that enormous structure? Not to mention there wasn’t enough time. The Zhang and Varik clans couldn’t keep the fae occupied for much longer. They needed to retreat to safer ground and report in.
But he couldn’t.
“Yichen!” Chen screamed, his voice cracking. His legs trembled and his knees threatened to buckle. He couldn’t leave him to the fae. Not again.
“Chen-ge?”
Chen lifted his head at that soft voice. He blinked and, for a second, he swore he was hallucinating. Yichen had poked his head out around the building, his face pale and his dark eyes wide. He looked exactly the same as the last time Chen had seen him in Luoyang.
“Yichen?” he whispered. He took one wobbly step and his didi flew to him, his thin frame slamming into Chen with such force that he almost knocked Chen to his ass. Arms closed around him and Chen’s ribs creaked under the impact, but it didn’t matter. He’d found Yichen. Oh God, he was holding his didi.
“I found you. Oh, thank the ancestors, I found you,” Chen choked out, his mouth pressed to the top of Yichen’s head.
“How? How are you here?”
“We came to save you. We’ve been searching—”
“Chen!” Moon’s sharp voice cut him off. His head popped up, and he looked at the witch, who was staring at the place where Yichen appeared. Chen followed his gaze to find an elf watching them, a small dagger clenched in his fist.
Chen snarled and shoved Yichen behind him. He attempted to launch himself at the elf, but he didn’t get more than a couple of steps before Yichen seized his arm, stopping him.
“Stop! Don’t hurt him!” Yichen cried.
“What?”
“Yiyi, we need to leave now,” the elf interrupted. “We won’t get another chance.”
Chen gaped wordlessly at his brother, who could only offer a weak smile. “It’s a long story. Just know that he’s a friend.”
“Chen, we need to go,” Moon also pressed. They’d been standing out in the open for too long, and the vampire forces had to be wearing thin. If they were going to escape, it had to happen now.
“Let’s go.”
Yichen flashed him a bright grin and darted off to the elf. They both vanished around the building and Chen followed. As they reached the tree line again, he grabbed Moon and slung the man onto his back. Moon’s cackle danced on the wind as the vampires and elf ran at speeds far faster than any human could run through the woods.
They traveled like this for a few kilometers before Chen noticed the elf was leading them to the north, which was more woods. That wasn’t the way to go for civilization. Chen caught Yichen’s elbow and brought them to a halt.
“Wrong way. We need to go west. There’s a meet-up spot with Ming Yu and a witch. They can take us to the clan compound,” Chen said as he allowed Moon to slide to his feet.
Yichen hesitated, his eyes darting over to the elf and back to Chen. “I…I need you to trust me, Er-ge.1 I-I can’t go with you.”
“What?” Chen shoved his sword into his sheath and grabbed Yichen’s arms with both hands as if he were expecting his didi to disappear right in front of his eyes.
