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“Are you scared of me, Ah-Cheng?” Moon mumbled.
“Not at all,” Chen replied instantly. “I am scared for you. I worry about something happening that you’ll regret for the rest of your life. I’m afraid of you hurting yourself. But I am not scared of you, and neither is the clan.”
The witch-vampire hybrid in his arms deflated as the last of the tension seeped from his form. They lay together in silence for several seconds, watching the shadows lengthen across the garden. Automatic lights popped on, adding a different kind of glow. Lightning bugs rose from the plants, their tiny yellow lights lazily blinking on and off as they searched for their mates.
“I know it’s probably too early to ask, but has anyone heard from Yichen yet?”
Chen swallowed a sigh. “No, not yet. But Rafe did report in that he thought he saw him one evening outside of Phoenix. Unfortunately, he left before Rafe could speak with him.”
Moon sighed loud enough for both of them. “I guess it’s a good thing that he at least knows where to find a Varik if he can’t reach us. Argh…but why can’t he tell us what he’s doing? We can help him!”
A chuckle escaped Chen, and he pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “You just want to get out and cause mischief. I’ve not been keeping you busy enough.”
“Well…actually…I do have a new task to keep me busy.” Moon sat up and Chen joined him, a frown pulling at his lips.
“I thought Shixiong agreed that we would not start your martial arts training for another couple of weeks. We need to make sure you’re comfortable being a vampire first,” Chen grumbled. And by that, he meant Moon was comfortable feeding on humans on his own.
Even if Chen hated the idea.
He preferred to be the one and only person who supplied blood to Moon. Not only did Moon need to feed far less when he sipped blood from a two-thousand-year-old vampire, but there was an intimacy there that Chen didn’t want Moon sharing with anyone else. He didn’t care if Moon promised to feed from women only. He was still jealous.
Moon growled at him but softened it with a quick kiss. “Shixiong is sticking to the schedule you cooked up. We don’t start for two weeks. Ming Yu is teaching me Mandarin. Xiang is threatening to beat me with a wok if I don’t learn how to make rice properly. But that’s not what I was talking about.”
“Oh. What new task has landed in your lap? Is it something I can help with?”
That effervescent smile that made his heart flip and stomach twist was back. An equal mix of devilry and squishy joy. That smile had been stealing bits of his heart since the very first night on the sidewalk near Phoenix.
“Actually, I could use your help.” He shifted forward to the edge of his cushion and pulled a card out of his pocket. Moon turned it repeatedly in his fingers, never revealing the front to him. It appeared to be a business card, but Chen couldn’t guess what service Moon might need.
“You see, Sky stopped by this afternoon while you were on the call with the Variks. He dropped off some more of my clothes and random things I needed.”
Chen flinched. “How are your friends adjusting?”
The first meeting after Moon had become a vampire hadn’t gone great. There was a lot of shouting and swearing. But in the end, it was more tears and hugs. Lots of hugs. It seemed as if they were coming around to the idea, and they were simply relieved that he was still alive.
“Good. Mostly good. Sky rolled with it the fastest. Red and Mad are always the ones who struggle to adapt to change, but they aren’t upset with you. Just glad you pulled me back before it was too late.”
Chen nodded, swallowing quietly. He didn’t want to upset Moon’s friends over what happened. He’d been hopeful they would be understanding and accepting of this new Moon. Or as Moon would put it, the “New Moon Powers, Same Sassy Attitude” version.
Moon flipped the card face up and held it out to Chen to take.
It was a business card for a realtor. This was…unexpected.
“I thought you could help me sort through the things in my house. A lot of it will be sold or given away. However, I thought we could bring some of it here, and we could ship other stuff to your house in Luoyang. Assuming there’s someone in China you trust to place them safely in your house.”
Chen’s head jerked up and his mouth hung open. All brain function had come to a screeching halt. He couldn’t breathe. His heart couldn’t even beat. When the wheels turned again, it was repeating the same thing over and over again.
