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Panic screamed in Chen’s mind, urging him to run. Leave the palace and Chang’An. Run straight to Luoyang and the rest of his clan. He needed to gather them up and hide them from this madman.
But he didn’t move. He remained frozen, eyes locked on Zhang Xiao Dan, willing him to breathe. To move. To turn his head away from the blood that was filling his mouth.
After a full minute, Jiang raised his wrist to his mouth and licked across the gash while smiling at Chen. He held the blood-smeared flesh out to Chen, showing that the wound had healed.
“Talk to him,” Jiang instructed. “Your voice will help draw him back before old lady Meng Po can get him in her clutches and serve him her tea of oblivion.”
Chen needed no further urging. He crawled to Zhang’s body as fast as he could manage and pressed a hand to his chest, but there was no heartbeat. His flesh was already growing cold.
“Please, Da-ge,”3 Chen whispered, not caring if Jiang or even the emperor could hear him. “Please, Da-ge, you must wake up. Return to me. Our brothers are desperate for your wisdom and guidance. Only you can rein in Xiang’s impulsiveness. Only you can draw Jun-Jun out of his shell.” Chen grabbed one of Zhang’s limp hands and squeezed it, trying to infuse some of his strength and warmth into his clan brother.
Each word he spoke was raw and broken. Hope dripped from his body with each breath.
“Da-ge…please…please don’t leave us,” Chen choked out. “Don’t follow Shifu. Not yet.”
A sharp, ragged gasp cut through the silence of the throne room. Chen’s eyes popped open to see Zhang half sitting up, color returning to his cheeks. He sucked in a second breath and choked on it.
Chen shifted closer, pulling Zhang half into his lap. He wanted to drag him into his arms and hug him, but there was one tiny part of his brain still aware of Jiang Chong and the emperor watching them.
“What…what…happened?” Zhang rasped.
“It’s okay. Everything is okay now,” Chen reassured him, even if he wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. He ran his thumb along the corner of Zhang’s mouth, wiping away the blood that remained there.
“See?” Jiang taunted. “I told you he’d be fine. Even better than fine. He’s immortal now. A little weak, though. That’ll improve in a few days with feeding and training.”
“Yes. Thank you,” Chen whispered. He was just grateful that his shixiong was alive. Or alive again. He wasn’t sure what had happened. It only mattered that Xiao Dan remained at his side. That his closest friend and brother was with him to face the troubled days ahead.
Jiang’s smile widened to reveal those frightening fangs. Chen’s fingers twisted in the front of Zhang’s robes, holding him even tighter as the room seemed to turn bitterly cold.
“Well, then…” Jiang paused and released a fake sigh. “I guess it’s your turn.”
Chapter 1
Chen Bo Cheng
April 28, 2023
Connecticut
“If you’re praying to Wu-di,1 I’m going to take those incense sticks and shove them somewhere unpleasant.”
The fingers that had been pressed together flat in front of his face now curled into fists. His teeth clenched and his eyes popped open. But Chen didn’t see the various memorial tablets for their dead clan mates, arranged in tiered rows in front of him. There was no curling smoke from the nearby burning incense sticks or even flickering candles.
No, his mind was too busy conjuring up the image of his fingers wrapping around Li Xiang’s throat while the menace’s face turned from white to red to purple.
“He’s not dead,” Li Xiang snapped behind Chen’s shoulder.
“I know he’s not dead,” Chen hissed, his controlled composure disintegrating. “I was praying to Shifu and asking for his guidance in the nights ahead.”
Li Xiang snorted. “It’s been over two thousand years since Shifu died. Do you think his spirit is still hanging about, listening to you? Shifu crossed Naihe Bridge2 centuries ago. He’s probably been reincarnated more than once and forgotten about us.”
“Li Xiang,” Chen growled in warning.
“It’s Sean,” his younger clan mate drew out, enunciating the name he’d chosen for their rescue mission in America. “You’re never going to fit in among the Americans. Say it with me. Sshhh—awwww—nnnnn.”
Chen whipped his head around to glare at Li Xiang over his shoulder, his teeth clenched and bared at the man’s laughing face. “Speaking of Shifu, maybe I should send you to Naihe Bridge to check for him.”
Chen jumped to his feet and lunged after Xiang. The damn vampire squeaked, but a cackle soon followed as he narrowly avoided Chen’s hands. Xiang darted down the hall, disappearing in a flash. Chen followed close on his heels, but he didn’t get more than a few steps before a pair of strong hands grabbed his arms.
A snarl leaped from Chen’s throat, only to stop when he discovered it was Xiao Dan who was holding him. A knowing smile teased his brother’s lips as if his shixiong had guessed that Chen had almost cursed at him.
