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After parking in the lot Sky had pointed out to them, they’d moved away from the empty picnic area to follow a trail that wound its way through the forest. They’d crossed one stream and had caught sight of squirrels, birds, and even a couple of rabbits enjoying their breakfast.
Every quarter mile or so, Moon would stop, carve a symbol in a tree, and smear it with his blood. It was a tracking ward set to trigger if someone possessing magical energy walked past. The spell wouldn’t stick to the person, but it would allow him to follow the movement of people as they crossed through the forest. He was hoping it would also give him an idea of how many fae were in the area.
Right now, he and Sean were moving in a circle around the region that was supposed to have the door tonight. Each loop tightened the circle on the area, making sure there was no one else was about.
The only problem was that they were seeing tracks coming from the opposite way they’d entered the forest. Lots of tracks.
Someone else was hiking through this part of the forest.
Please let it be a Boy Scout troop. Just a Boy Scout troop doing some kind of nature walk for a badge.
“Chen seems to be getting attached to you,” Sean prodded as Moon moved into the lead along the trail.
“Well, I am pretty good at wearing a person down,” Moon joked, but he couldn’t bring himself to give more than a weak chuckle. The flirting had a growing cost. Chen was becoming attached to him. Very attached.
And Moon…fuck, he didn’t know what he was feeling for the vampire. This was supposed to be fun, laughs, and orgasms. Nothing more complicated than that. He’d wanted to see Chen smile. To hear his laugh.
Well, he’d gotten that and had kept pushing because the man had then needed to be kissed. Apparently, he’d also needed his dick sucked on the front lawn.
Fffuuuuuuccckkkkkk…what the hell am I doing?
This wasn’t a fuck ’em and forget ’em. He knew that the second he’d kissed along each one of Chen’s scars. Little strings tied him to Chen more and more tightly. He ached to heal those old wounds, even though he was centuries too late. He needed to make sure no one else could ever hurt him again.
The problem now was that he was the biggest threat to Chen. The vampire was going to return to China, assuming they were lucky enough to get their hands on Yichen. Where did that leave them?
Sure, Moon would love a whirlwind trip to China to explore the country, see new sights, and experience the culture, but that was all temporary. He wasn’t planning to leave his entire life behind with his home and his friends.
He wasn’t, right?
He’d woken up this morning with his head throbbing and questions stuffing his brain, and he’d told himself to focus on the task at hand. First, it was checking out the region to make sure it was safe. After that, the focus was on saving Yichen from the fae.
But after that, he would be out of time.
He was running out of excuses to put this off. Did he know Chen well enough to change his entire life for him? No.
Then why couldn’t he let go? Why was it so hard to just wash his hands of Chen and the entire Zhang clan? Why did he melt when Chen lost his shit over a tiny cut on his hand? Or that the vampire was insanely protective?
Every time he looked at Chen, the wildest urge to toss everything to the wind and simply live in the moment swept over him. He wanted to grab hold of this man and never let go.
“Sean, can I ask you a question about vampires?” Moon began. He kept his eyes on the winding dirt trail ahead of him rather than the vampire beside him. It was easier considering what was on his mind.
“Sure.”
“Can…can vampires scar? I’ve always heard that vampires heal faster than humans, but can you still scar?”
From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Sean shaking his head. “Nope. Well, maybe if the injury is severe enough to take a vampire to the edge of death. But in general, no. Why do you…oh…” Sean’s voice faded off in the end and his head hung, eyes locked on the compact dirt in front of their feet. “You saw Chen-ge’s scars.”
“Yeah…I…you don’t have to tell me anything. It’s better if I ask Chen. I figured they were from his human years, but…” Moon paused and licked his lips. “I was wondering if that’s part of the training you went through with your sect or—”
“No! Definitely not!” Sean’s head snapped up and his eyes grew wide as he turned to face Moon, stopping their progress. Sean said something soft under his breath that could have been a Chinese curse while shoving his hand through his hair. “I mean, he’s probably got some scars from training and growing up. We all joined the sect when we were eight or nine. We fought and did stupid things together.”
