Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
At least, that was the lie Kai told himself while they moved a heavy sofa with rich yellow brocade together.
It was the same reason he’d allowed Xiang to talk him into taking sword fighting lessons with him. Kai knew how to use a sword. He’d studied it centuries ago. But if Xiang was teaching him, the vampire wasn’t causing mischief. Usually.
They had proceeded like this for more than a week. Sword training. Meals. Coercing Xiang into helping with the dusting. Random conversations punctuated by outbreaks of boredom on Xiang’s part.
However, they were on borrowed time. Kai knew it. With each passing minute, he clenched his teeth and growled at nothing. Any day now, Queen Belladonna was going to summon him to her side using his sword, and she was going to order him to kill the vampire. What the hell was he supposed to do? There was no fighting that magic.
He’d tried once when she’d first gotten her hands on his sword, and the attempt had almost killed him. Now he bided his time. Once he could uncover a way to retrieve the sword, he would decimate all the fae who thought to control and command him. When he was done, the humans would have nothing to fear from the fae. They would be reduced to half-forgotten folklore and misty nightmares.
Kai shoved those thoughts out of his mind as he slipped into the treasure room and searched for the vampire. It was quiet. Ominous, stomach-twistingly, the-vampire-is-up-to-trouble quiet. Kai hesitated after a few steps, wondering if maybe it was better to retreat and return after the vampire was done creating his chaos.
But he didn’t want to stick his head into the sand with Xiang. So, with a heavy sigh, he continued forward until he located the man with the fluffy black hair sitting on the floor. One leg was bent before him and his arm rested on his knee. His phone dangled black and lifeless from two fingers.
“What is wrong?” Kai demanded when Xiang didn’t react to his presence.
“I need you to talk to the dragon,” he started without preamble or his usual teasing remarks. Not even a single whine about being left alone in the treasure hoard for over six hours all by himself.
Kai took a half step back and tried to reinforce his defenses. Xiang hadn’t mentioned the dragon in at least four days. It had been enjoyable. But reality slammed into Kai’s chest. Xiang was a prisoner, and Kai was his jailer.
“Talking to the dragon is no simple task. What do you want?”
Xiang turned his head to narrow his eyes on Kai. “You mean other than to be set free?”
Kai returned the glare. Apparently, he was in a testy mood. “Yes, other than that.”
“I need to feed.”
Biting on the side of his cheek, Kai watched the man, who continued to hold his gaze unblinking. He didn’t know how long vampires could go without feeding on blood. It was a common belief that the older ones didn’t need to hunt that often, but Kai didn’t know what that meant in days. Xiang had been in the hoard for approximately two weeks. There were no signs he was starving for blood. His color was unchanged and there was the usual clarity to his eyes.
But there was a new sharpness to his mood. Something he’d not seen since Xiang’s first nights in the cave. Was this hunger? How much longer could he stretch before Xiang was in physical pain?
Not that he had any desire to make Xiang feel hunger pains. Or any pain, for that matter. His imprisonment was nothing Kai desired. If anything, it was for his own protection. There was no reason to make him suffer.
Yet, how was he supposed to feed a vampire? It wasn’t like he could offer the vampire his own blood. That would give away his secret in a heartbeat. Plus, there was no telling what the effect on Xiang would be. Blood carried magic, and dragon magic was some of the oldest in all the world. Xiang could be hurt if he attempted to feed from him.
That meant he needed to supply Xiang with a human blood donor.
Unless he stole a bag of blood from a blood bank or a hospital. That was an option, right? Maybe he could even get several bags and create a stockpile in the refrigerator for the vampire.
“Does the blood need to be fresh?”
Xiang broke eye contact when he shut his eyes and twisted his features up in a pained wince. “I am afraid to ask what is running through your mind,” Xiang muttered. “Yes. I can’t drink old blood. It will make me sick, and then I’ll need even more blood to repair the damage created by the old blood.”
“So…not bagged blood from a hospital or something like that?”