Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“When did you first meet Min?” Xiao Dan inquired as he finished getting dressed. He turned off the light in the adjoining bathroom and returned to the bedroom, where Huli was sitting on the end of the bed. The sleeves swallowed up his hands, and part of him wished he could hide his entire body within the pajamas.
“A very long time ago.” He pushed the words out in a mumble that had to be barely audible to even the vampire’s superior hearing.
Xiao Dan sat next to him and gently took one of his arms. His nimble fingers neatly folded back the cloth of the sleeve twice to rest right where it was supposed to on Huli’s wrist. “I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me the truth about Min. I won’t be upset.”
“But I promised your soul to her!” Huli cried out and then bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood. He shouldn’t have reminded Xiao Dan of that, even though it was something he wasn’t likely to forget.
“Forgive me, Huli, but my soul is not something you can promise away. You don’t own it. My soul belongs to me alone, and she can’t have it.” He paused and tilted his head so that he could meet Huli’s downcast gaze. “Unless that is something you want. Do you want me to give my soul to her?”
“No!” Huli threw himself at Xiao Dan, wrapping his arms around his neck. “No! Never! I never intended for her to get her claws into your soul. She can’t have you. You’re mine! You belong to Huli and no one else.”
Xiao Dan’s powerful arms closed about Huli, holding him so tightly that the panic threatening to choke him ebbed. “You’re right. I belong only to you. Min can’t have me. No one else is ever going to have me.”
A gentle kiss was pressed to the top of Huli’s head and another at his temple. “If we’re to protect ourselves from Min, I need to know everything about her. Can you help me?”
Reluctantly, Huli released Xiao Dan and sat up. He placed his hands in his lap, but Xiao Dan picked up his wrist and folded the sleeve back so that it matched the other one. Just watching Xiao Dan’s slow, attentive manner cleared away the last of the fear.
“I was young. It was before I learned to speak. Before I gained my second tail. She found me in the woods. She was the first huli jing I’d ever met. At three hundred, she had five tails and could shift into a human.”
“You became enamored of her,” Xiao Dan said.
“No!” Huli snapped. “I hated her. She’d already noticed you. Seen you in the market.” Xiao Dan’s fingers froze on Huli’s sleeve. Huli threaded their fingers together, trying to infuse some of his natural warmth into Xiao Dan’s chilled skin. He tipped his head up and stared into Xiao Dan’s wide eyes. “From our first meeting, I wanted to kill her. Yet, she had power that I didn’t have. How could I tell you all the things I saw and did if I never learned to speak? How could I make you love me if I couldn’t turn into a human?”
The vampire’s expression softened. “You can’t make someone love you.”
“I made you. I did. You said it earlier that you love me.”
Xiao Dan’s worried gaze filled with warm laughter. “Did you make me love you with huli jing magic?”
“No. I…I…”
How the hell had he made Xiao Dan love him? Was it the shiny baubles he’d brought the vampire over the years? Maybe it was how he’d protected him when they went for their long walks through the woods?
Xiao Dan’s chuckle tore him from his wandering thoughts. A kind hand cupped his cheek and pulled him in for a slow kiss that scattered fragmented ideas like leaves in the wind.
“I love you because of who you are. Huli is my sweet, playful, mischievous fox spirit. You are so very good at finding trouble, but you have the softest, biggest heart that you let only me see.”
“Because my heart belongs to Gege. Only Gege can see it.”
“Yes, that is mine.”
“But I needed to be able to speak to you. I needed you to see me as a human to win you. That is the reason I agreed to leave Luoyang with Min.” Huli leaned his head against Xiao Dan’s shoulder and sighed. “She was older, knew other huli jing, knew how to become stronger. I needed this information, and she was my one source. Yet, she was unwilling to give me this information for free.”
“And this was why you struck a bargain with her. To become a more powerful huli jing, you bartered my soul for that knowledge,” Xiao Dan finished for him.
His head popped up. “Yes, but I never intended for her to get your soul. I planned to kill her as soon as I was strong enough. That way, she could never touch my gege!”