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)
“Shixiong!”2 Yichen’s shout cut across the lawn. Xiao Dan caught movement out of the corner of his eye and lifted his hand, snagging the sword Yichen had thrown at him. He deflected Min’s next strike with the scabbard and pulled the sword.
The fox spirit darted away and went after Yichen, attacking him with those clawlike nails. But Yichen was ready for her, wielding his sword. She spun and slashed at them a few more times yet couldn’t gain a clear advantage. It was only thanks to their vampiric speed that they could keep up with her. A human would have been dead in seconds.
“No!”
The scream echoed through the grove of trees a moment before Huli leaped over the wall. He bounced from tree limb to tree limb and launched himself at Min.
Min dodged and shifted into her white fox form. The two chased each other around the yard, snarling and snapping. The noise was horrific, but the crackle and roar of magic that filled the air nearly drowned it out.
Xiao Dan took a step toward the warring pair, needing to do something but unsure of how he could help Huli. A hand clamped on his elbow and pulled him to the house. He jerked his head to find Kai standing behind him while most of the clan peered out the rear door and windows.
“Forgive me, Shixiong,” Kai murmured. “But if you join in, they might injure you.”
Everything within him screamed to help Huli, but there was nothing he could do. His heart rested like a hard knot in the back of his throat as he prayed for Huli to come out of this battle unscathed.
Then, as suddenly as the fight started, it ended. The white and orange foxes stared at each other, chests heaving as they panted for air. Huli gave an angry snort and Min darted away, jumping over the wall with the help of a couple of low tree branches.
Xiao Dan released a shuddering breath of relief. Huli looked unhurt, though he was definitely pissed, judging by the way his fur was standing up and the snap of his many tails. He pulled free of Kai’s hold and took three steps closer to his fox. “Huli? Are you okay? What is going on?”
In a heartbeat, his grumpy fox changed. All of his tails drooped as if weights had been tied to the ends, and his ears flattened. Huli slowly turned his head toward Xiao Dan.
“Come here, Huli. I need to check that you’re not injured,” Xiao Dan pressed. He only wanted to hold his sweet fox. The rest could wait until Huli had time to calm.
“I…I can’t. Not yet. I need time.” Huli ran off, using a different path across the tree limbs to surmount the wall.
“Huli!” Xiao Dan shouted, but the fox spirit didn’t slow a single step.
“What the hell is going on?” Xiang demanded.
“Just what we needed. Another huli jing,” Chen grumbled only to have his words followed by a loud smack. “Ow! Why’d you hit me, baobei?”3
“Because you’re being an asshole,” Moon snapped.
“What?”
“Read the room, Er-ge,”4 Meimei5 chimed in. “You’re being a prick to Shixiong.”
Chen cleared his throat. “Forgive me, Da-ge.”6
Xiao Dan ignored them all and hurried to Kai’s side. “Could you follow him?”
“Do you want me to bring him back?”
“No. Make sure he’s not hurt. If you get the chance to talk to him, tell him I’m not angry. Only worried about him.”
Kai nodded. “I will find him and watch over him until he returns to you by choice.” The dragon had barely finished speaking when he disappeared.
Xiao Dan could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn’t worried about this Min or whatever nonsense deal Huli might have struck with her. His one concern was for the safety of his fox.
1 Narrator Note: Min (敏)
2 Shixiong – elder martial brother
3 Baobei – baby
4 Er-ge – second oldest brother. A term of endearment. Referencing Chen Bo Cheng here since he is the second oldest behind Zhang Xiao Dan (a.k.a. da-ge)
5 Meimei – younger sister
6 Da-ge – senior older brother, a sort of respectful endearment
Chapter 2
Huli
No.
No. No. No. No.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. How could she travel all the way to the other side of the globe just for this stupid agreement?
How could she still be alive?
He’d not seen a single sign of her in more than three hundred years. He’d been sure she was dead already and that his stupid promise was now null and void.
Huli stopped running from the Zhang manor when he’d traveled for well over a kilometer, but he didn’t stop moving. He paced the forest, bare branches scratching along his side and dead leaves crunching under his paws as panic poured through him in hot, ugly waves.
Xiao Dan must hate him.
All his clan mates had to be telling Xiao Dan to kill Huli and be free of him once and for all.