2. Kai

Why am I even doing this?

He stood in the shadows cast by the trees behind the Zhang clan home. There was no way he was going to take a single step closer. Yes, he was a powerful dragon, and every creature should bow before him, but that kind of arrogance had gotten him into trouble in the first place.

It wasn’t so much the vampires he was worried about, though Xiang was proving he could be his own unique brand of tricky. No, it was the fae lurking within those walls. A single elf shouldn’t be a problem, but it was likely that it was one crafty elf who’d stolen his sword.

Bastard.

He would not underestimate the fae again.

There was also the huli jing sneaking about outside the home. They were always unpredictable trouble. In all his long years, he’d encountered plenty of his own kind and even some phoenixes. With some respect and care, those meetings had been navigated with relative ease.

But the huli jings were another story. Every one of them was a ball of furry chaos, and not one of those encounters had been good.

Kai would prefer to avoid the one that had latched on to the Zhang clan altogether.

He mentally sighed. Kai. It wasn’t a horrible name as far as names went. He hadn’t even thought of the name he had been called before in thousands of years. If Xiang wanted to call him Kai, that was fine.

For now, he trained his attention on the house. The sun had set an hour ago, and the sky was growing darker, but the vampires within were moving about. He could hear their voices through the walls as they talked and joked. People were making love, and Kai tried very hard to tune them out.

“Do you think those witches could find the dragon?”

“Which witches?”

“OhmyGod! You didn’t just say that!”

“I’m assuming she means Moon’s witch friends.”

“Sure. Or any witches that anyone knows? There’s a Varik witch, right?”

“Yes, and no.”

“How can it be both?”

“Yes, there’s a Varik witch and no, my friends can’t find the dragon. We didn’t know dragons existed! I’m sure he wouldn’t even know how to craft a seeking spell for a dragon.”

“Besides, if they’re afraid to go looking for the fae, I doubt they’d be willing to hunt down a dragon.”

“Good point.”

“Argh! If we can’t go after the dragon, can we at least beat up the fae again? Sitting here is frustrating.”

“Leaping in without a plan is how you get yourself or your friends killed. We sit, wait for news, and make a plan.”

Kai sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. At least someone within their clan possessed a brain. The voice was as calm and even as the still water of a placid lake.

A quick count of heartbeats revealed there were seven vampires and one elf inside. No one sounded injured or even weakened from their recent encounter with the fae. Good. He could return to Xiang and reassure the fidgety vampire that his clan was safe and well. Nothing for him to worry about on that front. Maybe now he would settle into his captivity with quiet dignity and decorum.

At the very least, Kai could get some sleep without worrying about him. Was this what it was like to keep a pet? Constantly worrying they would get themselves into trouble, hurt by doing something they shouldn’t, or even eating something they shouldn’t? Kai squeezed his eyes shut at the brief image of trying to force the vampire to spit out something he shouldn’t have put into his mouth.

No, definitely not.

This was the danger of collecting something living, though. Books, swords, and gems were better. They all stayed where he put them. No random moving about or complaining about not seeing their family.

Content that he’d gathered the information he needed, Kai prepared to slip over the wall. Only there could he shift into his natural form and fly to his temporary cave.

However, that had to be put on hold. The huli jing had spotted him and was approaching. For a moment, he debated darting away before the fox reached him, but he was more worried about the creature following him to his lair. He didn’t need more trouble than he already had.

Kai walked farther into the woods, putting some distance between himself and the house so as not to catch the attention of the vampires.

“Ha! I knew my nose didn’t lie to me!” the huli jing announced as he bounded closer, his nine fluffy tails whipping through the air behind him. The creature was bigger than the normal fox, but not by a lot. Most of his bulk came from his many tails. Kai had known enough jiuweihu in his day to understand that each one of those tails was hard won. Also, the more tails a huli jing possessed, the more trouble they were.

Nine equaled god-level trouble.

“I have no quarrel with you, huli jing,” Kai grumbled the second the creature stopped approaching.

The fox’s triangle-shaped ears flattened to its head, and his black eyes narrowed. “We will have a quarrel if you try to steal my vampire, dragon.”

That…was interesting. The huli jing wasn’t there to torment all the clan, just a particular vampire.

“Have you come to steal another vampire?”

“No. The one I’m holding wished to know if any of his clan members suffered an injury during the fight with the fae.”

“Oh.” The fox spirit jumped up onto a fallen log and stretched almost catlike, its tails dancing behind it. “And you’re not going to steal another one?”

“No, I don’t wish to possess any more vampires. The one I have is more than enough.” That was all he needed. Two vampires plotting against him.

The huli jing sighed and lay on the log. “You can take one or two of them. That’s fine with me. Just not my vampire. He’s off-limits.”

“Fine. Whatever. I’ll leave your vampire alone.”

“Shall I tell them that the annoying, angry vampire is still alive?”

Kai had been about to step away from the fox spirit and head for the wall, but his question stopped him. “Do you mean Li Xiang?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s his name.” The huli jing appeared utterly indifferent to the vampire’s existence. “My vampire is worried about him.” He cocked his head to the side as if thinking. “However…when he’s worried, he seems to cuddle me more often.”

“I would prefer it if you didn’t tell them we spoke. Li Xiang is unharmed and being kept safe within my lair for now. That is all you need to know.”

“That’s fine with me.”

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Kai got a few steps away from the fox, but his feet stopped as his curiosity got the better of him. “Just so I know which vampire to avoid, which one is yours?”

“He is called Zhang Xiao Dan, and he is the leader of the clan.” The huli jing’s voice started off dreamy but turned sharper as his eyes snapped back. “You will not touch him, dragon. He is mine.”

“Good to know,” Kai mumbled.

He couldn’t get away from this clan fast enough. A cluster of ancient vampires complicated by the addition of an elf and a very possessive nine-tailed huli jing. That was far too messy for him to ever want to touch again.

Kai sworehe would not check on the vampire when he returned to his lair.

And within ten minutes, he was breaking his promise to himself.

In his defense, he didn’t trust Xiang.

It wasn’t like he was checking in on the vampire because the man represented something interesting to break up the monotonous passage of time. Li Xiang was a strange, chatty creature with many questions and a peculiar way of looking at life that, more often than not, left him scratching his head. Kai couldn’t remember the last time he’d met someone who confounded him quite like Xiang.

Besides, the vampire currently occupied the most comfortable location in the entire network of caves Kai had claimed as his own. He hadn’t loved the idea of placing the vampire within his hoard, but it was the most secure spot with its intricate web of protective spells. How else could he be sure the vampire wouldn’t escape?

Plus, he needed to ensure Xiang was comfortable. He was a guest, after all.

Well, technically, he was a prisoner, and likely to become a victim, regardless of whether Kai wished it. If these were going to be Xiang’s last nights, Kai could at the very least make them as comfortable as possible.

With a bit of magic, he appeared inside the treasure room at a point far from where he sensed Xiang. He lingered in the shadows cast by a tall fake palm tree, searching for where Xiang was. What greeted him stopped his heart. He hadn’t spotted the vampire yet, but a long, low moan echoed through the room.

Was the vampire injured?

Was he starving already without blood?

Another moan came as Kai was about to leap from his hiding place. Only this time, it was a single word.

“Bored.”

Kai stopped and his eyes rolled up into his skull.

“Bored. Soooooooo boooooorred,” Xiang whined.

Clearly, his guest required some form of entertainment despite existing in a treasure room filled with beautiful things to occupy him. The vampire was probably like all the humans with their television obsession and those plastic gaming systems that flashed and made noises to assault the senses.

Kai briefly thought about leaving before Xiang could notice him but changed his mind and slipped out of his hiding spot with a sigh. He crossed the room, weaving through the collection of furniture and other random items as he followed the pathetic sounds coming from Xiang.

He located the vampire sprawled across the canopied bed, his head hanging off the foot, his hair poofing out to form a black halo around him. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted as he cried out again, “Bored. I’m so bored in here.”

“I don’t understand this boredom you complain about,” Kai grumbled.

The vampire yelped and attempted to right himself, but his wild flailing only caused him to tumble headfirst off the end of the bed and onto the floor. Luckily, there just happened to be a small pile of fringed pillows at the end of the bed, so he suffered no injury, though Kai suspected it wouldn’t have been the first time Xiang had fallen on his head.

“Kai!” Xiang greeted when he was sitting right-side up. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in days!”

“It’s been ten hours.”

Xiang threw up his hands. “No clocks. No windows. I’m trapped in a single room. I can’t tell how much time has passed. Can’t you get the dragon to let you bring in one tiny clock?”

He considered reminding the vampire that it didn’t matter how much time passed. It wouldn’t change his imprisonment. But he held in those words because Xiang had reminded him of the one thing he enjoyed from their visits—the vampire had no idea he was the dragon who’d captured him. Xiang believed he was a servant or another prisoner of the dragon.

It meant Xiang felt no fear of him. He wasn’t trying to fight him.

Xiang was still attempting to escape, though. Only, he promised to take Kai along with him. Well, human Kai, at least.

Of course, all that would evaporate the second Xiang realized Kai was his captor rather than a fellow prisoner. But for now, he was determined to enjoy Xiang’s confusion. Even if it wasn’t real, it was the first time in all of his long existence that someone at least pretended to care about him, and it was a very interesting experience. It made him want to do things for the vampire. Little things.

Like acquire the very best clock in all the world for him.

Not because Xiang needed or even deserved the best clock. It was just that the clock would rest within his treasure hoard, and nothing entered his hoard that wasn’t the best.

“Where have you been? What do you do all day? Does that dragon have another hoard that he forces you to clean?”

“No.” He turned and walked away from the bedchamber. He sat on a high-back chair with thick velvet cushions. It had once been the throne for a king before he got his claws on it. The king had been a wicked man and hadn’t deserved to sit on such a finely crafted chair.

As he expected, Xiang left the bedroom area and followed him. Today, he wore a pair of navy slacks and a thick, soft, cream-colored sweater that brought out the dark sparkle in his eyes. The first day, Xiang had refused to change out of his own wet, dirty clothes.

But now he was in clothes that Kai had worn himself in the past when he’d gone out as a human. Clothes he’d selected personally. An unexpected warmth rose in his chest as he watched Xiang in his new attire. He needed to gain more garments that would fit Xiang in a variety of colors. It was critical that he know what would look best on him.

“Wh—”

“The dragon went to your clan’s home today,” he broke in, stopping Xiang from asking more prying questions.

Xiang’s face paled, and he leaped to his feet. “What did the dragon do? Did he attack? Was anyone hurt?” The vampire’s voice grew thicker and tighter with each question he fired at Kai.

“The dragon did nothing. He observed them. Weren’t you the one who wanted to know if any of them suffered injuries in the fight with the fae?”

Xiang’s pink lips parted as his mouth bobbed open and closed, but no sound came out. For the first time since the vampire had come to the cave, Xiang was speechless, and Kai felt the urge to grin.

“Just watched them?” Xiang squeezed out.

Kai nodded. “That’s all. From a distance. None of them knew the dragon was there. He reported that your clan is fine, and they are plotting to rescue you.”

His companion dropped onto the nearby sofa with a laugh. “Naturally! If they knew you were with me, they’d be plotting to rescue you as well.”

Kai lowered his eyes to where his hand rested on the carved arm of the chair as emotions swirled in his chest. As a dragon, the idea that anyone would steal anything from him made him want to snarl and bare his teeth. Yet something else fluttered around his heart when Xiang so confidently spoke of people trying to save him. No one had ever tried to help him before.

At least, not in many thousands of years.

He didn’t know how to reconcile these conflicting emotions, so he did what he always did—buried them deep inside and ignored them. That was always the safest course of action.

To distract Xiang, he said, almost smirking, “The dragon mentioned seeing a huli jing.”

Xiang growled. “Fucking Huli. Why is he still hanging about? I thought he would return to China when we got Yichen from the fae.”

“You don’t like the huli jing?” Kai asked, prodding him as if he were stoking the smoldering embers of a nearly expired campfire.

Xiang slouched on the thick, evergreen cushions and folded his arms over his chest. “No, definitely not! I don’t trust him. He’s pure trouble. He’s been harassing our clan for over a thousand years. The menace is obsessed with my shixiong. We’ve tried chasing him off, but he keeps returning.”

“Why do you think he’s focused his attention on your shixiong?”

“I don’t know. How am I supposed to understand the crazy workings of a fox spirit’s mind?”

Kai held his tongue, enjoying the emotional roller coaster Xiang was riding. The vampire might be bored, but he was proving to be plenty of entertainment for Kai. He’d not known a creature so expressive as this one.

“Okay, so maybe Moon and Junjie would argue that Huli is infatuated with Xiao Dan. Or maybe even in love with him. I don’t know if I believe that. Can a huli jing love someone?” Xiang leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he fixed piercing dark eyes on Kai. “Do you think the dragon has ever loved someone?”

“What?” Kai squeaked, the word escaping him before he could catch it.

“Yeah. Do you think the dragon can love someone? Do you think maybe he loves you and that’s why he’s kept you trapped here for so long?”

Kai was on his feet and pacing through the giant cavern, desperate to put some distance between himself and Xiang, but the damn vampire was fast on his heels. “What are you even talking about? How do you know I’ve been here long?”

“I don’t know. There’s something about how you talk and how you’re so comfortable here. Have you ever noticed that you walk through this room and never bump into anything? Like you know exactly where everything is.”

His feet moved faster as a chill skittered down his spine, but there was no escaping Xiang and his words. He moved so deftly through the hoard because it was his. Who else could know what was in here? However, he couldn’t afford to have Xiang put those pieces together.

While his brain was locked on those thoughts, a powerful arm slung across his tense shoulders and drew him in close. The scent of lotus blossoms and snow drifted past his nose. The vampire had bathed using the soap he’d made using an ancient technique that was a mix of craft and magic. It was a scent he was well acquainted with, a favorite of his for centuries, but there was something different about it now. As it lifted from Xiang’s skin, it left him wanting to turn his face and press it into Xiang’s neck.

Ridiculous.

“Don’t worry. I promise that once I get you out of here, I’ll continue to protect you. I’ll help you get home again. And even if you can’t ever remember your people, I’ll make sure that you don’t feel overwhelmed or lost. I’ve got your back.”

Kai froze. He couldn’t think. How easy it would be to lean into Xiang’s presence and agree to let Xiang become his guide in the human world.

But he wasn’t returning to the human world.

Hewas the reason Xiang was trapped there.

Besides, Xiang didn’t mean what he was saying.

Clenching his teeth together, he put his hand against Xiang’s side and shoved the vampire away from him. “Stop! Just…just stop. I don’t believe any of your nonsense. You don’t care about me. You have no intention of protecting me or being my friend. The only reason you’re saying any of those things is because you want me to help you escape. I mean nothing to you.”

He stomped off, winding his way deeper and deeper into the hoard while Xiang shouted at him. The vampire was fast, but the thick cluster of treasure spread about the cave forced him to move more slowly, giving Kai the chance to find a place where he could disappear without Xiang seeing him perform magic.

When he reappeared in the corridor outside the treasure room, he was in his natural form, his long, scaled body filling the underwater cave. A roar erupted from his lips and echoed off the stone walls.

No more visits to the vampire.

At least, not for a while. Li Xiang of the Zhang clan was his captive, and he wasn’t going anywhere. The queen had ordered him to take the vampire, and that was what he’d done. If she said to release him, he would. And if she said to kill him, he would.

From now on, he would only check on Xiang to ensure he didn’t need anything. These little conversations were growing too dangerous. If they continued, he might be tempted to help him. But he couldn’t.

No, it was better if they both kept a low profile for now.

It wasn’t likely Queen Belladonna was going to forget that she had a dragon at her beck and call, though. No, eventually she was going to gather the strength she needed to issue another command. He could guess that it was going to be one of two things: Kill Xiang. Or kill someone from Xiang’s clan.