23. Leo St. George

Chapter 23

Leo St. George

L eo scampered away from the Zhang manor, darting into the nearby woods that surrounded three of the property’s walls. He didn’t get far before he shifted into his human form. It was hard to throw a proper tantrum when he was stuck as a house cat, and he was still pissed.

Maybe not as much at Junjie as he had been. Xiao Dan had worked his magic, and Leo’s heart broke for the vampire saddled with such a horrific gift. Part of him wanted to run inside the house and gather Junjie up in his arms, make any promise he had to so the vampire wouldn’t be afraid for his life.

He was still a little mad at Junjie for imprisoning him rather than trying harder to explain what was happening.

He was a lot mad at himself for not trying harder to understand Junjie’s emotional turmoil.

And yeah, he was peeved at Xiao Dan for telling him this information and making it so that he couldn’t be righteously mad at Junjie any longer.

What the hell was he supposed to do? An adult would return and sit down for a long talk with Junjie. There were things he needed to know.

Ugh. Adult. Talking . Two things he wasn’t good at in the least. It would be easier if he returned and kissed the vampire silly. But as appealing as that sounded, it wouldn’t fix anything.

Plus, he’d just made a huge scene storming out of there. How would it look if he turned right around and forgave Junjie for everything?

With a heavy sigh, Leo folded his arms over his chest and leaned one shoulder against a tree. The problem was that he’d gotten all worked up, and he wanted to wallow in being angry for a bit longer. But that wasn’t happening. Now all he wanted was to find his Jun-Jun and make sure he was okay. Xiao Dan would make sure he didn’t do anything else rash, but Leo wouldn’t stop worrying until he saw it for himself.

Movement caught out of the corner of his eye had his head snapping to the left. His sensitive hearing hadn’t picked up the approach of any person or animal, but then Huli was quite good at moving without making a sound when he wanted to be stealthy. He half expected to see the fox sneaking up on him, preparing to pounce.

Instead, he made out the ghostly outline of the one person he didn’t want to see—Jiang Chong.

Leo gasped and stumbled away from the tree. It was too late to pretend that he didn’t see him. They were staring at each other now, even though Jiang Chong remained within the dead realm. If he shifted and ran, he could get inside the manor grounds before Jiang Chong caught him. Maybe.

As he was debating his next step, the vampire tilted his head to the side as if he were also weighing his options. In the end, he held up both hands to show that he wasn’t holding a weapon. Did that mean he wanted to talk?

With his heart lodged in his throat, Leo took a tiny step back, moving away from the tree, and nodded at the vampire.

A vertical slit formed in the air and the darkness shifted, becoming deep for a moment as Jiang Chong stepped into the living realm. Leo took two more steps, maintaining several feet of distance between them. Vampires were fast, but he could shift into his cat form in the blink of an eye. As a house cat, he was fast and nimble, making him almost impossible to catch.

“Devious, isn’t he?” Jiang Chong purred as the opening between worlds closed behind him. Leo’s eyes slipped over the vampire. He was everything one might expect a vampire to be. Pale-white skin almost to the point of possessing a blue tint, brown eyes that appeared nearly black, sharp features, and sleek black hair. His clothes were modern while also possessing an old, foreign feel to them. But where Hollywood had made vampires sexy, everything about Jiang Chong screamed danger.

“Who’s devious?” Every hair on Leo’s body stood on end and every muscle was tensed. One wrong move, one twitch from Jiang Chong, and he was gone. There was nothing he could say that was more important than getting to the Zhang clan with a warning that he was near.

“Zhang Xiao Dan.” His tone was so casual and nonchalant, like the vampire hadn’t a care in all the world. “He has always been quite good at presenting himself as a caring soul, the voice of reason, but, at his heart, he is a manipulator. He is skilled at convincing others to do his bidding, whether or not they wish to.”

“I’ve noticed.”

It seemed safer to play along since the vampire wanted to talk. Any information was useful, and it was always better to learn as much about your enemy as possible if you wanted to take him down. And considering how terrified Junjie was of Jiang Chong, Leo wanted this monster dead.

“You have to be cautious around him and his wheedling ways.”

Leo offered the vampire a stiff smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sure he learned much from his master.”

Jiang Chong’s gaze became like a razorblade, sharp and ready to slice off a layer of Leo’s flesh. “I have no quarrel with you, shifter. This is your one warning to stay out of my way. This is my clan, and I mean to reclaim it. When they accept me as their master once again, I will take them to China and leave this realm to the fae. That is our agreement.”

“You don’t intend to slaughter them?”

A harsh, stilted laugh broke like shards of glass from Jiang Chong’s throat, leaving Leo inwardly flinching. “What would be the point of that? How can they do my bidding and serve me as I reestablish my power within China if they are all dead?”

Of course, the Zhang clan intended to fight Jiang Chong with everything they had. They would rather die than submit to his rule. But what about Erik? Would a threat to the little boy change how far they were willing to go to get free of this madman?

“Though…” Jiang Chong drawled, a tiny smirk forming on his pale thin lips. “There is one who must die.”

Fuck! Did he know about the kitten?

“He nearly killed me once. An example must be made of him, so the others don’t get the same idea that they have a chance of escaping.”

“Junjie,” Leo whispered, unable to stop his lover’s name from slipping from his lips.

Jiang Chong clenched and bared his teeth in a hiss. “Yes! The bastard child who had no business learning the arts of the Sword of the Heavenly Garden sect. Once I get rid of him, the rest of the clan will fall in line. They’ve become far too soft over the years.” Jiang Chong paused, and his expression grew speculative, while a wintry smile returned to his lips. “The clan could use a cat shifter with your skills. Your presence in your cat form is unassuming and nonthreatening. You can get in places other can’t during the daylight hours and gather valuable information about our enemies. With the power of an entire vampiric clan at your back, you could go far in this world. Rule the humans instead of hiding among them.”

Yep. Jiang Chong was insane. Completely certifiable. Had to be if he thought for a second that Leo would consider that offer.

But the trick was going to be getting away from him and to the clan to warn them before Jiang Chong could catch him.

“You know, that’s an interesting offer.” Leo took another step, putting more distance between them. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“This isn’t something you can turn down,” Jiang Chong said.

“Yeah, I kinda figured it was something like that.”

In the blink of an eye, Leo was in his house cat form and running as fast as he could into the woods rather than the gate. There was a tree that he used frequently at the rear of the property that had a limb that stretched close to the wall. It was a bit of a leap, but he could make it with ease. This would either slow Jiang Chong, or more likely, cause him to set off the warning alarm.

There was little noise through the brush, but he could feel the vampire following close behind. He could imagine Jiang Chong cursing him under his breath.

Leo flew up the tree and out across the limb. He was moving so fast it felt like his paws were barely touching the bark. At the very end of the limb, he jumped. Fingers scraped across his stomach as Jiang Chong stretched for him but just missed.

The cat flew over the wall and landed hard in the soft grass. He stumbled a few steps and caught his balance again as he raced to the house. He was aiming for the rear door, but he heard voices out front.

Junjie’s voice.

“I know he’s still angry with me, but I can’t sit by and do nothing. I need to search for him. Bring him back to the safety of the clan house.”

Leo’s heart stopped at his lover’s frightened words. He changed direction and ran for the driveway. As Junjie came into view, he heard the door close while the vampire walked toward the driveway gate. Whomever he’d been talking to must have gone inside.

A yowling meow erupted from Leo’s throat as he sped to Junjie, praying that he was still ahead of Jiang Chong. He couldn’t risk slowing down to look behind him.

“Leo?” Junjie gasped.

The second he had Junjie’s attention, Leo shifted into his human form. “Jiang Chong!” he shouted.

Those two words were barely past his lips as the house behind him erupted in bright lights and noise. He could make out Moon shouting the same thing. The vampire had crossed inside the walls to kill him and Junjie.

Panic filled the vampire’s face as he stared at his empty hands. In his panic to find Leo, he’d run outside without a single weapon on him. Leo reached him and captured his wrist. With a hard jerk, he pulled him to the house. If they moved fast enough, they could reach the armory and Junjie could grab what he needed while the rest of the clan ran to intercept the bastard.

They didn’t get more than two steps.

Jiang Chong sliced through the air, stepping from the dead realm into the living world, coming between them and safety with ease.

Leo barely had enough time to register that death was standing in front of them. Junjie whipped Leo behind his larger frame, drawing Jiang Chong’s attention to him. The asshole took the bait and slashed his sword through the air at Junjie. His lover had no choice but the dodge and block as best he could.

Fuck. This. Shit.

House cat might be his preferred form, but it wasn’t his only one. And Junjie was worth giving up all of his secrets.

Gritting his teeth, Leo called on the magic that bubbled and hummed in every cell of his body. It took a second to remember how, but he forced his body to shift into a Bengal tiger. He was over five hundred pounds of muscle, teeth, and claws. And he was fucking pissed.

His roar made the ground tremble and every bird in the vicinity took to the air.

Both Jiang Chong and Junjie stopped in their tracks to stare openmouthed at him. He tried to take advantage of their shock by lunging at Jiang Chong. The vampire snapped from his wonder in time to dodge out of the way. Leo chased after him, swiping massive paws at him with long claws extended. He just needed to land one good hit to disembowel the man.

“What the hell?” Xiang shouted from the house.

“Who brought the tiger?” Chen demanded.

“It’s…Leo.” Junjie sounded as if he were still trying to process what he was seeing.

The arrival of more of the Zhang clan must have unnerved Jiang Chong because the asshole created an opening in the dead realm and slipped into it, nearly disappearing from sight. Leo started to jump in after him, but Junjie’s desperate cry of “Don’t!” reminded him of the warnings his lover had given more than once. Never follow Jiang Chong into the dead realm. The bastard was too quick and would leave Leo to rot there.

With a roar and a flick of his tail, Leo retreated, following the shadowy vision of the vampire with his eyes. The only problem was that the farther Jiang Chong moved away from him, the harder it was to see him. He made another frustrated noise in the back of his throat and shifted into his human form.

“He’s close, but I’ve lost sight of him. Go inside. Get a sword,” Leo ordered while still searching the area for any ghostly sign of him.

Junjie wrapped his fingers around his wrist and squeezed. “You’re not armed either. Come with me. Protect Erik.”

“Your clan needs me out here searching for that asshole. I’ll help them while you get a weapon.” A smile lifted one corner of his mouth and the words, “I’m not leaving you again” were balanced on his tongue. But as he turned his head to look at Junjie, he spotted Jiang Chong behind his lover, the opening between the two worlds already appearing like a gaping wound in the sky.

There was no time to shout a warning. He twisted his hand to grip what he could of Junjie’s arm and pulled him away from Jiang Chong. He lunged forward, putting his body between the monster and his vampire.

The sword plunged through his chest in a flash. The first sharp pain was cold and biting, stopping everything, as if it had been the entire world on pause. But just as quickly, someone tapped the play button, and they all lurched forward. The sword came out with a gush of blood. He lurched back, key body parts no longer functioning properly. Junjie shouted and Leo tried to turn to him, but he was falling.

Damn . Junjie had been right.