2. Zhang Junjie

Chapter 2

Zhang Junjie

T rees with long branches thick with leaves stretched across the road, crowding close to block out the light from the moon and the thin twinkle of stars. Moisture choked the hot summer air. Junjie was usually indifferent to the seasons, but the unrelenting heat had become annoying even if vampires weren’t much bothered by heat or cold. He was so very ready for the changing of the leaves and the cooler temperatures of autumn—not to mention the significantly longer nights that were made for his kind.

But those pleasant dreams seemed distant compared to the looming threat of the fae and the pall they cast on everything.

Tension tightened Junjie’s shoulders as Xiang drove them away from the clan home and into the forest. With the fae casting spells and wiping out the smaller human towns, pretty much everything east of Hartford was forestland now. The only thing to break the tension in the SUV was Kai’s steady stream of complaining about being in a rolling death box once again.

The dragon did not like motor vehicles of any shape or size.

“Why are you so worried about the other humans on the road?” Leo inquired. He leaned forward, which put him closer to Xiang in the driver’s seat and earned him an impressive glare from the dragon. “Can’t you use your magic to protect us or stop the other car before it can hurt us?”

“Xiang doesn’t approve of the random destruction of human life in the name of protecting him,” Kai replied.

Junjie snorted. He couldn’t help himself. This was the same vampire that had wrought more than his fair share of wanton destruction to human life.

“Hey!” Xiang snapped. He turned his head toward Junjie and pointed a finger at him. “I don’t threaten human life needlessly. I?—”

“Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!” Kai shouted. He grabbed Xiang’s hand and forced him to grip the steering wheel again.

Leo snickered, and Junjie had to bite his lip to hold in his smile.

The new couple bickered in the front seat for another minute, and then Kai returned his attention to glaring out the passenger window.

“Are the fae out there, watching us?” Junjie asked.

“The fae are always out there.” Kai released a huff and continued. “But there are fewer out there now than there have been. None are actively watching us at the moment, but they’re not far. Don’t worry, Junjie. I will protect you from the fae.”

“I get the impression you would enjoy battling the fae again,” Junjie said.

“Yes,” Kai said with a soft hiss. “I would very much enjoy killing more of the fae…to protect my mate and our clan.”

Junjie gazed out the window to hide his grin from the rest of the car’s occupants. That last bit felt like Kai had tacked it on for the sake of appearances.

“Hey, cat,” Xiang called out suddenly. “What kind of shifter are you?”

Junjie looked at Leo to find the man smirking at Xiang. “Exactly what you said—a cat shifter.”

“Yeah, but are you like a bakeneko?”

Junjie gasped and scooted closer to his door. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He’d assumed that Leo was of the shifter variety like River and Wyatt Varik, except where they changed into wolves, Leo became a house cat.

“Precious one, he’s clearly not Japanese,” Kai pointed out.

“Yeah, but what if he’s like a third or fourth generation, where all of his ancestors of the past several generations have been Americans? That would cause his human form to appear more American and less Japanese, right?”

Kai turned in his seat to stare at Leo, his nose wrinkling. “I’m not sure it works that way. A bakeneko would have a long life span similar to a huli jing? 1 or a jiuweihu.”

“Time-out.” Leo lifted his hands and made a T sign with them. “What the hell is a bakeneko? And jiuwei-something? I need an English translation.”

“A jiuweihu is a nine-tailed fox spirit. That’s what Huli is. You’ve seen him about the manor,” Junjie explained.

Leo dropped his hands to his lap and relaxed in his seat. “Oh! Yeah, that crazy psychopath who likes to pick fights with the fae. Hangs all over Xiao Dan. I’ve seen him. He’s a fox shifter.”

“No, he’s a fox spirit who shifts into a human.”

“I don’t understand. What’s the difference?”

“A fox shifter is a human who can change into a fox, but at his heart, he is human. Huli is a fox spirit who wears the guise of a human, but at his heart, he is a fox spirit.”

Leo sank even lower into his seat and pressed his hand to his forehead. “Whoa.”

“A bakeneko,” Junjie continued, “is a Japanese yokai—a supernatural entity. At their heart, the bakeneko are cats, but after a long time, they grow in size and can even learn to shift into human form. It’s believed they can even reanimate the recently dead and use their bodies as puppets.”

“Bakenekos are bad news. They bring bad luck and curses to all who know them,” Xiang added.

“So, Leo ,” Kai drawled. “Are you a bakeneko or just a cat shifter?” There was a heaviness to Kai’s tone that hadn’t been there earlier, making it obvious that Leo’s life hung in the balance if the dragon thought he was going to bring curses down on their heads.

“Hey! Whoa!” Leo sat up straight and held his hands in front of him as if to ward off Kai. “I’m not one of those bakeneko. Totally American. No Japanese in me at all. A cat shifter. I’m human, but I spend a lot of my time as a cat because Junjie gives the best belly?—”

“Don’t say it!” Junjie snapped. He’d heard enough about his infamous belly rubs.

Leo cleared his throat and offered Junjie a modest smile, but he didn’t continue. “There!” he shouted suddenly, nearly stopping Junjie’s heart. “Right into that driveway up ahead.”

“You mean the slightly shorter grass path between the trees? That driveway?” Xiang demanded as he slammed on the brakes to slow them enough to make the turn.

The headlights flashed over trees, making their shadows lurch and stretch away from them. In a couple of spots, Junjie thought he saw small bodies leaping away from the driveway, heading deeper into the forest. The SUV rumbled slowly along the narrow passage, bumping and rocking along the path until they came to a two-story structure with dim lights flickering in the windows.

“This used to be a subdivision filled with houses, but the fae trees took most of them out,” Leo commented. His voice was low and solemn, leaving Junjie wondering if he’d once known some of the people who’d lived in this neighborhood.

Xiang parked the car near the house and turned off the engine, plunging the area into thick darkness except for the thin streams of light coming from the windows.

“How many people are inside?” Xiang demanded.

“Just one,” Kai replied.

Leo unbuckled his safety belt and scooted forward. “That’s him. The shifter who needs your help. There were a few others who were protecting him, but they backed off when we approached. We need to hurry.”

That definitely sounded like a bunch of cats. Skittish and cautious. Watching from a safe distance until they could determine if the person was a threat.

Xiang placed a hand on his mate’s arm. “Fae?”

“None in the area,” Kai said with a shake of his head. “I will keep you and Junjie safe.”

“What about me?” Leo chimed in.

Kai turned his head to glare at the cat shifter. “You’ve not earned my protection yet, thanks to your sneaky ways.”

Leo opened his mouth as though he intended to argue with the dragon.

“We don’t have time for this,” Junjie muttered as he unbuckled his seat belt and shoved his door open. The sun was rising, and he needed to be home before it peeked above the horizon.

The others joined him, walking up the creaking wooden porch stairs. He scanned the area to find that there were almost no remains of the old subdivision. It was as if this dense forest had stood here for centuries, holding the secrets of animals and the fae.

A sliver of golden light slipped out where the front door stood open a crack. Junjie reached out his left hand and pushed the door open. It moaned like something out of a horror movie, but nothing jumped out to attack them. The scent of cheese and what he could have sworn were hot dogs drifted out of the house, causing his nose to wrinkle. Not exactly what he had been expecting.

Nor was the next sight to greet him.

Junjie took a step inside to find that it opened into the main living room, where a boy sat in the middle of the sofa. His brown hair stuck up in several directions as if they’d just woken him up, and he clutched a yellow blanket in his fists. Wide, bright-blue eyes watched Junjie, and his pink bow lips were parted.

“Hello, little one,” Junjie cooed as he got his brain working. With some effort, he tore his eyes from the child and examined the room, searching for an adult. Oh, he desperately wanted an adult to be present. “Where’s your mama and baba?”? 2

That earned a very loud and disturbing gasp followed by a heart-breaking sniffle. Enormous tears formed in those brilliant blue eyes, and Junjie’s stomach sank. That was a very bad question.

“What the—” Xiang began and cut himself off.

Junjie didn’t spare his clan mate a glance as he rushed forward with his hands held out toward the child. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” He dropped to his knees in front of the sofa, trying to make his much larger frame seem smaller and less intimidating. “Nobody is going to hurt you. Everything is okay.”

“Nothing is okay,” Xiang corrected him, each word low and tight. “Nothing is okay at all. What the hell, Leo?”

The boy’s gaze lifted from Junjie to stare over his shoulder. Junjie twisted slightly on the balls of his feet to see Xiang, Kai, and Leo standing close to him. Only Leo didn’t gawk utterly flabbergasted at the child.

“Leo?” Junjie prodded as he turned his attention to the boy.

When the cat shifter spoke, his voice was low and almost sullen. It was the most serious he’d sounded to Junjie since the man had first opened his mouth. “The fae killed his parents a few weeks ago. We were lucky to stumble across him before he became sick or the fae found him.”

“You knew them?”

“I knew of them. They were cat shifters like me.” He stopped and shifted from his left foot to his right while scrubbing one hand through his hair. “You have to understand that we don’t have a clan or pack like vampires and wolves. We’re typically a solitary people. We’ve done what we can for him.” Leo’s voice drifted off, but Junjie didn’t need him to finish. It was crystal clear what he wanted them to do—take the child in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Xiang grumbled, but Junjie ignored him.

“He feels mostly human to me,” Kai stated. He paused, and it sounded like he was sniffing the air. “But there is something to him. A hint of magic.”

None of that mattered. Human, shifter, fae. It didn’t matter. The only thing that did was that this was a helpless child who was very much alone in the world—something Junjie could still remember all too well even after two thousand years.

“Do you at least know his name?” he demanded.

Silence filled the house. Junjie twisted around to find that Leo was gone.

“Fucking cat!” Xiang snarled as they realized Leo had slipped out the door the moment they’d all been focused on the child.

Junjie winced. Not the language or emotions the boy needed right now. Kai also moved toward the door, but his voice was slightly distant, as if he were concentrating on something else.

“There’s a cat running away from the house. Not too far away. I could catch him.”

“Yes!” Xiang hissed.

“No!” Junjie overruled. “There’s no point. Leo either isn’t able to or can’t handle caring for a child. That’s why he asked for my help. The only thing that matters right now is getting this little man safely home with us.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Xiang snapped. “You want to take him home with us?”

“Of course. He can’t stay here.” Junjie turned his full attention to the child and held out his hands. “Would you like to come home with me? We’ll get something yummy to eat and a nice soft bed. I bet we could even borrow some nice toys for you to play with.”

Xiang snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Yeah, Meimei had an enormous collection of soft plushies, but they were all related to her manga and anime shows, which meant they were guarded and treasured. Maybe he could convince her to give up one to the child, who couldn’t be over two or three, until they got him some toys of his own.

“The sun is rising. I’m running out of time. Why don’t you and Kai search the house for toys or possibly clothes for him? We don’t know if this is where he lived with his parents or if this was simply a house the cats were borrowing,” Junjie instructed.

Thankfully, Xiang and Kai followed orders rather than continuing to argue. Junjie fluffed up his smile and waggled his fingers at the boy. “My name is Jun-Jun. Can you say that?”

The boy sniffled and rubbed one eye with his fist while the other continued to cling to his blanket. He didn’t speak. Only stared at him.

“How about gege? Gege means older brother. Would you like Gege to take you to get something to eat? We have all kinds of good food at my house.”

Which was thanks to Rei, Kai, and Moon. How the vampire could be such a bottomless pit was beyond his understanding, but right now, it could be a real boon.

At last, the child nodded and stretched out his arms, leaning forward. He fell straight into Junjie’s outstretched hands. Junjie’s heart squeezed almost to the point of being pulverized as he gathered that fragile body against his chest and tucked his head under his chin. The nameless child gave a deep, shuddering breath and relaxed all of his weight on Junjie.

That was all it took. Junjie knew he’d die for this child. He’d destroy entire armies to keep him safe. He didn’t know anything about raising children or caring for them, but nothing had ever felt so right to him.

Seconds later, Kai and Xiang returned to the living room, carrying a reuseable grocery bag. Xiang’s eyes widened and his mouth popped open, but a sharp glare from Junjie was all it took to get him to close his mouth without saying a damn thing.

“There were two rooms upstairs that looked like they belonged to children, but more of the teenaged variety. Nothing for a small one like that. But we found this bag with some diapers and cleaning cloths,” Kai announced.

“The cats were probably squatting here with him until they could come up with a more permanent solution,” Xiang continued.

“That’s fine. We need to get out of here. The sun is coming up,” Junjie murmured. He grabbed the edge of the soft fleece blanket covered in cartoon characters on it and wrapped the boy in it, despite the lingering heat in the air. This wasn’t about being warm but about creating a sense of security in this child’s endlessly changing life.

“Chen is going to lose his shit,” Xiang commented, a hint of evil laughter lurking among his words. He sobered and became serious as he continued. “Da-ge? 3 might, too.”

Junjie ignored his warning and marched out of the house, walking straight to the SUV they’d taken. He slipped into his seat, keeping the child held tight against him, while Kai came up behind him and closed the door with a reassuring smile.

Yes, Chen, Xiao Dan, and the rest of his clan were likely to be upset about the addition of a child to their lives, but that didn’t worry him much. Prior to becoming vampires, they’d lived on the grounds of the Zhang family manor and lands. There had been plenty of kids running around—members of the vast Zhang family and the children of the servants. Not to mention, more children had arrived regularly for training under the Sword of the Heavenly Garden sect masters. They might be out of practice when it came to interacting with children, but he was sure they’d find a rhythm soon enough for this little one.

His genuine fear came at the timing of the child’s appearance. Their primary concern right now wasn’t just about the fae. They were also faced with Jiang Chong and the threat that he posed to all of them. Junjie wanted to keep this child safe and help him find a shred of happiness after losing his parents. But how safe could he be with Jiang Chong looming over the clan?

1 ? Huli Jing – fox spirit, a mischievous spirit that can be an omen of good luck or bad luck

(It is believed to be able to change into male or female human form and seduce humans. Different from a nine-tailed fox—jiuweihu in Mandarin, kitsune in Japanese or gumiho in Korean – just depends on whether you’re a donghua, anime, or K-drama watcher ??)

2 ? Baba – father

3 ? Da-ge – senior older brother, a sort of respectful endearment