Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
The vampire brought the blade down on the chain with amazing force, creating a bright flash with an impact to rival even his best bolts of lightning. One link broke in half. Just enough for Kai to pull free.
Xiang ran along Kai’s body while he shoved the saber into the sheath. With both hands, he grabbed the spike while bracing a foot on Kai’s tail. Blinding pain shot through his entire body. There was no holding in his roar, but he could feel the spike sliding free of his flesh. The world turned blurry, and a creeping blackness crowded the edges of his vision. Pain and blood loss were making it hard to remain conscious. Metal clanged on hard stone, helping Kai to find his way back to the surrounding chaos. He was free. His sweet Xiang freed him.
A shout went up from the fae army. They’d spotted Xiang at last. Time had run out for them. Kai picked up his vampire in one hand and launched himself into the air. It was not a graceful flight. Part of his body slammed into a castle wall, toppling it over again. But he hugged Xiang close to him, protecting him as best he could with his own body.
“Rei! We need to get Rei!” Xiang shouted over the thunder and howling wind. “He’s there.”
Kai squinted to where Xiang pointed, but he hadn’t really needed to. The elf was easy to spot, since twenty heavily armed elves with their bows drawn had circled him. There was no way Rei was getting out of that mess without help.
With more force than finesse, Kai wove his way between the trees, plowed through the circle of elves, and snatched up Rei in his other hand before shooting toward the clouds. The elf screamed in his hand, his fingers nearly biting into his scales.
“Too high! Too high! We are way too high!” Rei shouted.
“What’s wrong? Don’t like flying?” Xiang teased, his laughter swept away by the buffeting wind.
“Falling! My problem is falling from this height!”
“It’s fine!”
“It’s not fine! Your dragon is bleeding and not flying straight!”
Rei was right. Kai was struggling to stay in the air. His vision was blurry and every flick of his tail to propel himself was absolute agony. Even the sun was too bright here above the clouds and the pleasant wind that usually caressed his scales was like a thousand blades scraping along his flesh. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in a dark place and not move.
“Kai?”
I’m okay. I’ll get you home.
Xiang shouted something else at him, but the wind stole the words away.
With his eyes closed, Kai turned what little magic remained in him to the task of getting him back to his hoard. No matter where he was or how weak he was, he could always find his hoard.
Thankfully, his hoard now rested under the Zhang clan’s home. If he could get at least close to his hoard, Xiang and Rei could return to the safety of their clan. That was all that mattered now. Xiang had to be safe.
Chapter 24
Li Xiang
“Xiang! Xiang! I don’t think he’s conscious anymore!” Rei was shouting and Xiang couldn’t disagree with him.
Kai was not in good shape at all. He shouldn’t have been flying, but as long as he was in his dragon form, it was the only way they were getting him away from the fae. As soon as the dark memories of finding Kai trapped by the queen crept into his mind, he shoved them aside and focused on getting the dragon on the ground. There would be plenty of time later for payback on Kai’s behalf. No one was touching his dragon ever again.
“Kai! I need you to open your eyes, baobei. Just land. We’ll get you home from here,” Xiang coaxed, attempting to shout over the racing wind and the frantic flap of his clothes.
The dragon must have heard him, because taloned fingers tightened on his waist, and he brought both Xiang and Rei close to his chest. The elf’s blond hair danced around his hair and his features were pulled taut on his very pale face. Rei did not appear good, but Xiang had a feeling this was more from a fear of crashing rather than an injury or fear of heights. Still, he had to ask.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rei shrieked. “We’re above the fucking clouds with a dragon who looks mostly dead. He’s going to get us killed!”
Xiang opened his mouth to argue, but the words left him along with his stomach. Kai shifted from flying flat across the sky into a nosedive. The one plus—and it was a small one—was that Kai had rolled in the air so he would hit the ground on his back rather than crushing him and Rei into the dirt.