Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Leo chuckled, joy rising in his chest as Erik climbed out of Junjie’s lap to run over and pick up a blue dump truck. He brought it to Leo and held it in front of his nose, a steady stream of babble, English, and Mandarin pouring out of him in a run-on sentence. It was easily the most he’d ever heard the child say in one go.
“Wow, chatty guy.”
“He’s been talking more and more, recently. Chen and Shijie say it’s a sign that he’s comfortable here.”
“That was my first thought.” He accepted the truck and placed it on the ground. Growling truck noises rumbled up from his throat as he pushed it along the ground. Erik grabbed a handful of pebbles that he dropped in the truck’s bed. They spent some time playing with the truck and a couple of cars before Leo recalled that he’d come over specifically to see Junjie. Not to play with the boy.
He glanced over his shoulder to find a look of such open joy on Junjie’s face. His dark eyes twinkled, and his lips drew up in an enormous grin. It was hard to believe this beautiful man could become even more heart-stopping, but it was true. Junjie was the sun when he smiled.
Junjie caught him staring and cleared his throat, his eyes plummeting to his hands in his lap. “Um…the fae. You asked about what we found. Not much, actually. Chen found some papers that he couldn’t read, so we brought them to Rei. It turns out they were notes on places they had checked as potential sites for their next ritual. Rei has been working with Marcus to get our maps updated and make some guesses as to where the fae are going to search next.”
“Do you think that will get you closer to the leader of the fae?”
Junjie grimaced, twisting his fingers in his lap. “Probably not. Trin has access to an entire army now and ample scouts. He wouldn’t go out unless it was necessary. Huli and Kai are focusing their trips into the woods on trying to find where Trin’s headquarters are. Rei will try to locate where they will perform the ritual if we can’t stop Trin ahead of it.”
“I won’t be able to get any cat shifters to help, but I could go out searching for this Trin’s hideout.”
Leo hadn’t even finished speaking and Junjie shook his head. “No! It’s too dangerous.”
“My fighting skills might not be great, but I have some excellent sneaking skills.”
Junjie chewed on his bottom lip as he watched Erik. “I will leave that decision up to you, but please, don’t go unless you’re sure you can do it safely.”
Leo leaned closer to Junjie on his elbow and tipped his face up. “Are you saying that you’d be worried about me if something happened?”
“I’m saying that Erik needs you to tell me about his kind so I can help him as he grows.”
Leo rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe that to be the only reason for Junjie’s concern, but he didn’t bother pressing him.
“Since you are here, I would love to talk to you about cat shifters, so I may better help Erik.”
Leo shrugged one shoulder and pushed into an upright position. “Okay, but I think you should also trust in nature taking her course. He’ll figure things out.”
That earned him a new frown. Junjie said a bit sharply, “We’ve recently discovered that cat shifters can see ghosts and the dead realm.”
“Oh. Really?” Leo said, lifting his eyebrows in polite interest as part of him panicked. How the hell had Junjie and his clan figured that out? Erik giggled and Leo’s eyes shot to the boy as he pushed one of his cars after a bug crawling on the ground. Right…that was how.
He looked at Junjie, who was not impressed with his response and was expecting more out of him. Especially since they both knew he was asking these questions for the benefit of the child.
He shoved a hand through his hair and scratched his head, grinning awkwardly at the vampire. “Sorry. Yes. Sort of.”
“Leo…” The heavy sigh that accompanied his name made it clear he was pushing the limits of Junjie’s astounding patience.
“No, I’m sorry. The dead. Yes, we can see ghosts. Not all of them, from my understanding. Usually just the newly dead because they have the most energy.” His smile dimmed as he stared at Erik. “I take it the little guy had a scare that you couldn’t explain.”
“Not quite. Winter Varik frightened him by accident when the vampire came for a meeting. Winter can walk in the dead realm. So far, we’ve found that only Erik can see him when he’s there.” Junjie paused and licked his lips. “Jiang Chong can also walk in the dead realm.”
“Oh, shi-oooot!” Leo corrected at the last second. That was big news. It gave them a way to keep an eye out for the bastard. And maybe gave him an extra reason to stick close to the Zhang manor. Erik might be an excellent warning system, but his cries could too easily be mistaken for something else. Leo could at least tell them there was an invading evil vampire lurking in their domain.