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)
He blinked rapidly, turning his head away from Junjie as he willed his eyes to change to human. “I smell blood.” He lifted his eyes to see Junjie’s left hand fly up to his mouth as if he were searching for a stray drop.
“Oh. Shixiong lent me a bit.”
Now he had a new reason to tear Jiang Chong up. Not only had Junjie been hurt, but he’d been forced to feed from someone else. This was some Grade-A bullshit right here. Jiang Chong needed to fucking die now.
Leo squeezed his eyes shut and swore silently at himself. He needed to get ahold of his emotions. He was going insane. Junjie was fun to flirt with, but the vampire didn’t belong to him. They weren’t mates. Cat shifters almost never did the mate thing. That was silly. Why settle down with one person when life could be one unending buffet?
He opened his eyes again and stared into Junjie’s soft brown eyes, as they filled with worry. That gentle face with the crooked smile. The huffy attitude that was only a heartbeat away from melting with the right word from Leo.
Why settle down with just one person? Because, sometimes, you got really lucky and Bastet shined her light on you, the perfect person walked into your life, and you didn’t need anyone else.
“Jiang Chong was here,” Leo spit out to end the silence that had stretched too long. “He hurt you.”
Junjie’s expression darkened, and he dropped his gaze to the ground. The muscles in his jaw tightened and jumped as if he were grinding his teeth. “He was. He did.”
“I’m guessing from the bickering witches outside, he’s not dead. Well, more than vampire dead. More like ding-dong, the witch is dead.”
“Excuse you!”
Leo’s head whipped around to see Moon standing in the hallway with the two earth witches Kai had pointed out minutes ago.
Fuck.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Just…you know…”
“No, I don’t know. Why don’t you spell it out for me?” the witch with bright-red hair demanded as he took a menacing step toward Leo.
“Oh, come on!” Leo threw up his hands in frustration. “It’s not like I did the whole ‘I’m melting! Oh, what a world!’ bit.” This time, though, Leo might have done his best Wicked Witch impersonation with the high-pitched voice and sinking to the floor.
Thankfully, Junjie grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall before he could dig the hole he was creating even deeper. He didn’t know when to quit. It wasn’t like he was saying that witches needed to die. Only that a particular vampire needed to be double dead.
“Wait,” Leo called out as they got out of sight of the witches. “What about Erik? Is he okay? Did Jiang Chong get near him?” He didn’t think the vampire had laid a fang on the little guy. If he had, it was doubtful that Junjie or Jiang Chong would still be alive. Junjie would have done whatever it took to keep the child safe.
Junjie shook his head and motioned to the room they’d stopped outside of. “Jiang Chong never got close to Erik. Would you like to see him?” he whispered.
Leo nodded and Junjie opened the door, leading him into the small room overflowing with toys and stuffed animals. A nightlight in the shape of a white bunny bounding across a green field burned on the far wall. Erik was lying on his side, sleeping peacefully, with his arms wrapped around a strange but soft doll that appeared to be an avocado with eyes. This was definitely something he’d gotten from Mei Lian. His lips were parted, and his cheeks were flushed slightly. The soft sound of his gentle breathing filled the room, and something in Leo longed to shift into his cat form and curl up next to the boy.
“He had a bad scare with everyone panicked. Plus, Kai arrived in his dragon form to scare off Jiang Chong. The roaring terrified Erik. It took a long time for him to calm down. The second he calmed, he fell asleep.” Junjie kneeled by the bed and ran his fingers through the boy’s hair, brushing it from his forehead.
“I’m sure after some sleep, he’ll be fine. He’ll bounce right back. Cats are resilient like that,” Leo murmured. He held out his hand to help Junjie to his feet. The vampire stared at it for a moment before giving a tiny nod and taking it. Junjie released it the second he was standing and led Leo out of the room and across the hall to his own private chambers.
Leo crossed to the center of the chamber, trying to ignore the enormous bed pushed against one wall. Now was not the time to seduce the vampire. He’d had a terrible night and was still reeling from everything that had happened. Junjie needed a friend.