Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
For several seconds, no one spoke. No one even breathed. A heavy weight like a storm cloud had settled over the room as people shifted their scrutiny from Moon to him and Yichen.
“I don’t understand,” Junjie murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper. “What’s the big deal?”
“It’s an old wives’ tale that I suspect has a kernel of truth to it. Never accept the hospitality of the fae. Never take a sip of wine or a bite of food that they offer. Otherwise, you belong to them forever,” Moon replied. Rei lowered his head and locked his eyes on Yichen’s hand tightly gripping his own, but he could feel Moon’s stare.
“That’s not true! That can’t be true!”
Someone was shouting. Rei couldn’t bring himself to look up and see who it was. Maybe Li Xiang or Chen Bo Cheng.
“It’s true,” he forced out past the lump that was now a boulder in his throat. “Yiyi has tried to drink from several humans over the past few weeks, but their blood is like poison to him now. The only blood that doesn’t make him sick is mine.”
“What about a vampire’s blood? Have you tried that?” Xiao Dan demanded.
“Not yet,” Yichen admitted.
“Come here. We’ll try it now.” Xiao Dan struggled with the button on his cuff for a moment before jerking his sleeve up his arm. “We’re from the same line. Possess the same maker. This might pull you free.”
Yichen paused, turning worried eyes on Rei, who could only offer him a weak smile. This wouldn’t work. He could feel it in the depths of his soul, but he also knew that none of them could rest until they at least tried this route.
“Just start with a sip,” Rei admonished, hoping that it would cause him the least amount of pain. Not that the physical pain worried him. No, it was the frustration and heartbreak Yichen suffered with each failure that tormented Rei the most.
The vampire squeezed his hand. “I will.”
His eyes followed Yichen as the vampire crossed the room to stand beside Xiao Dan, but his gaze caught on Moon, who was watching him with a sad expression in his amber eyes. The blood witch also knew this would not work, but he said nothing.
Rei’s breath stuttered and caught in his chest as he watched Yichen lift Xiao Dan’s wrist to his mouth and daintily bite. As he’d instructed, Yichen took no more than a single mouthful and licked across the wound, closing it again. Releasing Xiao Dan, Yichen took a step away from him.
Hope rose in Rei’s chest, but only a couple of seconds ticked by before beads of sweat appeared on Yichen’s forehead, glistening in the dim lamplight. His throat worked, fighting to keep the blood down, while Rei’s hope withered and sank into the pit of his stomach. As he tried to swallow that bitter disappointment, Yichen whipped away from the rest of the gathered clan and vomited up the blood on the bamboo floor.
“Didi!” Several of the vampires shouted, lunging for their coughing and gagging brother. But not all of them.
Xiang lunged for Rei, wrapping powerful hands around Rei’s throat, lifting him to his feet. Everything in him wanted to shove the vampire off and to go to Yichen’s side, to soothe him through the dry heaves as his body settled, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything against Yichen’s family. Not when it was his blood that had brought Yichen this suffering in the first place.
“What did you do to him?” Xiang roared in his face, blocking out his view of Yichen. “You’ve poisoned him! He’s not free! He’s still your prisoner!” Xiang lifted a fist, preparing to hit him in the face, but Yichen’s ragged voice froze everyone in the room.
“Stop! Don’t fucking touch him!”
Xiang turned away enough for Rei to see Yichen stagger to his feet and push aside his family. Blood smeared his lips and chin, while the rest of his face was pasty white. His dark-brown eyes sparked with rage as he glared at his brother.
“This is why…I didn’t want to come back yet. Not…not while we were trying to fix this,” Yichen panted.
Xiang released Rei like he’d burst into flames, and Rei didn’t allow himself to hesitate another second. As light as dandelion fluff, he hopped over the long table between the sofas and slipped between the other vampires to slide under Yichen’s arm, holding him up. Wrapping his hand in the hem of his T-shirt, he used it to wipe away the blood.
“It’s okay,” Rei whispered in his ear. “They’re worried about you. They love you and can’t tolerate you being in pain. We’ll get this fixed. I know it.”
“Your Highness,” Chen began, his voice sounding tight.
“Rei is fine,” he corrected.
“He didn’t do this on purpose. I was dying. My options were death or his blood,” Yichen snarled. The arm he had across Rei’s shoulders tightened, drawing him in closer while he attempted to straighten and move in front of Rei. “What would you have had me choose?”