Page 16 of Two Thousand Blades

“No!” Kai shouted as he jumped to his feet. Xiang jerked back in his seat, his eyes going wide. Kai had no idea why he was standing or shouting. Was it getting hot in there? Why the hell was it so hot?

Clearing his throat, Kai returned to his perch on the edge of the chair, keeping a tight rein on his wandering thoughts. “I mean, you’re right. I don’t think the dragon would permit it.”

“So, you’ll talk to the dragon? Tell him he has to let me hunt, or things are going to get fucking complicated fast,” Xiang pressed.

Kai swallowed hard and nodded once. “I’ll pass along your message. I’m sure something can be arranged.”

A single finger appeared in Kai’s line of sight, and he blinked to find Xiang pointing at the tip of his nose, his expression stern. “And no bagged blood. That won’t fix anything.”

“Right. No bagged blood. No bringing donors here. You need to hunt,” Kai repeated.

They sat in awkward silence as Kai fought to hold in an apology that wanted to trip from his lips. Yes, he was sorry for Xiang being stuck there. He didn’t want to keep the vampire away from his family and his life. He didn’t want to make his life difficult. Yet he believed that the only way to keep him alive and safe was to keep him hidden away in the hoard. The fae couldn’t find him. No one could find him.

But hiding Xiang created problems for the vampire. He needed to feed.

Of course, that sent his stupid brain rambling down the previous path. What was it like to watch a vampire hunt? He’d seen a few in his long lifetime, but he’d never watched one hunt their prey, let alone feed.

“What…” Kai paused and licked his lips before making another attempt. “What is it like to bite someone?”

Xiang cocked his head to the side and narrowed his gaze. “What do you mean? Like for the donor? Or for me?”

“Both, I guess.”

Lifting one hand, Xiang scratched his jaw, seeming to give it some thought. “I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I considered it. Fast. Easy.”

He lowered his hand and his lips spread into a wide grin, revealing a perfect set of long, white fangs. Kai’s heart skipped a beat as he watched Xiang slide the tip of his tongue along one fang to the slightly curved point. There was an answering ache in his own mouth, as if his body were demanding his shift into its proper form so he could show Xiang what a pair of dragon fangs looked like.

“My fangs are sharp, so piercing a human’s skin and artery is super easy. And after all this time, I can hit an artery blindfolded. There’s no missing.” Xiang settled against the sofa and lifted his slippered feet as if he meant to put them on the coffee table in front of him.

Kai gasped and smacked his feet. “Don’t you dare! That table is over five hundred years old and belonged to a British noble who had it made to order in Russia.”

Xiang snorted and returned his feet to the floor, a smirk twisting up the corners of his mouth. “But for vampires, it’s not about the bite. The best part is that first drink. That initial splash of hot blood as it hits your tongue and courses down your throat. Especially if it’s been a while since you last hunted, or if you’ve been hurt. There’s nothing like it.”

The vampire’s smirk turned into a sexy grin as he placed his hands behind his head. “With the first swallow, all the aches and pains recede to a shadow in your mind. On the second swallow, it’s ecstasy. All this fresh energy floods your system, and you feel like you can take on the world. You’ve never felt so powerful. Every worry and fear falls away. It’s why you have to keep such a close eye on the fledglings. They’ll drain a person chasing that high.”

“And…the humans? They all taste and feel the same?”

Xiang lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Mostly. If you grab one who’s sick or hurt, you can taste it. Not that any disease they have will hurt me, but it’s not as enjoyable. It’s why most vampires will only go after someone in their late teens to early thirties. Someone physically fit. Their bodies can tolerate the blood loss and rebound, plus it tastes better.”

Dropping his hands to his lap, Xiang leaned forward, his grin turning into something a little darker. “But if you want to know about the real prizes when it comes to hunting, it’s the other races besides the humans that are amazing.”

“Like the fae?”

Xiang jerked away, his nose wrinkling. “Hell, no. That’s how Yichen got himself in trouble with that elf.” He flopped back and waved a hand at Kai. “It all worked out in the end for Didi, but he got lucky on that front.”

“Then…?” Kai prodded.

“Other vampires—particularly if they are older than you—can be tasty. Shifters are amazing! You gotta be careful with them. Their blood is powerful and addictive. Like a buzz from a really fine wine.” He paused and rubbed his jaw with his hand. “Chen enjoyed Moon’s blood prior to him being turned, but I don’t know if that was because Moon was a witch, a blood witch, or because Chen was attracted to Moon.”

Kai lifted an eyebrow. “Could it be all the above?”

A sharp bark of laughter jumped from Xiang’s lips. “Probably. I’ve never tried a witch.”

“What about a dragon?”

The vampire chuckled. “Haven’t tried a dragon. I doubt any vampire in the world has sipped from a dragon and survived to tell the tale.” He chuckled again, but the sound was softer and drifted off faster. His gaze grew unfocused as he stared off into the hoard. “I wonder what that would be like. A person’s power lives within their blood, and a dragon’s power…wow, that’s got to be immense.”

“I think it would be safer for all the world if you kept your fangs away from the dragon,” Kai muttered, snapping Xiang from his thoughts.

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