Page 15 of Two Thousand Blades

Kai shoved those thoughts out of his mind as he slipped into the treasure room and searched for the vampire. It was quiet. Ominous, stomach-twistingly, the-vampire-is-up-to-trouble quiet. Kai hesitated after a few steps, wondering if maybe it was better to retreat and return after the vampire was done creating his chaos.

But he didn’t want to stick his head into the sand with Xiang. So, with a heavy sigh, he continued forward until he located the man with the fluffy black hair sitting on the floor. One leg was bent before him and his arm rested on his knee. His phone dangled black and lifeless from two fingers.

“What is wrong?” Kai demanded when Xiang didn’t react to his presence.

“I need you to talk to the dragon,” he started without preamble or his usual teasing remarks. Not even a single whine about being left alone in the treasure hoard for over six hours all by himself.

Kai took a half step back and tried to reinforce his defenses. Xiang hadn’t mentioned the dragon in at least four days. It had been enjoyable. But reality slammed into Kai’s chest. Xiang was a prisoner, and Kai was his jailer.

“Talking to the dragon is no simple task. What do you want?”

Xiang turned his head to narrow his eyes on Kai. “You mean other than to be set free?”

Kai returned the glare. Apparently, he was in a testy mood. “Yes, other than that.”

“I need to feed.”

Biting on the side of his cheek, Kai watched the man, who continued to hold his gaze unblinking. He didn’t know how long vampires could go without feeding on blood. It was a common belief that the older ones didn’t need to hunt that often, but Kai didn’t know what that meant in days. Xiang had been in the hoard for approximately two weeks. There were no signs he was starving for blood. His color was unchanged and there was the usual clarity to his eyes.

But there was a new sharpness to his mood. Something he’d not seen since Xiang’s first nights in the cave. Was this hunger? How much longer could he stretch before Xiang was in physical pain?

Not that he had any desire to make Xiang feel hunger pains. Or any pain, for that matter. His imprisonment was nothing Kai desired. If anything, it was for his own protection. There was no reason to make him suffer.

Yet, how was he supposed to feed a vampire? It wasn’t like he could offer the vampire his own blood. That would give away his secret in a heartbeat. Plus, there was no telling what the effect on Xiang would be. Blood carried magic, and dragon magic was some of the oldest in all the world. Xiang could be hurt if he attempted to feed from him.

That meant he needed to supply Xiang with a human blood donor.

Unless he stole a bag of blood from a blood bank or a hospital. That was an option, right? Maybe he could even get several bags and create a stockpile in the refrigerator for the vampire.

“Does the blood need to be fresh?”

Xiang broke eye contact when he shut his eyes and twisted his features up in a pained wince. “I am afraid to ask what is running through your mind,” Xiang muttered. “Yes. I can’t drink old blood. It will make me sick, and then I’ll need even more blood to repair the damage created by the old blood.”

“So…not bagged blood from a hospital or something like that?”

With his empty hand, Xiang placed it flat on the floor and pushed himself to his feet while shoving his broken phone into his back pocket. “No, bagged blood isn’t a great help. It buys a little time, but not much. Particularly since I’ve gone so long without feeding. I need to get it straight from the source. The dragon has to let me out to hunt, or there are going to be problems very soon.”

Kai retreated another step. “What kind of problems?”

“Hunger problems. The blood lust will cloud my mind. I won’t be able to think or reason. You won’t be able to come in here anymore. No matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to stop myself from attacking you.” Xiang reached out and clapped a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you. I know you’ve got some kind of dragon magic working for you, but it won’t be enough to keep you safe.”

Ignoring the sudden flutter in his stomach, Kai pulled free of Xiang’s hold and walked over to the nearest chair. He dropped onto the floral-patterned cushion with only the softest creak from the old wood and frowned, not really seeing the glistening wood coffee table in front of him holding one of his collections of gold and jewel-encrusted snuff boxes.

“What if…what if the dragon brought a human to you? Could you feed off the person and then the person would be set free?” Kai blinked, focusing his gaze as he looked up at where Xiang was hovering over him. “That’s how vampires hunt, correct?”

“You mean catch and release? Yeah, that’s how we do it. We don’t drain them dry or change them. They’re all free to go when we’re done.”

Kai got the painful irony. He was suggesting bringing a new prisoner in and letting them go before Xiang could taste his own freedom. It was cruel, but right now, keeping Xiang hidden away in his hoard was the safest thing for him. If Xiang was in the hoard, there was no chance of him encountering one of the fae. In the passing days, he’d even begun to lie to himself, saying that maybe the queen would forget about Xiang’s existence.

“Unless you’re offering to supply me with blood while I’m stuck in here,” Xiang said as he sat on the sofa diagonal to where Kai was sitting. Kai’s head popped up to find Xiang tightly smiling at him, but there was no matching amusement in his eyes.

“I can’t,” Kai replied, his voice low, barely more than a whisper.

“Yeah, I kind of figured.” The air in Kai’s lungs froze. Did Xiang know he was the dragon holding him prisoner? Had he been playing along all this time?

Xiang continued, allowing Kai to breathe again. “I don’t get the impression that dragons are the sharing type. The colossal beast wouldn’t appreciate me nibbling on you.”

Kai choked on air. That was not what he’d been expecting Xiang to say, and now images of being wrapped in Xiang’s tight embrace filled his mind. Those pink lips moving up the length of his neck until reaching?—

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