Page 18 of Two Thousand Blades

The dragon growled those two words into his brain, and then he was alone, blinking and shaking. He patted down his body to find that his clothes were dry despite his distinct memory of diving deep into cold water.

He didn’t know how the dragon had managed it, other than magic. Lots and lots of magic.

He was not looking forward to the return trip, but if he were lucky, there would be no return trip.

With his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, Xiang turned in place, taking in his surroundings. The dragon had put him in the center of a park in a city. Beyond the trees, he could see the skyscrapers glowing against the night sky. Black lampposts dotted sidewalks with yellow bulbs at the top. In one direction, there was a great white building with a golden dome. That appeared to be some kind of government building, and he was not going near any human law enforcement people. Nope. He wasn’t trying to get that kind of help.

In another direction, a fountain rose with the pleasant splash of water and lit statues. On the very top was a stag. The fae hadn’t conquered this area yet, had they?

No. Humans like animal statues, too. Besides, the entire region smelled of humans. Not the fae.

The fountain was more enticing than the domed structure. With a mental nod, Xiang started crossing the open grass field, moving toward the fountain surrounded by park benches. Two different couples sat at well-spaced intervals, chatting quietly. He could handle two people, but he didn’t want to ruin what were two separate dates.

Instead, he continued past the benches, strolling along the meandering sidewalk. He needed the perfect victim, which shouldn’t be too hard to find. The perfect victim was someone who was healthy and playing on their smartphone as they walked. Since that was most of the people he passed, that was the easy part.

The hard part was getting them while they were close to the trees and away from any lamps, so he would be less likely to be spotted when he grabbed them. They also couldn’t be too close to the park entrances. He’d spotted some security surveillance cameras attached to those lamp poles.

Argh. Why did the current era have to be so nosy and suspicious? It meant he had to work that much harder at hunting. Some nights he enjoyed the challenge, but not tonight with the time crunch and a dragon possibly watching him.

Maybe he should have stressed that the dragon had to permit Kai to come hunting with him. As a “chaperone” of sorts. That would have made it so much easier to escape with Kai, rather than needing to return for him later.

Dammit! That would have been so much smarter!

Xiang snarled at his own stupidity and kicked a rock, sending it skidding off through the grass. As much as he hated to admit it, Chen would have been a much better captive. He would have worked out how to escape and take Kai with him. Yichen too. He’d already done the escaping thing with someone.

No, that settled it. He wasn’t trying to escape tonight. It would be enough to contact his clan and reassure them he was okay. He wouldn’t try to escape the dragon’s clutches until he knew how to do it with Kai. The guy had been stuck with the dragon for far too many years, with no hope of being free. There was no way Xiang was leaving him behind.

With a sigh falling from his parted lips, Xiang stopped walking. Removing the chance of escape from the equation made him focus more, while some of the tightness in his shoulders fell away. This was better.

As if fate were pleased with his decision, it handed him the perfect prey. He’d stopped near a thick cluster of trees heavy with leaves, which did a fabulous job of blocking the glow of the lamps. Some poor soul came up behind him, their voice low as they talked on their phone, and they bumped him.

“Oh! Sorry about that!” the young man said as he brushed past him.

Xiang opened his mouth to say that it wasn’t a big deal, except the words became trapped in his throat when he felt the telltale scrape of fingers across the pocket of his jeans. The little shit had tried to pickpocket him!

That made this a straightforward choice. Not only was the asshole asking for some payback, but he was using his phone. If Xiang could catch it before it went dark, he could use it to contact his brothers.

His hand shot out in a flash and grabbed the man firmly by the throat, stopping any screams. With his other hand, he snatched the phone from the person, preparing to end the call, but the screen was black. Double asshole! He’d been pretending to be on the phone.

“This better work,” Xiang snarled as he pressed the phone against his prey’s nose. The man was silent, his eyes wide and lips open in a soundless scream as Xiang forced him into the shadows away from the sidewalk. His prey’s fingers twisted in his shirt while he attempted to drag his feet. Xiang lifted him, not letting the man slow them down.

The moment he was sure they were away from the few potential prying eyes in the park, Xiang held up the phone. “Put in the password and I won’t kill you.”

The would-be pickpocket released Xiang and snatched the phone from him. It took three tries, but he got the tiny computer to read his fingerprint. Once Xiang was sure which finger and which hand he needed, he took the phone away and dropped it on the grass for later.

A surprised gasp escaped the man as his eyes followed the phone to the ground. Xiang smirked. Poor thing thought he was just being robbed for his phone. Nope, Xiang planned to take his blood too.

With a light flick of his finger to the man’s temple, he was unconscious, his eyes rolling back into his head. Xiang winced. That had been a soft tap, right? Damn. He was out of practice. Time to stop teasing Moon about his techniques when he needed to practice as well.

He slipped one hand into the man’s short brown hair so he could cock his head at the right angle. Thankfully, his prey was the same height, giving him the perfect access to that throbbing vein right in his neck. Fangs sank deep and Xiang’s entire body relaxed as the first swallow of blood hit his system. Maybe he was hungrier than he’d realized. With the blood came heat from his victim, warming all of his organs like a bowl of Shijie’s?1 soup, chasing an old chill that lived within his bones.

Vampirism gave him near immortality, strength, and speed, but he’d never feel human again. Even if he could walk under the sun and pretend to be human, there was a coldness that lived in his soul that never left him.

But when he fed, the cold faded and the bliss that permeated his entire body at least helped him to forget that wretched otherness for a while.

Annoying his brothers was the other thing that helped him forget.

Xiang might have treated himself to a few extra swallows since the man had attempted to steal his wallet. He swiped his tongue over the holes, urging the wounds to close while removing the last traces of blood. It was tempting to drop his unconscious form on the ground, but he sort of placed the man so he was sitting with his back against the tree.

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