Page 45 of Two Thousand Blades

Kai cleared his throat and edged forward. “It was a gift from Huangdi?1 for help I offered a village during a fight with his brother.”

Xiang swung around, his face stark white and eyes wide. “Huangdi? You came to the aid of Huangdi, and he gave you the sword?”

Gasps erupted from the thick gathering in the foyer, and everyone suddenly bowed to Kai.

Everyone except for Moon and Rei.

“Now I’m confused,” Moon complained.

“Yep. Totally lost,” Rei agreed as he rubbed his jaw.

Chen’s hand shot up, landed on the back of Moon’s head, and pushed him into a bow. “Heathen,” he snarled between clenched teeth.

“Huangdi was China’s first and greatest emperor. He later became a god,” Yichen mumbled.

“Dragons are gods,” Meimei hissed.

“Are you shitting me? Xiang is fucking a dragon god?” Moon shouted.

“Please, don’t. This is unnecessary,” Kai pressed. He took a step forward, one hand extended in front of him as if he wanted to straighten each one of them. The dragon’s cheeks had turned crimson, which was probably the same color as his own face, judging by the heat he could feel rising. He was feeling a little grateful that Kai had given no names when talking about that sword, or he wouldn’t have been able to function for days afterward.

“I’m not fucking Kai,” he grumbled, trying to stomp on the one bit of insanity he could wrap his head around. His dark gaze swept over each and every one of them gathered there, pausing for an extra second on Moon and Mei Lian.

“Why not?” Rei called out, and Xiang considered throwing something at the elf’s head.

“Wait a minute!” Junjie broke in. “If he’s the dragon who came to answer Huangdi’s request for help, wouldn’t that make him Yinglong?2? Why do you call him Kai?”

“That’s right,” Ming Yu added. “Yinglong was the dragon who drank up the flood waters to save the people. He became so full of water that he couldn’t fly up to the heavens again.”

“He said his name was Kai,” Xiang groaned, while his brain screamed Yinglong repeatedly. He was the first imperial dragon.

“Actually, I told you I didn’t know my name. You decided it was Kai,” the dragon broke in with a hint of teasing in his tone.

Xiao Dan cleared his throat, though it sounded more like he was choking on a laugh. Shixiong stepped forward and smiled warmly at Kai. “We are honored to have you in our home. We hope you will stay and tell us about your experiences with the fae. It sounds as if we have a common enemy.”

Xiang was tempted to give Xiao Dan a hug for his ability to coolly smooth over the awkward moment. Yet considering how Kai had reacted to Meimei trying to hit him, throwing himself at Da-ge?3 wouldn’t go over well either.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Kai agreed, and they finally moved out of the foyer. Xiang could only hope this was the start of his clan mates forgetting about his love life.

Xiao Dan led the way, with Ming Yu at his side. Xiang grabbed Kai’s hand and pulled him along, past his nosy family, into the main meeting room with long cream-colored couches and coffee tables. Ming Yu disappeared as they reached the room, and she snagged Mei Lian along the way as she headed for the kitchen. She was going to make some tea for their guest.

As soon as they sat, all eyes snapped straight to Kai, who kept his eyes locked on his own hands clenched together in his lap while his lips formed a pained frown. Xiang could imagine that he’d probably not been the focus of so many people in a long time. This was awkward for him. To keep him from scurrying to his hoard, Xiang straightened and seized the reins.

“When the door between realms opened more than a hundred years ago, the fae immediately began searching for an item with a great deal of magical power. It was the sword Huangdi gave to Kai, which had been hidden with his hoard.” Xiang paused and rubbed his hand over his jaw. “To this day, Kai doesn’t know how they located the sword, but they got past all his protection spells and stole it. Shortly after, the door between the realms closed, making it impossible for Kai to reclaim what was his.”

A bitter laugh broke from Yichen, stopping Xiang’s story. He dropped his face into his hand and dragged in a ragged breath. “So kidnapping me was never part of their plan. It was just luck that they grabbed me as they raced to their realm before the door closed.”

Xiang’s heart ached for his didi. Poor luck that put him in the fae’s path that night. That resulted in him being kidnapped and stolen away from his clan for a hundred years.

Rei shifted even closer, wrapping an arm about Yichen’s waist while resting his head on the vampire’s shoulder. His long blond hair fell in a curtain, almost completely blocking his and Yichen’s faces from view, but he could still hear his whispered words.

“Bad luck for the pain you suffered. Good luck that we had the chance to find each other.”

Yichen nodded once, his lips brushing Rei’s temple. “Together forever. They’ll never separate us.” He turned his attention to Xiang and Kai. “Sorry. Continue, please.”

“The sword itself has no special powers,” Kai said as he took over the tale. “It just happens to be a sword gifted by Huangdi shortly ahead of his ascension to godhood. The problem lies in the fact that I regarded it as something infinitely precious from the moment I received it. I built my entire hoard around that sword. It is the heart of my treasure collection.”

“Oh, now this sounds especially bad,” Junjie murmured.

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