Page 49 of Two Thousand Blades

Kai looked over to see Xiang smirking at him from where he was still half laid across the table. The vampire appeared so smug, but also very relaxed. Yes, he’d relaxed well enough while stuck in Kai’s hoard, but this was so different. It was clear Xiang was in his home territory and hidden layers of tension had fallen off his frame.

“I told you that my shijie would take care of you. She is the best cook. All her food is made with love. Way better than mine.”

“You didn’t need to ask her for that. I don’t like that she’s going to that trouble for me.”

Xiang made a dismissive noise in the back of his throat and pushed to his feet. “Su Ming Yu is a natural-born caretaker. She’s told us many times that she feels most useful when she’s cooking for us and making sure we’re happy.”

Kai narrowed his eyes at him. “It must have been difficult for her when the clan became vampires. While I’ve seen you eat, I feel you were forcing yourself to eat so that I would not feel uncomfortable eating alone.”

The vampire’s nose wrinkled a second before he rubbed it. “Noticed that, huh?”

“Yes.”

A brief chuckle left Xiang, and he dropped his hand to his side. “Yeah, I rarely eat human food. Prior to Moon’s arrival, we’d limited it to holiday celebrations and even then, it wasn’t as much food as it used to be. But when we added Moon and Rei to the clan, Jiejie started cooking all the time. She even started singing in the kitchen again.”

“So, feeding a dragon won’t be a problem?”

Tossing his head, Xiang laughed loud enough to almost knock himself off his feet. “The honor of cooking for a dragon.” The vampire paused, his expression hardening. “Yinglong. Great helper of Huangdi. Can’t believe you waited until we were in front of my family to drop that bomb on my head.”

Kai grunted and rose from his seat as well. “Nonsense,” he muttered. In truth, he’d forgotten about those long, distant days. They felt like they were several lifetimes ago.

Yet he could feel his own smile tugging at his lips. It was impossible to not feel Xiang’s happiness. There was some lingering unease twisting in his stomach, but he shoved that aside. He didn’t want Xiang to know he was worried. Not when he was so happy about being home.

Xiang grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the large meeting room. He drew him through the large house that was a series of large square buildings connected by several long hallways. Here and there, the structure created a central courtyard that was filled with rich green plants, flowers, stone paths, and koi ponds. Every inch of the home echoed a time long past that teased memories he thought had been packed away centuries ago.

He admired the elegant paintings, the rich wood floors, and the lingering scent of incense that danced through the air. Here and there voices echoed from the open doors, punctuated by bursts of laughter. He’d never lived in a place where there were so many people. Here and there, he stayed at inns while he traveled through the world, but most of the time, he was curled up in his hoard, away from the noises of humanity.

Kai’s heart stuttered as Xiang stopped in front of a series of memorial tablets. The vampire snagged a trio of incense sticks, lit them on a candle, and blew out the tiny flames so that thin smoke curled up from the tips. After dropping hard to his knees on a cushion, Xiang bowed so deep to the tablets, his forehead almost touched the floor.

“Sorry, Shifu. I should have stopped here the moment I returned, but you know how easily I’m distracted,” Xiang murmured, bowing three times to his teacher. He placed the incense sticks into a pot in front of the center most tablet and sat on his heels. “But you will be happy to hear I have dragged a very honorable and distinguished dragon to our clan. He can be grumpy like Chen, but I promise to protect him and keep him safe with the Sword of the Heavenly Garden Sect.”

Cupping his left hand around his right, Kai bowed to the memorial tablet. “Master Zhang Shi Lei, your students honor me.”

Xiang popped to his feet and grabbed Kai’s hand as he pulled him down the hall. “I’m sure Shifu is very disappointed he didn’t get to meet you in person. He told the best stories about dragons and gods.”

After a few more corners, Xiang flashed him an excited grin as he stopped in front of a pair of large double doors with a unique combination lock. Xiang was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he unlocked the doors and pulled them open with a flourish.

It was a room worthy of a flourish. Xiang had brought him to the clan’s armory. Swords, spears, pikes, bows, and many other bladed weapons lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Truly, a breathtaking collection.

“I know it’s not as impressive as your armory—” Xiang began, but Kai hushed him by placing his fingers over the vampire’s mouth.

“Shhh…you’re insulting these weapons. They can hear you,” he admonished as he withdrew his hand from Xiang’s face. He strolled around the room, admiring the weapons displayed there. Most were ancient creations that hadn’t seen battle in several centuries, but they were all in pristine condition. The clan took their weapons seriously and maintained them perfectly.

But there were troubling holes within their collection.

Standing in the middle of the room, Kai closed his eyes and summoned up a little ball of magic within his chest, connecting himself with his own armory. “Bitter Frost. Scorpion Sting. Flash of Lightning. Strike of Vengeance. Shattered Heart. Chain Breaker. Goddess Tear.”

With each name he spoke, he felt an answering thrum of excitement before the chosen weapon streaked across the hoard and burst into the air, flying straight into the house and to the clan armory. An answering shout erupted from Xiang as each sword in its own sheath appeared withing the armory.

Kai opened his eyes and smiled to see the seven swords hovering in the air in front of him. With a wave of his hands, the swords laid themselves on a table in the center of the room. “My gift to the Zhang clan.”

“What?” Xiang demanded, his voice cracking.

“The same master who lived during the Han Dynasty and made many of the swords within your collection made these swords. They belong with their brothers and sisters here, rather than in my hoard.”

“You can’t be serious.” The disbelieving words tumbled from Xiang while his trembling hand reached for Bitter Frost. He caressed the sheath, his fingers not even daring to close around the hilt as if he were afraid Kai would take it away.

“I am very serious.”

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