Page 68 of Two Thousand Blades

A hand touched his shoulder, and he whirled around, shouting directly into Xiao Dan’s face, “I’m not abandoning him!”

“But it’s still early in the day. We can’t go with you. Going alone is suicide. You don’t stand a chance against the fae army, and Kai won’t be able to help you.”

Every word Xiao Dan spoke was a dagger plunged straight into his heart. He wasn’t saying anything Xiang didn’t already know, but nothing could make him stand aside, praying to all the gods and his ancestors to help Kai escape. Not after seeing what he’d suffered the first time.

“Then I’ll die with him,” Xiang gritted out. He jerked his shoulder free of Xiao Dan’s hold and grabbed a curved, black-bladed dagger.

“Would Queen Belladonna risk destroying Kai if she couldn’t control him?” Chen asked from the hallway. “Isn’t he more valuable alive to mold into a weapon?”

“The fae who escaped the battle with the Variks would have reported that Kai was fighting with us,” Rei answered, his voice nearly a whisper, as if he didn’t want Xiang to hear him, but he caught every word. “If she can’t control him, she would rather destroy him than allow him to fight at our side.”

“All the more reason for me to go for him now. I can’t waste any time. He’s well ahead of me, and it will take far too much time to reach the fae castle.” As he spoke, Xiang returned to the task of placing weapons about his body.

“Xiang, please think about this,” Xiao Dan pressed.

His hand tightened on a short sword in its sheath. “I don’t need to think about this. You didn’t see him the last time he returned from being summoned. He fought her with everything he had and returned close to death. Blood soaked his clothes. He could barely breathe. He slept for days.” Twisting around, he glared at his shixiong and then the others watching him. “She’s stronger now. He won’t break free without help, and he’d rather die than obey another of her commands. Kai is mine, and I will protect him.”

Xiao Dan’s eyes filled with pain and his lips parted to likely try to command or plead with Xiang to wait until sunset, but the words never left his tongue.

“I’ll go with him,” Rei cut in.

All eyes snapped to the blond elf as he walked into the armory and grabbed a hand-carved bow from the rack. For once, all of his mocking smiles were gone. There was a coldness in his eyes that sent a chill through Xiang, but it was also reassuring.

What was more surprising was that Yichen didn’t say a word to argue with his mate. He stood in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest and eyes locked on the floor.

“Rei? Xiang? How?” Chen stammered as he held up his hands. “It’s just the two of you. Do you even know where Kai has been called to? What chance do you have against the fae army? This is insanity. I like Kai and want to help him?—”

“I love him!” Xiang snarled. “I love him completely. He is my mate, and there is no way in hell I’m leaving him in that bitch’s hands longer than necessary.” He marched over to Chen and didn’t stop until he was so close their noses nearly bumped. “Are you going to tell me you’d leave Moon behind?”

Chen took a step back and graced Xiang with a small nod of his head. “No. No, I wouldn’t.”

“Besides, it’s not like we’re going to rush the castle and take on the entire army alone,” Rei stated.

Xiang turned toward the elf and stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. In truth, that was the only plan Xiang had. It was a stupid one. Even in all his panic-infused madness, he knew his current plan was idiotic and suicidal, but what else did he have?

Yichen sighed heavily, and some of Xiang’s hopes sank.

“Is this like your first plan to escape the castle? Or more like your plan to assassinate the royal family through years of political maneuvering?” his didi inquired in a weary drawl.

Rei huffed and pointed the quiver of arrows he’d just picked up at his mate. “Why do you require everything to be so complicated? That first plan wasn’t terrible.”

“What was his first plan?” Junjie whispered.

Yichen lifted one hand and counted each step off on his fingers. “Find a big rock. Hit the guard with the rock. Escape.”

Xiang cringed. That was as bad as his plan to storm the castle.

“First off, it’s likely she’s called him to the castle,” Rei continued. He attached the quiver to his belt and talked while snagging a few throwing knives. “It’s going to be the place where she feels safest and has the best access to the power from the fae realm and the human realm. Second, Kai is going to remain in dragon form because it’s how he has the most power to fight her. That means she’ll have to keep him outside.” He paused and waved a knife in front of his face. “There’s no fighting a dragon that big inside the castle. Xiang and I will sneak close to get a good view of what’s happening, and it will make our ultimate escape that much easier. From there, we just need some good distractions to create chaos and get Kai out of there.”

“But freeing Kai now will be a temporary measure, won’t it?” The crowd around the entrance to the armory parted to reveal Ming Yu, who had spoken. “Queen Belladonna will have no choice but to allow Kai to leave because she won’t have the magical strength to stop him, but it will be only a matter of time before she calls him again.”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Xiang murmured. “Getting Kai away right now is our priority. We won’t be able to kill her or steal his sword on this trip. We’ll be lucky to escape ourselves.”

Ming Yu nodded. “Then, while you are away saving Kai, we will come up with a plan to defeat the fae and take Kai’s stolen sword. It is time for us to end this battle with the fae.”

Xiao Dan grabbed Xiang’s arm and forced him to turn. Placing both hands on his shoulders, he squeezed tightly. “Please, be careful. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Keep us updated as much as you can. The second the sun is low enough for us to travel, we will hurry to help you.”

Xiang’s throat tightened, and he could only offer a soft grunt. He understood Shixiong’s point of view. This was a stupidly dangerous thing he was doing, and it was worse because he was dragging Rei along, but nothing could make him leave Kai behind.