Page 71 of Two Thousand Blades

“Kai?”

I’m okay. I’ll get you home.

Xiang shouted something else at him, but the wind stole the words away.

With his eyes closed, Kai turned what little magic remained in him to the task of getting him back to his hoard. No matter where he was or how weak he was, he could always find his hoard.

Thankfully, his hoard now rested under the Zhang clan’s home. If he could get at least close to his hoard, Xiang and Rei could return to the safety of their clan. That was all that mattered now. Xiang had to be safe.

Chapter 24

Li Xiang

“Xiang! Xiang! I don’t think he’s conscious anymore!” Rei was shouting and Xiang couldn’t disagree with him.

Kai was not in good shape at all. He shouldn’t have been flying, but as long as he was in his dragon form, it was the only way they were getting him away from the fae. As soon as the dark memories of finding Kai trapped by the queen crept into his mind, he shoved them aside and focused on getting the dragon on the ground. There would be plenty of time later for payback on Kai’s behalf. No one was touching his dragon ever again.

“Kai! I need you to open your eyes, baobei. Just land. We’ll get you home from here,” Xiang coaxed, attempting to shout over the racing wind and the frantic flap of his clothes.

The dragon must have heard him, because taloned fingers tightened on his waist, and he brought both Xiang and Rei close to his chest. The elf’s blond hair danced around his hair and his features were pulled taut on his very pale face. Rei did not appear good, but Xiang had a feeling this was more from a fear of crashing rather than an injury or fear of heights. Still, he had to ask.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rei shrieked. “We’re above the fucking clouds with a dragon who looks mostly dead. He’s going to get us killed!”

Xiang opened his mouth to argue, but the words left him along with his stomach. Kai shifted from flying flat across the sky into a nosedive. The one plus—and it was a small one—was that Kai had rolled in the air so he would hit the ground on his back rather than crushing him and Rei into the dirt.

Curses rolled off Rei’s tongue as fast as he could spit them out as they sped toward the ground. There was nothing they could do to stop him. Xiang squeezed his eyes shut and held on to Kai as best he could, praying to his ancestors that his poor dragon would survive the impact, and to please let them fall somewhere away from the humans. They were still struggling with the idea that something magical might be attacking them. They were not ready to deal with the concept of dragons. Let alone dragons falling out of the sky.

Xiang’s teeth rattled in his head. Dirt, trees, and other plant life flew into the air as Kai plowed through the ground for several meters before slowing to a stop. It was only then that Kai’s grip on his waist loosened enough for Xiang to climb free.

Rei shoved away from the dragon, stumbled a few feet, fell to his knees, and threw up. The elf was not happy, but at least he was alive.

Ignoring his own queasiness and aching bones, Xiang scrambled on hands and knees over the churned-up earth to Kai’s head. The dragon’s gold eyes were closed, and his breathing seemed too rapid and shallow. They needed to get him somewhere safe so he could start healing.

“Kai,” he forced out past the lump in his throat. With a trembling hand, he pushed away some of his long hair from his eye, not knowing what he should even do for a dragon. He was so big. It wasn’t like he could move him. He’d need one of those giant flat-bed trucks and even with that, his tail would drag on the ground off the end. “My sweet dragon, I need you to open your eye and look at me.”

“Holy shit! He did it!” Rei cried out.

Xiang’s head snapped up to where the elf was now standing several feet in front of Kai’s head. His gaze followed to where Rei was pointing to see they were a few meters away from a familiar smooth gray wall.

“It’s the wall around the Zhang manor!” Rei cackled.

Whoa…Kai had gotten them home, even though he’d seemed unconscious for most of the flight.

“Run to the house. Get the front gates open. Tell them Kai’s hurt and we need…need blankets and medicine and soup. I—” Hell, he didn’t even know what would work to help his dragon, but Rei didn’t require more directions than that. The elf had recovered from the rough landing because he was off like a shot, disappearing between the trees as he ran toward the house.

Alone with his dragon, Xiang dropped his head against the side of Kai’s massive snout and let panic overtake his body. This was worse than the last time he’d fought the queen. He was hurt and not responding. He’d used the last of his strength to get him and Rei somewhere safe. But Xiang refused to lose him now.

“Kai, my sweet perfect dragon, I know you’re so tired and hurting, but I need you to do one more thing for me. You gotta change into your human form. It’s the only way I can get you inside the walls of our home.”

He pressed a kiss to one of Kai’s cold, pale scales as tears leaked down his cheeks. Kai didn’t move. Xiang clenched his teeth. There was one thing he could do, and he hated himself for it.

“If you don’t change, I’ll have to stay out here with you. The fae are going to find you, and I’ll be the only one who can protect you while the sun is up. I’m happy to die protecting you…”

There was no need to finish. One of Kai’s massive eyelids twitched but didn’t open. Magic tingled and sparked in the air around his long body. A bright glow encompassed him. It was easily the slowest he’d ever seen Kai shift. Usually it happened in the blink of an eye. While he couldn’t see the actual change, Kai let out a pained roar that stretched into a human cry. The ugly metal shackle fell aside with a heavy thud. When the dragon was gone and the naked, blood-covered man was left behind, Xiang quickly and carefully gathered up Kai in his arms.

For a moment, he didn’t have the strength to carry him. He could only clutch him, his face pressed to the cold skin of his neck. Kai’s pulse was weak and thready against the tip of his nose. Everything about him radiated exhaustion and pain.

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