Page 35 of Two Thousand Shadows

“I don’t believe it.”

Junjie smiled at his companion. “Chen has a magnificent voice for telling stories. He’s had a lot of experience with little ones. He was with the clan for several years prior to my arrival, and he helped with training and getting the youngest new disciples adjusted to their new homes. Shifu and Xiao Dan had a way of feeling like a second father, but it was Chen who was great at taking on the role of older brother that protected everyone. Made them feel like they belonged.”

Leo touched his fingers to his temple. “My head is spinning. I can’t see it. Chen is an asshole.”

A snort escaped Junjie, and he tried to cover it up by clearing his throat. “I never said that he couldn’t be that too. It’s just that he’s a natural with making kids feel at home in the clan.”

“Fine. I guess it’s good to know that he’s not scaring the crap out of Erik.”

“You know…” Junjie drawled. “Even if you’re not taking on the role of caretaker for Erik, that doesn’t mean you can’t visit him. There are a lot of things that he can learn from you. Things that we can’t teach him.” He tipped his head to the side so that he could see Leo’s face. “I understand that you probably don’t want to share all your shifter secrets with us, but I worry about him feeling lost and frustrated as he gets older. He needs to understand himself and his kind if he’s going to be happy.”

The cat shifter chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before giving a small nod. “You’re right. I know it. I…I feel guilty because I couldn’t be enough for him.”

Junjie squeezed Leo’s shoulder. “Maybe the job fate had planned for you was simply bringing him to me. Maybe your job is to help me prepare him for the life head of him. My shifu liked to say that life has many paths laid out ahead of us. There isn’t only one that we must set our feet to. I ended up at one of the greatest martial arts sects in all of ancient China, but that doesn’t mean that my only path was to be a great warrior. Chen is a great fighter, but he is an even better strategist. I am a strong fighter, but I am an even better healer and counselor to my clan. Ming Yu is a talented fighter, but her heart lies in being a caretaker.”

This time, it was Leo’s turn to tip his head toward Junjie and squint at him as if he were attempting to peer beneath all the layers to read what was written on his soul. “You don’t actually enjoy the fighting and combat, do you?”

“What? Of course I do!” Junjie gasped.

“No, you don’t,” Chen chimed in behind them, making Junjie and Leo jump.

Junjie’s head whipped around, and he almost knocked his forehead into Leo’s in his rush to see that Chen and Mei Lian had caught up.

“I do!” he repeated.

“No, you don’t,” Meimei argued. “Everyone knows it. You’re good at it, but you don’t enjoy it like the rest of us do. The only thing you like is fighting with Xiang, because he’s an annoying asshole and you like making him eat his words.”

“We all enjoy that,” Chen muttered as he came to walk on the other side of Junjie. “How are you feeling? Are you still bleeding?”

Junjie shook his head, glad to be moving on from his supposed dislike of combat and fighting. “The bleeding stopped when we started for the car. I’m fine. I…” He stopped and swallowed hard, not wanting to continue when Leo could hear him. He didn’t want to make the shifter feel uncomfortable.

“What’s wrong?” Leo demanded. He halted and reached for Junjie’s shirt as if he meant to pull it up and inspect the wounds on his chest.

“No, it’s fine,” he said, snagging his hand to stop him.

“You need to feed,” Chen announced with all the tact he’d come to expect from the vampire. It was a wonder that Moon hadn’t tried to strangle his mate long before now.

“Yes,” he hissed at Chen. With a look, he attempted to convince Chen to keep his mouth shut, but the vampire was too dense to read the nonverbal signals he was being sent or he didn’t care. Either was possible.

“Oh!” Leo released his shirt like it had caught fire in his hand. “Um. Sorry.”

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

Thankfully, the SUV they’d parked at the side of the rutted and broken road came into view and appeared to be untouched.Mei Lian jogged ahead with her spear clenched in one fist as she checked over the vehicle.

“I don’t need much. Enough to stave off the craving and clear my head,” Junjie continued. “Once we are at the manor, I’ll shower and go hunt for a meal.”

Instead of offering his blood to help Junjie, Chen frowned. “Do you think you can wait until we reach the manor?”

Junjie’s heart stumbled as he listened to Chen’s words. “I…I guess. What’s wrong?”

“We found some interesting things on the elves we can’t make sense of. We need to get them to Rei. Mei Lian texted the other team to report that we are heading home, but she hasn’t received a reply from them.” Chen hesitated, his lips parted as if he had more to say, but the words weren’t coming out.

“What?”

“More fae are close by,” Leo finished for him.

“You can hear them?” Junjie asked.

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