Page 47 of Two Thousand Shadows

Tonight, the air crackled with magic, particularly near the wall. He was afraid that if he touched the stone, he’d get zapped to death.

He didn’t know what to do. There was no way for him to call Junjie to find out what the fuck was going on. Pacing back and forth, tail twitching. His meows were growing more insistent by the minute, turning into long yowls as he hoped to get someone’s attention. Soft sounds of movement would reach his ears everyonce in a while, but he couldn’t tell if anyone was close enough to hear him.

Several minutes passed before the double doors parted enough to allow a tall, slender figure through. Leo retreated several feet, his hair standing up along his spine until he recognized the person as Kai.

“Leo, I presume,” Kai said. For the first time since the dragon had come to reside at the manor, he looked tired. His hair was somewhat mussed, and there were shadows under his eyes. There were even lines of strain bracketing his mouth from either fatigue or pain. “If you’d like to enter to see Junjie and Erik, you’ll need me to escort you.”

He didn’t hesitate. With a couple of running steps, Leo leaped at Kai, who seemed to hesitate for a heartbeat, his eyes wide with surprise, before he remembered to open his arms to catch Leo. Some of the lines on Kai’s face retreated as he smiled. He cradled Leo in his arms as he carried the cat through the double doors that automatically closed behind them.

Leo’s eyes skimmed the four unfamiliar cars that crowded the Zhang driveway. The air was even thicker with magic inside the walls. He could taste it like prickly cotton candy on his tongue. At the westernmost wall, a group of three men argued with Moon. A tiny cauldron was bubbling over a fire. One of them was holding a bundle of dried sage as it smoldered in his hand, sending up a tendril of gray smoke. Chen stood at the back of the group with another black-haired man watching the argument.

“That is Moon’s old coven. Two earth witches and a necromancer. They’re working on strengthening our defenses, but it is not a simple task, considering the number of magical creatures that come in and out of this property.” Kai’s voice dipped lower, becoming gossipy. “The one standing next to Chenis human, and he’s dating the necromancer. He strikes me as the most rational one of the group.”

Leo remained in Kai’s arms as they passed the witches. Both Chen and Moon appeared worried.

“Several of the Variks have come as well. Winter is checking every inch of the property.”

Fortifying their defenses. Winter Varik running security. Winter was the one who could walk within the dead realm. It all added up to one thing.

Jiang Chong.

Without thinking, Leo leaped out of Kai’s arms and raced to the house. As he reached the front door, he shifted into his human form and barged his way inside.

“Junjie! Junjie, where are you? Jun-Jun!” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he moved through the corridor. He poked his head into one room after another, his heart racing as he searched for a single person. There were others who stared at him in wide-eyed shock as he dipped in and out of the rooms, but he didn’t care. None of them was the person he sought.

“Leo?” Junjie’s soft voice trickled along one of the many hallways, stopping Leo dead in his tracks. He turned sharply and started a different way, only to run straight into Junjie. The vampire wore a pair of soft, baggy sleep pants and a white T-shirt that made him appear paler than usual. His shaggy dark-brown hair was wet, as if he’d just stepped out of the shower.

He reached for Junjie’s arms but stopped when his eyes caught on a white bandage wrapped on his right arm. Under the strong scent of soap lingered a faint hint of blood. Someone had hurt his Junjie.

Jiang Chong.

Possessive rage burned through Leo’s veins. Bones ached and tendons strained. His body screamed to change and hunt down Jiang Chong. To rip the vampire apart.

“Leo, your eyes.” Junjie’s surprised whisper tore Leo from his swirling thoughts. He didn’t need to look in a mirror to see that his eyes had shifted. Fuck, he needed to get control of himself. He hadn’t suffered an accidental shift since he was in his late teens.

He blinked rapidly, turning his head away from Junjie as he willed his eyes to change to human. “I smell blood.” He lifted his eyes to see Junjie’s left hand fly up to his mouth as if he were searching for a stray drop.

“Oh. Shixiong lent me a bit.”

Now he had a new reason to tear Jiang Chong up. Not only had Junjie been hurt, but he’d been forced to feed from someone else. This was some Grade-A bullshit right here. Jiang Chong needed to fucking die now.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut and swore silently at himself. He needed to get ahold of his emotions. He was going insane. Junjie was fun to flirt with, but the vampire didn’t belong to him. They weren’t mates. Cat shifters almost never did the mate thing. That was silly. Why settle down with one person when life could be one unending buffet?

He opened his eyes again and stared into Junjie’s soft brown eyes, as they filled with worry. That gentle face with the crooked smile. The huffy attitude that was only a heartbeat away from melting with the right word from Leo.

Why settle down with just one person? Because, sometimes, you got really lucky and Bastet shined her light on you, the perfect person walked into your life, and you didn’t need anyone else.

“Jiang Chong was here,” Leo spit out to end the silence that had stretched too long. “He hurt you.”

Junjie’s expression darkened, and he dropped his gaze to the ground. The muscles in his jaw tightened and jumped as if he were grinding his teeth. “He was. He did.”

“I’m guessing from the bickering witches outside, he’s not dead. Well, more than vampire dead. More likeding-dong, the witch is dead.”

“Excuse you!”

Leo’s head whipped around to see Moon standing in the hallway with the two earth witches Kai had pointed out minutes ago.

Fuck.

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