Page 94 of Two Thousand Shadows

“I’m fine. My dumbass fault,” Moon answered with a slight hiss in his words. “I tried to raise that elf wizard Leo killed, but that thing’s brand of magic doesn’t go well with my magic. It was like trying to cram an American plug into a European outlet. Bad news. Don’t do it.” He turned to Chen and gave a full-body shiver before he offered a lopsided smile. “I’m okay now.”

Chen’s fingers curled and his eyes narrowed on his mate. The vampire looked as if he were seconds away from strangling his beloved fledgling.

Xiao Dan cleared his throat, but it sounded like a choked laugh. “We should hurry to help the others. Trin’s attempts atanother spell have been stopped, but we need to destroy the fae king to end this once and for all.”

“Of course, Shixiong,” Chen agreed, dropping his hands to his sides.

They raced across the field, the remains of Moon’s zombies in tow. Leo stretched out his long, muscular body, loving the power that coursed through him with every step. Maybe he had been spending too much time as a house cat. Now that Junjie and the Zhang clan knew his secrets, he could lounge about the clan manor in whatever cat form he wanted. Chasing Huli across the manor grounds as a tiger or leopard could be fun, too.

But that errant thought slid right out of his brain as they reached the crowd of fae and vampires who encircled two combatants—Rei and Trin.

At one spot in the circle, Ellora held Aire Bira on her knees with a long knife pressed to her throat. Sweat and blood streaked both fae women. Their eyes stayed locked on former Crown Prince Rei and King Trin. The winner of this battle held the outcome to the ongoing war.

If Trin won, the fae would swarm the Zhang and Varik clans, wiping them out.

But if Rei won, he could seize control of all the fae, ending the war.

With Junjie at Leo’s side, they worked their way over to where the other team had gathered close to Yichen. The vampire’s face was pale and his brown eyes were glassy as he watched his mate fighting with an impressive display of speed and skill.

Junjie placed a hand on Yichen’s shoulder and squeezed.

“I want to help him,” Yichen choked out. “I want to race out there, Jun-Jun, and kill Trin for him.”

“But you can’t,” Junjie replied.

“Then let me do it,” Kai broke in as he came to stand on the other side of Yichen in his human form. “It’ll only take a second.”

“Rei wants to do this alone. He had unfinished business with his mother, and Trin stole his chance to end things with her. He also feels like Trin used and betrayed him when he ascended to the throne. Rei says he doesn’t want to rule his people, but he wants what is best for them.”

“And that’s not Trin.”

The fight ranged across the large circle that had formed, but it was utterly silent as the fae and vampires watched with breath held as they waited for a victor.

Trin and Rei were splashed with blood, and more red smeared their swords from the hits they’d scored on each other. Trin was dressed in shining silver armor that helped to protect him from more than one of Rei’s strikes. On the other hand, Rei wore a much lighter leather armor on his chest and arms, which seemed to at least give him a speed advantage over Trin.

“You’ve abandoned your people,” Trin snarled as their swords clashed against each other. “What right do you have to interfere in their future?”

“I may not want to be their king, but I also won’t allow you to drive the fae to complete ruin.” Rei blocked a slash from Trin and spun away from him. As he did, he swung his sword out so that the tip sliced between two silver plates at the back of Trin’s right knee.

The king shouted and his leg gave out beneath him, sending him to the ground on one knee. But Rei didn’t race in for the kill. He lingered several feet away, as if waiting to see if Trin still had some trick up his sleeve.

“Thousands upon thousands of years ago, when the stars were still being born, and the goddesses walked through our realm each spring to wake the flowers, the door between worlds first opened,” Rei said in a low, firm voice as he circled hishalf brother. “Bridging the two worlds was never to conquer the human world, but to provide them with a brief gift of our magic. It was to teach us to appreciate the world we have and be grateful that we don’t have half the messes the humans do.”

“We have magic. We are stronger, faster, and more skilled than humans. They don’t deserve this world they are destroying,” Trin countered, sounding as if he were chewing up each word before firing it at Rei. The elf king didn’t rise. He just watched each step Rei took, reminding Leo of a crocodile waiting for the perfect moment to strike its prey.

“We have no right to judge what they do with their world,” Rei snapped. “And by trying to conquer their realm, you have drained our home of its magic. Your greed is killing our people. Take. Them. Home.”

“Lies!”

Trin soared to his feet, lunging straight at Rei. The elf had been waiting for him to act because he had no problem backpedaling and spinning out of the way.

Leo dragged his claws through the dirt, part of him aching to jump in and end this struggle at last. He might not be big on fighting, but the mounting tension was driving him mad. How was Yichen even standing still? If this were his Jun-Jun, he would have charged in twice already. Muscles shifted and tensed under his fur as he prepared to pounce all of his considerable girth onto Trin, but a gentle hand came to rest on the top of Leo’s head. Long, slender fingers threaded through his fur, stroking away some of the unease winding up in him like a spring. Leo tipped his head up to see Junjie staring at him. A smile played on his pale lips while worry still weighed heavily in his eyes.

“Rei will succeed,” Junjie murmured.

The words were barely off Junjie’s tongue when horror struck.

Rei was in retreat and the heel of his boot caught on a divot of dirt. The entire world seemed to slow as Trin rushed him while Rei fought to regain his balance. Rei lifted his blade to block Trin, but the elf king batted it aside with his own sword before plunging it right at Rei’s heart. The elf twisted his body at the last second, narrowly dodging the blade.

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