Page 13 of Two Thousand Shadows

Sounds of fighting in the bar were dying off. The gunshots had stopped, and Leo had a sinking feeling in his stomach that it meant the bartender had either run out of ammo or luck. Growls and panicked cries of pain punctuated the scrabble of claws on tiles. The werewolves were still putting up a good fight.

At the end of the long room, a door appeared.

A door with a round goddamn knob. Cat paws were not great with those kinds of handles. Swearing in his thoughts, Leoshifted into his human form so he could grab the handle and twist it.

The door swung open with an ear-piercing shriek and afternoon light flooded in. He blinked rapidly, his eyes adjusting to take in the new brightness, but his nose shifted faster, picking up the scent of sweet flowers over the lingering smell of old garbage. They weren’t alone.

Leo opened his mouth to shout at Sage, but it was too late. The calico burst out of the building and a quick hand jumped out, snatching her up by the scuff of her fur. Sage yowled and hissed, spittle and claws flying in every direction as she fought to get free.

She was fucked. He could either leave her or try to save her.

Leo cursed himself as he threw his larger frame into the elf that held Sage away from his own body. They slammed into the brick wall on the other side of the alley. A grunt escaped the elf as all the air rushed from Leo’s lungs, but the surprise was enough to get the elf to loosen his hold on Sage. The cat sprung free and raced away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

He shoved off the elf and shifted into his orange tabby form while his would-be attacker was still gathering his wits. His paws hit the broken concrete, and he ran with everything he had, ignoring the bits of glass and puddles of only Bastet knew what.

A shout came from the other end of the alley and a second later, pain exploded in his shoulder. The force of the impact knocked him off his feet, and he rolled. Leo kept rolling until his paws found the concrete again. As he got up, pain radiated down his right foreleg, but he didn’t let it stop him. He didn’t know if the damn elf had hit him with a rock or something else.

After the first block, there were no sounds of pursuit, but that didn’t keep him from running full tilt for at least another half mile. There was no sign of Sage, either. That cat was long gone.

When he was sure the fae had no interest in finding him, Leo crawled under a thick bush covered in leaves and thorns, and flopped on his stomach, trying to catch his breath. The pain in his shoulder would disappear soon enough thanks to his faster-than-human healing. For now, he just wanted to be grateful he was still alive.

This was definite proof that the kid was far better off in Junjie’s hands than his own.

1 Bastet – Egyptian goddess associated with cats, protection, fertility, pleasure, good health, and childbirth

Chapter 4

Zhang Junjie

The sun had risen by the time they reached the Zhang home again. However, Kai and Xiang jumped into action the moment they parked the car, bringing out a blanket and an enormous umbrella to protect Junjie from the sun’s harmful rays. The boy hadn’t spoken during the entire car ride. He’d seemed content to sit in Junjie’s lap, his head resting on the vampire’s shoulder as he’d watched the world pass them by outside the window.

“I think it would be best if we told the rest of the clan after sunset,” Junjie whispered as Xiang shut the door behind them. “After everything the clan has been through, I’m sure they would appreciate a good day’s sleep.”

“Is this about being thoughtful, or are you just afraid of Da-ge?”

Junjie’s arms tightened on the boy as he glared at Xiang over his shoulder. Not that he could argue with him. His suggestion was about forty percent thoughtfulness and sixty percent fear of Xiao Dan’s reaction. Of course, Shixiong wasn’t a heartless person. He would want to do what was best for the child. Yet, it was also his responsibility to consider what was best for the entire clan. Taking care of a child—acat shifterchild—was amassive undertaking, and the timing of his appearance wasn’t the greatest.

“Why would Junjie be afraid of me?” Xiao Dan’s amused voice drifted down the hall. Without thinking, Junjie swung toward him and found himself face-to-face with their clan leader. Xiao Dan’s eyes dropped to the adorable bundle in his arms and widened to the size of steamed dumplings. “Oh! Hello there, little one. What’s your name?”

“No clue. The cat either didn’t know or just fucking disappeared before bothering to tell us,” Xiang interjected.

“Language,” Junjie hissed at Xiang. It wasn’t right to swear in front of such young ears. He didn’t want the child’s first word to be “fuck.”

“Cat?” Xiao Dan asked, heading off a new argument between Junjie and Xiang.

“Leo—” Junjie began, but Xiang took great pleasure in interjecting himself.

“Yiguo.That stray that’s been hanging about since we arrived.”

“The cat led you to the child?” Xiao Dan’s words were growing shakier and more disbelieving by the second.

Kai sighed loudly and placed a hand over his mate’s mouth. “The cat that has attached himself to Junjie is a shifter by the name of Leo St. George. He took us to the child, who was orphaned following the murder of his parents by the fae.”

That was painfully succinct, but at least he’d gotten Xiao Dan up to speed faster than if Junjie had been left to hem and haw his way through a gentler version of the story. There would be questions later about how they’d allowed a cat shifter into their home with none of the vampires realizing it.

“Ah. I see.” Xiao Dan cocked his head to the side and smiled warmly at the boy, who was still clinging to his blanket with onetight fist while the other was wrapped in Junjie’s T-shirt. “Are you hungry, little man? Would you like some breakfast?”

The child didn’t budge. He stared at Xiao Dan as if he were the most interesting person in all the world, but he also didn’t loosen his hold on Junjie.

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