Page 19 of Two Thousand Shadows

Leo cocked his head at the two of them. “What?”

“Cat. Mao means cat.”

Leo smirked. “He is a smart little guy.”

Just as fast, the boy lost all interest in Leo and turned to Junjie, handing him a tiny purple flower. “For Gege.”

“Thank you.”

Leo sat on the ground close to Junjie and braced his hands behind him, leaning back so he could watch both the vampire and the kitten.

“He seems to have settled in,” he observed, his tone still guarded.

Junjie nodded, his eyes drifting away from the boy to the sticks and flower he was holding in his hands. “Mn. He’s very resilient despite what he’s been through. He’s woken twice with nightmares, calling for his mother, but Su Ming Yu has soothed him, and he returns to me afterward. We’ve been able to establish a nice routine for him so that he’s able to be awake during some of the daylight hours and some of the night hours.”

“You…” Leo paused and rubbed his jaw with one knuckle. “You…don’t sound too pissed at me for dumping this kid in your lap.”

“Could you have taken care of him? Fed him? Clothed him? Held him when he woke crying from a nightmare he didn’t understand?”

“Jeez! Fu-fuuudggge no!” Leo exclaimed, correcting himself at the very last second. “I told you earlier that I can barely take care of myself. Every time I looked at him, all I could think about was how I was going to screw him up. He deserves a better shot at life than what I can provide.”

The thought of trying to raise the little boy was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. His fight-or-flight instincts were hardcore triggered. He longed to shift and run up the nearest tree.

Junjie nodded and lifted his eyes to watch the toddler as he wandered the open green space without a care in the world. “Why did you pick me?”

“I didn’t pick just you. I picked your entire clan. There was no one else that I knew who is a healthy, caring, responsible family unit.” Leo stopped and let out a deep sigh. “And to be honest, we didn’t want to wait long to get him settled. The fae are lurking everywhere, knocking off shifters and witches left and right. The kid needed somewhere safe. We thought about giving him over to a human orphanage?—”

Junjie’s head snapped around so quickly Leo nearly jumped out of his skin. “You would hand a full-blooded shifter child over to the humans? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Leo put up both hands while suppressing the urge to back away. “Thought about it. Simply thought about it. But we all agreed it was a bad idea. There’s a good chance he won’t present any outward signs of being a shifter until he’s in his late teens or early twenties, but there are always some who are early bloomers. He could even partially shift as early as five or six.”

Junjie’s eyes widened and his pale-pink lips parted, forming the most lickable O. “He could partially shift?”

“It’s rare, but possible.”

The vampire put aside the flower and sticks the child had given him and pushed to his feet. He walked over to where the little boy had ambled and scooped him up, swinging his feet into the air and wringing fresh giggles out of him. Yet, when Junjie turned toward Leo, there was no mistaking the worry marring his handsome face.

“What’s wrong?” the cat shifter inquired.

“There’s so much we don’t know about him. We won’t be able to answer the questions he’s going to have later in life about his own kind or himself. We won’t be able to guide him when he’s learning to shift.”

Leo waved a hand at him. “Don’t worry about that. Instincts take over, and it happens naturally.”

Junjie was not soothed. If anything, his glare became more intense. “I don’t even know his name.”

The cat winced and lowered his eyes to the grass. “I didn’t know his parents personally. Didn’t even know anyone had given birth to a kitten in the past few years. I wasn’t there when he was discovered, but I poked around the place later. There was a backpack with the name ‘Erik’ stitched into the material. I don’t know if that was his name or maybe his father’s, but that’s all I got.”

With the child still in his arms, Junjie shifted how he was cradled so the vampire could look into his eyes. “Erik? Is your name Erik?”

A giggle rose, and he clapped his hands. But that response could as easily have been from the ride in his arms rather than Junjie’s words.

“Okay. From now on, you’ll be Erik. Erik Zhang.”

Leo sat up straighter, rising to his knees as if to keep his heart in his chest when it attempted to leap toward Junjie. “You’re going to keep him?”

“Yes. The clan discussed it, and while we are concerned about protecting him as we deal with Jiang Chong and the fae, it’s more important that he is in a loving, supportive home after losing his parents.” Junjie’s arms tightened on Erik and he pressed his cheek to the top of his head, but his eyes no longer met Leo’s. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent and to have no one in the world who wants you.”

“Jun-Jun…” Leo whispered; his heart squeezed so tight he was afraid it was about to be pulverized to dust. How could this man ever be alone? To him, it was as if he were made to be loved by all who met him.

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