Page 46 of Two Thousand Promises

A scoff broke from Huli’s throat. “You’re upset because I used you for your knowledge and refuse to pay you for it? It wasn’t just cultivation tricks I learned from you all those years. You were the one who taught me all the evil ruses and deceits for stealing and manipulating humans and other creatures. You’re the one who turned it all into a game, explaining it didn’t matter who got hurt so long as you won in the end. Maybe I’m a better study than you expected.”

Min’s ears flatted out and pinned on her narrow head. “The key to playing those games is being smarter and faster than your opponent. And you are neither.” She hunkered low, her paws pressed to the rough bark on the side of the log while her tails flared out behind her. “I still plan to take my payment. If I can’t have that vampire’s soul, I plan to take the tails that I helped you win.”

“Never,” Huli snarled.

He launched himself at Min at the exact moment she leaped from her perch. The two foxes slammed together in a horrific cacophony of snarls, growls, and barks. Teeth snapped and claws lashed out, aiming for tender areas. Magic crackled in the evening air, charging it to the point of lightning streaking out from their whipping tails to lash at nearby trees and dig furrows in the earth.

Huli crashed to the ground with Min on top of him but kicked her off with his rear feet, sending her flying away. Unfortunately,she landed on her feet and dove at him just as he was getting up. Huli’s heart hammered in his chest and the taste of blood filled his mouth. There might have been a tiny voice in his head whispering that he deserved this for betraying Min, but it was easy to ignore. He had been willing to do anything to get closer to Xiao Dan, to attain the human form he needed to win his mate.

“You can’t have him,” Huli roared as he broke free of the white huli jing.

Min’s sharp laugh cut through the forest. Blood stained the fur on her chest and one of her tails hung limp as if it were broken. “You think I actually want that vampire?” She chortled. “I only said I wanted his soul because I knew you were so infatuated with him. As a tiny huli jing, you were so painfully easy to read with your big doting eyes and pathetic whimpers.”

“Then why did you agree to help me in the first place? You had to know that I planned to betray you.”

“Because I needed you to become a jiuweihu along with me. I wanted to see if I could steal your powers when you achieved your peak in cultivation. And as long as you knew you were fighting for your precious Xiao Dan, you would keep growing stronger, just as I needed you to.”

Ice froze his lungs and shot down his veins.This was about him?The thought had never crossed his mind. He’d always thought she’d wanted to grow strong enough to pit herself against a vampire more than a thousand years old.

No. It didn’t matter. She could never defeat him. His plan had always been to kill her to protect Xiao Dan. Now he had to kill her to protect himself. Nothing had changed.

He shook off the icy terror that had locked him in place and charged Min. The huli jing’s multiple tails snapped, sending a bolt of white magic shooting at him. It slammed into his chest, throwing him several meters through the air and into a tree. Bone ached and air exploded from his lungs. He crashed into theground and was slower in regaining his feet. His thoughts were fuzzy and scattered like leaves on the wind.

A magical charge rose in the air a second time. Huli didn’t pause to think. He jumped behind a large tree, letting it take the brunt of Min’s attack while he gathered his wits. Fine. If she wanted to fight like this, he was happy to let her exhaust herself. It didn’t matter how powerful she was. No one’s magical energy was limitless.

With a new plan in mind, Huli darted from tree to tree, circling. Sometimes moving closer and other times retreating. She sent a few bolts of magic at him, but he was quick enough to dodge the blast each time.

As she seemed to at last be flagging in strength, Huli launched a new attack, throwing his body at her with claws and fangs bared. Yet, it was only when he was in the air that he realized she’d been waiting for this move.

White-hot pain scorched across his chest and down one of his tails. A scream ripped from his throat and was silenced as he hit the ground hard. The forest went black, as if a moonless night had descended on the world. He needed to move, to keep fighting, but there was too much pain. He couldn’t even escape to save his own life.

Huli lay on the forest floor, panting hard enough to shatter his ribs. Everything was pain. But he had to move. He had to get to his gege. Dying here without being able to say good-bye to his vampire was not happening. Even if he had to crawl on his belly, he would get back to his mate.

“No!” Xiao Dan’s roar echoed through the forest and Huli whimpered, trying once again to move despite the overwhelming pain radiating throughout his entire body. Where were his damn healing powers? Why was it taking so long for his body to rebound from that hit? He needed to move so he could protect his mate.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” Min derided just before steel clashed into steel.

Had Min shifted and wielded a sword against Xiao Dan?

Huli attempted to move while rapidly blinking his eyes. The blackness had faded and he could make out shapes, but everything was so blurry. He couldn’t clearly see Xiao Dan or Min.

Another noise reached his ears under the fighting. Someone was moving closer to him. His ear turned toward the noise, but it was the only body part that was obeying his wishes.

“Kai! Take Huli home while I kill this monster!” Xiao Dan ordered.

The dragon was here?

“Gods, Huli! You’re a mess,” Kai murmured, his voice coming from behind him.

“No! I can’t leave!” Huli cried. “I need to help Xiao Dan.”

“You’re not in any kind of shape to help anyone. Let me get you home to the rest of the clan.”

Fresh panic bloomed in Huli’s chest, sharpening the pain pulsing through every nerve ending in his body. “No! You have to stay. Kill Min first. Don’t leave Xiao Dan alone with her. She’s dangerous. Come back for me later.”

“Chen is here as well. He will protect Xiao Dan.” As Kai spoke, he could feel a pair of large hands slipping under his limp body, sending new ripples of pain screaming through all his limbs. He cried out, but even that felt like it was cut short as darkness flooded his senses, sweeping him out into the icy embrace of unconsciousness.

Chapter 17

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