Page 47 of Two Thousand Promises

Zhang Xiao Dan

She stole his tail.

That grim thought kept repeating through Xiao Dan’s brain as he chased and slashed at the creature who danced ahead of him through the forest with a woman’s body and fox ears. In one hand she held a long, slender sword and in the other dangled one of Huli’s orange and white tails like a grotesque trophy.

He wanted her dead.

The monster had harmed his sweet Huli. When he’d located the two huli jing, his mate was a limp, matted husk of blood-soaked fur. If he hadn’t been panting, Xiao Dan would have guessed that he was dead.

She stole his tail!

Huli had worked lifetimes to achieve each one of his magical tails. They were signs of his determination, dedication, and unwavering strength. Those tails were a source of great pride and joy for Huli. She had no right to touch a single one of them, but now she had one. She’d ripped it from his body.

And now he wanted to rip each of her limbs from her body.

Everywhere she went, he was right there to block her path with a lethal swing of his sword. The laughter that had greetedhim at his arrival was gone. So was her contemptuous smile. Lines of strain formed around her mouth and stretched out from the corners of her eyes. Each slash that she dodged or blocked was getting closer and closer to his ultimate target.

“It’s okay. Kai has Huli at the manor,” Chen called out, but it was too late for retreating to check on his mate. He could only face Huli when he could bring his fox Min’s head. Along with all nine of her tails. That was the one consolation he could give his mate after losing one of his own tails.

Xiao Dan pressed on. He was so close.

Min darted to the left and a wall of ice sprang up in front of her, blocking her retreat.

“No!” Xiao Dan shouted. He whipped his head about to glare at Chen. “She’s mine!” No one could interfere with his kill. He owed this to Huli after letting him get hurt like this. He’d failed his fox. A true mate would never have allowed something like this to happen.

But it was too late. She used his distraction to charge at him, slipping past as he attempted to turn back and slash at her with his sword. The white huli jing became a blur as she zipped between him and Chen. Xiao Dan pivoted on his right foot to follow.

He and Chen raced through the woods as the huli jing moved like a fleet-footed deer, always a step ahead. After a few miles, the distance between them had grown too great. There was no catching her.

Xiao Dan stopped running with a snarl, throwing a knife after Min as a last-ditch effort to stop her, but he narrowly missed. The white fox disappeared into the dark forest, running farther from the Zhang manor.

His entire body trembled. His knuckles ached and throbbed from where he’d squeezed the sword so tightly.

“I want herdead!” Xiao Dan shouted. His voice echoed through the vast forest surrounding them.

Chen placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “We will get her. She’s not escaping us.”

Xiao Dan shrugged off his shidi’s support and took two steps in the direction she’d been traveling. “That’s not good enough. I want her dead now. I want her pelt and her head and all of her tails. She hurt Huli. She…shetookone of his tails.” Xiao Dan’s voice shattered like glass, and it felt like his heart was doing the same thing.

Chen remained resolute, stepping in front of him, forcing Xiao Dan to meet his gaze. “And we are going to make her pay for that, but the important thing is that Huli is still alive. She didn’t steal his life.”

Swallowing hard at the giant lump of unshed tears in his throat, Xiao Dan nodded. Chen was right. Huli was alive, and he had little doubt that Kai and Ming Yu would work hard to make sure he remained that way. It was just that Huli’s tails were everything to him. What was going to happen to him and his magic with the loss of a tail? Would he even be able to shift into his human form?

“What…what if he doesn’t know yet?”

Chen grabbed his shoulders with both hands and gave him a shake. “You’re first going to tell him that you love him no matter how many tails he has.”

“I do!”

“And then you’re going to tell him that you andhisclan are going to do whatever it takes for him to become a true jiuweihu again.”

Xiao Dan nodded, squeezing his eyes shut against the burn of tears. Yes. That was what they were going to do. He was also going to make sure that no one touched his sweet fox.

“Come on. Let’s return home. I’m sure Huli will heal much faster knowing that you’re safe and away from Min.”

As Xiao Danand Chen reached the manor, they found all the clan gathered silently outside of his room. Even Erik, held tightly in Junjie’s arms, was quiet with wide, red-rimmed eyes. Moon went to Chen and whispered something, but Xiao Dan blocked it out as he stepped inside of the room he shared with Huli.

Kai stood at the foot of the bed with a frown while Ming Yu kneeled beside it. A bowl of pink water was beside her, along with several blood-stained cloths. All the blood had been cleaned from Huli’s fur and there were a number of spots across his body now wrapped in white bandages. But he remained in his fox form.

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