Page 53 of Two Thousand Promises

But Yichen wasn’t a bad sort. Quiet. Kept to himself. He liked to pick fights with Xiang occasionally, and Huli enjoyed those moments.

“Do you know who has taken him?”

Xiao Dan’s crying calmed so he could speak more clearly. “He disappeared a few nights ago. We found a place just outside of town in the woods where there were signs of a fight and…and some of his blood.”

Still, Huli struggled to wrap his brain around what he was being told. The vampire had studied the martial arts of the Sword of the Heavenly Garden sect for thousands of years. Whocould have been strong enough to take him? How could no one have noticed an entire army attacking one man?

Unless, maybe, they’d surprised Yichen…and then what? Drugged? Could a vampire be drugged? This made little sense, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. Would the villains who stole Yichen come for his Xiao Dan next?

“Do you know who?—”

Xiao Dan was shaking his head before he could finish his question. The vampire lifted his head from Huli’s shoulder and wiped the tears from his cheeks. Huli frowned at the man who held his head in his hands. He was too pale, and the shadows under his eyes were far too dark. Xiao Dan was wearing himself ragged with worry about Yichen, and most likely keeping it all hidden away from the rest of his clan mates. Shouldering all the burden while never whispering a word of complaint.

“We don’t know. There’s another vampire who lives in the next town over who spoke of humanlike creatures with pointed ears and blond hair who spoke a foreign tongue. Creatures of nature and magic.” He paused and stared at Huli for several heartbeats. The fox spirit caught on and violently shook his head.

“I’ve never seen them. They’re not huli jing; I’m sure of that.”

Xiao Dan sighed. “I’ve never thought for a second that you had anything to do with this. You would never do anything to hurt me.”

That was true. However, he was sure that the rest of Xiao Dan’s clan did not think the same.

“We’re still digging, but we think these creatures have kidnapped Yichen, and we don’t know how to find him.”

Huli gripped Xiao Dan’s hands in his. “I will go to the place where you think he was attacked, sniff around. I might be able to catch his scent and be able to follow it for you.”

Xiao Dan’s face twisted up, lines bracketing his lips and stretching across his smooth brow. Huli could feel him wanting to tell him not to do it out of fear for his safety, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Not if Huli had even the smallest chance of being able to locate their missing clan member.

“You have nothing to worry about. I will be very careful and report back to you as soon as I learn something.” Huli leaned in and kissed away the remains of a tear that glistened on Xiao Dan’s cheekbone.

“I…I can’t ask you…”

“You are not asking me to do this. I am telling you what I am going to do.”

Xiao Dan’s lips parted, but no sound came out. After a couple of seconds, he closed his mouth and nodded.

“What else can I do? Are there other leads we can follow?”

“Ummm…there’s a witch. South of here. Near Shanghai. Chen heard of her during his most recent travels, but he’s not sure if she’s still there. She might know something. But I’m afraid…”

“You’re afraid that if Chen travels to find this witch, he might be taken like Yichen,” Huli finished for him.

“But I don’t want you to be stolen from me either!” Xiao Dan shouted in his face. That helped to ease some of the pain squeezing Huli’s heart as he sat holding his precious love.

“I can never be stolen. I’m far too fast for anything to grab me.” When that failed to win even a tiny smile from Xiao Dan, Huli cupped his cheek with one hand. “Leave this to your Huli. I will examine the spot where Yichen was in a fight and follow the scent. It may lead me to him, and there will be no need to meet with the witch. If it does not, I will return to you before going to Shanghai.”

Xiao Dan squeezed his eyes shut as he turned his face in Huli’s palm and pressed a kiss to the center. “I can’t ask you to do these things for me. My clan should be searching…”

“And I am sure you will, but I’m a huli jing, the strongest there ever was. You need me to find these monsters for you and steal back your shidi. You have lost too many of your clan mates over the centuries. I’ve known you for a thousand years, and you’ve listed so many to me. Yichen will not join their numbers.”

The vampire wrapped his arms around Huli, squeezing him in a nearly bone-breaking hug. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Huli. I would be so lost if you disappeared from my life, too.”

“Xiao Dan will never have to know that loss. I will never leave your side. I will do anything you need me to, go anywhere I must, just to make you happy.”

The arms holding him tightened, and Huli nuzzled his face into the crook of Xiao Dan’s shoulder, sinking into the feel and smell of this man who’d been his everything for as long as he could remember. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to erase the sorrow from his dark-brown eyes and bring a smile to his lips. Those were the only things that mattered to him. If necessary, he’d give up all of his tails to find Yichen and make Xiao Dan happy.

Chapter 20

Zhang Xiao Dan

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