Page 64 of Two Thousand Promises

The child squeezed his eyes shut tight and wrinkled his nose. His hands were balled into fists and pressed to his chest. His tiny body was vibrating in his efforts to manifest this tail.

Huli could feel the sparks inside of the child. There were a few more, but he was still years away from having enough magic to shift. Biting on his lip, Huli lightly pressed his fingers to the top of Erik’s head, sending a tiny burst of his own magic into the boy, trying to match the energy that was already there.

Erik gasped, his eyes opening wide as he straightened.

Huli jerked his hand away. “Did you feel that?”

Erik nodded.

“Did it hurt?”

The child shook his head. “No. Again. Do it again!” The second the words were out of his mouth, Erik closed his eyes and scrunched up his body, concentrating on getting his tail.

How could he not do as the boy commanded? Huli placed his fingers on the top of his head and pushed a tiny bit of magic into his small body. He had doubled what was in there. The child’s heart was beating fast, but not dangerously so. There was even a smile spreading across his lips, as if Erik was enjoying the increase in magic.

Yet, he hesitated to give him more. The wolf shifters might change between their human and wolf forms at an earlier age than cats, but it seemed like cat magic was far more complicated. He didn’t want to rush things too much for Erik and hurt him.

Just as he was about to lift his hand, the energy in Erik jumped without Huli adding his magic. It was like enough had gathered to break into a secret well. Huli jerked his hand away, but there was no stopping the flood that rushed through the child. Erik laughed andwhoosh! A long, black, fluffy tail pushed out of the back of the little boy’s pants.

Holy shit! He did it.

Erik had shifted just enough to gain a cat’s tail.

It was rather perfect, too. Fluffy to the point of being luxurious. It was deep black except for the tip, which was white.

“Tail!” Erik shouted. With little hands, he grabbed his tail as he plopped on the ground and rubbed it on his face. “Soft tail.”

Huli reached out and lightly rubbed his fingers on the fur. “It is a very soft tail. Congratulations! You have a beautiful, perfect tail.”

A purr escaped the boy as he continued to rub his tail on his cheek. “Pretty tail like Pretty Gege.”

Huli fluffed up his own tails, brushing them against Erik’s cheeks to get him to giggle. “Exactly. You have the perfect tail. I bet when the time comes, you’re going to be the cutest black-and-white kitty in all the world. You?—”

The sound of the rear door opening echoed across the yard and Huli’s words lodged in his throat. His eyes jerked around to see Xiao Dan standing at the edge of the porch, his head turning slowly as if he were searching for someone—namely him.

Shit!

Too soon! This was too soon! He’d not even figured out how to tell Erik to send the tail away. They couldn’t be discovered yet.

Huli shifted into his fox form and moved so that his body was blocking Erik from Xiao Dan’s direct view. He covered Erik in all of his tails, hoping to hide the boy.

“Huli, there you are,” Xiao Dan said with a sigh of relief.

“I’m here. Just relaxing in the garden,” Huli replied in his most nonchalant voice.

“You still have Erik with you?”

Before Huli could answer, the boy’s squeals of laughter echoed through the garden.

“Clearly,” Xiao Dan stated with a smile. “Could you bring him in? Leo has finished with his dinner.”

“Um…sure. A few more minutes, please? We’re playing.”

There must have been something suspicious in Huli’s voice because Xiao Dan’s eyes narrowed on him. Instead of returning to the house, the vampire walked toward them.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

He ransacked his mind to figure out a way to make the tail go away or hide it, but he couldn’t come up with anything. Meanwhile, Erik continued to giggle, lightly tugging on his tail. Huli glanced over his shoulder to find the black-and-white tail poking through his own. He was so screwed.

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