Page 51 of Two Thousand Promises

“Oh, I agree with you. I was thinking that Huli might still hurt and want to return to bed for now.”

Xiao Dan wrapped an arm around his shoulders, drawing him in closer. “How are you feeling? Would you like to go lie down again? We can continue this meeting later.”

Huli shook his head before leaning it on Xiao Dan’s chest. “No. Nearly all the pain is gone. I can stay up for a while longer.”

With his mate’s arm wrapped across his shoulders, Huli shuffled over to the bench seat Xiao Dan occupied during meetings. They sat together, Xiao Dan keeping one arm on him the entire time. Huli continued to lean on the vampire, the coziness doing more for his healing than any amount of sleeping alone in bed could. He already felt stronger just being in Xiao Dan’s presence.

“Huli, is there anything you can tell us about Min that might help us in a fight?” Yichen inquired.

A frown tugged at the corners of Huli’s lips. He waved his hand, returning his jade pendant to its normal hiding spot. It was better if it was away. When he was thinking, he liked to nibble on things, and he didn’t want to nibble on his precious treasure.

“It’s hard to say. I thought I was at least as powerful as her, but I was wrong. She’s faster. I struggled to keep up with her.”

Xiao Dan grunted. “While her sword skills are not equal to ours, her speed enables her to make up for what she lacks in finesse.”

“So, if we outnumber her, we can easily kill her,” Rei said with a shrug.

“That’s only if we can keep her from escaping,” Yichen countered.

“Then it’s a matter of magic. That’s where I have her beat, I believe,” Kai proclaimed with a happy purr in his voice.

Xiang leaned in and smirked at his mate. “Could you be any more smug?”

“Oh, yes. I definitely could. Would you like to see?” Xiang answered that question with a groan, leaving Kai to turn his attention to Huli. “As we arrived at your battle with Min, I noticed a powerful charge, almost like lightning. That was her magic?”

“It was. Huli jing magic is…not interesting.” If he’d been in his fox form, his ears would have been drooping. At best, he could jut out his bottom lip.

“How can you say that? You can change from a fox to a human. You can even change what you look like as a human in the blink of an eye. That’s incredible!” Moon argued, making Huli’s bottom lip retract into a smile.

“We also have some subtle magic that affects the mind and helps us to seduce humans, but it doesn’t work on vampires,” Huli admitted.

“And you know that because…” Xiao Dan inquired.

“What? I didn’t try it on you!”

No, he’d tried it on another much younger vampire out of curiosity, and it still hadn’t worked. That at least had saved him the embarrassment of trying it and failing with Xiao Dan.

His mate narrowed his eyes on him as if he could read Huli’s naughty thoughts, but he said nothing.

Huli cleared his throat and gazed at the rest of the clan. “The only other thing is what Kai mentioned. We can condense our magical powers into a single blast, flung from our tails.However, that uses up a lot of energy. At my peak, I could do it once or maybe twice. After that, I was tapped out—I doubt I could have even shifted into a human for at least two or three hours. With Min, I am guessing she can do it four or maybe five times before she is out of magic. It would even impact her speed.”

“Understood.” Xiao Dan’s hand tightened on Huli’s waist while he frowned at the table in front of him. No one moved or made a sound for nearly a minute, giving their shixiong time to think. “We need to scout out a location. Somewhere we can lead Min that would allow us to trap her in a single spot. We control the entrance and exit. From there, it’s a matter of wearing down her magic.”

“You know, I am a dragon,” Kai reminded them. “I could just…chomp?”

Xiao Dan was shaking his head as he was still speaking. “She hurt Huli, and she threatened me. There’s no satisfaction to be found in letting you eat her.”

“Plus, I’m sure she’d taste terrible,” Xiang added in a loud whisper.

Huli wanted to laugh, but he could only shake his head. “I was wrong. She lied to me. Tricked me.”

Xiao Dan placed his fingers lightly under Huli’s chin and gently tipped his head up so their eyes could meet. “What do you mean?”

“I thought I was being so tricky, planning to use her for her knowledge and then betray her in the end so I could keep you. But I was the fool. She admitted that she only helped me cultivate to become a full jiuweihu so she could later steal my powers.”

“Just another reason for me to destroy her so she can never get near you again.”

He couldn’t help but smile at such a bloodthirsty comment. His vampire wanted to destroy his enemy and keep him safe. How could he not feel so utterly and completely loved?

---