7. Huli
Chapter 7
Huli
H uli’s stomach growled. He flinched and glanced over his shoulder to see Xiao Dan still comfortably sprawled across his bed, his blankets pulled up to his chin as he slept undisturbed. After releasing a silent sigh, Huli slipped out of the room and padded along the hall, only to stop at the next intersection. Normally, if he woke while Xiao Dan slept and he needed a snack, he’d head into the woods to hunt something quick and meaty.
But with Min lurking around and threatening his Xiao Dan, he was unwilling to leave the estate even long enough to grab a bite.
The clan’s kitchen always had yummy treats, though. Maybe he could sneak a bite and be back under the covers before Xiao Dan noticed he was missing.
Yes, that was an excellent plan.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one who’d had the same idea in mind.
When he arrived in the kitchen, the two people he didn’t want to see were already in there. Xiang and Chen. His relationship with Xiao Dan’s clan mates had always been a little hit or miss based on how annoying he was being. However, Xiang’s and Chen’s hatred for him had never wavered in one thousand years.
At least, it hadn’t until recently and he was starting to believe that it was the handiwork of Moon and Kai.
“Huli,” Chen said in a low, hard voice. “What are you doing here?”
He forced a wide and bright smile because he knew it would annoy the vampire. “I would imagine the same thing as you—searching for something to eat.”
“Moon’s hungry,” he corrected as if it were some sin that a vampire his age should feel something a low-born as hunger.
“Aren’t those Xiao Dan’s pajamas?” Xiang demanded.
Now that got Huli to smile for real. He held his arms out and gave a spin. “They are. Don’t they look great on me?”
“I’m sure Da-ge won’t appreciate you stealing things out of his bureau,” Chen grumbled.
“Not stolen. Gege picked them out for me. Gave them to me to wear after we…” He let his words drift off, and his smile grew wicked.
Chen held up both hands in front of him as if to ward off more words. “Enough! I don’t want to hear any more.”
Huli snorted. “As if I’d tell you more. You don’t deserve to hear about Gege’s happy moments.”
“Like you even care about Shixiong’s happiness. The only thing that matters to you is what you want,” Xiang muttered. He disappeared into the pantry. A second later, he could hear the sounds of crinkling bags and the shifting of containers along the shelves. “Where the hell did Rei hide those cookies with the frosting?”
“Top shelf, in the green tin,” Huli answered as he dropped to one of the stools at the center island. He didn’t want to help these two idiots, but the sooner he got them out of the kitchen, the sooner he could find something to eat and return to that toasty bed and Gege’s arms.
There was more noise from the pantry and then a long pause before a slightly muffled “Huh” left Xiang.
The vampire stepped out of the pantry, holding the dark green-and-white circular tin in one arm and holding the lid in his other hand. Within the container were a variety of shortbread cookies of different shapes and sizes. A thin layer of white frosting with colorful sprinkles covered each one.
“How did you know that?” Xiang asked as he stepped closer.
Huli braced one forearm on the counter as he leaned across and plucked a star-shaped cookie from the tin. “Rei told me. He also said that he and Yichen had ordered another tin of cookies with Halloween colors, and we can’t leave the States until the cookies arrive. What’s Halloween?”
“An American holiday where the humans dress up in costumes and celebrate spooky things like ax murderers and superheroes,” Chen explained. “Parents also send their children out to go door to door begging for candy.”
That was confusing. He paused, just about to bite into his cookie. “Are the parents taking the candy from the children? Using them as a sort of slave labor? Or are they hoping the children will be stolen away? Like culling their ranks?”
“Moon says it’s a community-building event and fun for children,” Chen replied, though he sounded doubtful.
“Humans are weird,” Huli mumbled as he shoved the cookie into his mouth. Maybe it was the Americans who were weird. The costume part sounded like fun. “Will Junjie and Leo send their new baby out to beg for candy?”
Xiang choked on the cookie he’d been eating, and Chen sighed as he thumped him on the back. “Erik is too young to go on his own. Besides, the humans are still recovering from their troubles with the fae. Most of the neighborhoods are still empty.”
Which meant there was no one to give Erik candy.
Maybe they could organize something in the house to allow Erik to experience this candy begging. It kind of sounded like fun if it meant the children got to keep the sweets they collected.
“Why are we discussing Halloween?” Chen demanded in an irritated tone. “We should talk about why the hell you attempted to trade Xiao Dan’s soul to that other huli jing. What the hell were you thinking? I thought you at least cared for him a little. Have all these years of clinging to him been some cruel ruse?”
“No!” Huli had shouted it at Chen, but caught himself at the last second and lowered his voice. He definitely didn’t want Xiao Dan to walk in on him now. “I love Xiao Dan. I have always loved him. Min taught me how to cultivate and the best places to gain powers. The plan was to learn everything I could from her, become stronger than her, and kill her before she ever got close to Gege.”
“Except you couldn’t kill her,” Chen stated.
“Nooooo,” he drew out. Chen always had to be such a know-it-all. “I thought she was dead already.”
“Shit,” Xiang grumbled.
“Exactly.” Huli reached across the counter and snagged another cookie. “I haven’t seen her in over three hundred years. I thought she was dead. Then…Yichen was kidnapped, and I kind of forgot all about her. It’s not like I was expecting her to show up on the other side of the world. If I’d known she was alive, I would have killed her years ago.”
“Ruthless,” Chen said.
“For Gege, I am,” Huli snarled. Some of the frightening posturing dimmed as he took a bite out of his cookie.
“And reckless. Your reckless thirst for power has put Xiao Dan in danger. If you cared one bit for Xiao Dan?—”
“I care for Zhang Xiao Dan more than you ever could,” Huli cut him off, the remains of the cookie in his fist crumbling to dust. “I remade myself for him.”
“What?” Xiang gasped, but Huli didn’t take his eyes off the smug and imperious Chen.
“You say that I care just for my happiness and you’re right. I do, because Xiao Dan’s happiness is my happiness. I knew I couldn’t make him happy enough as a mere fox, so I went away for years , returning when I could speak as a human. I left again for centuries , giving up years I could have spent at his side, so that I could face him as a human. Only as a human could I be everything he wanted and needed. What have you given up for your mate?” Huli curled his lip and shook his head at Chen and Xiang. “What would you give up? Your life?” He made a scoffing noise. “That’s easy. In the blink of an eye, you’re dead and your suffering is over while your mate is left without you for the rest of his life. I met my mate a thousand years ago and left his side for centuries at a time. I ached for him for countless years, waiting to be worthy of him.”
Huli opened his hand and glared at the crumbs covering his hand. He brushed them off and snagged another cookie out of the tin. He didn’t immediately eat it but stared at the round cookie with the rainbow speckling.
“Yes, I made a youthful mistake with Min. I saw her as a means I could use to get what I wanted faster. My intention was never to put Gege in danger. He…is my everything. Since I’ve given up so many years to be worthy of him, I’m now willing to give up my life to keep him safe.”
Chen sighed long and loud. “Fuck you, Huli.” He loudly thrust his hand into the tin of cookies, grabbed one, and stuffed it into his mouth. Huli was pretty sure he’d never seen anyone eat a cookie as angrily as Chen did at that moment.
“What did I…”
“Xiao Dan is a powerful, two-thousand-year-old vampire who is surrounded by a clan of other two-thousand-year-old vampires and a dragon. He doesn’t need you to die protecting him,” Xiang cut in. “What he needs is someone who is going to make him happy. That’s what he’s been looking for. What he’s been waiting all this time for. Are you going to be that person for him?”
For the first time, he actually felt a little hopeful while in the presence of these two annoyances.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you for hurting him,” Chen whispered.
Huli’s heart clenched, and his head snapped up to stare at the tall vampire. “Hurt him?” He’d hurt Gege? He’d never tried to hurt his sweet Xiao Dan. Nothing in this world could make him…
Chen narrowed his eyes on him, his expression icier than his magical gift. “Every time you disappeared, Xiao Dan was sad. He tried to hide it from the rest of us, but I could always see it, and there was nothing I could do to help him. He never knew if he was going to see you again or if he was just some plaything that you used each time you were bored. When you were with him, he was happy, but I dreaded your eventual disappearance, breaking his heart.”
“No,” Huli whimpered. Xiao Dan had admitted to missing him during their separation, but he’d never mentioned this deep sadness or that he’d been afraid of Huli never returning. Of course Huli came back to him. Returning to Xiao Dan was the only thing he had to look forward to in all the world.
All that hard work and years apart had been done so they could be together. So he could be Xiao Dan’s proper mate. He’d never wanted to cause sweet Gege any pain.
“But I didn’t realize that you left so that you could be…more,” Chen finished awkwardly. “You made a sacrifice that I think could have broken any of us. Did you ever tell Xiao Dan why you were leaving?”
“Yes, but I could never tell him how long I would be gone. Only that I promised to return so long as I was alive.”
“The past doesn’t matter anymore,” Xiang said. He frowned at the tin of cookies and slapped the lid on it. “The present is the one thing that matters, like how much Rei is going to kill us for eating most of his treats.”
“And Min. We need to deal with her,” Chen added. He brushed his fingers together, knocking off the crumbs. “Huli, do you have any ideas of where she could be hiding?”
The fox chuckled softly as he followed Xiang to the pantry. His eyes skimmed the various containers, boxes, and bags until he finally spotted a box of salty thin crackers. He had some sweet; now it was time for something salty. “Min isn’t hiding.”
“What?” Chen asked.
Huli walked out of the pantry with his new snack. He’d barely gotten the box open when a hand reached over his shoulder and dove in, snagging a bunch.
“You mean she’s close to the manor?” Xiang shoved at least four crackers into his mouth at once.
What happened to vampires not needing food to exist, especially after they got to such an advanced age? It was clear living with a fledgling vampire, an elf, the cats, and a dragon had fixed their stomachs and turned on long-dormant urges.
“What I mean is that she’s not hiding because hiding means she’s got something to fear, and Min’s not afraid of anyone.” Huli clutched the box of crackers close to his chest as he walked around the island to resume his seat, not that he honestly believed the expanse of counter would keep Xiang from stealing more. “No, I’m sure she’s busy hunting humans while she searches for an opening to steal Xiao Dan’s soul.”
He watched as Chen and Xiang stared at each other for a second, their brows furrowed and their expressions twisted in concentration.
“Where would she be hunting humans at?” Chen inquired.
“Somewhere there’s a large gathering of them,” Huli chimed in with a mouthful of salty goodness. It wasn’t hot, red meat, but Chen and Xiang were at least being entertaining, so that helped. “Seeking for prey one by one is tedious and boring. Large groups are faster. Also, places where humans are relaxed with their guard lowered. The few times Min and I hunted together, we preferred gambling houses, pubs, and brothels because the humans were happy and usually drunk.”
“Does the United States have brothels still?” Xiang asked.
“I don’t believe so. At least not in this area.” Chen narrowed his eyes at Xiang and glared down his long, slender nose at his clan mate. “And I dare you to explain to Kai why you’re planning to go into a brothel looking for a huli jing.”
Xiang gave a full-body shiver. “Not a chance. Kai’s got an enormous jealous streak, and I’d rather not trigger it for any reason. Pub?”
“Bar,” Huli corrected. He closed up the box of crackers and wiped the crumbs from his lips. “She’s most likely hitting up the bars and nightclubs.”
“Fine,” Xiang shrugged. “We make a list of all the bars and nightclubs in the area that are seeing a lot of humans. Then we break up into teams to look for her.”
Chen grunted. “It’s a good place to start.”
“Glad we got that worked out. I’m going to drag a lazy dragon out of bed and begin my rounds.” Xiang strolled out of the kitchen with a fresh spring in his step.
Chen stared wordlessly at Huli for a heartbeat before finally picking up the box of crackers and returning it to the pantry. He grabbed a damp cloth and wiped the island, removing all traces that they’d had an early-morning snack.
As Huli was about to jump from his perch and return to Xiao Dan’s waiting arms, Chen’s voice stopped him. “Considering what you know of Min and your own powers, do you think it’s possible for Min to steal Da-ge’s soul?”
Huli frowned at the newly cleaned counter. He pressed his fingertip into a single bead of water and smeared it across the surface. “Steal it? No.” He vehemently shook his head at the thought. “No, not possible. Zhang Xiao Dan is far too strong and powerful for any huli jing to steal his soul.”
“But…” Chen nudged when the silence to stretch for too long.
“She could trick him out of his soul. Or he could choose to give it to her.” He lifted his gaze to the vampire, one corner of his mouth twisted in a smirk. “It’s not often that a huli jing bothers with brute force magic to get what we want. Don’t forget that trickery and seduction are our two most powerful weapons.”
“You’re not reassuring me.”
“This isn’t about being reassuring. This is about being honest with you,” Huli replied in the same flat, measured tone. “If she can’t steal it, she’ll force Xiao Dan to give his soul away willingly. You need to protect him from such a thing. Watch for his weak spots.”
“You mean, you.”
“And his clan. There’s nothing Gege wouldn’t do to protect those in his clan.”
Chen nodded and shuffled to the entrance of the kitchen. “Stick close to him, huli jing. Keep him safe. I’ll warn the rest of the clan. We won’t let Min touch a single member of our clan.”
Huli grunted and slid off his stool, but his footsteps halted sharply as he replayed Chen’s words in his head.
He’d said “our.” Not “my.” Our clan. Did that mean he counted Huli as one of the clan members? Would he really let Huli keep Xiao Dan at last?