19. Huli
Chapter 19
Huli
1923 CE
Luoyang, near Zhang manor
H uli lingered by a thicket of trees near one of the larger buildings on the Zhang estate. Something was wrong. There was a new tension in the air. A heavy silence had settled over the grounds that was almost suffocating. Normally, he would interject himself, sneaking into one of the buildings to locate Xiao Dan, but this time he held back. Xiang seemed sharper and more impatient.
And then there was the crying.
Low, muffled crying had come from Ming Yu and Mei Lian on more than one occasion during the past several hours.
What was going on? Had another one of Xiao Dan’s clan mates met the sun?
No, that couldn’t be. This core group of vampires had been together for centuries. Longer than he’d been alive, even. Yet…
He ran through the list of them, counting each one he’d seen in the last twenty-four hours, and the only one who came up missing was Wu Yichen.
A door opened and Huli’s ears perked up. Xiao Dan stepped outside at last, but he didn’t look around. He closed the door behind him and hurried in the direction of the plum orchard. Huli’s heart skipped, and the worry that had gnawed on his nerves evaporated. Gege was going to their meeting spot.
Huli darted off in a slightly different direction, running as fast as he could to reach their private place ahead of the vampire. The trees changed and gave way to a large orchard rich with the scent of plums perfuming the night air. He shifted into his human form. Out of habit, he shoved his fingers through his short hair and ran a hand over his shirt and pants. When Xiao Dan saw him, he needed to be perfect.
But as the vampire stepped into the broken moonlight of the orchard, it was easy to see that something was wrong. A hand covered his mouth and his steps were uneven, as if he were carrying a great burden on his shoulders.
“Zhang-ge?” Huli called out as he walked toward him.
“Huli!” His name broke from Xiao Dan’s throat in a sob. Huli rushed the last several meters that separated them, catching his vampire as his legs gave out. He wrapped his arms around Xiao Dan’s body and he eased them both to the damp ground, clasping him as he cried.
What was happening? In all the years he’d known Xiao Dan, he couldn’t recall ever seeing his vampire so broken. Xiao Dan’s fingers twisted in Huli’s shirt and pulled him close even as his cool tears fell on Huli’s skin, sending a chill through him.
Who had hurt his dearest love? They were going to die. Huli was going to hunt down this person and slaughter them for hurting his gege.
“Zhang-ge, what has happened? Tell your Huli, and he will make it better.”
Xiao Dan shook his head as he sucked in a ragged gasp of air. “Took him. Someone…took him.”
That was…shocking. How could anyone be strong enough to steal one of the Zhang clan vampires? They were each two thousand years old. He didn’t know of anyone else who was as old or powerful as these vampires. Huli thought he was pretty impressive, but he was no fool. With Xiao Dan and his clan, he was barely more than a pup, even with all of his nine tails, and that would never change.
“Who?”
“Yichen. Our littlest shidi. Someone has taken him.” Each word was hard, sounding as if Xiao Dan were forcing a shard of glass out of his throat.
Huli frowned. That was the one he hadn’t seen in a while. Out of all the vampires, Yichen and Ming Yu were the most tolerant of his presence. Not going out of their way to chase him from the buildings and orchard. Junjie and Mei Lian pretended he wasn’t there. It was Xiang and Chen he had to avoid. They would chase him with weapons. They had become especially violent when they’d learned he could masquerade as a human.
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. Who could 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.