Two Thousand Promises (Kings of Chaos #5)

Epilogue

HULI

E rik giggled, making the smile toying with Huli’s lips grow. He sucked his bottom lip into his mouth and bit it as he directed one of his tails to dangle just above the kid’s head. The moment Erik dropped his hands to his lap, Huli lowered his tail to tickle the child’s nose. The child squealed, laughed, and made a grab for his tail, but Huli jerked it out of his reach once again.

An owl hooted somewhere in the nearby woods and they both froze, listening for another hoot to determine the direction of the bird. But the feathery menace fell silent with the rest of the chilly woods.

Erik had come outside with Junjie a few minutes ago to say good-bye to the fish and give them a final meal in their current home. Kai was supposed to zap them magically across the globe to their new home in China. Huli thought it would be better to fry them up for dinner and get Erik some new fish, but Junjie had argued that their little boy was partial to these fish, so they lived another night.

Huli had come out to stretch his fox legs but had been strong-armed into watching the child because Junjie had to check on his mate’s progress with dinner. Apparently Leo the Walking Disaster had offered to make Erik and Junjie an American meal. As a result, there was now smoke coming out one window. That seemed about right.

Stretched out on the ground in his human form, but with all of his tails, Huli smirked at the cute kid. “Your Kitty Gege is a disaster, isn’t he?”

Erik either didn’t understand or didn’t care, because he tipped his head back to look for the tail that had been tickling his face. As he searched, he stretched too far and fell. Huli’s tails darted forward to catch the child, letting him fall onto a pillow of fluffy tails.

“Ooooh…soft,” Erik whispered as his small hand petted one of the tails that was right under his cheek.

This was always one of the pluses of spending time with the child. He always showed proper appreciation for Huli’s tails. The kid was careful, considerate, and he knew beauty when he saw it. It also didn’t hurt that Erik was always bubbling over with happiness and sweetness. He was a joy to be near.

“You’re going to have a pretty kitty cat tail, aren’t you?” Huli said.

Erik bobbed his head up and down in a nod that threatened to knock his head right off his neck. “Big tail!” He held his hands out in front of him. “Soft tail like Pretty Gege.”

“Yes, you are. You’re going to have the best tail any cat ever had.”

How could he not? The fates wouldn’t deny this sweet, smart child the most perfect tail that ever existed on a cat shifter. He refused to believe it. The kid had already lost his parents. He deserved a great tail.

Huli stared at the boy for a moment, his brow furrowed. He reclined on the ground, his head resting on his hand. Was there something he could do to hurry along the boy’s shift? Maybe not help him shifting into his full cat form, but a tail and ears wouldn’t be bad. It would make Erik happy, and that was all that mattered.

“Want tail! Want fluffy tail!” Erik pushed up to his feet and hopped once, his hands balled into fists. He landed with his legs and squatted while his face scrunched up in concentration. Was he trying to push out a tail?

At the same time, Huli could sense a tiny stir of magic within the boy. It was only a few sparks, but it was more than he’d sensed from him so far. Huli shoved up into a sitting position and held out a hand toward Erik. It hovered in the air above his bent head. The magic was growing stronger within him.

He was a genuine wonder! Erik had spent so much time around shifters that he understood that one day he was going to shift into a cat. He understood there was magic inside of him that could make this happen, and he was trying to force it. Oh, ho! He was going to shift well ahead of when Leo said he would. This kid was going to force it, come hell or high water.

Huli dropped his hand to his lap and glanced at the house. A little magic boost from Kai would be plenty to get Erik to shift completely, but he had a feeling the dragon wouldn’t agree to it. There was a danger in letting a two-year-old shift into a cat. They had no idea how to help him shift back into his human form.

Plus, Leo and Junjie were likely to throw a fit and not let him play with the boy anymore.

But a tail was different. Huli was an expert at growing tails. He’d cultivated enough magic in his lifetime to grow eight of them. How hard could it be to help one tiny cat shifter into getting his tail and sending it away before Junjie and Leo discovered what they’d done?

“Would you like to shift and have a kitty tail?” Huli inquired.

Erik popped up and nodded. “Yes! Yes, please! Want tail!”

“Okay, we can try, but it’s gotta be our secret.” Huli held one finger up to his lips and lowered his voice. “We don’t want Leo and Jun-Jun to find out yet.”

The boy scrunched down again and mirrored holding a finger to his lips while giggling. Yeah, this wasn’t going to stay a secret for long if it worked.

“Close your eyes and picture your kitty tail in your mind.”

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 and whoosh ! 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.

“Huli?” Xiao Dan prodded when he was standing above the fox. “What are you up to?”

“Me? Nothing. I?—”

“Tail! Tail!” Erik shouted. The little boy fought his way out of Huli’s dancing tails to greet Xiao Dan with his own black tail waving behind him.

But Xiao Dan didn’t seem surprised. In fact, he only sighed with a smirk. “Was this you or Kai?”

“What?” Huli choked out.

“You’re not the first one Erik has wheedled a tail out of.”

“What?” Huli repeated because his brain was locked up. This wasn’t the first time Erik had a tail? Huli changed into his human form and stood up. “Are you serious? He’s had that tail before?”

Xiao Dan chuckled as he pressed a kiss to Huli’s forehead. “A few times, from what Junjie has told me. Apparently, he convinced Kai to help. He would talk about your tails and then make a face like he was trying to grow his own. He convinced you to help this time?”

Convinced was a strong word. Erik had been so sweet and cute. Of course, he’d wanted to help the kitten out. He could only stare in silent admiration at the child while Xiao Dan bent to pick him up, the black tail still waving happily behind him.

“Let’s go get some yummy dinner and show Jun-Jun and Leo your pretty tail.”

Erik nodded. “ Mn . Dinner.”

“But…how do we get rid of it?” Huli inquired as he trailed behind him.

“It disappears when he falls asleep.”

That little stinker. Erik had played up his cuteness and got exactly what he wanted—his tail. He had them all wrapped around his tiny fingers, and Huli couldn’t admire him more for it. Huli had spent centuries learning ways to tug on Xiao Dan’s heartstrings to get more attention, more affection, more smiles. This child had been living with the Zhang clan for a matter of weeks, and he’d gotten both a dragon and a huli jing to bow to his whims.

Still in Xiao Dan’s arms, Erik stretched over to Huli and pressed a loud, smacking kiss to his cheek. “Tank yoo, Pretty Gege.”

Xiao Dan’s expression softened as he leaned over and brushed a sweet kiss to Huli’s other cheek. “Yes, thank you, Pretty Gege, for taking such good care of him.”

Yep, he was totally wrapped around Erik’s chubby finger as well as Xiao Dan’s, and he loved it.