“Then make it again.To me.”
Xi tightened his hold.“I will.I will always protect Shanlin, and I’ll protect you, too.”
Leander snorted.“I’m an adult.I can take care of myself.”
“I’ll protect you, too,” Xi said again.Leander caught Xi’s arm in his free hand and held on tightly.He didn’t know what else to do.
Chapter Fifteen
“Father!”Shanlin calledas he hurried into the room.Leander jerked upright.He’d been dozing, his head pressed against the carved side of the ornate bed where Xi slept.Xi groaned as Leander hit his cheek by accident.Master Teacher Wang followed behind with a bemused expression.At least that was a significant improvement over the expression he could have worn given Shanlin’s propensity to be annoying.
“Are you being a good boy?”Leander asked.
“I am,” Shanlin promised, and then he turned his attention to Xi who sprawled on the bed with the grace of a corpse with one foot firmly planted in a grave.“Are you feeling better?”Shanlin asked.He bounced on his toes.Given the indulgent expression on Master Teacher Wang’s face, Leander suspected copious amounts of candy.
“Much.Thank you for asking,” Xi said in a strained voice.
“I’m glad she didn’t get away with poisoning you,” he said.
“Who is she?”Leander asked sharply.
“Most poisoners are women,” Shanlin said.“I saw it on this television show I used to watch with Mother.It was all about how criminals got caught, and the show said that women were more likely to use poison than men, just like women were more likely to kill themselves in a bathroom so that it would be easier for the family to clean up the mess.”
Leander lost the ability to speak for a moment.He could not imagine a less appropriate television show for children.Tecca had clearly lacked any common sense.
“That sounds interesting,” Xi said weakly.
Completely missing the horror in Xi’s voice, Shanlin nodded enthusiastically.“There was one episode where they thought this man had killed a woman because his phone and car and credit card were all used to get her to visit him, and he said someone must’ve stolen his phone and his credit card and his car and then returned them before he noticed and everyone thought he was the killer.Then it turned out that his friend had borrowed all three and then returned them and was going to let him go to prison for murder.”Shanlin managed all that without taking a breath.Either sugar or supernatural forces were involved.
“How fortunate that he cleared his name,” Leander said.He gave Xi a desperate look hoping he had some change of topic that could rescue them from this shit show, but Xi just stared back with the same mute horror.
Master Teacher Wang cleared his throat.“Heng had hoped that you would sit the examination for our school.Is there a chance you would be interested in that?”
“I’m afraid I cannot take that risk,” Leander said.“I know it would temporarily weaken my magical abilities, and this is not the appropriate time.”
“I promise you are perfectly safe in the school, and your qidi and son would be welcome to stay with you.We encourage people to separate from their worldly obligations once they are in the later core foundation stages, but now you should enjoy your relationships.”
