Poppy’s chest tightened. No one had ever protected her like that. From the look on Mingxi’s face, no one had ever protected him like that either.
He dropped to his knees, exhausted.
Poppy knelt beside him, grabbing his shoulders.
He whispered, voice barely audible, “You see? This is what home is.”
She leaned her forehead to his, and despite her fears, Poppy believed him.
Chapter 81
The hall hummed with leftover foxfire when Caelan finally set Lysandra down and ran a hand through his soaked hair.
“In all my years…” he said flatly. “What in the nine realms was that?”
Minghua grinned. “A Tuesday.”
Caelan stared at her. “A Tuesday?”
Lysandra sat upright on her cot like a possessed puppet and declared, “That was epic! Nine-tailed Fox Daddy exploded the dog! Ten out of ten!”
Mingzhao, readjusting his sleeve, asked, “Fox Daddy?”
Xu Yunlian made a choking sound.
Caelan pointed wildly. “Your family is… intense.”
Minghua beamed. “Thank you!”
“That was not a compliment.”
A healer approached Mingxi cautiously. “You shouldn’t be standing. Your qi—”
“Unstable,” Mingjun finished. “You nearly fell when the Yaoguai-Lang screamed.”
Mingxi opened his mouth to argue.
Poppy touched his hand. “Sit.”
He sat instantly.
Caelan blinked. “Wow.”
Minghua elbowed him. “She has that effect on him.”
Across the room, Lysandra popped a raisin into her mouth and pointed dramatically at Mingxi.
“You should have seven tails—not six—because you two are so stupidly, obviously in love.”
Mingxi made a strangled noise.
Poppy covered her face.
Minghua shrieked.
Mingzhao rubbed his temples.
Caelan whispered, “I hate it here.”
