Page 34 of Jade Lion and the Witch Boy
I bring his face to mine and place my forehead on his. “Never,” I say in a broken voice. “You won’t ever go through that ever again.” A tear rolls down my face as I continue to run my fingers all over the back of his head and neck. “You’re here, I’m here. You have me, I swear. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, Kai. I promise you, I will protect you.”
He nods, and I lean his head onto my shoulder. I rub his scalp while I let him cry, my own tears burning my cheeks.
I got Kai his memories back, and damn, do I regret it.
But in that moment, on my knees, in the dirt of Hong Kong, I swear that I will spend the rest of my days doing right by Kai Zhou. He’ll never hurt again. I’ll be his guardian angel. Because he deserves so much, and I would give him the world.
Fifteen minutes later, Kai says nothing as we walk back to the portal. Upon arrival, Luther looks bored as he fiddles on his phone. The wizard perks up when he sees us.
“You good?” he asks with a smile.
I don’t even know how to answer that, but I don’t get a chance. With more force than necessary, Kai casts magic to the base of the archway, turning on the portal. Taking my hand, he once again pulls me through.
Everything looks the same as when we left the Union an hour ago. It’s a busy hub of wizards in the queue to get their geo arcanum, with many folks walking to other portals. Kai drags me along toward the archway several meters to our right. It’s not open, and a guard stands sentinel, but it’s definitely the way back to Cosmo, Virginia.
“So, did you find what you were looking for?” Luther asks as he huffs. He’s almost running to keep up with me and a very determined Kai. The dude is blissfully unaware of the pain in Kai’s soul right now.
Kai ignores him and the guard as he once again turns the portal on with a flick of his wrist. I feel like he shouldn’t be using his powers so openly in front of all these strangers, but I’m not about to chastise the Jade Lion right now. Most importantly, my friend is in pain. And I want us to be alone to help him unpack all his traumatic memories.
I barely have time to make eye contact with Luther before Kai is guiding me through the portal. We walk through and arrive at the furnished basement where we started our journey. Kai doesn’t wait when Luther walks through behind us, shutting the portal down.
“Um, so we’d love to have you visit again. Maybe you can meet our High Council.” Luther tries to keep up, but Kai is nearly vibrating with anxiety. He’s dashing to get out of the house, and I know I need to drive him home, or anywhere else, ASAP.
He’s not in a good headspace.
We reach the front doors on the main floor with Luther hot on our heels. “I hope your visit to Hong Kong was nice,” he says.Really, he can’t read the magical room?“And if you join the Union, you have full—”
“Your Union of wizards, you mean?” Kai says with disdain.
Luther and I are stunned as Kai abruptly stops and spins around. His fists are flexing, and he’s scowling at Luther. Even I’m afraid, and I’m not the target of his ire.
“Um, well, yes.” Luther gulps.
“Do you want to know what happened the last time I was in Hong Kong, my home?” Kai asks, his voice laced with barely-contained rage.
Luther exchanges a fearful look with me, then turns back to Kai. He nods and says, “Okay?”
“I was bound into imprisonment. In 1925, my very own coven of wizards stripped me of my freedom and made me disappear.” He steps toward Luther and continues, “Would you like to know why a group of wizards took away my life?”
Luther steps back, and I can’t even breathe. I’m shocked, hanging on his every word.
“It is because I dared to speak out.” Kai points a finger at Luther. “I wanted to unite all mages, including witches, into one benevolent coven worldwide. I sought to share my powers as theJade Lion in an equitable manner. I did not want exclusion, I wanted progress, a fair and just coven of wizards and witches. But your people did not want me sharing my power and knowledge.”
My eyebrows rise, and I don’t think Luther is even breathing.That’s why they stripped Kai of his life?Luther shakes his head and murmurs, “Wha…what?”
“Did I stutter?” Kai asks with a growl. He steps close to Luther’s face and says, “Wizards. Betrayed. Me.” I’m frozen in fear, genuinely afraid Kai is going to go full lion and hurt Luther, but after a tense few moments, he steps back.
“I do not wish to be part of a community that treats witches as second-class. I am neither witch nor wizard, and I will protect this world with the coven I have.” With that, Kai strides out the door, leaving a deafening silence in his wake.
It takes me almost ten seconds before I can slowly move to the door myself. The air is tense as I glance back at Luther one last time.
The wizard scratches his eyebrow and looks away, visibly shaken by that interaction. “I…didn’t know. The wizard history books said his disappearance was a mystery.”
I look down and choose my next words carefully. “History books are rarely written from the perspective of marginalized folks. And in this case, it’s me and my fellow witches.” With that, I close the door and head out of the mansion.
CHAPTER 14- SEB
THE CAR RIDEhome is quiet. Kai spends the entire time staring out at the road. He’s calm, but I don’t dare question him quite yet. It’s dark by the time we get back to Boysen House, but I don’t pull up to our street. I drive further, feeling like I need to take Kai somewhere else.
