Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3) (30 page)

“You are not a tree you can cut the rot out of,”
I heard Una’s voice echo from long ago, when I’d first been infected by Rafael’s werewolf bite.
“You can’t cut the poisoned limb to save the others. This is your soul. It is you.”

“Whatever, Una,” I muttered. Demon sure as hell wasn’t. She was kumiho fire, conniving and vicious. If I could cut Her out of me, then I would.

Ankor’s secretary finally emerged with a stack of folders in his hands. He cocked his head in surprise.

“You no know?” he asked in broken English. “Mr. Yong leave early to pack for trip.”

“Oh!” I was startled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Jeongmal?”
Really?
The secretary continued, “He go with your family. Your sister.”

“Cambodia?” I asked, scratching my head. Raina had said Ankor had taken his dismissal from the Second Trial of Wisdom very hard, especially since all of his other siblings had passed. More power to him if he had rebounded already and wanted to show them support during the Third Trial.

The man nodded. “Neh. Oh! Kwajang-nim!” He bowed, and I turned to see Ankor stalking toward us with his keycard in hand.

The Autumn Dragon’s flinty gaze looked me up and down with its usual lack of humanity, and then he extended a hand to his secretary. He spoke briskly in Korean, but I caught him asking for the Ko Siwoo files.

The man bowed.
“
Algesseumnida,” he said and then hurried to unlock the office.

“Um, Ankor?” I asked once the secretary had disappeared inside. “You’re going on a trip?”

Wolf was alert to the tension rigid in his muscles, and I sensed something else brooding beneath his stony exterior: fear.

“Yes. Cambodia,” Ankor said shortly and then nodded thanks as his secretary gave him the files. I stared at the Hangeul characters spelling out
Ko Siwoo
with growing dread.

“Taking those with you?” I asked casually.

“I really have to pack, Citlalli,” he reported, brushing past.

“Hey.” I grabbed his sleeve. Ankor sighed and waved his hand impatiently for his secretary to go ahead.

I planted my feet in his way. “You’re not going to Cambodia, are you?”

Ankor snorted, adjusting his glasses and opening the folder. “You’re not the Alpha anymore, Citlalli. Good luck demanding answers.”

I’d snatched the files from his hand before the pesky lizard boy could blink. “I don’t need to be Alpha to get what I want. And Ankor, what I want is
your
safety. Apparently you Celestial Dragons are irreplaceable, so the rest of us have to put up with your charming attitudes.”

Ankor shot me a look, and I tried again, softer, “Where are you going?”

He hesitated and then extended a hand. “May I?”

I reluctantly turned over the file. Ankor excitedly flipped through the pages and showed me a chart written in Hangeul with a picture of a sickly white orb gripped within a dragon’s claws. I leaned closer, squinting. Yep, there was no doubt about it. I counted only three claws.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked slowly.

“Yes, Citlalli. This is a yeouiju.” Ankor touched the picture longingly. “However, this is no fully mature Dragon’s Pearl deepened to the color of night. It is a lighter, less powerful yeouiju for imugi. I had heard stories before, but I had never seen one.”

I stared at the page for a moment, picking out what words I could from the highly technical terminology. Then my eyes traveled to the file’s name.

“Why is this in Ko Siwoo’s file?” I asked slowly.

“His family found one before.” Excitement reawakened in Ankor’s eyes, and I recognized the young scientist who had been so thrilled to finally share his secret with someone. “Siwoo’s grandmother was a haenyeo, a sea woman. She dove often with others off the coast of Jeju-do, and they discovered many marvelous treasures lost in the deep. One day she found a pure white pearl, the size of a turtle egg. When Siwoo’s grandmother held it in her hands, the pearl’s surface
changed
. She could gaze into it and see many things. And she lived to a great old age, passing one hundred and still diving into sea as if she were a spry forty.

“However”—Ankor put up a finger—“this grandmother only ever touched the pearl with gloves. Anyone who touched the gem with their bare skin went mad and died within three days. Such a fate befell a thief who tried to steal it. They found his body on the beach, and the magical pearl was nowhere to be found. The sea had taken it back.”

I pursed my lower lip. “That’s a fine story. But aren’t dragons the only ones who can find these magical pearls? You must have developed the wisdom to see them for what they are, or something like that?”

“For a fully mature yeouiju, yes. But this is a lesser white yeouiju, an Imugi’s Pearl! Siwoo’s grandmother was a woman of great wisdom. She was drawn to it amongst all of the other precious jewels hidden beneath the sea.” My excitement failed to match his own, and Ankor’s face fell.

“You don’t understand, keh,” he sneered, snatching the paper away. “Siwoo’s grandmother stayed in great health, and all those who touched the pearl in humility received peace of mind. Don’t you understand what this could mean for us, Citlalli? The key to healing the fractured soul of a Triad could lie within this Imugi’s Pearl.”

“So could our destruction,” I replied softly. “Ankor, Ko Siwoo is dead. This story is a lie told to you from the monster inhabiting his body, an evil nine-tailed fox named—”

“Fred.” Ankor looked up to find me regarding him in horror. “He told me.”

Heat pounded in my ears, and my insides curdled in shock. “You know?” I whispered, wildly searching his flat gaze for some hint of remorse. “Ankor, Fred cannot be trusted! Take this from someone who has been tricked by that smarmy vermin an embarrassing number of times!”

“Fred also helped you heal the corrupted haetae, didn’t he?” Ankor challenged. “Citlalli, Fred revealed his identity to me on his first day of work. The vampyre princes discovered Si Woo’s werewolf family on Jeju-do and corrupted them in order to infiltrate your pack. They chose Fred to lead them. The kumiho knew the vampyre princes were watching him through their Dark Spirit spies. He had to play you to keep their trust. However, Fred wants the Emerald Veil brought down so your friend Una can be rescued. The vampyre princes are watching you, but they aren’t watching me.”

“Fred is on no one’s side but his own,” I stated flatly. “He tried to kill my brother because of his maniacal obsession with Una, and he turned me into a Triad. I would have thought you would understand that, Ankor.”

For once, the Autumn Dragon was lost for words. “I’m sorry,” he finally said in a low voice. “I didn’t know he was the one responsible. But, a lot of the things he said make sense now.”

My head jerked up, and I watched resolve envelop Ankor’s face in a stony mask. “The fox spoke of making amends to others like me. The Imugi’s Pearl is the way to help us. However, we are not the only ones who want it.”

“That’s what the vampyres are searching for?” I asked, puzzled. “No, Ankor. That doesn’t make sense! Why would they want a pearl that bestows good health and peace of mind?”

“They are, and they’re using the haenyeo to find it. Remember: good things happen if one is wise enough to wield the Imugi’s Pearl, but bad things happen if one isn’t.” Ankor checked his phone and swore when he saw the time. “Trust me, Citlalli. I am a former ore dragon who senses the minerals in the earth. If anyone can find the white yeouiju first, it’s me. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

He moved with deadly swiftness down the hall, and my mouth went dry. “Shit. Fred told you how to get through the mist. Didn’t he?”

The Autumn Dragon didn’t turn, and Wolf’s growl slipped from between my clenched teeth. “Ankor! This is a trap! You cannot go on your own!”

“I must,” he said softly. “I must go alone or not at all.”

“You’re taking the word of a shady kumiho over mine? Your family’s?” I begged him. “Ankor, please! If you know the way through the Emerald Veil, then you must share it! Let my pack go instead! Ankor, you are the Dragon Prince! If something happens to you, then the cycle is broken!”

He whirled, and his hands clenched into fists. “Foolish keh, it already is! By me! I am only half a dragon! I failed the Second Trial of Wisdom! How can the Celestial Dragons ever be full and whole, wielding the sacred Dragon Pearls to force back the Dark Spirits for good, if I cannot shift? My father was right. I failed him and our family. Now I have a chance to set things right.”

I took another deliberate step toward him, angling toward his left flank. Ankor’s eyes widened incredulously as he read my intention.

“I’m not letting you go anywhere,” I growled.

“I will not enjoy this,” the dragon boy promised.

I struck first, but Ankor absorbed the blow like a sturdy oak. His fingers wrapped around my wrists, creating unbreakable iron manacles, and then he twisted me against the wall. His breath was hot against my ear as he held me pinned. Then Ankor kneed me hard in the back of the leg, and I crumpled. He was a seasoned fighter with years of training, I could tell. My experience was more of the wolf wrestling variety. However, letting Ankor walk out of Yong Enterprises would be the equivalent of sending him to his death.

Suddenly, Ankor found himself holding a thrashing wolf. I bucked him to the floor and then snarled in his face, planting a pinning paw on his chest. Ankor’s eyes narrowed. I saw motes of color begin to swirl inside them like a brooding tempest. Too late, I realized that he was all-in, too. Desperate, I tried to scramble to safety, but Ankor seized my forelegs and shot a bolt of electrocuting energy. It tore through my chest and crippled my brain with blistering, white-hot pain.

I whimpered, twitching sporadically on the floor. Panting, Ankor jumped to his feet with sparks hissing from his fingertips. He spared me one regretful glance. Then the rogue dragon prince was gone.

Chapter 36: Call to Arms

~Raina~

The streets of Siem Reap were heavily crowded for so early in the morning. They were weighed down by groaning carts, rickshaws, and rivers of people carrying baskets of colorful wares. I gazed at the third scar on my palm, which was from a macaque monkey’s tooth. It stood out puckered and red next to the jackdaw’s footprint and the tiger’s claw mark. Remembering the savage darkness deadening the Monkey’s eyes, I prayed it wasn’t infected.

And that I’d still have a hand left after facing the final guardian: the Serpent.

Heesu stood on tiptoe beside me, scanning the throngs of people for any sign of our taxi. I remembered how she had kept a cool and steady head during the Third Trial while Sun and I had quarreled. Heesu had been shaken by our fight’s intensity, but on the morning of our departure back to Seoul, she was calm and free from the night’s terrors. It seemed so inconceivable that I had come so far in the Trials of Wisdom, and even more so that the older, indomitable twins had failed. Yet watching my younger half-sister stand alert and unfazed in the dawn’s dusty light, I realized how foolish I was for not noticing earlier— Heesu was a leader. She didn’t alienate others; they were drawn to her. She could do something the rest of us couldn’t: she could inspire.

Sun Bin wound her way through the bustling hotel lobby and joined us by our luggage. She tipped up her sunhat to reveal giant sunglasses that she hadn’t taken off since yesterday, and I knew it was to hide her reddened eyes. Glued to her hand was an old flip phone. She had reluctantly settled for it at a thrift shop after making me pinkie-swear that I would buy her another one at Dongdaemun Market the second we arrived home.

“Nyssa took a flight home last night,” our older sister greeted stiffly. I couldn’t tell because of the sunglasses, but it seemed to me that her gaze was fixated on our marked palms. “I tried calling Appa to see if she made it home safely, but he won’t pick up. I guess I’ve disappointed him, too.”

Heesu tucked her marked hand into her pocket and put the other on Sun Bin’s shoulder. “Nyssa just needs time to cool off, unni.”

Sun Bin sniffed and looked away. “I always knew someday Nyssa wouldn’t want to be with someone like me. I don’t think I can fix this. I’ve always been this way. It’s who I am.”

“Who wouldn’t want to date a raging bitch?” Heesu said blithely. I nearly choked, but the comment made Sun Bin smile.

“You’ve got a mouth on you now. Who is to blame for that? I know it isn’t Raina,” the Winter Dragon joked, putting Heesu in a mock headlock.

I smiled and turned away as my cellphone rang. I hesitated—international rates were an astronomical pain—but then I recognized Citlalli’s number.

“We have a problem.” My half-sister’s voice was rigid and unsteady, as if she’d walked into a wall. Or been thrown into one. “Are the Yong girls with you?”

“Of course.” I gestured for Sun Bin and Heesu before putting her on speaker. “What’s up?”

“It’s Ankor.” Citlalli’s voice choked up with pain, and I watched both Yong sisters move protectively closer to one another. “He’s gone on a crazy solo mission to bring down the Emerald Veil himself.”

“For Christ’s sake!” Sun Bin swore and hunched close to the phone. “I knew my brother wasn’t right in the head after losing the Second Trial. You couldn’t stop him from leaving, wolf?”

There was a pause. “I tried,” Citlalli finally admitted. “He pumped me full of electricity.”

“Bollocks.” Sun Bin turned and began texting rapidly on her phone. I gripped Heesu’s hand and said in a low voice, “Citlalli, why does Ankor think he can bring down the mist?”

“Fred told him how,” my half-sister said bitterly. “That nine-tailed rat convinced him that there is such a thing as an ‘Imugi’s Pearl’ that the vampyre princes are searching for. Ankor believes that if he can find it, he can heal his broken soul and become a whole dragon again.”

Sun Bin pushed her way up to the phone. “I’ve changed our flight,” she said breathlessly. “Citlalli, can your pack meet us in Busan? We’ve got to go after him.”

Heesu looked at her sister in alarm. “We can’t fly with an army of wolves on our backs.”