Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3) (42 page)

Heesu grinned and rushed to hug her father’s foreleg. Mun Mu’s fires wrapped affectionately around her waist but didn’t burn.

“There is nothing to forgive, Appa. Now we can go save our family and drive the vampyres from the East, once and for all!” Heesu crowed, cradling the Yeouiju close to her chest.

Mun Mu nodded.
Yes, indeed we shall. But first: we must take care of her.

Sickening dread slid down my heart and dripped into the pit of my stomach. The King of Dragons was staring…at me.

Heesu tried to pull away, confused. However, Mun Mu’s flames tightened their hold possessively.

“Abeoji,” the Summer Dragon said nervously, “what do you mean?”

Mun Mu sighed.
The Yeouiju has chosen you, Heesu. You will be the Celestial Dragon of the Age. The first step is to eliminate your competition. Now
—the Dragon King took a menacing step closer—
Take Raina’s power. All of it.

Chapter 50: The Earth Dragon

~Raina~

Time hung suspended, and the candle doorways on Bongil Beach flickered as the winds changed. No wonder the good spirits had fled; they had recognized the approach of ill intentions. Blood rushed to my ears, and I stared at my father, unable to recognize the mask of ruthless calm that had descended over his face. This couldn’t be the man that Mami had fallen in love with. This couldn’t be the great Elder Life Spirit who had humbled himself before the White Tiger.

And I realized he wasn’t a man at all. This was a dragon.

Raina should prove easy compared to Sun and Ankor,
Mun Mu mused, prowling around me and making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
It was foolish of me, Hee-ya, to focus on the twins and overlook your combat training. You must understand, this result was surprising to all of us.

The Dragon King’s black eyes began to boil crimson as he faced me
. The half-breeds are always difficult. No control over their upbringing. You nearly ruined everything, Raina. Backstabbing Ankor. Besting Sun Bin. Yet it appears in the end, it was you who defeated yourself. Now Heesu shall take your meddling powers away and be strong enough to take her siblings’.
Mun Mu’s flames softened as he gazed at his youngest hatchling.
You shall make a wise Celestial Dragon, daughter.

Heesu managed to recover, and she hugged the Dragon’s Pearl defensively. “I will not! Appa, I don’t understand! The Night of Falling Dreams will come again. You said that each of us would have the chance to catch our own pearl. The Lady of Eve, the Spirit Guardians—all said it would be so!”

Mun Mu was dismissive.
I said what I must to appease those old, fading spirits so they would give their archaic tests. I needed to make everyone believe that becoming a full-grown dragon was possible for every imugi in order to keep the peace. But dearest daughter, the truth is that the Dragons’ Pearls have been falling less and less. No other Yeouiju will appear during your Age. You are the sole Celestial Dragon. And now you must take your siblings’ powers before they covet yours. This was a lesson I learned in blood.

I tensed on the sand, desperately wondering how far I could fly before they caught me. The winds were picking up. I could use them for my escape.

Mun Mu shifted wearily.
What do you think happened to my clutchmates? Over the years, they grew resentful of my influence. I had to take my sister’s powers first, and then my brother’s. The shadow imugi was elusive, but eventually I dealt with her, too.

“Don’t believe him, Heesu.” My voice trembled as Heesu’s uncertain eyes swung to mine. I saw again her disappointment when she had discovered that I had betrayed Ankor. I wasn’t the flesh-and-blood sister she had grown up with. I was a stranger. What reason did she have to protect me?

I lifted my chin proudly. “The Yeouiju spoke to me, Heesu. It could see me. All of me. It saw that I lacked the conviction that you have. If the Dragon’s Pearl can see so keenly into all of our souls, then how did our father ever hide his desire for power? How could he cover up what he did to his last opponent, the shadow imugi?” I turned to Mun Mu and squared my shoulders, struggling to pretend that his heat wasn’t shriveling my skin. “I don’t know what object of heavenly power you caught during your Chuseok, Abeoji…but it wasn’t a Yeouiju. I doubt it was heavenly at all.”

Insolent imugi!
The Dragon King’s voice lashed through my mind like the crack of a whip, and I flinched. Yet barely visible within the fire dragon’s fist was a scepter engraved with an unknown black jewel in the shape of a claw.

Heesu finally moved—to step in front of me. “The Lady of Eve would never approve of this, Appa.”

Mun Mu cocked his head so his fiery mane oozed down his rubicund scales like lava.
You do not need some overly large ghost cat’s permission, daughter. What power does the White Tiger have in the mortal world? You are the Celestial Dragon! The spirit world used to be a formidable force, but in the new age of technological advances and science, it is useless. Progress is the path for a prosperous future, Hee-ya. That is what makes our people strong; the old spirit ways made us weak. Light the beacon of progress for the world. Yong Enterprises will be your kingdom.
The fire dragon hunkered down so he could look us in the eye.
And all who marvel at the wonders you create will be your subjects.

Heesu bowed her head. “Fine, Appa,” she said softly. “I will break the rules like you. I will serve
my
needs. And I choose”—her nut-brown eyes snapped up, rimmed with lustrous gold—“
not
to keep the Yeouiju’s power all to myself. I will share it. For better or for worse.”

Before the Dragon King could blink, Heesu whipped up the Dragon’s Pearl. It began to glow with white-hot candlelight, creating a doorway. Its flames streaked out like fingers, tangling around Mun Mu’s mane and illuminating his black hematite claws. Then it yanked him through.

The Dragon King vanished in a hiss of smoke.

Slowly, I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Heesu.”

She wiped her eyes and then hastily dropped the Dragon’s Pearl into her pocket as if it were a poisonous snake. “You would have done the same for me, Raina.”

It was a question, and I inclined my head in humility. “Yes, of course I would have.” I shot a nervous glance around, still unable to believe that Heesu had made a dragon that large vanish into thin air. “Um, so where did you send him?”

Heesu bit her lip. “Somewhere in Eve, I think. Appa clearly hasn’t been spending enough time there.”

I grinned, and Heesu shot me a look. “He’s still our father, Raina.”

“I know. My mother is no saint, either.”

A slow smile spread across her shadowed face. “We will get to the truth about the Celestial Dragons, Raina. But first, we have our sisters and a brother to save.”

“And the whole of South Korea,” I added.

Heesu laughed, throwing up her head to the moon as emerald scales rippled down her face. “Fly with me, sister. It is the New Age, and the Vampyre Court has a Celestial Dragon to meet.”

My heart hammered faster as Donovan’s turquoise eyes floated tauntingly in my head. Mun Mu had nothing but scorn for Eve. However, I feared it. And I had failed to claim the all-powerful Dragon’s Pearl to drive away my dread.

I would have to be enough. It was time to face the spirit world again.

Chapter 51: The Sea Castle

~Citlalli~

A fire wolf, a black turtle, and a vampyre prince stole across the horse pastures of Jeju-do, vaulting over rickety fences and resting behind the cover of stone grandfathers. The grassy fields rippled in a sharp slant toward the beach. We had left the Forgotten Isle behind and landed on the largest island of South Korea. Finally, we saw its crown: Seongsan Ilchulbong jutted up like a green sea castle on the coast. It was the first butte to behold morning when it cast its rosy hues across the vast Jeju Island.

It was also the stronghold of our enemy.

Since the Emerald Veil had lifted, we huddled in the forest during the day for Khyber’s sake. Eve whispered, but the curtain had fallen between our two worlds once more. Una and I kept watch on the silent grassy peak, but its staircase remained empty. No one arrived to visit the popular tourist site. Knees shifting in the dirt, I sharpened my golden eye upon the gray fishing village sprawled out amongst the foothills. Not a whisper of smoke or a flicker of light appeared in the ghost town. Jeju Island had rejoined the rest of the world, buts its people had simply…vanished.

A sudden gust of wind kicked up. At my side, Una gave a small gasp of delight, closing her eyes to relish the touch of fresh air.

“How long was I gone?” she asked.

I counted the months backwards in my head. “It’s autumn now, Una. If I were you, I would start preparing my answer for when people start asking about how you spent your summer. Turning into a giant turtle and snoozing in the belly of a volcano is going to sound pretty boring.”

She exhaled a small chuckle. “I advise you do the same. What happened to you, Citlalli? Fred said they were calling you ‘One-Eyed Wolf,’ but now…”

I flexed the skin of my scabbed fingers while the lacerations carpeting my neck burned. “Yeah, these are fresh. Guess I can’t enter a beauty pageant anytime soon.”

She put a comforting hand on my scarred one. “How did you find me?”

“Fred.” I saw her flinch at her captor’s name, and my heart thumped with anger. “When it became clear that the vampyres meant to imprison you indefinitely, that filthy vermin finally came clean. But not before he tricked Raina’s half-brother, Yong Ankor, into believing the False Yeouiju is the key to healing his broken soul.”

Her hand slipped absently down her neck. “So Raina discovered the other part of her family. Do not be so hard on this Ankor, Citlalli. Given enough time, the kumiho can make one believe almost…anything.”

I glanced sharply at her wistful face. “Is Fred trustworthy?”

Una cocked her head. “Why waste time worrying about the trust of a dead man?”

I sighed in relief. “Well. Aren’t you the wise old turtle?”

She groaned. “There will be many more turtle jokes, won’t there?”

“You have my word,” I vowed.

The swish of wings broke the silence, and Una and I whirled around. Khyber landed between us, his skin mottled and flaking from the sun.

“I investigated the village,” he said in a low voice. “All of the villagers were taken There. To Eve. Their bodies do not stir.”

“Then we must follow,” Una said. “Jeju-do has returned to the waking world. If its people do not….”

Anxious, I gazed up at the gloomy skies. Sunset was thankfully falling fast. “The White Tiger said She could come when the mist fell.”

“My brothers will know this as well,” Khyber said grimly. “We need to infiltrate their base first…to see what She will be walking into.”

Una extended her hands. “Quickly, then. We must stay together. I will open a door to Eve. Follow my spirit.”

My skin shivered under Khyber’s cool touch. Sinking to the earth in a triangle, we closed our eyes and quieted our minds. One by one, we slipped under.

***

I woke in Eve to find a conquistador with permanently stained crimson teeth leering at me.

“Hi, little birdie,” he wheezed, cocking his head to an impossible angle. “Enjoying nap time?”

Heart hammering, I realized we were surrounded. A pair of Santiago’s soldiers aimed rifles in Una’s face nearby.

Khyber recovered first. Covering the gun barrel with one hand and not even flinching when a bullet tore through him, the Crown Prince leaped into the air and flew away without a second glance.

Bastard,
I thought glumly, watching his tattered black wings soar up toward the ghostly hill of Seongsan Ilchulbong.

The patrolling party’s captain waved his undead men to stand down. “Do not worry about the Prince of Sorrow. Our masters have his soul. He will not be a problem for much longer.”

“These two are much prettier anyway,” his second agreed, regaling my face with his overpowering carcass breath. “Do you think they are survivors from the wreck?”

“Survivors?” I simpered, trying unsuccessfully to hide my burned hands. The captain watched me suspiciously. “What kind of insane tour is this? I come all the way from America to see the great Sunrise Peak, and I am attacked first by a crazy winged mutant, and now by a cannibalistic gang of helmet heads? I want a full refund!” I demanded of Una.

She raised an eyebrow. “You signed the tour waiver.”

“Enough!” the captain growled. “Prince Santiago will
dig
the truth out of you, one way or another. Now
march
.”

We were prodded across a moonlit pasture down to the beach. Horses still grazed in the meadow, but when they lifted their heads, their eyes glowed blue and their ribcages split through their skin. My gaze drifted to the upcoming drop-off. It appeared that Santiago’s soldiers meant to walk us straight off it.

Yet to my surprise, down below stretched a thin ribbon of black beach. An old fishing shack sagged inside the shelter of the cove. Along its pier, a line of elderly women in wet suits stood solemnly.

The haenyeo from Raina’s dream,
I realized. And along the coastline—throngs of shivering villagers, hauling up treasures and sorting them into different chests. An eerie gray fog hung over the sheltered cove, and I recognized the miserable presence of those starving weather demons. Haetae patrolled the prisoners as well. It may have been my imagination, but I thought the freakish green light corrupting their eyes had begun to dim, as if on the verge of going out.

The captain’s second-in-command had unfortunately taken a liking to me. He licked my ear with his clammy tongue.

“What’s the matter, birdie?” he hissed. “Didn’t plan on going swimming this vacation?”

The captain glowered in his direction. “We will hold them prisoner for Prince Santiago.”