Page 96 of King Foretold
The Yeoiju is a part of me, so I let it fill me. I’m not afraid, because itisme. It cannot exist without me, because I amit. I know this in the depth of my soul. I don’t falter even as it grows inside me because ... I am not alone. Warmth surrounds me and seeps into me. The light shines from the center of my heart to the tips of my fingers and my toes. It spreads to every corner of my being. And I shine.
The shrieks of the stranded quiet. The icy cold of the Gray Void evaporates. A voice—or perhaps many—whisper.
Thank you.
I blink my eyes open to the night sky, the crescent moon casting a faint silvery light on the woods around me. I’m lying flat on my back, and literally every muscle in my body aches. Even the strands of my hair hurt. But I’m alive. I made it past the Gray Void.How?I don’t remember any of it, except the freezing cold. Gods, I don’twantto remember the freezing cold.
With a long groan, I push myself onto my elbows and painstakingly sit upright. I glance around me. Why does this mountain look familiar? I look around me again, my mouth hanging open. This mountain looks familiar because I’m in the Mortal Realm.
I realize with a jolt that my plan had been flawed. Even if I made it past the Gray Void, I had no way of reaching this mountain without being creamed into an unrecognizable blob. Jihun usually carried me between this mountain and the entrance to the Gray Void, high up in the sky. I have no idea how I’m still in one piece.
I get to my feet and peer at the tall mountain in the distance. Is it my imagination, or did the ominous looking clouds at the peak vanish? I give my head a sharp shake. I’m here, and I’m not dead. I can ponder all life’s mysteries after I stop Daeseong.
“Fuck.” I grab my hair in both fists. “Ireallydon’t want to go to Santorini.”
Now, there’s a sentence no one haseveruttered. In any other scenario, evenIwould’ve been thrilled to visit the stunning Greek island, salty skepticism be damned. There’s just somethinggloriousabout the crisp white buildings with their blue domed roofs, set against the backdrop of the Aegean Sea. It calls to your soul ... and tells you to put on a tiny bikini.
But inthisparticular scenario, I’d rather go anywhere but Santorini. There goes Daeseong ruiningeverythingagain. With a sigh, I squint up at the sky. It still looks like early evening. I have some time to kill. Not here though. No matter how familiar the mountain feels, I don’t want to get mistakenly shot down by North Korean soldiers.
I find a shallow pond nearby and moon shift without hesitation. I step out on the other side without breaking my stride. I’m at the bottom of the mountain in the fishing town Ethan and I passed through a lifetime ago. I blink away the tears that burn at the back of my eyes. I’ll see him again. I won’t stop until I’m by his side, where I belong.
I hike up my hanbok chima and head toward town with determined steps. I need to lay low for a few hours until Santorini is dark enough for moon shifting. A PC bang, Korea’s version of an internet café, will be the perfect place for that. I can research the ins and outs of the island while eating some first-rate snack foods.
But first, I need to get out of this hanbok. The rough fabric is scratchy as hell, and I sheepishly realize that I’ve been spoiled by the luxurious silk hanboks that Miok donned on me. Either way, this hanbok goes.
The owner of the small boutique gives me the side-eye when I walk in, but she is all smiles by the time I hand her the black card Hailey lent me. As she rings me up, I look down at my new outfit and feel a spark of happiness. A black tank top, a loose pair of gray-washed jeans, and a perfect black leather jacket to tie the outfit together. The boutique doesn’t carry Converse, but I can live with the black combat boots the owner dug out for me from the back, even though the military look isso last season.
She hands me back my credit card, and I take it from her with a genuine smile. “Thank you. Have a good night.”
“What about your hanbok?” the owner asks with wide eyes.
“You can throw it away.” I open the door and look back at her. “I need to travel light.”
I walk out into the teeming thoroughfare and breathe in the nighttime scent. The air smells of garlic, spices, and deep-fried goodness with an underlying trace of exhaust—which is all happy-making for this city girl. I eye a street vendor cooking up vats of spicy, chewy ddeokbokki and fish cake skewers in broth, and their next-door neighbor serving battered veggies, shrimp, and dumplings.
My stomach growls, but I pass by the food stalls in search of a PC bang. With powerful computers, high-speed internet, and food service, PC bangs are a gamer’s dream come true. But I’m not planning on playingLeague of Legends. I need to figure out the exact time difference between here and Santorini so I can moon shift when both locations are dark.
I choose the most bustling PC bang in town and squeeze into an empty seat at the back. Nothing will keep me hidden from the Shingae better than a crowd of humans and their innate skepticism toward magic.
It’s a full house, but someone promptly drops off a menu, and I eagerly bury my nose in it. I haven’t eaten in more than twenty-four hours, and I’m starving. I couldn’t bear to eat the jumeokbap that Hailey had packed for Ethan, Jihun, and me when we left for the Kingdom of Mountains. It reminded me too much of Hana. I push away my grief and focus on the menu.
“Jackpot,” I say under my breath.
This PC bang has grilled pork belly—no wonder it’s booming—and I am overcome with gratitude. The employee doesn’t quirk an eyebrow when I order three servings of it. Emboldened, I add a cup ramyeon and kimchi fried rice as appetizers. I ignore the small voice that says this might be my last meal.
While I wait for my food, I discover that Santorini is six hours behind the local time here. That means I should wait until 3 a.m. here—making it 9 p.m. there—to moon shift. That gives me plenty of time to search for potential hideouts Daeseong might be using to keep the humans captive.
It only takes me a few minutes to stumble onto why the dark mudang chose Santorini of all places.Son of a bitch.Daeseong bragged about the depths of Heaven Lake being darker than outer space. We didn’t understand the significance of that factoid until he went to hide in its dark depths when my Yeoiju nearly killed him.
I absently accept my ramyeon from the PC bang employee and slurp away. The Santorini caldera is 385 meters deep, and Heaven Lake is 384 meters deep. The sneaky bastard is staging our showdowns in places where darkness can survive the light of the Yeoiju. But that also means he’s afraid. He knows he’s not invincible. NowIjust have to believe that.
The pork belly goes a long way in fortifying my resolve. I swear my Yeoiju hums happily with every juicy bite of grilled meat. I practically do the dishes for them when I clean off my plate, then I reach for my kimchi fried rice. I saved it for last because its spicy kick will cut the richness of the pork belly. I pop the sunny-side up egg on top and scoop up a perfect spoonful.
“Fuck me,” I moan around my bite. The kimchi in the fried rice is just overfermented enough to be tart against my tongue—as it should be for this dish. I shovel in bite after bite, thinking of nothing but the joy of eating one of my favorite comfort foods.
But even my avoidance skills are no match for my concern for Ethan and my friends, and soon, the food forms a cement dam halfway down my esophagus. What if the tyrant’s general overtook the audience hall? I see strong and stubborn Jihun throwing himself in harm’s way to protect Ethan. I see noble and loyal Ethan pushing Jihun away to stop another person he loves from dying for him. Hailey fights with ferocious bravery, carrying out her sworn duty with all her heart. They’re hurt. They’re bleeding. They’re ... dying.
“It’s not real,” I mutter. “It’s not real.”
