He reaches down and squeezes my cheeks between his fingers, forcing my lips apart. I jerk my face away, but he holds tight. I don’t stop struggling even though I can barely stay conscious. I see a flash of silver and gold behind the assassin. I must be hallucinating.
“A beast like you wouldn’t understand honor, but I am a man of my word.” He digs his cold, dead fingers into my mouth, and I gag, tilting my head away. “I will take your tongue, as I promised.”
“And I will take your hand for touching her,” Ethan says in a steely voice I hardly recognize.
The undead assassin’s mouth gapes wide in a soundless scream as a golden axe slices through his shoulder in one powerful strike. The golem’s arm falls to the ground like a branch snapped away from a tree. But the arm still attached to Blue’s body is holding a sword, and he spins around to block the silver axe coming for his neck.
My vision clears enough to see Ethan standing in front of the assassin, wielding an axe in each hand. The muscles in his neck are bulging, as though he’s straining to hold the axes aloft. He raises the golden axe with effort, like he’s fighting against an invisible rope pinning his arm to his side.
“Did you kill my brother?” Ethan roars as he swings his axe toward Blue’s head.
The golem’s injuries have slowed him down—black wisps of smoke escape from his armless shoulder and the wound in his stomach—but he’s still faster than any human. With a gleeful cackle, he draws back his sword and drives it toward Ethan.
In the end, it is as easy as exhaling a long-held breath. There is no need to think ordo. I simplyam.
My lips pull back as I snarl at the assassin, power and violence pulsing through me. My nine tails move in unison and sweep the sick bastard aside like he’s nothing more than a gnat. He slams against a tree with enough force to make the trunk splinter, before falling face-first into the earth. He lies limply like a blue rag doll, but he won’t stay down for long. I have to finish this.
I reach his side before the golem can get to his feet but not before he opens his mouth. A screech as dark as death fills the air. My injured hind leg nearly gives out. I heal faster in my spirit form, and the femoral artery has already mended itself, but blood still flows steadily from the gash. It’s not my leg that worries me, though.
My eyes, nose, and mouth bleed until my white fur is soaked red. I take another step toward the assassin before I stumble and crash to the ground, blood gurgling in my throat. His head swivels to an unnatural angle to face me, and his mouth opens past unhinged jaws—hideous and gaping—and his scream climbs to a fevered pitch.
I fight against the dark magic tearing up my insides and swipe my claws at the golem’s head. The side of his face is slashed open like a half-peeled orange, but he doesn’t stop his assault. The shriek intensifies until the agony is unbearable.
Ethan.He’s fallen to his knees. He can’t take much more of this. I have to kill the assassin. I try to push myself up, but my legs won’t carry my weight.Ethan.I want to take my human form so I can hold him in my arms, but I don’t have enough strength left in me to wield my magic. This can’t be the end. A keening noise rips out of me as darkness edges in on my vision.
Please help. Save him. Please.
The trees tremble around us, branches swaying and leaves shivering. I feel the gi of nature pulsate beneath the ground. The entire mountain comes alive with it. No, it’s notjusta mountain.
A root bursts through the ground and pierces the assassin’s throat. The shrieking stops abruptly as he struggles against the root skewering his neck. I rise shakily to my feet and stand over the golem’s writhing body. Helpless fury still courses through my veins. Thisthingnearly killed Ethan. I pause for a heartbeat—not because I’m hesitant but because I want the golem to understand that I’m about to end him.
“M ... my master will ... find you.” His voice hisses and rattles, soaked in hate and fear. “He will l ... leech every drop of your power—power a beast like you c ... can’t begin to understand—until you wish you w ... were—”
I rip his heart out with my teeth and spit it on the ground, grimacing from the taste of death and rot. It’s done. But I don’t feel satisfaction ... just a heavy weariness. Chest heaving with labored breathing, I watch the terror on the assassin’s face fade as he disintegrates into a pile of blue dust.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ethan groans as he rises to his feet, and I almost sag with relief. He looks unharmed. I don’t even see dried blood on his face from the assassin’s heart-shredding screams. I squint to see straight as my head spins from the blood loss. Did he wipe it all away? But I don’t see any blood on his hands or shirt. I sway on my feet as the adrenaline seeps out of me.
“Sunny?” He steps toward me.
I startle and turn away from him, tucking my tails close to my body. I don’t want him to see me like this. I shrink in on myself.
Monster!Even the girl who’d been my friend since we could barely walk had thrown stones at me.Beast!Her round, smiling face had been contorted into an angry mask. I had implored her with my hands outstretched.Please, I’m your friend.But all she had seen was an abomination, something she feared and hated.
“Sunny,” Ethan repeats, coming to stand in front of me.
I force myself to hold my head up high and face him, flaring my nine tails wide.I am not a monster.Even so, when he reaches out a tentative hand, I have a hard time not flinching. I hold my breath and wait. He lowers his hand on the back of my neck and smooths it down to my shoulder blades. I can’t hide my shiver, my fur fluttering as though rustled by an invisible wind.
He catches my eyes, and I want to close them—to hide. But I stand still and hold his gaze. Little by little, I feel myself thawing, as though shedding an armor of frozen fear. I see no judgment in his eyes—nodisgust, no fear. He runs his fingers through my fur, his face full of wonder. His parted lips curve into a smile when my tails swish of their own accord.
“You’re so beautiful.” Ethan drops to one knee and presses his forehead against mine. “And God, I don’t think I’ve felt anything as soft as your fur.”
I am not a monster.This time I almost believe it. I feel naked standing before him as a gumiho but not ashamed. The violence that churned through me disappeared with the blue assassin. The only person I hurt was the bad guy, who was already technically dead.I am not a monster.I might not wear this form with ease, but I’m still me. I feel a raw, gaping hole inside me begin to mend. When tears fill my eyes, I know it’s time to end this touching moment.
“You can stop rubbing up against me,” I say telepathically. “I’m not a therapy dog.”
Ethan startles and falls on his ass. I snort. It’s nevernotfunny to see someone falling on their ass. I list sideways before I right myself. I lost a lot of blood and feel as weak as a newborn fawn. If I’m not careful, I might fall on my ass too.
