When I come to, my body is warm from the midday sun, but my face feels cool. I glance up to find a sunshade made of four branches and a man’s shirt over my head. The bare-chested owner of the shirt sits by my side, with his arms resting on his raised knees.
“I see you’ve been having fun with your new axe,” I speak into his mind.
“Sunny.” He runs his hand over my muzzle, his touch so gentle that it brings tears to my eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine ... I think.” I push off the ground and stand, toppling the sunshade in the process. “Oops, sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He picks his shirt up from the ground and shakes off the dirt. “It’s not exactly a masterpiece.”
“How long have I been out?” I study the shift and ripple of his muscles as he pulls his shirt on. There’s something ... different about him, but I can’t put my finger on it.
“An eternity.” He runs a hand down his face, then offers me a rueful smile. “A few hours, I think. My best guess is that it’s just past noon.”
“You should’ve woken me.” I look up at the sky as unease shoots through me. “The fire destroyed the wards along with the house.”
“The rest did you good,” he says with a pointed glance at my body.
I can’t argue with that. My burns have healed, and even my coat is as good as new, white and gleaming. I shift back into my human form. I click my tongue in frustration when I realize I’m wearing my hanbok skirt. With no top. Ethan ripped my T-shirt, and I was too shy to sleep with my boobs hanging out.
“Even so, we need to leave,” I say, surprised someone hasn’t found us already. But the edges of my vision go dark, and I sway on my feetas realization slams into me.Gods, no.“The sacred ashes. They were in my backpack.”
Ethan lifts my backpack into the air. I snatch it from his hand and dig through it. I release a ragged breath when my hand wraps around the lucky pouch.
“How?” Tears of relief sting my eyes. I don’t have to relive that night again. Samshin Halmeom doesn’t need to lose another arm.
“I managed to grab it before we leapt out of the house.” He shrugs as though it’s no big deal.
The lone cypress’s cryptic warning rings in my head.Nothing might be enough to forestall the coming of the Amheuk.But with the sacred ashes, we still have a chance of taking down Daeseong.
“Ethan, you might have saved the worlds,” I say in a husky voice.
“I guess I overshot a bit.” His lips curve into a wry smirk. “I was just trying to save our asses from a megalomaniac.”
I smile back, and my eyes drop to his mouth. My grin fades as I remember the feel of his hands on my body and the hungry crush of his lips against mine. The more pleasure we shared, the more ravenous we became. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other as day turned to night. Only exhaustion finally lulled us to sleep.
His throat works to swallow, and I know he’s remembering too. My tongue flicks out as I take in the lush curve of his lips, and he takes a step toward me.The wards.We can’t do this now. I force my gaze lower and focus on the triangle of his chest where his shirt flaps open. Ethan stills. I blink. Then I blink again.
“Your jade disk,” I gasp. “Where is it?”
“It must’ve fallen off in the fire.” His eyes flit away to the remnants of my old home. I spin toward the house, ready to launch into the hot embers, but he grips my arm.
“Let go, Ethan.” I swat at his hand. “We have to find it. It was your mom’s.”
“My mother’s,” he murmurs, not loosening his hold on my arm. “It’s no use. I looked for hours while you were out. I couldn’t find it.”
“I could take my fox form. My senses are heightened as my gumiho—”
“Leave it, Sunny.” The sharp edge in his voice makes me pause. He sighs. “There’s no time. Like you said, we need to leave. It’s ... it’s just a necklace.”
“But ...” My heart cracks a little. He’s never taken it off before. He must feel incomplete without it—his last connection to his mom.
He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close to his side. I lean into him without thinking, and my body hums happily. I’m distracted enough to let him lead me away from the ruined house.
“Where to now?” He runs his hand up and down my bare arm. I can’t decide whether it’s soothing or arousing.
“Hmm?” I say as his question sinks in. “We need to ...”
Shit.Where to, indeed? We have the sacred ashes, but I still have no idea how to use them. Even if I did, I don’t know where to find Daeseong. Where are the damned Suhoshin when I need them? They must have intel on the dark mudang’s whereabouts. But we can’t risk waiting around for them because the third assassin might show up first. I could use a break from being stabbed, slashed, and burned—although the bad guys had nothing to do with the fire.
