I don’t even feel his dig as my magic struggles to clear the poison from my systems. It’s slow going and painful, but I can’t complain. I would’ve been dead in mere seconds if Ethan and Jihun hadn’t stopped Yellow. I clench and unclench my hand around the hilt of my hwando, testing my grip.
“Where is the dark mudang?” Ethan asks, his expression chillingly calm.
The yellow assassin cackles with delight, the sound as charming as a bed of wiggling maggots. I gag and throw up a mouthful of blood and bile. That’s one way to expel more of the poison. I do feel much better. I put my legs under me, but they can’t quite bear my weight yet.
Yellow points one hand at me, the tips of his fingers elongating into long, sharp needles, and digs the other clawed hand into his own chest. Everything happens too fast for my poison-addled brain to follow.
I think the needles are meant for me ... but is the golem trying to kill himself as well? Jihun shifts forward, raising his sword. Ethan grips the undead assassin’s wrist before he can bury his claws in himself. Then without taking his eyes off Yellow, he shouts, “Protect her.”
Before I draw my next breath, the suhoshin throws himself in front of me, swinging his sword in lightning-fast arcs. I struggle clumsily to my feet. What do I do? Who do I help? During my split second of panicked indecision, Ethan and the yellow assassin disappear into thin air. And Jihun falls to one knee with a pained grunt. It’s all over, and I don’t even understand what happened.
“Ethan.” I stumble toward the mouth of the cave. “Ethan!”
He ... he left me. This new Ethan—the one who is lying to me—didn’t get the memo that we promised to stick together. But he sure knew how to summon and wield those axes. He fought like a seasoned warrior whose weapons were an extension of his body. When Blue attacked us in the woods less than a week ago, he acted like he could barely lift those axes. It had to have been an act, right? Because no one can master their magic in a few short days. Maybe teleportation is one of his many hidden powers.
Unbidden, the story of the humble woodsman becoming the rightful King of Mountains flashes through my mind, but I shy away from it without knowing why. Instead, I allow my humiliation and anger at myself to scorch my insides black. Ethan lied to me, then left me. How could I have been so stupid?Thisis why I choose to be alone.
It takes me a moment to hear the wet cough. I spin around just in time to see the suhoshin spew blood from his mouth and crumple to the ground.
“For fuck’s sake,” I hiss.
With one last desperate glance around the woods, I run back to Jihun and tip him over onto his back. One long, yellow needle protrudes from his side. Covering my hand with the fabric of my skirt, I pull out the poison needle and throw it onto the ground, noticing that there are more needles scattered around us. If the suhoshin hadn’t deflected them, those needles would be embedded in my body. I wouldn’t have had the speed to evade them in my human form. Everything happened so fucking fast. I still should’ve transformed and defended us, but becoming a gumiho still doesn’t feel ... right. I don’t trust my gumiho, her power ... her rage.
Jihun’s eyelids flutter closed, and his body goes limp and heavy.Shit, shit, shit.My hesitation to shift might’ve cost this male his life.No.I’m not going to let that happen.
“Hey.” I slap his cheek. The bases of his fingernails are starting to turn purple. “Don’t go to sleep.Open. Your. Eyes.”
To my relief, his eyes snap open. But then he plants one hand on the ground and struggles to push himself up. He collapses onto his chest with a pained groan but tries again.
“Hey, stop that.” I roll him onto his back again and press his shoulders into the ground. The more he moves, the quicker the poison will spread. “I need you to stay still.”
I scramble to the spring and bring back water cupped in my palms. I dribble it into his mouth. “You have to drink this. This is a medicinal spring. The water has healing properties that will slow the progression of the poison. Drink.”
Jihun swallows and coughs, then drinks some more as I run back and forth from the spring. His eyes are bleary, but at least they’re open. That’s good.
“I have to ...,” he rasps, his lips turning a deep purple. It’s like someone pumped doksacho into his veins. That’s not good.
“Don’t talk. Stay very, very still.” I look out at the setting sun. The yellow assassin’s poison has the same effects as doksacho, the poison that killed Ben, but is much more potent. Daeseong somehow reanimated Yellow’s corpse to hold the essence of the poisonous flower. What a sick bastard. “I have to find the antidote.”
His eyes roll back in his head, but he lowers them again and focuses on me through sheer willpower. He’s one tough son of a bitch. “Too ... dangerous ...”
“Oh, shut up.” I know the mountain like the back of my hand. Or at least I did over a hundred years ago. But it seems untouched by civilization, the vegetation growing as it had all those years ago. “If you even think about moving, I’ll kick your ass. I’ll be right back.”
“No ...” He reaches for my hand, cringing in pain.
I evade his hand easily and sprint into the woods as a gumiho. Every time I transform, I rest a little easier in my skin. My gumiho is strong. I can protect the people I care about. Maybe the dangerous power that lies deep inside me will stay dormant if I transform only to help others. I have no idea if that’s the way it works. That uncertainty scares the shit out of me. What if I’m wrong? What if I still hurt people despite my good intentions? But I’m not going to let fear stop me from helping someone, especially when that someone risked his life to save mine.
The higher temperature of my fox form burns away the remaining toxin in my body. I run fast enough to blur my surroundings. But my heart feels hollowed out, and I can’t stop thinking about Ethan. I saw him moments ago. I’m still furious with him. But I miss him. I miss him so much, even as betrayal, doubt, and fear churn into a mess inside me.
Did hechooseto leave me? Did he do it to protect me? Or was he blinded by his thirst for vengeance? That doesn’t sound like the Ethan I know, but the enraged, sorrowful male I saw earlier in the woods might have chosen revenge over our ... friendship. I remember the icy rage in his voice.Where is the dark mudang?
Still, all I can think is I don’t know where he’s gone. Is he hurt? What if he’s ... No, he has to be alive. I just need to know he’s safe. I can deal with everything else, but Ineedhim to be safe. I should leave the suhoshin and go find Ethan.
But I don’t stop searching for the bright-green leaves of the seungmacho. For whatever reason, Jihun fought against the yellow assassin alongside us. Then he jumped in front of the poison needles intended for me. Now, he might die because of me. I don’t understand, and I hate the thought of owing someone my life, but I dash higher up the mountain. The herb thrives in high elevation.
My body goes limp with relief when I find the familiar green leaves. I dig up a thick clump of the herb and streak down the mountain, my paws barely touching the ground. There is almost no light left in theday, but I use my spirit eyes to find the cave. There’s no reason to hold back my magic at this point. I shift back into my human form and walk inside to find the suhoshin lying eerily still where I left him. I run to his side, throwing an orb of light into the air.
“Jihun.” I shake his shoulders. His eyes flutter open, and I exhale long and loud. “Gods, I thought you were dead.”
