“Don’t tell me you have a bed in your room.” I love my traditional room in the Sunset Pavilion, but I miss sleeping in a bed.
“Interesting.” He tilts his head to the side. “Is there any particular reason you’re curious about my bed?”
My eyes narrow into murderous slits. “I preferred it when you barely spoke a word to me.”
“Seriously?” A tall, willowy female with luscious waves falling to her waist steps out from behind a bookshelf. She might as well have walked off the pages of a fashion magazine. Wearing a dove gray off-the-shoulder top and designer jeans that look spray-painted on her, she’sthe most stunning female I’ve ever seen. “He pulled that dark brooding act on you?”
“An act?” Jihun sputters.
“Hey, where d’you get those jeans?” Of all the things I could’ve asked, that’s what pops out of my mouth.
“Gods, I don’t remember.” She blows a raspberry with her Cupid’s bow lips. “At some mall in the Mortal Realm? They were on sale. You like ’em?”
“Yeah, I do.” I clear my throat and belatedly register that the female is speaking English. “I ... um, was mostly surprised to see mortal clothes in this realm. I’m not used to dressing like ... this.”
“Well, I think you look lovely.” She winks at me. “Like a proper assi.”
“A noble maiden?” I snort. “Hardly.”
“But I can hook you up with some mortal clothes,” the female says. “They’re pretty simple for our seamstresses to make. They just aren’t very popular here.”
Jihun sighs from his seat, rubbing his forehead. “First Lieutenant Gim, meet Lady Cho.”
“So formal.” She crinkles her nose, then sticks out her hand. “Call me Hailey.”
“Sunny,” I say, shaking her hand. My grin falters, and goose bumps spread across my arms as her chilling gi brushes against me—gi born of grief. She’s a being of Underworld. “You ... you’re a jeoseungsaja?”
“A.k.a. Grim Reaper, Death, or as people often call me, ‘Oh, no. Please not you.’ But yeah, I have the power to escort the dead to the Kingdom of Underworld.”
Despite the turbulent nature of her life force, I like this female. “That’s so badass.”
“I like her,” she says to Jihun, echoing my thoughts.
“If you two are finished, I thought we might talk about some pressing matters.” He levels a stern gaze on us.
“Like how one uses the sacred ashes to take down a demented mudang resurrected by the Amheuk?” Hailey quips, not fazed in the least.
I reach into the sleeve of my hanbok and touch the bokjumeoni to make sure it’s still there. “So you’re up to speed on that shitshow?”
“Oh, yeah. We’re the shitshow specialists,” she says, sitting down across from Jihun. I take a seat next to him. “Minju is obsessively going through every scroll she could find on the sacred ashes as we speak.”
“How is she doing?” Jihun asks, concern lining his face.
“She’s so hyperfocused on the research that she won’t even talk.” Hailey sighs. Minju must have a tendency to fall down the rabbit hole, worrying her teammates. “I’ll check back on her when we’re done here to make sure she eats something. There’s not much I can do about her not sleeping, though.”
“Thank you for looking in on her.” Jihun steeples his fingers. “How long do you think she’ll need?”
“Who knows?” Hailey spreads her hands. “Let’s just say that there area lotof scrolls piled around her.”
“We should take bets. I put my money on two weeks.” A sharp-faced male in black leather pants and a white collared shirt, unbuttoned nearly halfway down his chest, swaggers into the study. I shiver as his shadowy gi brushes past me. He’s a dokkaebi, another being of Underworld.
“Report, Second Lieutenant Cha,” Jihun commands.
The second lieutenant sends Hailey a wary glance. “Has he been like this the whole time?”
“I’m afraid so,” she says, cringing. “Sunny, this is Jaeseok.”
“Well, hello there,” the goblin drawls, taking me in with a hooded glance.Holy shit.He oozes enough sex appeal to make me want to fan my face. Maybe I’ve finally hit my sexual peak at age one hundred thirty-two.
