But Daeseong is not the source of my terror.Iam. I’m terrified of the wrath rising in me. It awakens something deep inside me. Something that starts as a pinprick, then grows until it glows white hot in my chest.My human body won’t be able to withstand it much longer, but I still try to douse the magic pushing insistently against my skin.
“The hidden prince is revealed at last.” Even from a mile away, we can hear the mudang as though he’s standing next to us. “This is an unexpected boon, but it is most welcome. Welcome indeed.”
“I hope you’re not going to segue into a villainous monologue,” I shout, hoping he can’t hear the tremor in my voice. “Because we haven’t got all night.”
“We don’t? Is it because you’re going to let me take you to Roxy’s?” Ethan jokes—because he’s got to be joking—with his eyes glued on Daeseong.
“Now? Really?” Hailey bursts out, then bites her lip, lowering her head. “My prince ... please forgive me. I was out of line.”
“No need to apologize ...” He lets his sentence hang in an unspoken question.
“Hailey,” she supplies.
“Like I said, no apologies necessary, Hailey.” He shoots her a grim smile. “I agree that my timing is truly horrible, but I’m not sure if there will be a better time.”
“Good timing is overrated in my opinion. And if we’re doing introductions before our certain demise ...,” Jaeseok pipes up. “I’m Jaeseok, Your Highness.”
“Nice to meet you.” Ethan nods. Then he leans close, his breath warm against my ear. “Give me something to fight for, Sunny.”
“What? Not dying isn’t enough motivation for you?” I snap, even as I shiver at his words. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of an audience. Daeseong is spectating our exchange with an indulgent smile on his face. Ugh. What a creep.
“I’ll travel to hell and back for even a glimmer of hope of winning you back,” Ethan whispers huskily.
Suddenly, I could care less about having an audience. I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and pull him in for a hard kiss. I don’t have an answer for him, but I don’t want to die without kissing himone last time. Ethan gathers me flush against him and kisses me back, tender and raw.
“Forgive me for interrupting,” Jihun says stiffly, “but we have ... company.”
Ethan and I break apart and turn toward the dark mudang, and I immediately wish I hadn’t. I can see past glamour, so I’ve seen all sorts and manners of beings of the Shingae. Some of my kind are definitely not for the faint of heart—even the truly beautiful ones are painfully overwhelming to behold—but these grotesque monsters have my mind grappling for sanity.
Their bodies, if I can call them that, look brutally torn apart, while their limbs ... four or six of them? ... hang off at odd, broken angles. They are black in a way that makes the midnight sky seem bright. I’m not actually seeing their forms but the absence of light where they stand. The cloudy white of their pupilless eyes and the red slashes of their screaming mouths are the only colors visible on them. But I don’t want to see any part of them.
They fly at us so fast that I’m already bleeding from multiple shallow gashes by the time I draw my sword. There are at least a dozen of them, clawing and snapping their jaws at us. I swing my hwando and chop off what I think is a leg. As I move on to fight the next nightmarish beast, the leg I cut off stitches itself back onto the first one.
The five of us move into a loose circle formation, our backs to each other’s. There are gasps and shouts, but I don’t take my eyes off the monsters striking out at me. The others are more than capable of taking care of themselves. If anything, I’m the weakest link. I need to focus on not getting too badly hurt so I don’t become a burden to them.
As soon as my body heals my cuts, I get shredded with new ones. But I don’t slow down. I kick out at the beast closest to me, and my foot sinks into its body. I’m thrown onto my back as I thrash against its hold.
“Sunny,” Ethan roars. But he can’t break away as three dark shadows close in on him.
I’m ... I’mabsorbedinto the monster up to my waist. I’m not being eaten. Not exactly. But I feel as though the parts of me that it swallowed don’t ... exist anymore. Fueled by sheer terror, I wrap both hands around the hilt of my sword and bury the blade in the red, gaping mouth of the beast—a scream ripping through my throat. The shadow continues to creep up, past my chest and up to my armpits. Soon, my arms will be swallowed up, and I won’t be able to fight anymore.
“Fuck you, nightmare monster,” I growl at it, even though it might not have ears. I keep cussing out the beast and sink my hwando into its mouth again and again.
Nothing seems to happen until a cold shiver skitters through my body, down to the tips of my toes.I can feel my toes!I thrash around with renewed hope and wrench myself out of the monster. I’m freed so suddenly that I crash to the ground in a graceless heap. I might’ve cracked a few ribs, but I’m thrilled to feel pain after almost being swallowed out of existence. I manage to raise myself into a crouch as the beast folds in on itself and blinks out in a pinprick of darkness.
“Stab them in the mouth,” I yell out. “Hard.”
“Which hole is their mouth?” Jaeseok shouts, spinning his spear above his head to keep the monsters at bay.
Hailey launches an arrow from her crossbow into a beast’s mouth, stretched wide in a silent shriek. “The big red one.”
I shoot to my feet, my ribs screaming in agony, and rush toward the nearest monster. Ethan slams his silver axe into one red slash, then spins to throw the golden axe into another yawning mouth. One by one, the dark beasts blink out into the night.
“Is everyone okay?” Jihun straightens after burying his long sword in the mouth of the last monster.
Everyone is slashed and bloodied except for Ethan. But not for lack of trying. The monsters diligently shredded his clothes, even though they couldn’t break his skin. Luckily, the suhoshins’ gashes are already closing up, and my ribs are mended enough for me to breathe without wincing.
Ethan’s at my side, his hands running over my body. I’m too relieved he’s okay to remember that we aren’t on touching terms at the moment. Except for the part where I kissed him in front of everyone. But I thought we were going to die, so that doesn’t count. I hiss when his palm presses lightly into my side.
