Ethan tucks my head under his chin and wraps his arms around me, shielding me with his body. I feel something hot and wet against my palm and draw my hand away from his chest. Blood. I can only lean back an inch—his arms are like iron bands around me—but it’s farenough for me to see his wrecked torso. He’s bleeding from countless gashes.
“You’re bleeding.” I don’t fight the hot tears that stream down my face.
He grunts as the monsters ribbon his back, but he won’t release me. “I’m ... fine.”
“Liar.” I arch my back in pain when a beast gets past the shield of his arms.
“I told you I won’t kill you,” Ethan says faintly. “Consider this my bigfuck youto destiny.”
“Yeah.” My vision turns dark around the edges. “You sure showed them.”
I shift into my fox form and curl around him. It’s my turn to protect him ... for as long as I can. At long last, I fully appreciate the beauty and power of this body. My gumiho isn’t a monster I have to keep leashed. She’s a warrior—a guardian. Mihwa was right. We are glorious.
“Sunny, no.” Ethan pushes against me, but I don’t budge. “They’re hurting you.”
A low hum vibrates in my chest, liquid and warm. It’s not the searing rage that threatened to burn through me earlier. This is calm reassurance—shining certainty that I will protect him with every speck of gi left in me. The hum grows louder, warming me.
I nudge my snout against Ethan’s cheek, wiping away his tears, even as my blood soaks through my fur. We’re dying. We both know it. If one of us has to die, I want it to be me. But I wish more than anything that both of us can live so I can ... we can ... Even my avoidance skills have their limit.
I’ve fallen in love with him. It’s stupid, but it’s true. I love him. It’s not an infatuation or a fleeting crush. It’s not loneliness or horniness. It is passion, friendship, longing, and affection. It’s tender and ardent, terrifying and comforting. It is all those things, all at once. It’s a confusingmess that makes more sense than anything else in the worlds. It’s ... love, true and everlasting.
I love him. Warmth spreads through my entire body. Gods, I love him so fucking much. And I need to tell him.
“Ethan, I—” My mind goes blank when a blinding blue light streaks past us. “What was that?”
“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Jaeseok lands beside us, piercing several monsters with his spear. “But I’m in the mood to dance.”
As outrageous as his claim, the dokkaebi indeed dances his way through a throng of beasts, burning them and stabbing them, without missing a step in an oddly familiar choreography. Is that from a BTS music video? But damn, the dude can move.
“Gods, are you showing off again?” Hailey buries an arrow in a gaping, red mouth, then gracefully slides down the dragon’s back. “I swear I’ll gag you if you tell us about your stint in a Korean boy band one more time.”
The dragon’s ... back? My jaw drops open as my mind finally catches up with my eyes.
A dragon just landed next to us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“I apologize for the delay, Your Highness.” Jihun grunts as he takes off into the sky from the dragon’s back, attacking the nightmare beasts from the air as they emerge from Daeseong’s forehead.
“The situation hardly warrants an apology, Captain,” Ethan calls out as he struggles to his feet.
I push myself up next to him, and we lean on each other for support, our wounds closing in the reprieve our friends bought us. It dawns on me that we might not die, which frees up some space for things like curiosity.
I try not to stare. I really do ... but there is a freaking dragon in front of me. Pearlescent scales shimmer on their azure blue body, and the wolflike slopes of their face look masterfully sculpted. The dragon is quite possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
With the last of their occupants off their back, the dragon unwinds their huge, serpentine body from the ground and streaks to the sky. They move with the fluid grace of a gymnast’s ribbon as they breathe blue fire into the mouths of the monsters with brutal efficiency.
“The Cheonji Monster is real,” I say in awe.
“Bruh. Did you just call me a monster?” a deep, petulant voice grumbles in my head. Right, telepathy. “Not cool.”
“Did you just call mebruh?” My gaze snaps to the dragon’s face just as their eyes narrow into fiery blue slits.Shit.It’s probably not a good idea to piss off a dragon, especially when they’re keeping a horde of terrifying monsters from shredding you to pieces. “Bruhit is. And sorry about themonsterbit. It’s just what the humans call you, and I’m a little shocked that you’re real.”
“Well, it’s my first time seeing a humongous white fox with nine tails, but you don’t see me calling anyone a monster.”
My gods. Only one form of monster could muster this much angst. “How old are you?”
“How old are you?” they echo right back.
