“Nuh-uh,” I chide with indulgent annoyance and dig the Shin’gwangdo deeper into their leader’s throat. Blood slides down the blade of my sword, pooling above the hilt. “No using magic that doesn’t belong to you. Obviously, that goes for all you psychopaths. Or else your leader will die before you can utter another syllable.”
“Sunny,” Minju gasps. “This isn’t you.”
“I hate to break it to you, my friend”—my smile takes on a desperate edge—“but this isexactlywho I am. The sooner you accept that, the better.”
I can hasten the process by sharing that I bewitched Daeseong to confirm he was my father. I can tell her I’m capable of violating her in a terrifying way if it served my needs. Then ... why don’t I?
I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lose my friends.
“I can’t move,” the sneakymudangsuddenly yelps. The other shamans mimic her squirming and join in her panicked cries. “Why can’t I move?”
Even Blondie strains against the invisible binds, careful not to jostle his head, and pales even more, until he resembles nonfat milk. Keeping my blade firmly against his throat, I aim an accusatory glare at Captain Seo.
“Still tempted to slaughter the lot?” The captain pierces me with a steely glance. She thinks I’m not far enough gone to kill helpless humans.
I’m not so sure about that.
I redirect my gaze to the fire-slingingmudang. He boasted about torturing a child to steal his elemental fire magic. He would’ve killed Draco without hesitation in Santorini if he’d had the chance. Rage burns in my stomach and rises up my throat, but I hiss out a long breath as the Shin’gwangdo trembles in my hand.
If I slit his throat, there will be no going back for me.Who am I kidding?It’s probably already too late. But do I want to seal the deal for the fleeting satisfaction of ending this coward? Am I willing to erase even a shadow of hope?
I bare my teeth at the piece of trash in a savage snarl, and his khaki pants grow dark around his crotch.Gods, he’s pathetic.My anger drains out of me. He makes me sick, but his irritating existence means nothing to me in the grand scheme of things.
“You’re not worth it.” I step back from him, withdrawing my sword, and glare at Captain Seo. “Happy now?”
She grunts. “What exactly about this situation do you think makes me happy?”
“Nothing.” I’ll give her that. “But I think I found a silver lining.”
I don’t know how. I just know.
Blondie flinches when I face him again, and I drawl, “You have something that doesn’t belong to you, thief.”
I close my eyes and summon a small white orb on my palm. A shuddering sigh escapes past my lips. The warmth of the white light soothes all the jagged edges of my shattered soul. The Yeoiju hums deep inside me. It doesn’t hate me. It didn’t leave me. Relief shivers through my body. I open my eyes, revealing the white fire I can feel burning in them.
“What are you doing, beast?” The corruptmudangstruggles against the captain’s invisible binds.
I hold out my hand, and the light of the Yeoiju floats between us, pulsating and glowing bright. I call to the stolen elemental magic—a magic born of the Cheon’gwang—trapped inside the thief, suffocating in darkness.
The magic swirls to the surface of his body in tendrils of red gi, pooling at his torso, then surges out of his chest in a stream of fire. Themudangscreams in outrage, thrashing against the binds, and a blood vessel bursts in his eye.
“It’s my magic. It’s mine,” he shrieks, face contorting with outrage. “You can’t take it. How are you doing this?”
The white orb expands, embracing the fire magic and its life force, and my heart beats in rhythm with it. The magic once belonged to a young girl, and I can feel the sorrow in her lingering life force.
“You are free,” I rasp past a tight throat. In a burst of white light, the elemental magic and the poor girl’sgiare released back to nature. “Be at peace.”
I reabsorb the light of the Yeoiju and bank the white fire from my eyes. My friends stare at me, their faces frozen in shock—closer to delight for the historian. I clear my throat, and Minju clacks her mouth shut.
“We need to leave.” She grabs the captain and me by our sleeves and drags us toward the door.
“How about if you take the captain and leave?” I tug my arm out of her hold. “I had no trouble staying hidden until you two came along.”
“Are you sure about that?” Captain Seo digs her heels in, and Minju drops her arm with a sigh. “It only took a day for us to find you, and the Jaenanpa had to have been close by to drop in on us like this.”
“Now that you have unleashed the Yeoiju, your magic is too powerful to hide.” Minju lays a gentle hand on my shoulder. “You are not safe on your own. The Jaenanpa won’t stop until they have your magic.”
“You don’t have to worry about me,” I say gruffly, not shaking her hand off for some reason.
