Then, on a fine day like any other, each god stilled in their kingdom, gripped by fear. Because they all felt it. The Amheuk was stirring beyond the abyss.
The four gods understood that combining their divinegihad the force of the Cheon’gwang—the only force strong enough to defeat the Amheuk—but it required a sacrifice none of them were willing to make.
The gods were not evil, but they were flawed with selfishness, greed, and cowardice. And when Hwanin devised a plan that required little sacrifice from them, Yongwang and Yeomla compromised their souls to cling on to the status quo that suited them so well.
Chapter Forty-One
Sunny
Ethan spoons me from behind and pulls the comforter over us when the dreaded knock comes. He groans and buries his face against my neck. He doesn’t seem surprised, though. Like me, he expected this to happen.
At least I got to make him officially and irrevocably mine.
“I am so sorry,” Hailey yelps from outside. “But we couldn’t buy you as much time as we wanted.”
“That’s okay.” I speak loudly enough to be heard through the hanji-pasted doors. “We’ll be right out.”
“I-I’ll go wait in the audience hall,” she says. “I’m leaving some clothes out here for both of you. Just ... hurry.”
Ethan and I dress in the mortal clothes that Hailey left for us—me in my favorite all-black ensemble of a fitted top and jeans, and him in a white T-shirt and blue jeans. But even with the Shin’gwangdo strapped low on my waist, I feel far from prepared for an audience with the gods.
We rush into the audience hall, only to be greeted by stifling silence. And the gravity of the situation slams back into me with the force of a wrecking ball.
What did it cost our friends to buy us that hour?
Taeyoung, Gyun, Hailey, and Jihun stand in one cluster, and the rest of our group stands in another. Everyone looks weary and exhausted. I narrow my eyes in suspicion and turn my magicgigoggles on them.
Their life forces . . .
“What have you done?” I breathe.
“We reinforced the boundaries of the Kingdom of Sky,” Jihun says matter-of-factly, as though they didn’t nearly deplete theirgidoing it.
I bite my cheeks to stop myself from berating every one of them, because ... a small part of me knew what it meant for them to buy us time. I didn’t realize they would sacrifice so much, but I knew there would be sacrifice. I glance at Ethan, who stands silently at my side, his expression grim.
Both of us knew.
Still, we let them do it. We couldn’t refuse their heartfelt gift, so selflessly given. And we selfishly wanted that one moment to carry with us, no matter what lies ahead.
I will make it up to them. I will protect them with my life.
“What happened while we were ... gone?” I ask, even as guilt twists my stomach. Something must’ve happened to cut our time short.
“The Amheuk is stirring,” Taeyoung answers. “It is still daylight, but darkness is seeping into the Kingdom of Sky.”
“Shit.” I grab my forehead, and Ethan smooths his hand down my back. I meet his gaze and nod. “That’s okay. We got this.”
I turn to the Judge of Tenth Hell, the only one with hisgiintact. The rest of our friends must have stopped him from contributing his life force—he wouldn’t have sat out by choice—because he needs his full strength to teleport us on our ... quest.
Our quest to find the sleeping gods so I can absorb their gi. I swallow the urge to laugh, as trepidation tightens my scalp. My instinct screams at me to run, but Minju said this was the only way. I can’t let my friends down.
“So what’s the weather like in purgatory?” I quip with false bravado. “I want to make sure I pack the right stuff.”
The tension breaks in the room when Hailey bursts into laughter. And Gyun’s gaze shoots toward her and stays there. She looks gorgeous in a pair of black yoga pants and a pale-pink T-shirt, so sheer that it hints at the black sports bra she’s wearing underneath.
“You will feel neither too cold nor too hot,” the judge says, reluctantly glancing away from Hailey. “You won’tfeelmuch at all. Purgatory is governed by its own unsettling rules.”
“That sounds fun.” I scowl at him for tanking the morale in the room an extra notch. “Not sinister at all.”
