“It waspush, you guys,” I squeal with a huge-ass grin, but my smile dies a quick death.
Captain Seo falls to one knee, crossing her swords above her head, and the entire Bizarro Sentinel crew bears down on her—theirmisshapen faces obscenely hungry. And Minju swings her book with wild eyes as my fake parents close in on her.
Doom threatens to buckle my knees.I couldn’t reach Draco in time.I close my eyes. I can’t watch more of my friends die.Then don’t.I force my eyes open, my nails digging into my palms. I can’t reach them in time, but the light of the Yeoiju can.
I won’t let them hurt my friends.
My body clenches with fury, and I scream as white light explodes out of my chest. I feel heat coursing into me from behind. It feels different from the warmth of nature’sgiin the Mortal Realm, but I don’t have the bandwidth to decipher what that means.
I focus on my desperation to save my friends. I don’t hold back. I let the white fire pour out of me. Captain Seo and Minju shield their eyes as the demons disintegrate fleck by fleck, like dry kindling on a log fire.
“Sunny,” the captain calls out. “Sunny.”
Her hoarse shout reaches me as though from far away. I don’t know how long she’s been calling my name, but bit by bit, I return to the present—to the edge of hell. The demons are gone, and my friends cringe against the Yeoiju’s light, their eyes squeezed shut.
“Fuck.”I have to douse my magic.Before I can try, thegifueling the Yeoiju abruptly shuts off, and the white light sputters out on its own. I don’t worry about the how, and instead run to my friends. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, we’re fine,” Captain Seo reassures me as I help her to her feet. “Thanks to you.”
“How did you summon the Yeoiju?” Minju asks in a small voice. “Did you deplete your gi?”
“I ... I don’t think so.” I shake my head. “I didn’t have very much left in me.”
“If you didn’t use your own life force, then—”
“Thegiof Underworld,” I breathe. “I felt heat coursing into me, fueling the Yeoiju. I must’ve somehow absorbed the life force I releasedfrom the magic warding the door. I thought I sent thegiback to its life source, but maybe I unconsciously called it back?”
Minju bites her bottom lip, something like fear in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Dread curls in my stomach. “You’re scaring me.”
“What?” The historian blinks rapidly then pffts with a flap of her hand. “It’s nothing.Wait.You opened the door?”
Is she trying to distract me?Well, it works. “I sure did.”
“So?” Captain Seo grins. “What are we waiting for?”
“Nothing at all,” I say, then race the hell out of ... hell.
Chapter Sixteen
Ethan
I don’t mow down the enemy archers with a blast of magic. I need the physicality of hand-to-hand combat. Captain Seo found Sunny. But these fuckers scattered the precious message—the first connection with my fated love in days—and I amnotinclined to forgive them.
Violence, impatience, and desire course through my veins.Sunny is okay.And I want her—no,needher—in my arms. For now, I will subdue these archers from the Kingdom of Sky with pleasure. With a vicious smile, I dispel the protective dome from around Jihun and me.
We descend on them with weapons drawn, knocking aside their fiery arrows like gnats, until we are too close for them to shoot. The panicked soldiers scramble for their swords, and I tut at their clumsiness. They are archers, not swordsmen. This won’t be as satisfying as I’d hoped.
With leisurely slashes of our weapons, Jihun and I disarm the archers within seconds and bring them to their knees, just as our soldiers come running.
“Do not be alarmed.” Jihun raises his voice. “Our king is safe.”
“We came as soon as we heard the fighting.” An officer addresses Jihun, confusion and worry lining her face.
“You didn’t take long,” he reassures her. “These bastards merely fell too quickly.”
“Tie them up and question them.” I snarl down at the enemy soldiers, my fury yet to be banked. “The rest of their battalion must be nearby.”
