After a two-fingered salute, the captain sprints toward the Suhoshin headquarters to spring Keeper Choe from prison. I’m not too keen on the idea, but Keeper Bae definitely needs a hand. I glance at the exhausted keeper, then at the people pouring through the portal. That sniveling prick better pull his weight.
Jihun turns to go, and I blurt, “Try not to die.”
“I’m not that easy to kill.” His lips curve in a ghost of a smile before he jumps through the portal.
Please stay safe. All of you.
“Wow,” Haesan breathes. My head swivels toward him. I’d forgotten he was here. “You never told me you were close to Captain Song. And to Captain Seo, for that matter. You are so lucky.”
“You are such a fanboy,” I grouse. “You should have asked Jihun for his autograph.”
“I apologize for interrupting the fun,” the Queen of Sky says wryly, “but is the Queen of Water in the Kingdom of Sky?”
Haesan turns a touch green around his gills and stammers, “Y-yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do you know where she is?” She takes a step closer to him.
“Her Majesty is at a nearby village, helping our people settle in.” He stands at attention.
“Take me to her.” Without waiting for thein’eoto respond, the queen glides down the pagoda steps.
“S-see you, Stormy.” He hurries after the queen. “I will be back to move the tree.”
After I wave him on, I’m tempted to slide down to the ground—to sit and be scared. But there is no time for such indulgences. I cast a worried glance at the flickering portal.
The green light grows dimmer with each passage. The keeper in the Kingdom of Mountains will not be able to hold it open for much longer. It is up to the portal keepers of the Kingdom of Sky. But Keeper Bae sways on his feet, his lips barely moving as he continues to chant.
The fate of the Realm of Four Kingdoms feels as precarious as a house of cards. A gust of wind is all it’ll take to bring everything crumbling down. But this has to work—itwillwork—because I can’t live with the alternative.
Come home to me, Ethan.
Someone behind me cries out in alarm, and I spin back toward the portal. A being of Mountains falls onto the pagoda, and the suhoshin, who got her through, lies sprawled on his stomach, his arms still outstretched. But ... the bottom half of his body is still on the other side of the shrinking portal.
The portal is closing.
“Hold on,” I yell and grab on to his forearms, and he wraps his hands around mine. Calling on the might of mygumiho, I drag him out from the portal, inch by precarious inch. “Come.On.”
I haul the suhoshin into the Kingdom of Sky with one last mighty heave, and the green light blinks out, a hair’s width away from the soles of his shoes.
I fall onto my ass and stare at the wooden pillar where the portal used to be—horrible images of the suhoshin cut in half or embedded in the pillar flashing through my mind. With my chest heaving, I groan and flop onto my back.
Fuck my life.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sunny
I silently inch closer to Keeper Bae and press into his side. He leans on me without acknowledgment, other than to grunt in relief. He looks ready to keel over as he shouts instructions to Haesan and Keeper Choe as they carry the enchanted tree toward the portal opening.
“No, not there.” He leaves theyou idiotsunsaid, but it’s heard as clear as a bell. “Position the token vertically at the left corner. The portal will be more stable that way. You should know this, Choe.”
“I do know,” the younger keeper wheezes, readjusting his grip on his end of the token. “Why don’tIstand over there and scream atyouon how to properly maneuver agianttree?”
Keeper Choe proved himself useful when he took over enchanting the tree from an exhausted Keeper Bae. Even so, he is in no position to mouth off at anyone.
“Shut up and work,InmateChoe,” I warn. “The moment you step out of line, Captain Seo will throw your ass back in prison so fast you won’t even get a chance to pout before the door slams on your face.”
“You meaninmy face,” he grumbles, shuffling to the left as instructed.
