Chapter 55
A scream ripped from her as she grasped at the edge of the parking garage, but her fingers just found air.
She flailed desperately and felt herself start to plunge when someone grabbed her wrist. The force of her disrupted fall swung her into the side of the parking structure with a bruising impact.
She looked up to see Hae leaning over the roof, clinging to her as he reached down with his other hand to haul her back up. Grace fell into him, feet finding the safety of the rooftop again.
“What are you doing here?” Hae asked, arms wrapping securely around her. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“It’s his plan,” Grace groaned. She was pretty sure she’d just bruised a couple of ribs.
“What?” Hae still looked pale, his eyes sunken like a late-stage cancer patient’s. Like her mother’s before the end.
Grace brushed her fingers across his cheek, traced the jut of his cheekbone. “He knew your powers were killing you.”
“What are you talking about?” He wrapped his hands around hers to hold them still.
“Your body is mortal,” Grace explained. “I don’t think it can withstand the use of your powers. Every time you use them, it’s slowly killing you. So, if your sword concentrates your powers, you could die.”
“No, not death,” Habaek called across the roof. “Something worse.”
“The nothing,” Hae said quietly. “I won’t exist.”
“You wanted me to find the sword,” Grace shouted at the water god, digging in her feet like she might launch herself at him. “That’s why you showed me where it was in that dream. You manipulative bastard.”
“And you made it so easy. I bet you were so proud of yourself for ‘figuring it out.’ ”
Habaek lifted his hand, water coalescing in his open palms, forming a blade of water and ice. “And now that you’ve played your part, I don’t need you anymore.”
Grace recoiled, but before Habaek could strike, Hae jumped forward, lifting his sword to meet the water god’s. The clash of the weapons echoed as loud as thunder.
Hae was stronger than Grace thought he’d be, but she saw his arms start to shake with each successive blow. And Habaek slowly gained ground.
The dragon’s blade glowed in Hae’s hands as Habaek’s sword came down, dangerously close to Hae’s head this time.
Grace screamed just as he jumped back to avoid the hit.
“I know why you’re angry,” Hae said. “The humans forgot us. We disappeared, became less than nothing. But you cannot punish them in this way.”
“If you love the mortals so much, then die as one of them. Just like your father.” Habaek’s sword struck true this time, slashing across Hae’s bicep.
He stumbled back, gripping his injured sword arm. “What about my father?”
“The king of the gods. Where could he have been all this time while we suffer?” Habaek spat on the ground, like the very thought of Cheonjiwang was dirty. “He left us.”
“You’re lying.” Hae’s face twisted in outraged denial. His hand clutched the hilt of his sword.
Habaek laughed cruelly. “I watched him abandon us. The two of us were the last to disappear. The strongest gods and the last to fade. And when he knew we were fading away, he chose to live out his life as a mortal. To die as a mortal. Instead of joining us in our prison.”
“No, how could he? How is it possible for us to become mortal?” Hae asked, eyes moving to Grace.
Habaek caught the look, a jeer twisting his lips. “Would you do it? Become mortal for her? How can you be so sure her fickle human heart wouldn’t abandon you like the rest of them?”
The water god slammed a fist into Hae’s jaw, the sun god so distracted that he failed to block. He dropped, face down into the water. Grace cried his name just as Habaek lunged at her. She tried to retreat, but the water at her feet held her in place.
Habaek seized her by the throat, strong enough to lift her free of the churning water. Her legs kicked futilely at air.
“Please,” she gasped.
“A pity,” he said. “You had honor, at least.”
“And you have nothing,” Grace choked out, “but your bitterness.”
Habaek’s eyes flashed, and he lifted his other hand, another blade forming in the swells of water.
“Father!” Yuhwa shouted, running toward them and landing a kick against Habaek’s side. The god went down, dropping Grace into the knee-deep water.
She coughed, clutching the bumper of a submerged car to pull herself up again.
“Stop this,” Yuhwa pleaded, putting her body between her father and Grace.
“Never,” Habaek growled, pushing up again.
He lifted his hand. The water bubbled and churned. Pushing the cars in its wake, slamming them against each other. A large pickup nearly clipped Grace before she stumbled out of its path. Habaek thrust his hands toward Yuhwa, and the water rose in a towering cyclone that engulfed his daughter.