Chapter Four Sunny
Chapter Four
Sunny
Like everything she wears, Captain Seo makes mortal clothes look effortlessly chic—even the dungarees she inexplicably donned for this occasion. But my plastic margarita cup slips out of my limp grasp when Minju steps around the captain in a white strapless dress the size of a headband.
I need to sober up to understand the situation—or the dress code at the very least. Wait. What am I wearing? I glance down at myself and slump in relief. I’m wearing a pair of black jeans with a black T-shirt.
I don’t remember changing out of my torn, bloodied clothes from Santorini, but I’m glad I did. I hardly even mind the Vegas, baby! emblazoned across my boobs in sparkly gold letters.
Meanwhile, Ford stands like a statue, with his hand still outstretched toward me, but his eyeballs jump back and forth between the two seonnyeos. Even glamoured to dampen their celestial beauty, Captain Seo and Minju are drop-dead gorgeous.
The poor man might have stopped breathing. I squint one eye to check his gi. His colorless life force trickles faintly around him. But that’s normal for humans. He’ll live.
“I was so worried about you, Sunny.” The historian hurtles herself at me and wraps her arms around my waist in a freakishly strong grip.
“I thought I told you to go back to the Realm—” I bite my tongue and shoot a glance at Ford. Based on his expression, he doesn’t hear a word I’m saying, but I still rephrase my accusation to Minju. “I told you to go back.”
“And I told you I’m not leaving until you tell me what happened.” Minju raises her chin.
“Why don’t we continue our conversation somewhere less”—Captain Seo wrinkles her nose—“ripe?”
“Sunny.” Ford regains his faculties and comes to stand beside me. “Who are these people? Are they here to hurt you?”
“I could ask the same of you.” The captain executes a perfect eyebrow arch.
“Stop it,” I say hoarsely. “I would trust all three of you with my life.”
“Even so, we have much to discuss.” Minju sends a curious glance toward Ford. “And we cannot talk in front of your friend.”
“Why not?” my mouth blurts before my mind catches up. But when it does, the answer comes to me like a clap of thunder. If things had gone differently in Santorini, then the Mortal Realm would have been annihilated by the Amheuk. “Why ever the fuck not?”
Once the Amheuk finishes destroying the Realm of Four Kingdoms—I flinch away from the thought, bile rising to my throat—it will come for the Mortal Realm to plunge it into darkness. I dig my nails into my palms to stop my hands from shaking.
Humans need to know about the ancient force of darkness, even if it exposes the Shingae to them. They have the right to defend their world.
I slap my palm against the wall of the building to fight off a dizzy spell.
What am I thinking? I don’t give a damn about the Realm of Four Kingdoms. And I don’t care about the Mortal Realm.
Even if I cared, getting involved would only make things worse for everybody.
Because I can’t be good, no matter how hard I try. What happened in Santorini proves that.
“Sunny.” Ford wraps his arm around my shoulders. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lie, not meeting his gaze.
Minju takes a step toward me, and I glare at her in warning. I can’t let her console me. If I unravel, I won’t be able to put myself together again. After a considering look, she gives me a solemn nod, then turns her attention to Ford.
“Hello, I am Minju,” she says shyly. “What is your name?”
“I’m Ford.” He stares at her for a second too long, then gives his head a sharp shake. “Nice to meet you, Minju.”
“Well, Ford.” Captain Seo crosses her arms over her chest without introducing herself. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”
“Sunny said she needed to be around a crowd of people.” Ford sticks out his massive chest and narrows his eyes at the captain. Yet she holds the upper hand on the intimidation factor.
“It did make her nearly impossible to track down,” Minju murmurs.
Ford frowns, his eyes jumping between the three of us.
“Fair enough.” The captain shrugs. “How about just somewhere people can’t overhear us? Preferably a locale with a less pungent aroma?”
“I know exactly the place.” Ford gingerly lifts his arm off my shoulders, but his hand hovers behind my back. “Can you walk, Sunny?”
“Of course I can.” I step away from the wall and, with intense concentration, manage not to take a nosedive.
I follow Ford through the kitchen and back into the casino, flanked by Captain Seo and Minju. They think I’m a flight risk, but they needn’t worry. The earlier dizzy spell passed, but the weight on my chest makes it difficult to breathe. I’m in no condition to run—and I can only crawl so fast.
Ford leads us past the five-dollar slot machines, with the captain wearing a pinched look the entire time. I can’t tell if she disapproves of the migraine-inducing lights and the nonstop bells and whistles or the eye burning cigarette smoke, laced with the sickly candy-shop smell of vapes.
Minju, on the other hand, is wide eyed and delighted. While technically a part of the Order of the Suhoshin, the historian doesn’t need to visit the Mortal Realm to carry out her duties. It’s a shame, really. There is nothing she loves better than discovering new things to study and understand.
Distracted, and still far from sober, I don’t notice where we are until Ford scans a key card to a door in the back corner of the casino.
“We’re going to talk in the haunted storage room?” I squeak.
He gapes at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What idiot said this room is haunted?”
“All the idiots who work here.” I throw my hand out to encompass the whole casino floor. “They said no one ever uses the storage room because it’s haunted.”
I believed them because ghosts in fact exist. Stranded souls roam the worlds, kept from moving on to their next life by their han—grief twisted into an unhealed scar. The stranded have always given me the heebie-jeebies. But after the Gray Void, I don’t know what to think of them.
In fact, I don’t want to think about the stranded at all, or the Gray Void. Especially the Gray Void. My heart races uncomfortably fast. I need to stop thinking about anything that matters.
Existing hurts.
Shaking his head at me, Ford opens the door and stands back to let the rest of us through.
Minju and I stare at Captain Seo, silently begging her to take the lead.
The captain only hesitates for a second before she bravely steps inside.
I follow next, grabbing Minju’s hand and tucking her behind me.
Ford comes in after us, muttering about ghosts and idiots, then closes the door.
“This is not a storage room.” I can’t help but state the obvious.
“What makes you say that, genius?” He smirks. “The gilded crystal chandeliers or the Italian marble floors?”
I’m too busy gawking at my surroundings to come up with a respectably acerbic retort. Instead, I give him an uninspired middle finger as I run my other hand over a brand-new blackjack table. “Why is there a secret high-limits room?”
“It wasn’t meant to be a secret.” He rubs the back of his head. “The boss wanted to lure high rollers here.”
“High rollers?” I scrunch up my face. “No self-respecting whale would come to this crappy, run-down casino.”
“Exactly,” Ford says with a grimace.
“Wait a minute.” I side-eye him. “How do you know about this room?”
He glances away and clears his throat. “I helped design the bar.”
I lean wearily against the blackjack table and flap my hand in a whatever gesture. There’s obviously more to it than that, but exhaustion dulls my curiosity. I yawn long enough to make tears leak from the corners of my eyes. I haven’t slept in days.
Ford watches with a grim press of his lips, then he walks over to the fancy bar and turns on the espresso machine. I perk up when it whirs, gurgles, and hisses with the promise of caffeine, but I deflate again when Captain Seo and Minju ambush me.
I just want to dissociate and drink a double espresso. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, it is.
“Sunny, we really must talk.” Minju lays a hand on my arm. “Like I said, there is much to discuss.”
“But first, are you certain you want to burden your friend with the knowledge of the Shingae?” Captain Seo glances over her shoulder. “He won’t be easily convinced, and you’ll be risking his sanity.”
“No, I’m not certain.” I scowl at her. “But what’s the alternative?”
“You can destroy the Amheuk and stop it from ever invading the Mortal Realm,” Minju states matter-of-factly.
“Sure.” My chest constricts with fear. Defeating Daeseong, a mere servant of the Amheuk, nearly destroyed me. Asking me to stop the actual ancient force of darkness is like asking a fruit fly to take down a tiger. “Easy peasy.”
“She never said it will be easy,” Captain Seo grits through her teeth. “But it is possible, Sunny.”
“You don’t understand.” I cup my forehead, averting my gaze.
None of it matters. They won’t want my help if they find out whose daughter I am.
They won’t trust me if they find out what I’ve done.
How could they when I’m capable of taking away their free will at any time?
I don’t even trust myself anymore. I never thought I would bewitch someone, but now I know that I’ll resort to my worst self if I’m desperate enough.
“Double espresso and water.” Ford sets both down on the bar and sends a meaningful glance toward the captain. “Now I’ll get out of your hair.”
Captain Seo has the grace to nod her thanks, finally letting down her guard by a millimeter.
“Ford, wait.” He’s already at the door by the time I catch up with him. “Thank you. I’ll come find you when we’re done.”
“Take care, Sunny.” He gives me a wistful smile.
The door closes behind him with a soft click. I’m tempted to run after him and have him pour me shot after shot of tequila—anything to avoid this conversation. But I don’t deserve tequila, unless it’s mixed into a gross, overly sweet margarita.
“I’m not coming with you,” I say with my back to Minju and Captain Seo.
Then, taking a ragged breath, I turn toward my friends and summon the sword of light with a snap of my wrist. I’m counting on the hordes of humans outside to hide the brief flare of magic.
I hold out the sheathed sword toward them. “But you can take the Shin’gwangdo.”
“What is the sword of light without you?” Captain Seo asks quietly.
“You can wield it better than I ever could.” I keep my gaze trained on the captain’s face to avoid looking at the blue dragon scales on the sheath. “And with Ethan’s axes, there’s a chance—”
“Stop.” Minju all but growls the word, her expression fierce. “Draco didn’t die so you can hide in Las Vegas, drinking until you can’t even walk straight.”
“Shut up,” I rasp. “Shut. Up.”
I don’t remember unsheathing the Shin’gwangdo, but I’m gripping the hilt of the sword, with the glowing blade pointed at Minju. She stares at me, her face slack and pale, and Captain Seo leaps between us, summoning her twin swords.
“Stand down, Cadet Cho,” she commands, but her voice is reedy with shock.
What the fuck am I doing?
“I-I’m so sorry, Minju.” I lower the Shin’gwangdo, horrified with myself. “I would never hurt—”
The door to the high-limits room bursts open, cutting short my woefully inadequate apology. I spin around, raising my sword again, just in time to block a ball of fire coming for my face.
“Did you think the Jaenanpa was done with you, gumiho?” The scraggly blond sneers, pushing his glasses up his nose. His minions enter behind him, snickering like assholes. “Even dragon spirits can’t kill us, because of the might of our magic.”
The last magic thief to enter the room shuts the door behind him, and the twelve of them form a semicircle behind their scrawny leader.
Of course Blondie survived. Draco freed all the human hostages from Akrotiri without killing a single corrupt shaman.
It wasn’t the might of their stolen magic that saved them. It was the kid’s mercy.
I swallow a faint moan. Draco. I want to reach in and rip my heart out. Anything to make it stop hurting.
“Aww, you followed me all the way here from Santorini?” I flash Blondie a bloodthirsty smile, and the coward practically turns blue with fear. “I’m touched, but you really shouldn’t have.”
I swish my sword in the air with lazy flicks of my wrist, stepping between my friends and the Jaenanpa. Why do these depraved pieces of shit deserve to live when Draco is dead? The answer is simple. They don’t.
The kid was good through and through. But I’m not. There is nothing holding me back from killing these bastards.
With a battle cry, I rush toward them.