Chapter Fifty-Five Ethan
Chapter Fifty-Five
Ethan
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Sunny murmurs. “It’s time to wake up, Ethan.”
Her voice sounds faraway. I feel as limp as a wilted dandelion, but I try to open my eyes. I’ll do anything for her.
She’s dead.
The thought pierces me like a bullet, and I cringe in pain, shutting my eyes tighter. Why am I conscious? I don’t want to exist without her. I can’t bear it.
“Ethan.” Her warm hand cups my cheek. Warm, not searing hot. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
Isn’t she here, though? How else is she touching me? How can I feel her if she isn’t by my side?
“Nothing’s wrong,” I croak past my sandpapery throat, keeping my eyes firmly closed. “I’m not in pain.”
But where . . . is here?
It doesn’t matter. Wherever here is, all I need is to be with her. I should open my eyes. I would give anything to see her face again.
What if I’m dreaming? What if I open my eyes and she isn’t here?
I trap her hand against my cheek, holding my breath.
Keep dreaming, Ethan. Don’t wake up.
“You are awake.” She drops a kiss on each of my eyelids. “Why won’t you look at me? My feelings are about to get hurt.”
My eyes shoot open. I would never do anything to hurt her, even if she’s only visiting my dreams—even if she is only a figment of my imagination.
Sunny smiles softly down at me, her hair falling past one shoulder.
Gods, she’s beautiful.
I want to smack my dream self in the head for keeping my eyes closed for so long. I could’ve been looking at her this whole time. I devour her with my eyes.
“Am I dead?” I honestly don’t give a damn as long as she’s with me.
“Nope,” she says, popping the P. Fucking adorable. If I could move, I would kiss the hell out of her.
“A-are you . . . dead?” The air seizes in my lungs. Dream or not, I don’t want her to be dead.
No, Sunny. Please.
“Breathe, Ethan.” She kisses my forehead. “I’m not dead either.”
If neither of us are dead, then this could be . . . real? Tender, vulnerable hope sprouts in my shattered heart. We could both be alive.
Can I really be this lucky?
“What happened?” With a grunt, I manage to flip to my side and push my torso off the ground. I squint into the distance.
How long have I been out?
The Kingdom of Sky is being ravaged by white fire as far as the eye can see. I try to bolt upright, then groan. I hurt everywhere, like I got reamed by a semi. But the pain makes this feel even more real. The Realm of Four Kingdoms is burning, and . . .
Sunny is here.
“Hmm.” Sunny helps me sit up, and her touch makes every nerve ending in my body sing. “What do you remember up to?”
“You . . . you lost control of your power, and I evacuated everyone to the Mortal Realm,” I hedge.
Inside, I am about to lose my shit. Sunny is alive. I shift my shoulders to see if I can manage a cartwheel or two. Maybe in a minute.
“And?” She raises her pretty brows. I want to kiss them. I want to kiss her.
“You a-asked me to kill you, but I refused.” I jut my chin because I stand by my decision. Then my face crumbles because I don’t want to remember the rest. “Then you . . . you killed yourself with the Shin’gwangdo.”
Maybe I have this all wrong. Maybe we’re both dead after all.
“So you basically remember everything.” She leans her head against my shoulder. “But you got one detail wrong.”
“Which part?” I gingerly place my cheek on top of her head.
I close my eyes and feel the silky strands of her hair beneath my cheek. I breathe in the fresh, warm scent of her. My wife. My love. I absorb her with all my senses.
“I stabbed myself with the Shin’gwangdo,” she says matter-of-factly, and I flinch. “But I didn’t kill myself.”
I’m afraid to believe that we’re okay. I’m terrified of the relief that wants to drain the tension and grief from my body.
I’m not strong enough to face my fury that she tried to sacrifice herself. I’m not ready to forgive her for doing what she had to do to save the worlds. I hate that she is good and noble. At the same time, I love her for it with all my heart.
I worship her.
“How did—” I push Sunny to the ground and cover her with my body as a piece of the sky plummets toward us after an earsplitting boom. I brace for impact, but the chunk of sky falls a few yards to our left.
“Oof,” she grunts.
“I know. I know.” I rise onto my forearms. “I need to stop using my body as your shield.”
“Actually . . .” She pushes against my chest, and I reluctantly roll off onto my side. “I am no longer an immortal goddess. I don’t even have the Yeoiju anymore. So I don’t mind a little protection, especially when the sky is literally falling.”
“What?” I shake my head, squinting in confusion. “I . . .”
“You were right, you know.” She flips to her side and runs the pad of her thumb across my cheekbone. “I am the true heart of the righteous. It was never your destiny to shatter the Yeoiju. It was mine all along.”
I hold my breath and listen.
“The Shin’gwangdo was the only weapon that could destroy the Yeoiju, and I was the only one who could infuse it with the power of the Cheon’gwang.
” Her hand trembles against my cheek, and I cover it with mine.
“All I had to do was choose to give up my immortality and shatter the Yeoiju to release the four divine life forces back to nature.”
More of the sky rains down around us, and a fist-sized chunk falls a foot away from Sunny’s head.
Fuck.
“Maybe we should save this conversation for after we get ourselves to safety.” I get to my feet and reach down to help her.
I think . . . we are alive. Both of us. Which means I have to get Sunny the hell out of this crumbling realm.
“My thoughts exactly.” Ignoring my hand, she agilely hops to her feet, then turns toward the capital. “We have to get to the Mortal Realm.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” I catch her hand and give it a sharp tug, and she tumbles into my arms. Then I kiss her soundly on the mouth.
Gods, we really are alive.
With a moan that shoots straight to my groin, Sunny presses herself against me and licks the seam of my mouth. I open up for her with a groan and tilt my head to kiss her more deeply. The sky makes another ominous rumble.
“We might have to save this kiss for later, as well,” I breathe against her lips, then pat her round ass. “Now step aside.”
“Why?” she asks even as she takes two steps to the side like a good little wife. “The entrance between the realms is across the field.”
“Have a little trust in your husband.” I wink at her. I am far from fully recovered, but I don’t want to lose the chance to impress Sunny.
I am truly a dingus.
I summon my axes and concentrate the gi of Mountains running through my veins into them. Spinning away from her, I slash a diagonal line down the fabric of the Realm of Four Kingdoms, then its mirror image cutting across its center, marking an X.
“Whoa,” she breathes. “Did you just make a new gateway between the realms?”
“Yeah.” I rub the back of my head, feeling sheepish postexhibition, and clear my throat. “But it’s more of an exit from a disintegrating realm.”
“Speaking of disintegrating realms . . .” She glances meaningfully at the white flames engulfing the Kingdom of Sky, as well as the sky about to fall on top of us.
“Right.” I sweep her off her feet, and she wraps her arms around my neck with a little squeak. Before I’m tempted to kiss her again, I leap out of the exit and into the Mortal Realm.
I hover for a moment, high up in the sky—the mountaintop that marked the entrance to the Gray Void but a speck below us. But as I make a slow descent with Sunny in my arms, the lush mountains and blue waters sparkle in the sunlight.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispers.
“Welcome home, Sunny.” I kiss her softly on the forehead, lest she break. But I cringe when realization hits. “Shit.”
We can’t fly around in broad daylight. This isn’t the Realm of Four Kingdoms. I hurriedly cloak us in invisibility.
“Shut. Up.” Sunny smacks me in the chest. “Did you just turn us invisible?”
“Uh, yeah.” I grimace. “I forgot to tell you about that, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did.” She smacks me again, then gives me a brilliant smile. “But we have been kind of busy.”
“Kind of.” I grin back at her. “We deserve a vacation. Where to?”
“Let’s go to that cave near my childhood home,” she murmurs.
“That’s where you want to go?”
“For now.” She rolls her eyes. “You’re expending a lot of magic with the flying and the invisibility. We’re in the Mortal Realm now. We don’t have an unlimited supply of gi to fuel our magic.”
“It’s for the best.” I sigh, some of my giddiness fading. “But it’ll be daunting for the Shinbiin to learn a new way of life.”
“It’s not that complicated.” Sunny shrugs in my arms. “In the Mortal Realm, the beings of the Shingae have three rules to live by.”
“What rules are those?” Holding her close against my chest, I fly toward the mountain she grew up in.
“Never expose the world of gods. Protect the magic. And keep the Amheuk at bay . . .” She trails off. “I guess we just simplified the rules even more. We only have two rules to follow since the Amheuk is no more.”
“You made sure of that.” Pride and gratitude swell in my chest. “You saved us all, Sunny.”
“And you saved me,” she whispers.
“I can’t imagine what it felt like to be the most powerful being in all the worlds. You were the goddess of Light. A god among gods.” I shake my head in wonder. “It couldn’t have been an easy choice to make.”
“It was the easiest choice I ever made. Because it was the only way we both could live.” She cups my cheek with one hand, looking at me as though I am her everything.
My heart pounds so loudly that I almost miss her next words.
“I’ll always choose to be with you, Ethan. There is no other choice for me.”
What did I do to deserve her?
I land in front of the cave and look up at the sky, gathering myself. With an unsteady exhale, I set Sunny down on her feet. But I keep my hands on her hips, because I can’t stop touching her. When I finally meet her eyes, mine are filled with unshed tears—tears of joy, tears of gratitude.
“But you’re not an immortal goddess anymore.” My throat works as I hold off my tears.
“I don’t want to be a goddess, Ethan.” She holds me by the shoulders and pushes up to her toes. “I want to be your wife.”
“You already are my wife.” My fingers clench around her hips.
“Lucky me.” Her soft laugh brushes against my lips.
“I am the luckiest bastard alive.” I lose my battle against the tears. “I am yours, Sunny. Heart, body, and soul.”
“Good, because I am never letting you go,” she whispers. Her sweet kiss holds the promise of forever, and I kiss her back with all the love in me.
I am complete.
With Sunny—my wife, my fated love, my true heart—by my side, I can face anything that lies ahead. Even an uncertain world, filled with the divine gi of the flawed gods.