Chapter Forty-Six Sunny
Chapter Forty-Six
Sunny
“No.” I don’t recognize my voice, distorted by fury.
I don’t want to be a fucking immortal goddess. I want to be me, Sunny Cho. A bad-tempered gumiho with wonderful friends I don’t deserve. I want a chance to grow old with my husband. I don’t want to live an eternity alone when he moves on to the next life.
What is the point of all this effort if I can’t have the things that matter most?
“Undo this.” My lip pulls back in a snarl as I turn on the former god of Heavens. I stalk toward him but stumble when the Yeoiju flares in my chest.
No, I don’t need you right now. Stop.
Not heeding my command, the fire spreads inside me, wild and fast. I go dead still, recognizing the sensation.
This can’t be happening.
Only it is. I can feel it. The burn of the white fire. The scream of its reckless violence.
If I lose control of the Yeoiju, it will siphon my gi to feed the white light. I nearly died facing off against Daeseong until I learned how to wield the Yeoiju by borrowing nature’s life force.
But there is another way to fuel its power.
I glance toward Gyun. I don’t want to acknowledge what happened in the depth of hell, but I think I already knew the truth deep down. I siphoned the life force of the Judges of Ten Hells to save my friends from the demons.
Desperation makes my powers dangerous.
The Yeoiju will take whatever life force it needs to fuel the white light and destroy without reason or thought. And there is no life in purgatory, except for the seven of us here. If I don’t calm the fuck down, the Yeoiju will suck the life out of Ethan and my friends.
I am the only thing standing between the Yeoiju and them. I have to be its reason and thought. I need to regain control.
“I’m here, Sunny. Don’t be scared.” Ethan envelops me in his arms, one hand cradling the back of my head. “You are still you. You are still mine. Everything will be okay.”
The fire, on the brink of combusting in my chest, simply . . . shuts off. I sag against him, wrapping my arms around his waist. I breathe him in until my heart stops racing and a calm determination settles over me.
He’s here. We’re together.
I will worry about the unknown future later. And the future is still unwritten, prophecies or not. Goddess or not. I huff a humorless laugh. I can only try to do good, one choice at a time. And right now, I choose not to lose my shit and risk hurting Ethan and my friends.
“Thank you.” I step out of his arms but hold on to his hand. He’s my anchor and my fail-safe. I need to keep him close. “I’m okay now.”
He searches my face until he’s convinced that I’m all right. Then a slow, crooked grin curves his lips. “It really isn’t a big deal, though. You’ve always been a goddess in my eyes.”
“Right?” I wink at him and flip my hair over my shoulder, wanting to make him laugh. I sigh when I succeed. Then I turn to Hwanin, with less murder in my heart. “Where is Dangun? And why did I need to absorb your life force to go to him?”
“He is at Shinsan in the Mortal Realm,” the former god replies. “With the Amheuk surrounding the Realm of Four Kingdoms, you cannot traverse between the realms unless you are a deity. Since Dangun would want nothing to do with the three of us, you needed to become a goddess.”
“What makes you think he will help me?” I narrow my eyes at him.
“Because my grandson is decent to the core.” Hwanin takes a deep breath. “He will always choose to do the right thing.”
“And if he agrees to share his life force with me”—I pin Yeomla and Yongwang with my steely gaze—“will you two do the same? I need the gi of all four gods to stop the Amheuk.”
“Yes,” Yeomla says, his face haggard.
I can understand his turmoil. While I would choose to become mortal in a heartbeat, it can’t be easy for a god to give up his immortality, when that is all he has ever known.
“I will do the same.” Yongwang smooths out his impeccable blue robe, not meeting my eyes. I hope he doesn’t give me any trouble when the time comes.
“I have to go,” I tell Ethan.
He nods. “I’ll come with you.”
“Of course you will.” I laugh through my nose, half-exasperated, half-relieved. I need him by my side. At least going to the Mortal Realm to meet Dangun shouldn’t be dangerous. Right?
“We’re coming too.” Hailey steps toward me, tugging Gyun by his sleeve.
“No.” I shake my head, grimacing in apology. “We’ve been gone for too long. Our friends at the Kingdom of Sky need you.”
“As I mentioned, time works differently in purgatory. For those in the Kingdom of Sky, we’ve only been gone for a few minutes.
” Gyun crosses his arms over his massive chest. “But I agree that Hailey and I can do more good back at the Realm of Four Kingdoms, especially when we bring two gods”—he glances at Hwanin—“and a former god to fight alongside us.”
Hailey sighs in resignation. “Be safe, Sunny.”
“I will.” I squeeze her hand. “You too.”
“When you travel to the Mortal Realm, time will flow as it should again,” Gyun adds. “Every minute of your journey will be felt in the Kingdom of Sky.”
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.” I gulp.
“Nah.” He flashes a row of perfect white teeth. “It could just mean the end of the worlds if you are too late.”
“I won’t be too late.” I jut my chin. “The Amheuk better be ready to rumble when I come back.”
The god of Underworld snorts. “We have definitely been missing out on the fun, Yongwang.”
“You may be right, Yeomla. Someone should have woken us up sooner,” the god of Water drawls, as dry as the desert. “Who knew we had a comedic gumiho in our midst?”
I roll my eyes at them. As an immortal goddess—and a comedic gumiho—I should be free to give them as much sass as I want. Even so, Yongwang glowers in disapproval, and I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at the god of Water.
My loopiness, in the face of imminent danger, has become my whole personality.
“You go first.” I look at Hailey and Gyun. “We’ll see you soon.”
“Godspeed,” Hailey says, then the assortment of gods and ungods disappears in a blink.
And suddenly, it’s just me and Ethan in the shadowy echo of his mother’s garden. “Are you—”
Ethan crushes his lips against mine and absolutely plunders my mouth.
I don’t pause to process my surprise. I scrabble to climb onto him, and he hoists me up by my ass so I can wrap my legs around his waist. I moan against the slick heat of his tongue and draw a groan from him with my teeth.
He kisses me until I’m breathless and lightheaded.
“I don’t know when we’ll be alone again.” He punctuates every word with a kiss, then draws back to look at me. “We should take advantage of purgatory’s strange flow of time before we go to the Mortal Realm.”
I fist my hand in his hair and tug him down for another hard kiss. “You are a smart, smart male.”
Our mouths fuse again, and I tear at his clothes as he maneuvers us to the pavilion. We don’t get much further than the stairs. I squirm until he sets me down on the top step, and I push him onto his ass.
Ethan rips off his T-shirt, and I squirm out of my jeans and panties along with my shoes. I plant my knees on either side of his slim hips and unzip his jeans to free his hard length. Without pause, I sink down on him, taking him inside me to the hilt.
I don’t feel the dig of the wooden floor against my bare knees as I ride him, full throttle. Ethan pivots his hips to meet me, every time I bear down on him. This isn’t tender lovemaking. We fuck hard and fast with the jagged edge of fear and uncertainty dogging our every thrust.
“Sunny,” he growls, gripping my hips to move me up and down even more frantically.
He’s close, and so am I. When he tilts my hips and pushes his cock against a secret spot deep inside me, I unravel with a throaty scream. He holds me still as he rams into me, once, then twice, and finds his own release.
Ethan collapses onto his back, with me on top of him, his legs stretching down the steps of the pavilion. My head rises and falls with his chest as he fights to catch his breath, and I lie limply against him.
“Best honeymoon ever,” I murmur, my words a little slurred.
“You need to set your bar higher, sweetheart.” He chuckles. “I will take you on a proper honeymoon when this is all over.”
“Somewhere more romantic than purgatory?” I gasp. “How ever will you manage?”
“I’ll have to find a way.” He cups my ass with his big hands and squeezes.
“Hey,” I protest and squirm, embarrassingly turned on.
“Sorry.” He loosens his grip, then pats one cheek in apology. “I love your round ass. I couldn’t resist.”
“‘My irresistible ass’ and I forgive you.” I rest my chin on his bare chest and look up at him. “We should go.”
“Yeah.” He raises his head a fraction to meet my gaze. “We should.”
Neither of us move for a full minute, then with a long, reluctant sigh, Ethan sits us both up and sets me down next to him. I retrieve my underwear and jeans and pull them on with far less enthusiasm than when I practically tore them off. I pout when Ethan zips up his jeans and tugs on his T-shirt.
Much too soon, we’re ready to leave.
“Crap.” I cup my forehead. “I forgot to ask the gods to teach me how to get to the Mortal Realm.”
“You don’t need them to teach you anything. Not anymore.” He dips his head to catch my eyes. “Think like a goddess. How would you get us to Shinsan?”
“Well, I liked how the god of Water swooshed his long sleeve like a magician when he transported us to the Kingdom of Sky.” I pinch my lips to the side. “But I’m not wearing anything swooshable.”
“I know exactly what you can swoosh.” Ethan’s lips spread into a gleeful grin. “You were actually made for this.”
Laughter bubbles up my throat when I catch on to his meaning. I shift without hesitation and proudly raise my nine tails toward the sky.
“Whoa.” Ethan steps close and runs his hand down my snout. “You are . . . brilliant.”
“I know,” I say telepathically before looking down at myself. Whoa. My coat sparkles like I’ve been glitter bombed. “Oh I get it. I am literally brilliant.”
“Cool, right?” He chuckles. “Well, Goddess? Swoosh away.”
I flare my tails wide and swoosh them with dramatic abandon. I’m not worried about how to get us to Shinsan anymore. I think like a goddess and simply . . . will it so.