Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3)

by Heather Heffner

  Nyssa blushed a pretty shade of pink and pushed Sun Bin’s hand away. “Miss Sun Bin, please. I am still on the clock.”

  “You’re always on the clock! Nyssa basically lives here,” Sun Bin gushed, the wicked lines of her face softening as she looked at the nagi woman. “She grew up with us because her father, a friend of Appa’s, was a political dissident in Thailand. She can never go back. When my mother died, Nyssa stepped up as housekeeper, governess, and slave driver.”

  Nyssa rolled her eyes good-naturedly, and Sun Bin grinned. “She’d hunt me down in the bars and then drag me to violin practice. She’s the reason I got into Oxford. Thankfully now whenever she shows up to drag me back home, it isn’t to study.”

  She winked, and Citlalli snickered.

  Nyssa sighed. “Miss Sun Bin, this is hardly the type of appropriate conversation your father would approve of having with his guests.”

  Mami chuckled and patted Nyssa’s shoulder. “My dear, I agree with Sun Bin: It is time for you to have a break off the clock. While we are two different families presently, I hope this evening can bring all of us closer together. Join us for dinner. I must say, I am pleased that Mun Mu has grown to be more open-minded than when I knew him in the past.”

  “Oh no, he hasn’t,” Sun Bin said cheerfully. “But there’s nothing he can do about Nyssa and me.” She snapped her fingers in my direction. “Put that in the plus column of being one of the four Celestial Dragons. Appa needs to keep us happy because there aren’t any replacements. The world has already gone too long without a renewed Cycle. The longer we don’t grow our fourth claw and become dragons, then the more the seasons will drift out of balance. Natural disasters, droughts, unclaimed pearls shattering and strewing curses across the earth… Sounds exciting if you ask me, but you know: that wouldn’t be very responsible.”

  She smirked and then sauntered back toward the house. As she passed Mami, Sun Bin whipped her towel across the surface of the nearby hot spring. Water splashed Mami’s dress. Few things ever caught my mother by surprise, but watching droplets trickle down the front of her red chiffon left her blinking for several seconds in shock.

  Sun Bin curtseyed mockingly. “It is very nice to meet you, Ms. Alvarez.” Then she disappeared inside.

  Nyssa immediately dashed over with an army of towels, apologizing and repeating, “Master Yong will hear about this! You can be sure.”

  Citlalli hadn’t stopped laughing. “You know, I think I like your half-sister,” she confided, reaching for a stick of Bubble Yum. “She’s as mature as me.”

  “You don’t have to go against Sun in the Trials,” I grumbled.

  Citlalli shrugged, popping her gum. “Sun’s transparent. She wears her emotions on her sleeve. You already know what many of her weaknesses are,” my sister said, her eyes darkening until I couldn’t be sure if I was addressing the Alpha of the Seoul werewolf pack…or Demon. “Broken relationship with her father. Taking action without worrying about consequences. Now it’s just a matter of using such shortcomings against her.”

  Chapter 13: The Hall of Heroes

  ~Citlalli~

  This was the second time I had ever seen Mami with the man she’d had a secret affair with, a choice that tore our family apart.

  It also gave me my half-sister.

  “Ileana,” Mun Mu said, his deep bass silky smooth as he ducked into the Yong mansion. Powerful and tall, the Dragon King took my mother by both shoulders and gazed down the full length of her red chiffon dress, which was still damp from hot tub water. “You didn’t go swimming without me, did you?” he asked in amusement.

  Sun Bin appeared in the sliding door frame, her arms folded. She had changed into a white shirt studded with silvery beads that shimmered like scales. Nyssa stood like a wary shadow at her side. Mami smiled in their direction.

  “I was so clumsy. I spilled water on myself by mistake.”

  Mun Mu kissed her cheek. “I suppose that is why you run the restaurant instead of work in it.”

  “Yes, bossiness suits Mami much more than grace,” I agreed.

  If we’d been at home, my mother would have slapped my cheek raw. In the presence of such majestic dragons, I received her restaurant manager’s terse smile instead. “Citlalli, why don’t you see if anyone needs help in the kitchen. Citlalli’s a wonderful cook,” Mami assured Mun Mu.

  He nodded. “Excellent. Sun Bin-a, Raina-ya, why don’t you help Nyssa set the table? I have something I need to show Ileana.” He extended a hand, and Mami followed him down the staircase. The windows changed color to send sultry red shadows chasing after them.

  “Downstairs in his lair.” Sun Bin’s eyebrows arched so high in disapproval that they disappeared into her hairline. “That’s disgusting. Both of them are so old.”

  “Guess we can’t expect to eat anytime soon.” It was an uncharacteristic joke, coming from Raina. Both Sun Bin and I laughed, and Nyssa flushed.

  “Go.” Raina’s older half-sister waved a hand at me. “See what’s keeping my brother in the kitchen. Ankor’s so obsessed with making soup these days, he’s probably fallen in.”

  I’d forgotten she had a fraternal twin. However, sneaking food for my growling stomach sounded better than watching Raina tiptoe on eggshells around Sun Bin, so I followed the geometric floor pattern toward the mouth-watering smells of frying garlic, chicken, and noodles.

  Two Korean boys were in the kitchen. I stopped dead at the sight of a familiar Seoul National University blazer. Wolf’s ears pricked up, and Demon licked her lips.

  Yummy.

  That better not be who I think it is! I raged. But then Minho turned and nearly dropped a bowl.

  “Citlalli!” he gasped. His eyes trembled with unabashed longing that made me want to die on the spot.

  Round 2? Demon asked hopefully. I had a hazy recollection of Minho’s gleaming bronze torso heaving on top of me while his gelled black hair tickled my forehead. Yep. Just show me the way to the balcony. I was ready to jump.

  “Yah!” The second boy protested, balancing a hot pot of soup in polar bear oven mitts. He looked vaguely like Sun Bin; both twins wore disdainful masks as if catching an unpleasant odor. However, he had coppery-brown skin while hers was porcelain white, and he wore his coal-black hair in a short, rigid military cut while his sister’s flowed free. A stud of what looked like obsidian gleamed in his left ear.

  He also had black-rimmed glasses that were rapidly fogging up. Minho blinked and hustled to set a hot pad down.

  “Minho, this is a surprise,” I said unsteadily. “Um, how do you know the Yongs?”

  “This is Yong Ankor, my best friend!” he declared, smacking the unappreciative Ankor on the back. Raina’s half-brother caught Minho’s hand and then pulled him close, whispering something in Korean. Minho shrugged, and Ankor’s tone turned derogatory. With another cool glance at me, the Autumn Dragon pointed at the soup.

  “Meok-eo.” Eat. I supposed Ankor hadn’t studied English overseas as extensively as his fraternal twin.

  I bowed slightly. “Kamsahamnida.” Thank you.

  He snorted at my Korean and stalked off with his bowl, leaving me alone with the boy I vaguely remembered sleeping with.

  Minho wasted no time. “You no call?” He pulled out his gleaming Smartphone and pointed, looking so adorably confuzzled that it was all I could do not to tackle him with hugs.

  Yes. Pin him down. He’ll be most vulnerable, Demon salivated.

  Wolf! Where are you? Why do I have to listen to Her all the time? I raged, but there was no answer.

  “Mian haeyo,” I muttered. I’m sorry. “I was so drunk.”

  To my surprise, Minho burst out laughing. “I know. Me, too.” He jabbed me in the shoulder. “But we had fun. Right?”

  “So much fun.” I inched down the counter, mentally counting the steps to the doorway of freedom behind me. But I’m a mentally unstable Triad who could turn into a Fire Wolf and rip your face off—if the vampyre princes don’t kill you first
. That’d put a damper on our fun, eh? “We should hang out again soon…as friends.”

  Nothing could dampen his enthusiasm. Minho’s brown eyes sparkled, and my breath caught. “Ok, Citlalli. You call me and we will hang out…as friends. I am happy as long as I am part of your life.”

  Oh, geez. I blushed and nodded, but Demon was contemptuous.

  What a weak sentimental fool.

  Finally, Wolf returned, whining for me to flee. I obliged, jabbing a thumb over my shoulder. “I’m just gonna… The bathroom’s this way, right?” And then I bolted.

  Instead of connecting back to the living room, the hallway looped around like the coils of a dragon. I felt like I was descending into the belly of a museum. Old, full-length body armor, a sixteenth century bow-and-arrow, and what looked like a bronze medallion of a three-legged crow were showcased within glass boxes backlit by a neon glow. I glanced nervously over my shoulder. For all I knew, I was going to end up in the National Museum of Korea instead of the bathroom, but I couldn’t face Minho again.

  Then I saw the paintings. My mouth dropped, and I almost reached out to touch one before Wolf’s ears picked up the hum of a security field. The passage had been dipped in ink and stirred until it took the shape of five majestic dragons spinning between heaven and earth. The walls were their skin: rough, pebbly dragon scales emphasized with heavy black shadows. Between their claws, the earth burned sienna, ochre yellow, and rose.

  It was the most unique family portrait I had ever seen. The first red dragon with his forelegs in the sea could be none other than the mighty Mun Mu, shooting gusts of scarlet flames into the mists. There they interlaced with dreamy clouds upon which a beautiful chrome dragon lay, her mane a snowy ripple and her three pairs of sightless eyes limitless. Mun Mu’s deceased mate, I realized, feeling guilty that I didn’t know her name.

  Their three children danced upon the Korean peninsula. Sun Bin and Ankor were tethered to each other by the tail: She was Winter, ice gleaming in her draconic snarl and from the holes of her creaky, honeycomb wings. He was Autumn, an obsidian black dragon plunging into the earth as if sniffing for minerals, his copper eyes eager.

  My eyes wandered over an empty lake blazing pink with azaleas before I found Heesu exploding up from her woodland garden, slants of sunlight playing across her feathery green wings. My gaze returned to the lake, and I gave a half-wave to where my sister was supposed to be. “Hey, sis.”

  Raised voices floated from around the corner, shattering the timelessness of the painted hall. I padded forward, ears cocked. I’d recognize that warning tone anywhere. Mami used it on me regularly, as if she were ready to shift into a wolf herself:

  “This dinner is for Raina. Don’t make me regret telling you about her, Mun Mu.”

  I peeked around the corner. The half-moon door was pulled back to reveal lavish sleeping quarters. The dragon’s lair, I realized with a squeak. Mun Mu faced my mother from across a circular bed of wrinkled black sheets. Both of them were clad in silk bathrobes. I crinkled my nose in disgust. Now where was that bathroom again?

  As the King of Dragon’s temper flared, so did the braziers lining the ledges. They sent hungry shadows dancing across the walls. Mami didn’t flinch, turning to adjust her hair in the mirror.

  “You are her mother. Your position matters, Ileana. It is her future.” Mun Mu swept across the room and placed his strong hands on her shoulders. A moment later, his fingers slipped beneath her robe. Mami paused, and then resumed straightening her bobby pins.

  “I have my restaurant.”

  “A lowly hole-in-the-wall down a nameless alleyway in Itaewon,” Mun Mu was quick to dismiss. “What happened to the woman I used to know, who persuaded me to revolutionize the way I thought about fine dining? Your fire once matched my own.”

  “I gave my fire to my children, which you would know, too, if you bothered to notice them.”

  Mun Mu’s nostrils flared. “I have built an empire for my children.”

  She stopped and sighed, turning to smooth his sleeves. “I know. I used to think that would be enough. But you can’t build the right type of empire if you don’t see your daughters and son for who they are.”

  Mun Mu shrugged out of her grasp. “So you will leave your children a little village to fight over. Why come to Korea, Ileana? Obviously it wasn’t to see me again. My daughter was kidnapped and tormented for months before you finally reached out to me.”

  She stared at him, her weary eyes reflecting something troubling: fear. My mother was never afraid. I strained to hear her reply. Finally, I caught a whisper so light it wouldn’t disturb a candle flame: “Here they will be safe. We can never return to America. They are looking for them.”

  Wolf barked a warning. Suddenly, a hand grabbed me roughly by the shoulder and spun me around. I almost fell into the alarm-triggered paintings.

  “Yah! Keh! Mweo haeyo?” Ankor’s dark eyes clouded with suspicion. His inner Were flashed, and I blinked. His Weresoul wasn’t coppery-colored like in the painting, but a dazzling star-storm, as if the night sky were crashing into the earth.

  “Mian,” I muttered a brief apology and scooted past him. I didn’t want Mami or Mun Mu to know I’d seen them together, and I didn’t want to destroy priceless paintings by making a lizard-sized hole in the wall with the boy who’d just called me “dog.” What the hell was his problem, anyway?

  I glanced back. Ankor was inspecting every brushstroke of the mural as if convinced I’d peed on it. Beyond the bend, I heard a bedroom door slide shut.

  Chapter 14: Jaehoon’s Farewell

  ~Citlalli~

  Wolves watched us from the hills. Wolves dead and gone, wolves made of stone. The number of wolf headstones matched the number of people in the black-and-white photograph in my hand. I smoothed back the dog-eared flaps from where it had been crinkled numerous times. The date on the back read July 30, 1950. The Korean War had just begun, then. All thirty pack members had been alive.

  My good eye feasted on the tall, young man laughing with his arm draped over the Alpha’s shoulder in the heart of the photograph: Seu Jaehoon. The Alpha before me. It always took me a moment to recognize him. He came from another time. Another generation. His country had survived a horrific Japanese occupation and World War II. They still had hope, then. They had still eagerly waited in the mountains with teeth bared, ready to fight. What a sight his pack must have been, streaking through the forest like wisps of silvery smoke in the dead of night.

  However, their allies began to look and sound the same as their enemies. And as the wolves began to circle each other on the brink of the Korean War, the vampyres preyed on them from the dark. Jaehoon had been the last of his pack to see the new generation of Seoul werewolves.

  Now he completed the ring of headstones on the hill. Thirty fallen and gone. They were halfway between the heavens, which called their human spirits, and the dark of the wood, where their wolf souls ran free. Yet the long shadows cast by their tombs were a somber reminder to the living, and I felt the Red Fang Necklace grow heavy around my neck. In the dark of my mind, fire ignited in the eyes of the stone wolves, burning me with its ferocity. I gasped for breath.

  “Are you feeling well, Alpha?” Yu Li’s hand caught my elbow.

  I caught the urgency in her voice. Xu Xiang, leader of the International Were Council, watched me from across the casket, his yellow eyes round and full like his inner goshawk’s. Miao stood at his side, equally suspicious. I drew another breath and calmed the fluttering in my stomach.

  “Kamsahamnida, sunsaeng-nim.” I fell to my knees before the casket and bowed low. With my nose buried in the earth, I could block out all of the strange and unfamiliar scents of the visiting Were dignitaries and just focus on him. I chased Jaehoon’s fading scent of gunmetal and blood, of soil and ginseng, until it throbbed uncomfortably bright in my mind.

  Voice shaking, I whispered: “I will remember the photograph you honored me with, Seu Jaehoon juin-nim, teacher, friend. I will r
emember those who came before me. I will make you proud.”

  At my back, they emerged from the shadows: the Seoul werewolves. We were still fractured, with Rafael’s followers on one side and mine on the other. But just this once, we howled in unison.

  My eye hardened as I remembered the Lady of Eve’s words: You are not tigers. Wolves do not hunt alone.

  I had work to do.

  ***

  After the burial ceremony, the Weres and our families gathered in the memorial. Shrines had been set up for Jaehoon, Ae Cha, and Weres from other nations who had fallen in the last Seorak San battle. I saw Miao comforting a weeping goshawk widow by the photograph of her fallen mate, and my heart softened.

  “Why does each nation have a different Were animal?” Raina asked me.

  I shrugged. “From what Jaehoon told me, it’s not so much each nation as it is geographical territories that have strains of a particular Were virus infecting us, or whatever it is. Korea used to have tigers and wolves, but the tiger clans kept to the north and sided with the revolutionary soldiers during the war. As for how these spirit animal viruses originated…” I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “That is part of the lore the juin-nim didn’t have time to tell.”

  A commotion broke out at the back table in front of Ae Cha’s shrine. I broke through the crowds to see Ae Cha’s elderly parents standing defensively in front of their two surviving grandchildren, while a large balding man in his forties shouted at them in Korean. Yu Li was in the midst of it all.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Moon.

  She bared her teeth in the shouting man’s direction. “That is Kang. He is bad man who hurt Ae Cha many time. He also father of her children.”

  “The grandparents don’t seem to think that’s a reason to let his children go with him,” I observed. Kang was full-on roaring in the face of the elderly harabeoji, but the grandfather resolutely held his ground.