Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3)

by Heather Heffner

  “And Appa,” Heesu shot back, keeping pace with her. Ankor and I fell back, studying the silently oncoming rainclouds.

  “You will not tell them, will you?” he asked in a low voice.

  I saw the pain flare in violent starbursts behind his eyes. I also saw again our solitary trip across the Great Wall of China. Heesu had ousted us by miles, so Ankor and I had made our own way. He had ridden upon my back. Not once had the Autumn Dragon shifted.

  “It isn’t my secret to tell. But Ankor, the Jackdaw promised the Trials will get harder. Soon you will have to shift—”

  “I’m not the only one who should be worried,” he cut me off. “Raina, our father has told us countless stories to prepare us for the Trials of Wisdom. The Final Trial will take place there: in Eve.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. I saw Dark Dogs throw themselves against windows in snarling tangles of fur. I saw hungry ghosts and pale vampyres streaking in for the kill.

  I had passed my First Trial as long as I could keep one foot anchored in the mortal world. But what would happen when I was asked to leave it completely?

  “I was just fine on this trip, wasn’t I?” The wind closed in from behind; the sea gathered force behind it. And the mist whispered relentlessly in my head:

  Liar, liar, liar.

  Chapter 22: Three’s a Crowd

  ~Citlalli~

  I emerged from the subway in Apgujeong Station and threaded my way through the throngs of laughing students toward Jamwon Hangang Park. The late summer was hot and humid, and I couldn’t wait to jump in the Han River. Balancing on tiptoe, I spotted Minho near a sign post, wearing his signature black Seoul National University jacket with white sleeves. He stood heads and shoulders above everyone else. His black eyes locked on mine, and a warm smile broke across his face.

  “Annyeong,” I said shyly.

  “Wow,” he said, taking in my lacy cream-colored halter top revealing the indigo bikini straps hugging my dark skin. He stepped forward for a hug. My head only came up to his chest, and the tantalizing scent of his wintergreen cologne shot a hot flash of want down to my hips. His eyes glowed at me from beneath his gelled hair, and I grew heady with hunger. Those perfectly sculpted lips were parted, and I ached as they drifted down—to touch my cheek.

  “My lips are here,” I teased him, and Minho turned red.

  “I thought you two were just friends,” a cool voice replied. Minho stepped aside, and I realized that none other than Raina’s half-brother, the significantly shorter Ankor, had decided to grace us with his presence.

  I stifled a groan. I’d been ecstatic when Raina had returned from China with the token of the First Guardian’s favor on her palm.

  Unfortunately, her less pleasant half-sibling had made it out alive, too.

  “Just friends mean more friends can come?” Minho quipped.

  Touché. I shrugged and linked my arm through Minho’s. “Well, there goes my plan to go on a romantic swan boat ride.”

  “Swan boats?” Ankor looked at Minho in disgust. “How touristy.”

  “Shut up, dickhead,” I replied sweetly. Ankor’s mouth dropped open. Minho, oblivious to the more explicit end of English profanity, proceeded to lecture him as well.

  “Yah,” I caught him saying in Korean, “I really like this girl. So behave for once.”

  Ankor sighed. “I mean, how impressive for a foreign girl to set up reservations.”

  “And I got us a discount.” I bumped Ankor’s shoulder deliberately as I towed Minho along. “I hope you know how to swim, lizard boy.”

  “Lizard boy?” Minho asked when we were out of ear shot.

  I shrugged. “He reminds me of a reptile for some reason.”

  The River City cruise ship was docked at the pier, off which a floating platform of water skis, wakeboards, and banana boats bobbed.

  “Jjang.” Ankor and Minho grinned and slapped each other high fives. I beamed and led the way aboard the cruise ship, where we each grabbed a Cass beer. From there we hung out on the floating platform while our instructor readied the equipment.

  “Okay,” she said in Korean. “Who is first?”

  “Citlalli,” Minho volunteered, grabbing me in a bear-hug. I giggled and twisted out of it.

  “I’ve never done wakeboarding before! You go first.”

  “It’s just like snowboarding.”

  “I’ve never done that either. Show me.”

  “Fine. Both of you watch teacher.” He pointed at us with a twinkle in his eye. Then he was off on the wakeboard, moving from a crouch to a full stand within seconds. His powerful muscles rippled as he streaked across the water, and he bent his knees to catch the waves from the motorboat.

  Unfortunately, Ankor wasn’t in awe of this stunning display of stamina as he should have been. “Are you learning enough from ‘teacher’?” he asked sarcastically, draping his hands over the railing. “Something that will help the Alpha reunite her wolf pack instead of playing around with humans?”

  “Are you learning anything like tact that might help you pass the Trials of Wisdom?” I shot back. “Looks like Raina’s in the lead to claim her powers first.”

  “She’s so scared of the spirit world that she’ll pussy out of it when the time comes,” Ankor said dismissively. “Pity Eve is where the Fourth Trial takes place.”

  I slowly turned and allowed my inner Were to flash: a haunting golden eye and the upturn of a snarl. “Don’t you fuckin’ talk about her, lizard boy.”

  “It’s a problem. Ignoring it won’t solve it.”

  “Sorry, but you can’t just give her a pill to make her magically forget all of the shit she’s been through. What happened is a part of Raina now.” I tapped my prosthetic eye. “Those of us who fought in the Were War understand that. You dragons looked the other way.”

  “It’s complicated,” Ankor said stiffly.

  “Not really. Either you were cool with a psycho Vampyre Queen in charge or you were too afraid to stand up to her.”

  “I was not afraid,” he reported hotly. “I wanted to fight! But I couldn’t—”

  “What? Daddy wouldn’t let you?”

  Minho yelled and waved as he cruised back in, and Ankor realized the extent to which I had baited him. He scowled and swallowed down his imminent eruption and the Yong family secrets.

  “It’s nothing I’d expect you to understand,” he muttered. “Anyway, Golden Girl Sun Bin is going to pass the Trials and claim the yeouiju first, so your half-sister and I hardly matter.”

  “You definitely won’t with that attitude!” And I cheerfully tweaked his nose before diving into the water.

  Thanks to Ankor distracting me, I had no clue about how to stand up on a wakeboard. Apparently it wasn’t supposed to feel like the tow cord was jerking my arms out of my sockets. Each successive time, I found myself hitting the water with a splat. Minho and the other instructors shouted encouragement from the platform. I was doing so poorly that Ankor managed to take a breath between fits of laughter to call: “Try grunting like a pig again!” Finally, I returned to the floating dock, exhausted. The motorboat had barely moved.

  “I should have invited Raina along,” I groaned, flopping on deck like a beached fish. “She would redeem me.”

  A short laugh rang out above. I looked up to see Ankor grinning and extending a hand, a sight slightly less unpleasant than his usual scowl. “Don’t feel like it was a complete waste of time,” his low voice brushed my ear. “That was the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in years.”

  Our fingers touched, and a shock of electricity shot up my arm. I gasped, waves of pain crackling across my mind. Ankor quickly let go, rubbing his fist and averting his eyes.

  “Citlalli did good for first time wakeboarding,” Minho cut in, hugging me to him in a towel. “Do you want me to get you some water?”

  I smiled gratefully. “Thank you. I don’t want to miss one second of lizard boy falling.”

  The Autumn Dragon recovered his surly a
ttitude and smirked. He sauntered backwards with his arms outstretched. “Save the best for last.”

  “Ankor, wait!”

  He spun about, his dark eyes apprehensive. I gently slid the glasses from his face. Flecks of light twinkled in his gaze as if his inner Were were bubbling right at the surface. He stared at the glasses in my hand.

  “Don’t break them,” the Autumn Dragon said finally.

  The instructor approached Ankor, and I heard her asking if he wanted to remove his obsidian earring. Ankor’s hand drifted toward the black shard before he caught me watching. He leaned in close to her, and I could only catch something about the “impossibility” of it being removed.

  “What’s wrong, keh? Being a good dog and not taking your eyes off your master?” he asked as he brushed past.

  I returned his smile sweetly. Yep. He wasn’t getting his glasses back.

  The Autumn Dragon proceeded to put on a performance in the water as big as his ego. However, the real show began after I solemnly informed him that his glasses had mysteriously vanished. He overturned life vests and paddles searching for them in a fury while Minho and I watched, giggled, and shared another Cass beer.

  “You’ll get them when we’re done,” I informed his darkening face. Ankor’s bones stood rigid against his cheeks, and his jaw was rock-hard fury.

  “Citlalli…” he growled. It was a tone I knew well. Raina and Miguel had begun using it around me on a daily basis.

  I tapped his nose. “Calm down there, Scaly, before you burn the whole marina down. I reserved one more activity in case I sucked at wakeboarding.”

  He rolled his eyes, and the tick receded from his temples. “You didn’t suck. You just need more practice. Do you think Pak Tae Hwan could freestyle across an Olympic-sized pool the first time he jumped in the water?”

  “Yes, because he’s most likely a water dragon.”

  Ankor caught his smile before it could break and shook his head. Minho came over and draped a hand over each of our shoulders.

  “You play nice now? Good. We need to be team for this.”

  Ankor groaned. “Man, are you serious? This is so childish—”

  “BANANA BOAT!” I shoved past him and jumped in the middle of the inflated tube. “Here, Minho should be in the back. Ankor, you’re the lightest so you sit up front.”

  “I am not the lightest,” he immediately began to argue, but once the banana boat got going, all of us shut up and clung on for dear life. Our instructor was merciless, turning the motorboat with wicked speed. At one point, we flew up in the air.

  “Hold on!” My calves burned against the Teflon. We skipped across the river like a stone, spray blinding our eyes and mingling with our shouts of laughter. Our instructor urged the motorboat on to greater speeds, zigzagging in diagonals that gave me whiplash. However, we refused to fall off. Ankor slammed into me at one point, and I was regaled with an overwhelming scent of bonfire, like the hazy afterglow of fireworks. The smokiness scared me; it was as if his inner Were was on fire.

  I hastily steadied him and then leaned back against Minho. I felt him lean in to press a kiss against my damp curls. All of us braced ourselves for the next wave.

  Later we caught the subway to see the famous Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain show down the river. As the music began to swell, Ankor put a hand on Minho’s shoulder and told him he was heading out.

  “Heesu needs help with her homework,” he said. “Her teacher assigned her a report on water bears.”

  I cocked my head. “What do you mean? Are you talking about polar bears?”

  Ankor snorted. “Hardly. Water bears are fascinating microscopic creatures. They can withstand extreme boiling and freezing temperatures, ionizing radiation, and even outer space—” He stopped as I leaned back against Minho with a highly judgy expression.

  “Anyway, their ability to survive life-threatening conditions is very important to many of the Futures Department’s experiments,” he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  “Later, man,” Minho called, giving him a fist bump and then drifting over to a street vendor stall.

  “Here, you might need these.” I handed over the black-rimmed glasses that I’d hidden in Minho’s varsity jacket.

  Ankor smiled ruefully, and his hand rested on mine a moment longer. The sparks were back, but this time they glowed with warmth rather than menacing anger. “I see now how you win people over, Citlalli.”

  I gave a mock gasp. “Calling me by name now? Careful. Some people might get the idea that we’re friends.”

  “Friends. I guess so. It’s not like you and Raina are going back to the US any time soon.” Ankor hesitated, watching Minho thread his way back from the street vendor with a hot ddeokbokki to share. “Seriously, Citlalli. You’re funny and charming, and you don’t seem to realize how it affects people. Whatever happens—don’t lead my best friend on, okay?”

  My heartbeat drummed uncomfortably in my ribcage. Ankor was right. At the end of the day, Minho was a pretty cool business student with a bright future ahead of him, and I was the mentally-deteriorating werewolf who had awarded herself a high school diploma.

  “Hey,” I called as Ankor turned away, “that’s cool you’re looking out for your friend, and I do hear you. Your determination to see others’ true intentions should help you pass the Second Trial with flying colors. Either that, or just bore the guardian to death with your lectures on microscopic organisms.”

  Ankor rolled his eyes, but a faint smile crossed his lips. “And your fortitude should help you make the best decision for your pack. Either that, or make them pity you by demonstrating your delightful ignorance.”

  The Autumn Dragon slithered away into the crowd before I could form an adequate response.

  Minho smiled at me and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I am glad you and Ankor can get along.”

  “You didn’t doubt me, did you?” I teased, linking my arm through his. Minho smiled thoughtfully as I leaned against him.

  “No. You did well. Please, understand. Ankor is slow to trust. But once you earn it…” Minho paused and regarded me gravely. “You will have it for life.”

  Chapter 23: Hidden Agendas

  ~Citlalli~

  The rare kadupul flower blossomed shyly in the lantern’s soil bed. Its hundreds of silky white petals snaked out to wrap around the mangrove poles. An emerald flame heated the damp earth of the soil box from underneath.

  “Beautiful,” Mangdung breathed in my ear. The chubby leopard kit bunched up on my shoulder, his smoky gray fur tickling my skin. “I take back every bad thing I have ever said about you, Lantern Maker.”

  “Shut it, cat. I need to concentrate,” I said between gritted teeth. I tucked in the final few reeds and cross-checked the design on Old Man Zhi’s master blueprint list. “It wasn’t supposed to bloom yet.” Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Raina rise from her rocking chair and take a few steps closer. Despite herself, I could tell my sister was intrigued by the beautiful lanterns made out of wood and glass.

  “The Sri Lankan kadupul flower only blossoms at midnight.” Mangdung curled around my neck unhelpfully. “Oh, Painted Girl is going to be happy! She said this special flower will help her mother remember the way back to their homeland.”

  The Fragrance Lantern abruptly collapsed in a pile of mud and worms, filling the lantern shop with the stench of manure.

  “Damnit!” I slammed the desk, causing Mangdung to leap for the rafters. “What did I do wrong?”

  A hand lashed out to catch the Fragrance Lantern before it fell. Mangdung and I watched in amazement as Raina studied the lantern and then untied and cross-stitched the reeds. As she wove, the stench of compost receded and two more dove-white buds poked their heads out from the soil. We stepped back and stared in amazement as the sweet scent of the rare Sri Lankan flower flooded the shop.

  “Wow, that’ll smell like home.” I gave Raina a proud smile. “Are you looking for a job by chance?”

 
Raina shook her head jerkily. “This is just for practice, Citlalli. The Fourth Trial of Wisdom will take place in Eve. I have to be ready.”

  I shrugged. “Okay, but I want you to feel safe in this lantern shop. This is where the Lady of Eve came to free all of the trapped souls Queen Maya imprisoned.” My hands trembled as I placed the Fragrance Lantern on the shelf. “This is where I last saw Mari move Beyond.”

  When I brought up our lost eldest sister, I saw Raina’s eyes stray toward the infinite night sky flickering outside the window. “Was she happy?” she whispered.

  “She was dancing in the wind.”

  Raina flashed a nervous smile. “Mari remembered who she was then, at the end. The last time I saw her… Oh, Citlalli, it was terrible. I called up my water powers to make a distraction so I could find Donovan’s soul. I hurt Mari while doing so, but she still fought her way over to me. She wanted to know what was wrong. And I left her there, amongst the vampyres and their brides. That was how I said goodbye.”

  I similarly remembered hurting Mari with news of her vampyre ‘husband’s’ death, that despicable Duck Young. But that version of Mari hadn’t been her. And as achingly wonderful as those few precious moments with my eldest sister in Eve had been, deep down, I’d always known the truth: Marisol Mejía-Alvarez had already died a long time ago.

  “Raina,” I said, grabbing her hand, “it doesn’t have to be.”

  My sister squeezed my hand tightly. “Mari would be proud of us, you know,” she whispered. “Mami, Miguel, Daniella, you and I… We didn’t fall apart, like the vampyres wanted. We came back together: a family again.”

  I smiled. “No one messes with the Alvarezes.”

  The kettle whistled, and I signaled Mangdung to fetch us some tea. “So, one Trial down, three more to go! You’ve got this, Raina. I still can’t believe you saw the Great Wall of China without me. Where’s the next test?”

  “Mt. Baekdu. On the border of China and North Korea,” she added casually, and I choked on my mint tea.

  “The tea is still hot,” Mangdung observed, and I glared at him until he slunk away.