“I’d say you were joking if I weren’t acquainted with your spectacular lack of humor.” My eyes wandered from the glacial bed to the red candles glowing over altars of rotting fruit.
“This is your daytime resting place.” I stared at him in amazement. “This is where your real body lies.”
“You understand, then, the trust I’m placing in you.” The gray-blue orbs watched me, bodiless, as if they floated on shadows. It was a neat trick. One day, I was going to have a motherload of creepy freak-out stunts myself.
“Hello? Is anyone there? Will you help me?” a voice whispered timorously from the depths of the caverns, and I jumped.
She appeared suddenly, looking slim and haggard in a thin chemise. Her bare feet slapped the cold rock as she felt her way toward us, and her dark hair tumbled to her waist in knots. But when she looked at me, she smiled.
“Citlalli.” Marisol folded me in a hug, and I half-yelped, half-sobbed.
“Do you really see me?”
“Of course I see you, silly. How’d you get here?”
“I’d like to ask you the same thing.” I looked deliberately at Khyber.
He perched on a stone away from the rest of us. “She is a widow. Soul-eaten. Mortal body dead. All that is left is her spirit. Her death was assured the moment Duck Young’s body hit the pyre. It won’t be long now, but maybe, at the end, she will know the truth… You’re welcome, by the way.”
I shook Marisol urgently. “Do you remember everything now?”
She hugged her thin frame. “Enough. The final moments of his death—horrible. Citlalli—you didn’t really kill my husband, did you?”
It still wasn’t really her. Heart deflating, I turned reluctantly to Khyber. “Okay, what the hell is going on?”
“She’s coming out of a deep sleep. A vampyre venom detox.”
“Which happened after we killed Duck Young!”
I remembered who I was talking in front of too late. Marisol went chalk-white, and she fled back into her hole.
Khyber’s scowl deepened further. “You, me. We need to have a talk.”
The six souls danced in front of us, somersaulting on a chilly updraft like otherworldly faeries blown off course. Raina, released from Khyber’s compulsion, walked around and stared at the multifaceted lights curiously.
“They’re even more beautiful in person—whoops, I mean, spirit.” I elbowed Khyber. It was like prodding a stone statue. “Maya was right about that dream bridge thing. So I’m pretty much up to speed on everything that’s happened in Fang Land.”
“Really? So you didn’t miss the part where I told Raina that if a vampyre’s body, spirit, and soul aren’t destroyed, he’ll linger on in Eve forever?” Khyber was so icily furious, his scent of death threatened to drown me. Fangs flashed in the shadows, and I bared my teeth.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have let Duck Young slaughter me and the entire pack.”
He actually shrugged! I shoved him.
“Oh, hell no! Besides, Rafael tried to destroy the soul. That thing’s as indestructible as a cockroach.”
Khyber tossed his head back to entreat the ceiling. “Karma has finally seen fit to visit me!” he exclaimed, gripping his midnight-black hair. “So close to my freedom, and yet forced to rely on a girl who can’t keep to her challenging cockroaches. No”—he spun around, inches from my face—“instead, you fucked up my capture of Duck Young’s soul! And then that blood-crazed mutt boyfriend of yours fucked up laying him to rest. I should have killed Rafael when I had the chance.”
If Wolf had been around, It would have taken me in an instant. I doubt I would have put up much of a fight to stop It. I stuck a finger in Khyber’s face. “You make one more threat toward the man whose family you stalked and killed, and this alliance is over. You’re right. Karma owes you big.”
Unexpectedly, that amused him. “He doesn’t know you’re here with me, does he? Working with me? Relying on me?” The whisper hovered near my ear, sending pleasant shivers down to my toes. I twisted away.
“Rafael knows I need you to free my sisters. Besides. You intend to die.”
Khyber made no move to look away, enjoying my discomfort. “I suppose I said that.”
I bit my lip. “You did say it. You put my sister’s life in danger for it.”
“You really watched the whole dream stream, didn’t you? Relax, wolf-girl,” Khyber said bitterly. “I’ll go once I’m convinced you beasts understand how to destroy a soul.”
“What the hell is the matter, anyway? It’s not like ghost Duck Young is floating around, spilling the beans on us.”
“It’s worse,” his voice croaked, strangely bleak. “He’s become a Dark Spirit.”
Silence fell. Raina giggled, suddenly, as Donovan’s soul playfully darted around her shoulders. I stared past, remembering an awful, emaciated monster bending its black lips to drink an infant’s blood. Dark Spirits. The Creators of vampyres. The invisible masters of this unending night, their hands conjuring up blizzards from land to sea. Even Maya paid them homage every Lunar New Year. This year she planned to give them my sister: The Changeling Soul.
My throat suddenly burned unbearably hot. Raina was so close I could reach out and touch her! But Maya had found another way to lock her away.
“No one wants to become a Dark Spirit.” The black-winged vampyre gave a low laugh. “They’re wretched, angry things, constantly ravenous and wracked with pain. The only thing that brings them respite is hurting others. Seems fitting they were our Creators.”
Rafael had told me not to trust Khyber. I intended to honor that promise to the fullest. The haughty prince was an unrepentant murderer. But listening to him talk, an ancient being whose regrets cast shadows long enough to drown a man in, made me scared. This was a deadly tango Khyber had danced with Maya throughout the ages; what made me think I would be the one to magically see the solution to it? I needed him.
So I did something I didn’t normally do: I apologized.
“I would be angry, too. I know you’ve worked hard for this.” I shook my hand at the souls. “We have the same goal, Khyber. You know that. You can read me as clearly as a book. But you’re like a scroll written in Hanja characters that I can barely make sense of. Not enough to see meaning behind. I can’t read your mind, Khyber. You don’t want me to mess this up? Fine. Let the wolf in so I can clean up this mess you vampyres have made of everything.”
Okay, it was a lame-ass apology.
But he met me halfway. “We kill Maya and her sons. We disband the Vampyre Court forever.”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, Mr. President!”
“I still need Duck Young’s soul.”
“Why? I thought he’s…kind of busy as his new, evil spirit-self.”
“Because if we leave a notorious soul like that lying around Eve, then it could be a powerful bargaining chip in the wrong hands!” Khyber snapped. “I need to destroy it along with the others!”
“Right… Well, I know Rafael had no luck doing so. What’s your secret?”
“My mother can consume souls,” Khyber murmured, lifting his fingers.
“Is that your plan, then? Spoon feed Maya the souls of her own sons? That’s pretty twisted, even for you, but I suppose we can’t afford to be squeamish.”
“I am like my mother.” Khyber held up a finger. I watched the tip blacken, watched the skin peel back from his nail. I flinched instinctively.
“We are both Death.”
His eyes flashed up to mine, and I watched the blackness blossom up like ink and spill down his cheeks. Rising, as if in a trance, he strode toward the souls. Raina froze as he approached. One of those bleeding black hands reached out, and still, she didn’t move.
“Raina!” I hugged her to me. We both watched the Prince of Sorrow touch the winged soul. It fluttered frantically in his grasp like a butterfly, and we shuddered as music, horrible, screeching music, invaded our ears. The soul was screaming. Khyber’s face was
dripping with black tears, and his hand had rotted up to his elbow. He began to tremble under the strain. Black feathers drifted to his feet.
“Is he going to die?” Raina whispered suddenly.
Not yet. Grimly, I approached. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to do.
“Khyber! STOP!”
The soul’s music hit a shrill peak. Blood dripped from the prince’s ears, but he didn’t notice.
“KHYBER!” It was useless to touch him. I would wilt in an instant. Happy to have the excuse, I grabbed a fatty ice ball and lobbed it. It clocked him upside the head, but he wasn’t deterred.
“Taeyang. Stop.”
I stopped and stared at Raina. I wasn’t the only one. Khyber released the soul in an instant. The blackness slowly retreated, a reluctant dark tide. All that was left was a disbelieving pale young boy, who looked like he’d woken up after a very long time.
“What did you call me?” he whispered.
Raina shrugged. “Taeyang.”
“Taeyang. That means ‘Solar.’ ” I glanced at Khyber. “What’s up with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Khyber’s fangs clicked back. He whispered, almost vulnerably, “Taeyang was my original name.”
Chapter 30: Taeyang
“Was?” I prodded Khyber.
He didn’t answer.
“Alliance, remember?” I poked him again. His hand whipped about, grabbed the offending finger—and then relaxed.
“Was,” he said again, “in a time when the sun still existed.” He looked to Raina, something almost like affection softening his chiseled features. “How did you know?”
She hesitated, and then withdrew a bracelet from deep within her pocket. It was woven of twig and rope, with a dulled sun charm dangling from the bristles.
“This told me.”
One look at Khyber’s face told me he was enraptured with the bracelet. I squinted. It looked like nothing special.
“Where’d you get that?”
“I don’t know.” She said it too quickly.
“But you do know. Raina. Where did you find that?” Khyber strode toward her, but stopped when she flinched away. He jerked his head toward me.
I raised an eyebrow. “Need something, Prince?”
His jawline hardened. “No games now, wolf-girl.”
“Say ‘please.’ ”
“Fuck you.”
“Manners, manners. That’s not going to win over her heart, and it’s certainly not going to score you any points with her older sister.” Shaking my finger at him, I padded over to Raina’s side. Where had she received this bracelet? I hadn’t seen it in her dreams. She’d kept this carefully hidden, afraid that if anyone found it—
“You got this for him, didn’t you?” I guessed suddenly. “This is a present for Khyber.”
Her cheeks flamed. “I don’t understand why. I’m with Prince Donovan. But I found this in the bottom drawer of my dresser and took to wearing it. It’s pretty, isn’t it? The sun. And when I wore it, and strode through the moonflower garden, all of the flower veins deepened to a brilliant gold. I felt, I felt…happy…” The shadows on her face deepened into a frown. “Maya didn’t like me wearing it. So I kept it hidden.”
“Where did you find it, Raina?” I asked again, patiently. “You don’t have to hide it from us. I think the sun’s beautiful, too.”
Her eyes turned very far away, and I realized she was physically trembling. Fighting whatever had been done to her in the Mirror Room. I held my breath. Mari had briefly broken free of the spell, too. It was possible. When you were surrounded by those you loved.
“The ghost market…” The words slowly tumbled free. “The Madame of Memories…” She glanced suddenly at Khyber, and then hid behind her arrow-straight black hair. “I bought it for you. This was…a courting gift. I thought it could help you remember things. Like when I touch the charm, and it whispers your name.”
Khyber’s stormy eyes crackled with approval, and I think he was unaware that his wings had come half-unfurled, ready to sweep her off her feet. He reached her in that blur of vampyre speed, and tenderly touched the mark on the left side of her neck before she could jerk away.
“You do belong to me,” he said.
I clapped my hands, startling them both. “Okay, Mr. Possessive Peacock. Looks like another goal on the very short list of things both Khyber and Citlalli agree on: Get Raina back.”
“Absolutely.”
“How can we save her?”
“Her soul is gone,” Khyber said, and Raina pulled back, terrible pain in her eyes. “Maya has stolen it with her infamous mirrors. I can find it, but considering my current status at Court, I will need protection.” He looked me up and down. “Your Invisibility Cap will do.”
I didn’t move. “What makes you think I still have it?”
“They didn’t take it away from you. They don’t know you won it from a Dokkaebi chieftain. And I never told them.” Khyber folded his arms. “I trust you were smart enough to hide it from them?”
I reluctantly withdrew the worn old hat. “Jammed it over my left toe. Fits right like a Snuggie.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Your ingenuity astounds me.”
“Worked just fine on you last time.” I smiled sweetly. “Why’d you fall out of favor with Maya, anyway?”
Khyber plucked the cap away so fast, I was left staring at empty space. “Let’s just say I interfered with Maya’s plans to make Raina her own personal puppet.”
“Great. You failed spectacularly at that, by the way. Raina thinks Maya’s her dearest friend, mother”—I choked out the word—“sister.”
“She wouldn’t have been able to do that if some chinks didn’t already exist in your oh-so-perfect relationship.” Khyber turned his back on me, fingers playing over a thin black sword case. “I’m not strong enough to stand against Maya yet. I’m not strong enough to destroy the souls.” The withering look he shot Donovan’s confirmed who was first on the hit list. “But I will be.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Lunar New Year.” Khyber selected a slender dueling blade from the black case, and then whipped around and sliced cleanly through each soul before they could fly away. They arched back in their lantern cages, cringing.
I barked excitedly, and then self-consciously rubbed my throat. Where the hell had that come from?
In the next instant, cold steel pressed against my throat. “You and Raina pad back to Maya with your tails between your legs, now,” Khyber whispered. “I’ll be right behind you. Remember: It is crucial that we arouse no suspicions until the exact moment we strike.”
***
We left Mari to mourn her husband in those cold, dead caverns. With great misgivings, I agreed for Raina to be placed under compulsion once more.
Khyber watched the changing of the ghost guard with an eagle’s precision, before flying us to the north tower window in a narrow eight-second gap. We tumbled into a small armory.
After five minutes of fruitless cursing, in which we hurried to catch a Domino-style row of falling shields, we crept out into a candlelit hall.
“Any idea where a prayer wheel is?”
He nodded. “Look for one in the kitchen larders. They’ll be next to the ceremonial candles and dishes.”
“Cool. And…” I ducked my head around nervously. “You wouldn’t happen to know of a soul Maya’s after? One that she refers to as a ‘her’? And she’ll turn me into a Dark Dog if I don’t fetch it for her?”
Khyber was lost, staring after Raina. “Mother lost her fascination with souls in the seventeenth century. At the height of her power, she could eat them, but she couldn’t figure out how to reconcile the soul with the body. Eventually they just became another currency to her, like gold or jewels. The only soul she could still possibly have such an obsession over…would be her own.”
Her own. I went rigid. Jackpot! And she thought I had it. Shit, I wish I did. What the hell could she mean?
I froze, trying not to show a reaction of any kind, but Khyber probably heard my heartbeat speed up, anyway. Souls seemed to appear in many shapes and forms. Why not a little girl? I’d listed off how Maya and No-Name were different, but I’d failed to compare how they were the same: Both of them wore damning ribbons around their necks—one the color of death, and the other the shade of innocent blood spilled.
Khyber was weighing me much more thoughtfully now, and I let him think what he may. In a relationship as fanged as this, it was essential that we both needed each other.
We heard booted footsteps echo, and my breath caught. “Okay, Khyber. It’s time.”
The prince approached Raina and held both sides of her face. He didn’t speak aloud. Her eyes defocused and then snapped back to alertness. Her grip loosened on the sun bracelet until it fell, forgotten, back into her pocket.
I folded my arms, struggling to halt grains of sympathy from surfacing. “She won’t remember Taeyang?”
“No,” Khyber murmured, fingers lightly brushing her cheekbones. “It doesn’t matter. One day, she’ll give me that bracelet again.”
He’d vanished by the time Raina opened her eyes.
Chapter 31: The Boiler Room
It wasn’t easy to ditch Raina. One part of me just wanted to hold her until they pried her out of my cold, dead arms, but the other part knew that she would be the one shoving me away, into the arms of the enemy. And that hurt more.
So I tried to lose my persistent retainer. (After unsuccessfully trying to discover the location of the kitchens—“Are you wolves always that hungry? I’ll bring you more food.”)
Year of the Tiger (Changeling Sisters) Page 19
