Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3) (48 page)

“Congratulations, beautiful,” I whispered.

Yu Li pushed me away, her nose wrinkling. “You smell like Marlboro again.”

“I’m working on it,” I protested.

She ignored me, turning to take an incoming phone call. “Neh? Yeoboseyo?”

Young Soo and I padded after her like perfectly trained house pets to the car. Yu Li hung up and looked at me over the hybrid’s roof with a curious expression on her face.

“That was my journalist friend from Kenya. I have not heard from her in some time.” Yu Li absently-mindedly rubbed her vivid red scar.

I caught her hand. “Easy there, babe. Doc said not to scratch. Who’s your friend?”

She slowly relaxed in my arms, calming down from the zero to sixty hyper-intensity she usually operated at. “Kendari. She is a shapeshifter like myself, a werecheetah. Kendari says she has news about missing Vampyre Prince Aaron.”

“Werecheetahs. Of fucking course. Is no place immune from the shapeshifting epidemic?” I stopped as Yu Li raised an eyebrow at me.

“You have spirit sight, Miguel. So you are hardly ‘normal.’” She yanked open the front door with a vengeance to toss her purse in.

“Hey, I’m just worried about your competition, babe. So Kendari couldn’t tell you over the phone?”

“She wants to meet.” Yu Li briskly helped Young Soo into the backseat and put his seatbelt on. “I will present her request to the pack. Aaron cannot hide on the other side of the world. We will not let him open Xibalba there or anywhere else. But first—” She shut the door and flashed me a smile that made my dick get hard. “Can you come over tonight? Young Soo needs help with his math homework.”

“Sure,” I said casually, sweeping my door open and raising an eyebrow. “While I’m over…anything I can help
you
with?”

Yu Li’s cheeks reddened. I saw it. However, she looked pointedly elsewhere. “We’ll see how well you do. Young Soo needs your tax accounting expertise to get into a good school.”

Yeah, I knew a thing or two about taxes by successfully dodging them before coming to Korea. But I’d rather Yu Li think I was a piss-poor accountant than see the look on her face when she found out about what I’d really done for a living. God knew it was a miracle Citlalli had kept her mouth shut about it for this long, but there was no way in hell Daniella would let a lie like that continue.

I scowled. Ok, so I had been such a little shit when I was younger that no one had known how to control me. But I’d left that life behind when I’d moved to South Korea. And I hadn’t looked back.

So maybe that was why I held her extra tight that night and kissed every crevice of her body until she was trembling. I scooted up behind her and wrapped my arms around her slender waist while my mouth tickled the sensitive spot behind her ear.

“You know, you always start speaking Korean halfway through,” I murmured.

She flipped over in bed and regarded me with those beautiful dark eyes framed by her raven-black hair. “There are some things English can’t say,” she said with a naughty grin, and I gave a low whistle, pressing closer.

“I hear that.”

She shoved my chest. “You know. You are different than your younger sisters. You always start speaking Spanish.”

I rubbed the stubble on my chin, not sure which way was safe to move when she trapped me in her huntress’s gaze like that. Her fingers brushed the tattooed image of Quetzalcoatl on my bicep.

“I am good at learning languages. I know many, but not yours.” Her sinfully sweet eyes drifted up to mine. “Teach me?”

I laughed. It was a low, throaty chuckle, and she knew she was in trouble because she attempted to squirm away, giggling. I let her try and then grabbed her from behind, my hands running down her curves to her hips.

“Ok, señorita,”
I said huskily and then smoothly positioned myself so I could whisper more intently in her ear. I watched a deep flush darken her neck, and I grinned wolfishly.

Lucky man that I am, I got to demonstrate several times before she learned what that phrase meant.

Her scar gleamed at me from every turn. I had been seeing too many scars on the silken skin of my beautifully wild Alpha. There were scars on my sisters, on my friends, on Una.

This was the last straw for me. Next time, it would be my turn.

Chapter 58: Choosing Sides

~Citlalli~

I climbed the steps up to the Yongs’ lavish villa. Wolf’s ears picked up the bubbling of pools. The color-changing walls shifted to reflect a blood-orange sunset. However, the mansion felt uncharacteristically…empty. My heart shifted uneasily. Where were all of the serpent folk?

A lump rose in my throat when it was Sun Bin who answered the door instead of Nyssa. The eldest Yong looked me up and down. “Well, well, well. So you haven’t gone off on a crazy demon binge. I guess I should tell Ankor not to fire you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time family’s let me go,” I grumbled but trailed her inside.

Sun Bin’s heels clipped briskly across the polished tile. “Look, we’re all tired after that bloody shapeshifting war against fanged conquistadors, but there are appearances to keep up. The board is breathing down my neck since Appa still hasn’t returned from ‘vacation.’” She scowled, and I knew Heesu hadn’t shared this mysterious secret that Raina had hinted about.

Heesu and Nyssa were sitting at the counter pouring over a pile of dusty dragon lore about the Yeouiju that made a standard book report look tame. I blinked at Nyssa and then glanced over at Sun, who was helping herself to a cup of blackberry lemonade from the fridge.

“No word from Master Yong yet, Miss Sun Bin?” Nyssa called. Sun stiffened at the formal dispassionate tone and slammed the fridge door a little harder than needed.

“Nope. You know who’ll come sniffing around if he stays missing.” Sun downed her lemonade in one gulp before asking if I wanted any.

Heesu ruffled through a thickset volume with a sigh. “The Golden Mane.”

I nearly choked. “Excuse me? Who’s that?”

“Some rich werelion from America. He’s heavily invested in Yong Enterprises going global and is an enormous pain in the ass.” Sun toasted Heesu. “Hey, since Appa will probably pass the company on to you now, he’s your problem.”

Heesu reached into her jacket pocket, and there it was: the Yeouiju. Demon hissed at the sight of it. I felt a weird lurch in my gut, as if I gazed at it for too long, then I would be sucked into its dense, otherworldly folds.

“No problem,” Heesu said, bouncing the Dragon’s Pearl up and down in her hand. “I’ll change him into something more agreeable.”

Her older sister laughed. “Maybe the Yeouiju did make the right choice after all.”

Nyssa tore her gaze away from the Dragon’s Pearl, seemingly as entranced with the magical orb as me. “How have you been holding up, Citlalli?” she asked kindly.

I tried a winning smile. “Well, I haven’t gone crazy yet. Heard getting back into the workforce helps.”

Nyssa chuckled and reached for another manuscript. “It doesn’t.”

Sun Bin snorted. “I knew you weren’t here to see me. My brother’s in his room. Go beg for your job back. And tell Raina to quit being such a recluse.”

I saluted and approached the back hall twisting down to where Ankor’s bedroom was nestled snugly beneath the earth.

“Oh, and don’t forget to close the door behind you,” Sun Bin had the nerve to call out tauntingly before leaning on the kitchen table beside Nyssa.

I ducked into Ankor’s room, suddenly shy. Amidst the stacks of books teetering like leaning towers and piles of meticulously folded laundry, I saw the giant 96-inch Plasma LED TV that took up half of the wall currently vibrating with the violence of
Warmongers IV
. Ankor’s spiky-haired head was just visible above the large couch in front of it.

“You are such a nerd!” I declared, vaulting over the sofa and surprising him into accidentally firing off a few rounds of shots. “You have a pool
and
a pool table. I spotted a freakin’ dojang across the way from a meditation garden
with waterfalls
, and yet this is what you do all day? No wonder Sun is always able to kick your ass.”

“If memory serves,” Ankor replied coolly, jerking the controller left to try and save what was left of his dwindling life, “this
nerd
still defeated you in a fight.”

“By cheating,” I reminded him.

Ankor shrugged, his fingers flying across the buttons to execute a combo and kill the remaining snipers. “Nerds learn to be resourceful.”

I sighed as the enemy’s reinforcements arrived and backed Ankor into a corner. “Give it here, Scaly.”

The Autumn Dragon watched in amazement as I scored ten head shots in a row and then nailed the last guy through the window. I grinned, sinking back in the couch beside him and helping myself to a handful of shrimp chips. “Maybe I’m a little nerdy, too.”

“How did you do that last combo?” Ankor demanded.

I beamed, stretching the controller out of reach. “Miguel showed me. It’s an Alvarez family secret, and I’m not sharing.”

“Bullshit. We’re family.” Ankor’s eyes narrowed, and then to my utter shock, he lunged at me from across the couch. I shouted and tried to back up amidst the feathery fluffiness of the cushions before I realized that Ankor was
tickling
me.

“Stop it!” I ordered, breathless with laughter. I tried to kick him as he ruthlessly attacked my sides. Ankor paused to flash me a rare smile, and his black eyes lit up with flares of eventide behind his glasses.

“I warned you I was resourceful.”

Panting, I was content to lie there for a moment, feeling the electricity of our broken souls crackle between our skins in playful recognition like a slow, gentle burn.

“She likes being near you,” I whispered.

Ankor’s eyes widened. A moment later, I felt his arm wrap hesitantly around my waist. My stomach lurched at the touch of his hand against my bare skin. His gelled hair prickled the back of my neck, and I felt his warm breath on my cheek as he replied: “You mean
you
, Citlalli. Trust me, I learned this about my own Triad. This ‘Demon’ isn’t something separate that you will ever be able to let go. She is part of
you
.”

I didn’t move, too tense with the awareness of his body coiled against mine. I couldn’t accept that. Demon lusted after every living thing with a pulse—
and
those without one. Gray-blue eyes flashed across my mind, and blood colored my cheeks. She couldn’t be part of me the way Ankor’s Triad was. I had standards, damnit.

After a moment, Ankor shifted and muttered, “Mine likes you, too.”

An epic death scream made both of us jump apart as our first shooter died in a hailstorm of bullets, his blood blossoming red across the screen. We glanced at each other and then began snickering.

Ankor’s phone rang. He glanced at it and then clicked to ignore the call. After a few moments, his phone chimed as two texts came in.

“Oooh, who’s that?” I simpered, making a mock-grab for the phone. “Is that a
girl
?”

“Don’t,” Ankor warned. That was all the invitation I needed to pluck it from his hand.

“Let me help you out here, nerd. If it’s a girl, then you’ve got to answer. Don’t play hard to get when it’s not true,” I teased before I caught a glimpse of the Caller ID:
Minho
.

“Oh.” Curling my knees up, I offered the phone back. My cheeks caught fire. “How is he doing?”

Ankor scowled as he slid the phone screen open. He scooted away further down the couch. “Okay. Once he realizes there are many crazy girls in Seoul like you.”

“You two aren’t fighting, are you?” I asked quietly when Ankor tossed the phone to the side without reading the messages.

Giving a massive sigh, Ankor ran a hand through his spiky hair. “Minho called a few days after I got back. I went out with him and the guys. After a few drinks, he started talking shit because he was still hurt, you know. He was trying to act like he didn’t care anymore. The guys thought it was funny and kept encouraging him. Minho asked why my father tolerated you and your poor beggar family coming around. ‘We know the daughter doesn’t put out, so how much more can the mother?’ They all laughed, and I just…left.”

My fingers went white, they were twisting the throw pillow so tightly.

“I’m sorry, Citlalli,” Ankor muttered.

“I don’t care. Whatever will help him get over it.” I snorted, folding my arms and trembling. “I don’t want you to lose your best friend because of me.”

“No.” Ankor’s eyes remained riveted on the screen as he started the level over. “I was unfair to you before, Citlalli. I told you I didn’t want you near Minho because you were a werewolf and you could hurt him. But you control your Were better than I do. You control
both
of them better than me. Like I said, there are plenty of other crazy girls out there for Minho…and there are more crazy best friends. We won’t be the ones to hurt him anymore.”

My phone made a hiss like a lizard, and I slid up the screen in surprise to see a text from Thaksin:
Meet.
Spirit world. Now.

Ankor attempted a grin, but his black eyes kept darting toward my phone. “Ah. Now you are getting texts from boys. Which one is it, the werewolf or your life
partner
?”

I attempted a snort. “You think I find brooding corpse princelings hot? No, it’s my naga friend, Thaksin. Something must be wrong.” I spotted Ankor’s Eve gateway: a small corner of the room dedicated to spirit journeys. It was a circle of candles, fruit offerings, and a Prayer Wheel. “Can you guard my body, Ankor?”

“I won’t let Sun Bin draw on your face…much,” he promised. I shoved his shoulder as I stumbled over to the candle doorway. The panic blossoming in my chest crunched down the sting I felt over Minho’s words. It wasn’t fair. I hadn’t wanted to be that girl to him. But I had made the choice I’d felt was right at the time.

I lay down and closed my eye, letting the candle’s soothing spiced scent wash across my nostrils. I knew I didn’t regret it.

Chapter 59: Road to Retribution