Page 17 of King Foretold
“What can I say? I like being number one.” With an incorrigible grin, he drapes himself onto a chair across from us, oozing sex appeal.
He looks like a rakish pirate in his white linen shirt and tight black jeans. While Hailey doesn’t blink an eyelash at his seductive display—she spends enough time with the goblin to be immune to him—I let myself enjoy the view for a moment. I see no point in fighting it.
With Ethan, I feel like I’ll spontaneously combust if I look at him for more than a second. But with Jaeseok, who is hopelessly in love with Minju, the flirty exchange feels harmless and fun.
“Why don’t you tell them what you’ve been up to, Lieutenant Cha?” Jihun arches his brow, reclaiming the seat he’d vacated. “It’ll help them make an informed decision about whether you’re indeed number one ... in wreaking havoc in our lives.”
“Sure thing, Captain Song. I’m happy to share about our breakthrough.” Jaeseok ignores Jihun’s scoff of outrage. “You know how we haven’t been able to get the forge hot enough to meld the dragon scale and the sacred ashes together?”
“Of course I know,” Hailey groans. “Even your dokkaebi fire isn’t hot enough.”
“Wait.” I glance between Draco and Jaeseok. “What are you using to test the temperature?”
“My dragon scales and the sacred ashes,” Draco says from their seat next to me, the unspokenduhmade explicit by their expression.
“You’re using the actual sacred ashes?” I shout in alarm. The poor kid flinches away from me, their teenage apathy slipping for a moment.Shit.I immediately wrangle in my panic and modulate my voice. “Youcannotwaste the sacred ashes on failed experiments.”
I had to relive my mother’s death to obtain the sacred ashes. Samshin Halmeom, a manifestation of the Seonangshin, sacrificed a part of her arm for me ... She burned her forearm, the root of an ancient cypress tree, into ashes. She is like my own grandmother, and I had to watch ...
“Sunny.” From my other side, Hailey places a gentle hand over mine. “Minju dug up every last bit of information she could on the Gwangdo, but there is no instruction manual on how to forge another one. Jaeseok and Draco can’t figure out how to make the sword of light without using the actual material.”
I blow out a shaky breath. I know they’re doing what needs to be done. I get that. But I’m still worried we won’t have enough left to forge the sword of light. Samshin Halmeom entrusted me with the sacred ashes. We have to treat them with respect.
“I promise we won’t waste a speck of it,” the dragon spirit says with rare gravity.
As I offer them a solemn nod, I realize I’m not worried about disrespecting the Seonangshin or wasting the sacred ashes. At least, that’s not all of it. I’m more worried about not being able to forge the sword of light, making the Yeoiju our only hope. I’m terrified thatIwill become our only hope.
I’m so sick of letting people down—I can barely come to terms withhavingpeople to let down—but I have to face the very real possibilitythat the Yeoiju might be a lost cause.I... might be a lost cause. With the dark mudang already stirring, I don’t have months to master the Yeoiju’s powers. I have weeks, maybe days. I’m not giving up, not by a long shot ... but weneedthe sword of light.
“If I may continue.” Jaeseok raises his brows at me, and I give him a weary nod. “This morning I—”
Draco clears their throat loudly, back to their cocky teenage self.
“That is,Dracoand I had a brilliant realization.” Jaeseok pauses dramatically. “I have two words for you.Dragon. Fire.”
Hailey and I share a wide-eyed glance. He’s not overselling it. Thatisbrilliant.
“I can’t believe we didn’t think of it before.” Draco breaks the awed silence. “Dragon fire is the only thing that can melt dragon scales. It’ssoobvious.”
“How about what happened afterwards, Draco?” A muscle jumps in Jihun’s jaw. “Was thatobvious?”
“What happened afterwards?” Hailey asks warily.
“Well, we had to test our theory.” Jaeseok shrugs sheepishly.
“Of course.” I drum my fingers on the conference table. “Go on.”
“So Draco took their dragon form ...” Jaeseok pauses when Jihun groans and drops his head into his hands.
I feel Jihun’s pain. Considering wesecretlysnuck a dragon spirit into the Kingdom of Sky, Draco taking their dragon form is ... problematic. The Kingdom of Sky is filled with angelic beings withwings. Even in the confines of a walled courtyard in a heavily guarded estate, an enormous serpentine dragon with glowing blue scales would be hard to miss for someone with a bird’s-eye view.
“Look, I know how it sounds.” Jaeseok holds out his hands. “But there was no other way. We can’t make dragon fire without a dragon.”
Jihun raises his head to glare at the dokkaebi. “You two could have waited for the cover of night.”
“Huh.” Draco huffs as though the thought never occurred to them. “But that wouldn’t have changed what happened afterwards.”
“Once again.” I’m afraid to ask, but I might as well rip off the BAND-AID. “What happened afterwards?”
