Page 82 of King Foretold
I clap my hand against my neck to stanch the flow of blood. The king had the wherewithal to slice the side of my throat as he was thrown back. The cut isn’t deep, but it’s not a papercut either. Jihun’s nostrils flare with rage when he sees blood seeping through my fingers. He closes the short distance between us and wraps his arm around my shoulders.
I glare at him to tell him to keep his mouth shut. If Ethan sees that I’m hurt, he is likely to lose his shit even more. Fortunately, he still stands halfway across the room, distracted by the sight of his father lying on the floor.
The King of Mountains struggles to his knees and stares at his son, tears flooding his eyes. Ethan comes to stand over Jihun and me, but his gaze stays glued to his father. I look at Jihun, and he nods. The king’s tears look genuine, but we can’t let our guards down.
“You look like her,” the king whispers before his face crumples on a sob. “My s ... son.”
Ethan’s eyes soften for a split second before the Prince of Mountains takes command. “Do not speak of my mother, tyrant.”
“I loved her.” He means it. The king believes that he loved the Queen of Mountains.
“Why do I find it hard to believe that the male whomurderedmy mother loved her?” Ethan snarls but walks up to his father as though drawn to him despite himself.
“Son.” The king holds out a trembling hand. “Please ...”
“‘Please’ what?” Ethan grabs the king by his lapels and raises him to his feet. Then he shoves him in the chest, sending him stumbling back against the wall. And his confusion, fury, and desperation distill into a single word. “What?”
“Please don’t make me”—the king’s face morphs into an ugly mask of hate as he lunges for Ethan—“kill you.”
Shock makes me slow to react, and I see the glint of metal too late. The bastard made a show of groveling on the floor to retrieve his knife. And suddenly, I know with chilling certainty that the king’s blade is forged with Dangun’s tombstone—a knife capable of killing his son.
Jihun and I rush toward Ethan, but Jang Sanggung somehow reaches him before us and throws herself in front of the king’s knife. She gasps as the blade sinks into her stomach.
“No.” Ethan catches her before she falls to her knees and lowers her to the ground. “Please no.”
“You stupid bitch,” the king screeches, backing away from them. “Guards. Come protect your king, you worthless bastards.”
“Enough.” Ethan doesn’t raise his voice, but it booms through the chambers and smothers the king’s shrill outburst. With one arm holding the wounded sanggung against him, he aims his palm toward his father and blasts a jet of tightly coiled magic from his hand.
Ethan caught him unawares earlier, but the king is prepared for him this time. He only stumbles back two steps before he regains his footing and pushes out both palms to counter the attack. Ethan grunts as the force of the king’s magic shoves his shoulder back, but he manages to keep his arm outstretched.
Gritting his teeth, Ethan sends another pulse of magic out of his palm. The king staggers but holds his ground. The open flaps of his shirt whip around him, drawing my eyes to his torso. The needles I placed in him still protrude from his chest and the side of his neck. I spin toward the doorless entrance as the king’s royal guards rush into the chambers with their swords drawn.
“Stand down, guards.” Jihun steps in front of them and summons his longsword. “You have no reason to die tonight.”
But the royal guards seem to have a death wish and rush the formidable suhoshin with a battle cry. With a resigned sigh, Jihun blocks and parries their strikes with unhurried swings of his sword, making no offensive moves of his own.
Ethan’s shoulders are squared again, but his extended arm is trembling under the strain of battle. The king grits his teeth to hold himself steady, but he won’t be able to last much longer either. Even so, Ethan can’t win this battle with Jang Sanggung in one arm.
My hand is slick with my blood, but the wound has already stopped bleeding. I hastily wipe my palm and fingers on my apron and reach for my acupuncture box. Jihun still holds off the royal guards without attacking them, but his movements are sharper, more focused, as they advance on him. Trusting he has the situation under control, I withdraw a needle and grip it tightly between my thumb and index finger.
I focus my eyes on the magic pulsating between the King of Mountains and Ethan. Their life forces extend forward and outward, creating a long cylindrical stream of power between them. The green of the king’s gi and the silver-green swirl of Ethan’s gi clash evenly at the middle, where fiery bursts of magic erupt like crashing waves.
I definitely donotwant to find out what happens if I so much as brush against such powerful magic. But my stomach lurches when the king launches a surge of power at his son and Ethan’s silver-and-green gi loses half the ground.
I have to get the last needle into the king’s solar plexus and paralyze him.
The king will see me coming. It can’t be helped. I just have to be fast—so fast that the king won’t get a chance to react and aim one of his hands at me. But if he does, then that would divert some of his power toward me and Ethan can overtake him. It’s basically a win-win situation, except the second win will cost me my life. Ethan will live, though.
I shift into a runner’s crouch, wishing I could take my gumiho form. I’m so much faster in that body. Too bad I need opposable thumbs for acupuncture. There’s no time to overthink it.Sorry, Captain Seo. I have to act, not think.
And I take off toward the King of Mountains.
Chapter Twenty-One
The chambers blur around me as I rush toward the King of Mountains. I’m stunned at my speed—my human body is moving as fast as my gumiho—but I’ll take it and gladly. I can think about the why later. I near the king in a heartbeat and drop into a baseball slide, barely avoiding the stream of power. I pop up between his outstretched arms just as the king’s startled gaze meets mine.
“Freeze.” I stick the needle into his solar plexus, and the king does exactly as he’s told. He freezes with his arms extended in front of him, wearing a look of gaping shock, and his magic shuts off all at once.
