Silvern (The Gilded Series) (3 page)

After I check in with the nurse, I turn to Marc and Michelle. “If you guys don’t mind, I’d like to see Komo alone.”

“Of course.” Michelle perches on one of the chairs lining the wall and pulls out her phone. “We’ll wait here.”

“If you need anything, let me know,” Marc says, but his brow is furrowed, and he’s got that brooding expression on his face. It must be taking every inch of his willpower to not demand to follow me. But he pulls out his phone and settles next to Michelle.

I give them a half wave with my bouquet and proceed down the hallway, my sneakers squeaking on the freshly cleaned floor. But when I reach Komo’s door, I hesitate, my hand on the cold knob. I swallow hard, hoping I’m wrong and Komo’s perfectly safe. I step inside, and my eyes dart to her bed.

She’s there, buried under a pile of blankets. Her head rests on a tumble of pillows, and her eyes are closed. The soft rising of her chest tells me she’s alive, and I let a long breath of relief. Gently, I close the door, and as I do my emotions almost come rolling out of me. Tears creep to the corners of my eyes, and the room swirls for a moment. I realize how panicked I’d become thinking they’d come after her.

I hover by the door until I pull myself together.

“Komo,” I say, knowing she can’t respond, but hoping somehow she can hear me. “It’s me. Your niece, Jae Hwa.”

Quietly, I fill a cup with water and arrange the roses on the nightstand next to her bed. They fill the room with a sweet scent. I pick up her brush and slowly comb her black hair, sprinkled with gray, until it fans out perfectly on her pillow. Then I press down her blankets, crisp and tight, and sit next to her.

This has become our routine these past few months. The tightness in my chest releases with the familiarity.

“Today was my belt test.” I finger the corner of the sheet. “A guy showed up. I think he was from the Spirit World.”

Before she had been taken by Haemosu, her eyes would light at those words, and a plan of action would spin through her mind. But she doesn’t move. Her face keeps its peaceful lines.

“I’m scared,” I admit, and curl my fingers around her hand. “I thought I’d left all that behind when I killed Haemosu. I don’t understand why someone would want to hurt me. He wanted to
kill
me, Komo. I need you to tell me what to do. I need your help, Komo.”

Something rattles behind me. I stiffen and jerk to face the noise. The room remains unchanged. With only a bed and nightstand, its sparseness could qualify for a convent. Grandfather and Dad insisted she get a private room, but now, sitting here, jumping at every rustle and creak, I’m not sure if that was the best idea.

Slowly, I edge off the bed and tiptoe my way to the bathroom. Maybe what I heard was just an orderly pushing a trolley?

Or a tray falling in the next room?

I slip my hand around the wall and flick on the switch. Nothing here but a toilet and sink. I shake my head at my paranoia.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, a flicker of black catches my attention. I squint at the mirror. I shuffle closer.

It isn’t my face staring back at me, but a dark-clothed figure.

I scream.

“Jae Hwa,” lips whisper, blanketed in darkness. “Come. We must talk.”

I push off the sink to escape but slip and fall across the floor. I scramble to my knees and crawl out of the bathroom. A cold pressure clamps around my ankle, dragging me backward. I throw myself against the pull, clawing at the ground with one hand while the other grabs for the doorframe. My leg throbs as if it’s being yanked out of its socket.

I’m hauled across the floor, back into the bathroom, toward the sink.

“Marc!” I can’t stop screaming. Someone
must
hear me.

Terror explodes through every inch of my body as I’m dragged upward and sucked into the mirror.

Darkness rolls around me in thick tendrils. I’m lying on my belly, and the cold stone floor stings my palms. I sit and take in my surroundings. A domed glass ceiling hangs over the large circular room, revealing a midnight sky. The stone walls are the color of onyx, with silver engravings etched into them. A quick glance tells me they’re actually pictures forming a narrative, one after the next.

Hundreds of candles are suspended from the ceiling, hanging upside down. Their flames dangle beneath their holders, reminiscent of snakes’ tongues snapping out at their prey. Black mist drifts across the floor, moving as if alive, seeking to consume anything in its path.

My attention is drawn to the dark-clothed figure standing on a dais in the dome’s center. His features are obscured in black except for two piercing silver eyes. They stare at me, cutting through the darkness like knives.

“I have been so eager to meet you,” the figure says in a deep, vibrating voice.

“Who are you?” My voice is a whisper. “Where am I?”

“Ah, you do not recognize me?” The figure glides around the room. “The ruler of the darkness? The dweller of the night? The keeper of evil?”

“Kud,” I say. Standing before me is the god of darkness. The god Haemosu was working for. My heart sinks.

“Indeed.” Kud sounds pleased with my knowledge of his existence. I don’t like him happy. Not one bit. “The Spirit World speaks of your greatness. Your power.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and stand on shaking legs. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Do not mistake me for a fool. Of course, you know what I speak of. Your land awaits you, its ruler.”

“I think you’ve got me confused with someone else.” I scan the room for a way to escape. “Why am I here?”

“You’ve ruined everything,” he spits harshly.

I’m glad I ruined whatever hell-bent plan he had connived. I know I must tread carefully, but still, I want him angry.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, trying to sound carefree, flippant even. Anything but let him see the fear racing through me.

And then, far, far away, I hear a voice.

Marc?

“Haemosu and I were going to change everything,” Kud continues, raising his fist in emphasis. “Joined as one, we would no longer be limited to night or day. Our power would be limitless, and not even Palk would be able to stop us. But you went and killed Haemosu.”

“Yes, I did.” I lift my chin. “He had my ancestors’ souls. He deserved the fate he got.”

Kud shakes his head and clucks his tongue. “Foolish child. To think you could stand against me.”

I know I should’ve learned not to anger these immortals, but they make it so freaking hard. Then the room begins to spin. What’s happening? The pictures on the walls glow to life, moving and interacting as if they’re mini-TVs. Each one has its own story playing before my eyes.

“We are running out of time,” Kud snaps. “Where is the orb?”

I blink, confused. According to my grandfather, there were six orbs sent from the heavens to create Korea. But over time, nearly all the orbs were lost or put into hiding by the Guardians of Shinshi. The only orb I’ve ever seen was the blue one Haemosu had stolen.

“I gave Haemosu’s orb to Palk,” I say. “It’s now where it belongs.”

Kud growls. His growl amplifies until it shakes the room. The floor quakes, and I stumble and fall to the ground. “No!” he shrieks. “Now Palk’s power will only increase!”

Seeing Kud’s reaction, I’m even more glad—gleeful, even—that I gave Palk the orb. Kud paces the room, the tentacles of his cape swirling around him in a storm.

“All is not lost. There are two left that haven’t been found,” Kud says. “Bring them to me.”

As if I’m actually going to help him. I press my hands to my sides to keep them from shaking. “I’ll pass.” I scowl. “A job like that really calls for an expert. You understand. Where’s the exit to this forsaken place?”

“Oh, my dear. How wrong you are. It was you who defeated Haemosu. It was you who killed my most prized assassin today. I underestimated you. But now I see how perfect you are for what I need.”

I stiffen. Kud sent his assassin to kill me? And now he wants me to do his dirty work? Crap. I swivel, searching the walls. There has to be a way out of here.

“I know what ails your aunt,” he said.

“You do?” I bite my lip, wishing I hadn’t shown any interest. He’ll only use it against me. Stupid, stupid.

“She is lost. The White Tiger orb is the only thing that can find her. It seeks the lost and awakens courage in the weak. Bring me this orb, and I will help you find her.”

Marc’s voice rings across the room again, calling my name over and over. His voice sounds forever away, as if he’s at the end of a distant tunnel. Then I notice one of the moving pictures has me in it. I watch as my own life plays before my eyes.

Me blowing out my birthday candles, hugging my mom, riding in the subway, sitting in class. How is this possible?

And then Marc’s in the picture, his eyes blazing green, his fingers reaching for mine. The pictures spin around and around the room. I break into a run, chasing after the mural with the scenes of my life flashing through it. This has to be the way out. My escape from this monster.

“I cannot let you leave until you agree to help me,” Kud says from his dais. “We could be great together, you and I.”

I race in an endless circle around Kud. The room sways, and I stagger from dizziness. I’m gasping, heaving for air. My legs ache, and I realize I’ll never catch up to the picture with Marc. It’s a merry-go-round that can never be caught.

I stop, bend over, and glance up at Kud. The mist contorting around me, I realize, is actually pieces of his cloak snaking around my legs, pythons ready to strike.

I glare at him. “I will never work with you.”

“Your aunt does not have much more time. Are you willing to risk her life for your stubbornness? But perhaps it is your grandfather’s and father’s lives that you find more valuable. I am sure you could be coaxed into an agreement.”

I gape at him in horror. And then, just as my story picture comes careening back around, I leap and dive into the picture. I reach for Marc’s hand, praying and hoping that it’s a portal and not a wall.

My body slides through the picture. The stone surface stretches and bends around my body as if I’m diving through thick sludge. Marc’s palm clasps hold of mine, and his fingers wrap and squeeze my hand, sending tingles through me like electricity.

For a moment, we’re lost in time. Between worlds. For a breath, it’s only Marc and me, caught in forever and never. Our eyes meet, and I know, I
know
, he would go to the end of the world and die right there for me.

The thought shatters as something seizes my ankle. I glance over my shoulder. It’s one of the black tentacles, dragging me back. My skin is stretched, my muscles pulled, and my hip bones snap one by one. My body screams in agony. Marc’s fingers start to slip from mine.

I can’t let him go. I cry out in frustration and pain. Then, through a watery mirage, I see Michelle race up next to Marc, something in her hand. Tiny scissors. How will she get into this space between worlds?

Undaunted, she reaches out and starts cutting at the misty tentacle wrapped around my ankle. The grip loosens.

Then I’m free and tumbling into Marc’s arms. Back in the world where I belong.

“What in freaking heaven’s name was that?” Michelle asks, her voice a half screech, half quiver.

I press my fingers over my eyes, wishing I could erase those last few moments. I’d thought that after killing Haemosu and telling Palk I didn’t want a part in the Spirit World, my connection to that world would whisk away, and I could be normal again.

I was so wrong. It was foolish of me to even think that.

Marc rubs my arms and pulls me up and out of the bathroom just as a nurse hurries into the room. The nurse’s face is bunched up in worry lines.

“Neo gwaenchanh ni?”
she asks us.

“Everything is fine,” Marc tells her in Korean. “She just slipped in the bathroom.”

“Okay.” The nurse nods, eying us all curiously before leaving. “But if your noise continues, I will call security.”

“Normally I’d be saying how weird it is that you speak better Korean than me,” Michelle tells Marc as she paces the room, “but what happened just a minute ago was beyond bizarre.”

Marc leads me to Komo’s bed, and I perch on its edge.

“I shouldn’t have left you,” he says, his jaw ticking.

“I thought I’d never have to go back to the Spirit World,” I say numbly. “But there I was. All over again.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Marc begins pacing the room. “This is supposed to be over. Haemosu is gone. What happened? What was that place?”

I shrug. “Kud’s hangout, I guess. I don’t even know. I don’t want to know.”

“Kud?” Marc swears under his breath.

“Who’s Kud?” Michelle practically yells, throwing her arms up. “What was that back there? You were
in
a mirror, but it wasn’t a mirror. It was like a window or something.”

“Shh.” Marc looks pointedly at the door. “We don’t need to get kicked out of here.”

“They call him the dark god,” I say. “He was supposedly plotting some scheme with Haemosu, and since I ruined that, he sent his assassin to kill me.” I turn to Marc. “Apparently that guy I killed back at the Kukkiwon headquarters was his assassin.”

“So he’s ticked,” Marc says.

“You killed someone?” Michelle gawks at me.

“Yes and yes.” I bury my face in my hands. “I can’t deal with all of this right now.”

“Okay,” Michelle says. “I get why Marc’s all stalkerish now.”

“Stalkerish?” Marc says. “I am
not
stalkerish.”

“Um . . . you are,” Michelle says.

“Will everyone stop the nonsense,” I practically yell, “and focus on our problem?”

“Listen,” Marc tells Michelle. “I’ll explain everything later. Right now we need to figure out what to do next.”

“I need to talk to Haraboji.” I pull out my phone to call my grandfather. “He’ll know what to do.”

“You know your grandfather will call the whole Council, especially with two hits in one day.” Marc runs his hands through his hair. “It means you’ll have to get involved.”

“I’m way past getting involved.” I take Komo’s warm hand in mine and squeeze it. Somehow I need to find a way to get out of this situation. Kud’s warning vibrates through my mind. He’ll hunt them all down. Every one of my family members, because a god like that won’t be satisfied with killing just my dad and grandfather. Nothing will stop him unless I work with him.

Haraboji doesn’t answer the phone.
Figures.

“Sitting around isn’t going to solve anything,” Michelle says. “I propose we get some food. I can never think clearly on an empty stomach. Besides, Jae is about to pass out, and Marc, you look like the walking dead.”

The three of us head down the hill into Sinchon for
kalbi
. Normally my mouth would be watering just thinking about Korean barbecue and steamed rice, but right now it’s chalk-dry and my stomach won’t stop rolling. When we step into the restaurant, it’s swarming with college students. I put my name in for the next open table, practically yelling at the hostess since the restaurant is so loud.

This place is a popular hangout, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and round, candy-colored paper lanterns hanging from above. Small rectangular tables rest low to the ground in traditional Korean style with built-in stoves in their centers. Seeing all of this reminds me of the last time Marc and I were here. We’d come after the APAC basketball tournament, secretly, since Dad still wasn’t thrilled about me dating Marc. I’ll never forget that feeling of pure happiness. No demanding calls from Grandfather or Komo, just the two of us daring each other to eat the most—or endure the spiciest bite. No strange creatures chasing us down.

That was just a facade, I now realize. I had been living in an imaginary world.

While we wait for a table to open up, I try to call Grandfather again. If anyone would know what to do with this mess, he’d know. But he doesn’t answer. I could kill him. This isn’t the time to decide to go phoneless.

“Haraboji!” I yell into his answering service, probably too loud, but really, he needs to start using his phone. “Call me back. ASAP. This is
important
.”

“You think your grandfather can help you?” Michelle asks. A white sheen still covers her face, and her hands shake. I hope she’ll be able to recover after seeing what she saw today.

“Yes.” I try to use my most confident voice. “He’s an expert in this kind of stuff.”

Finally, we get a table, and my stomach starts growling. Maybe because I skipped breakfast this morning. After I order us a meal to feed ten, Michelle wags a finger at me.

“No more secrets,” she says. “There’s something going on. Something big, and I want to know what it is. I’m tired of all your riddles and half explanations.”

Marc rubs the side of his jaw and looks at me. I shrug and take a sip of my Coke.

“She did see it with her own eyes,” I tell Marc. “Who knows what kind of trouble we’d be in if she hadn’t intervened?”

“Think of the Spirit World and our world as parallel lines.” Marc turns the meat over on the griddle in the table’s center. “Each world is separate, but they move at different speeds. And in some places, they touch each other.”

“If the worlds touch,” I add, picking two straws from our Cokes and bending them so one part touches, but the other parts of the straws don’t, “they can enter our world and we can enter theirs. It seems there are specific places that are more likely to connect. Especially if they have a spiritual connection either through an object or a historical place. Does that make sense?”

“No, not at all.” Michelle taps her chopsticks on the table. “We need to talk to Kumar and Lily about this. This is huge. Kumar’s so smart, he’ll know what to do. We’ve got to find somebody who can help you.”

“No!” Marc and I yell at the same time.

I scan the restaurant. The dishes clank in the kitchen. A group in the corner laughs and then raises their glasses in a toast. The couple next to us glances our way, but resume talking. I let out a short breath. Thank God for noisy college hangouts.

“You can’t tell anyone about this,” I say, quieter this time. “As a punishment for being sent to jail, the dean has me seeing the counselor, and Dad’s already considering therapy to stop me from ‘seeing things.’”

“Girl, after seeing what I saw, I might need therapy. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Dad takes things to the extreme,” I say. “I can’t risk it.”

“There’s a council that I’m a part of,” Marc explains to Michelle. “They are the best suited for this. In fact, this kind of thing is exactly what the Council was created for.”

My phone rings. It’s Grandfather. “Haraboji?” I say. “What took you so long to call back? Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“The Council has called an emergency meeting,” Grandfather says, totally ignoring my comment. “We have already assembled and discussed a plan. They want you to come.”

My head reels. I hadn’t expected this. “Me? But I’m not a member. I didn’t think I was allowed at your secret meetings.”

“Things have changed,” he says in his brisk, deep voice. “Marc will be getting a call shortly. He’ll escort you there.”

Escort? I rub my forehead. Sometimes Grandfather acts like he’s from the last century. “Okay.”

“Until then,
annyeong kyeseyo
.” And he hangs up.

I set my phone down just as Marc’s rings. His eyes find mine as he listens to the person on the other line. I suddenly notice his ring. It’s no longer a simple gold band. It has the symbol of the Tiger of Shinshi engraved on it. Things have just gone from complicated to impossibly complicated.

“We’ve got to go,” Marc tells me as he puts his phone away. “They’re already assembling.”

“Your ring,” I say. “It has a tiger on it now.”

“They inducted me last night.” Marc stares at the ring and then back at me. He lets out a long breath. “I wanted to tell you in person over dinner, after your belt test.”

It’s finally happened. He’s now an official Guardian of Shinshi. I should be thrilled for him. This is something he’s wanted for a long time. The truth is I don’t want him a part of any of this. My chest pricks knowing that as one of the Guardians of Shinshi, he’ll be sent on secret missions as a defender and protector of Korea’s heritage. Without me.

He’ll be putting himself in danger every time. He could get hurt, killed even.

It’s bad enough that my grandfather is all cloak-and-dagger, since he’s a member of the Council. But to have my boyfriend be a part of it all, too? It’s not settling in so well.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Marc says, his eyes pleading. “You know what this means to me.”

“Congratulations.” Guilt tugs at me, and I force a smile. “We’ll have to celebrate.”

“Yes.” He rolls the ring around his finger. “After we make sure you’re safe.” Worry flicks across his features. He tosses some
won
on the table. “We should go.”

I pick up my chopsticks and stuff my mouth with rice. “Not until I eat something. I’m starved.”

“They don’t like to be kept waiting.” Marc jams his hands into his pockets.

“And I really don’t like being told what to do.”

“Leave her alone,” Michelle says. “She should eat. Especially after going through such a traumatic situation.”

I check the steak, and seeing it’s cooked enough, blow on it and pop it into my mouth. “Listen, I know it’s not your fault that the Council of Shinshi is insanely obsessed with protocol, but they can wait two minutes, so I can shovel some food down my throat.”

Michelle ticks the ends of her perfectly manicured nails on the table. “These council people need to chill. Personally, I don’t like any of it. Jae, you really should stop and think about this. Do you have to go? Maybe if you just ignore this crazy Kud guy, he’ll leave you alone.”

Marc snorts and crosses his arms, but he doesn’t say anything, so I’ve got to give him some credit.

“He’s the one pursuing me,” I say, not caring that my mouth is full. “He seems to think I have some special ability or something that can help him. Which is ridiculous, but whatever.”

I rip out tiny square napkins from the table dispenser, stacking them into a pile. Then I load them with meat strips. Grease spills onto the table, but it will do.

“Thanks, girl, for saving me back there,” I say.

She stands. “I’m coming with
you.”

My heart twists, seeing her panicked expression.

“Afraid I can’t let you,” Marc says. “The Council doesn’t allow outsiders. Jae Hwa will be the first exception. Ever.”

“Well,” Michelle huffs. “Who made you her boss?”

“Not boss,” Marc says. “Protector. And the Council did.”

I roll my eyes at Marc’s nonsense. “Just humor him, Michelle,” I say. “We both know
I’m
the real protector. Besides, I can’t let you get hurt. It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m not an idiot.” She crosses her arms, glaring. “Sure it’s dangerous, but if I hadn’t been back there, snipping away, who knows what would’ve happened. You need me. Ever think about that?”

I take her hand. “You have to promise you won’t try to get involved. I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”

“And you don’t think I feel the same way?” she huffs. “Fine. But call me when you get home, so I know you’re okay.” Then to Marc, “And you now have my approval to stalk her.”

“See you at school tomorrow.” I give her a hug.

Marc puts his hand on the small of my back as we exit the restaurant. “So back to the protector thing,” he says. “Who was it that found you when you were stuck fighting Haemosu or when you got lost in Kud’s creepy room?”

“We’ll call it a team effort, since you paid for dinner.”

“If you insist.” He smiles.

I can’t resist that smile, and I kiss the dimple on his cheek. “I do.”

There’s something about Marc that one kiss doesn’t satisfy. Maybe it’s the feel of his body pressed against mine or the way his lips kiss me back softly and desperately all at the same time. But here I am again, wrapping my free hand behind his neck and pulling him in for more. It’s not until a group of students pushes past us that I’m dragged back to reality.

We step away from each other, but I hold on to his fingers, not wanting to let the moment go.

“That was an avoidance tactic,” Marc says. “You know how to make a guy forget everything. Including secret meetings.”