Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3) (10 page)

The wrap-around ramp grew steeper, and there were successively more holo-doors for Mun Mu to scan his hand against in order to gain entry. Few personnel were allowed in the upper belts, he explained as he led us down a dark hall lit only by glowing geodes in the floor.

“Your mother mentioned you lost your job, Citlalli. There might be a place here at Yong Enterprises for you,” Mun Mu continued, the latest in a string of compliments to the pro-Citlalli parade. “I understand Old Man Zhi left his lantern shop to you? Can you make magical lanterns like he did?”

Citlalli flushed. “I can do some of the basic designs. I made Raina a Sunshine Lantern to keep the dark away!”

Mun Mu raised an eyebrow. “A dragon should not be afraid of the dark.”

“Thanks, what rule was that in the Declaration of Dragonhood you sent me?” I asked sarcastically.

“Raina.”

I whirled on Citlalli and let my inner Were flash: amethyst eyes and a thunderous growl. Fawning over my father as if he were, well,
hers
was one thing. Siding with a
stranger
when she knew my Eve experience hadn’t been rainbows and butterflies was another.

Citlalli hesitated, and then backtracked. “I’m just saying, Appa
here could help you overcome your fears. Those undead ass-fuckers have already done enough to hurt you. They shouldn’t have one more second of control over your life.”

My temper snapped. “Thanks, Citlalli, but they do. I’m sorry if watching me wallow about in fear has become too pathetic for you.”

I felt a hand on my shoulder: Mun Mu’s. His black eyes were alive and crackling with enough electricity to power the building.

“You have known much grief for one so young,” he said softly, “but that is why I think this floor will help you. The upper belts are for our clients who are—unseen.”

“What do you mean? Oh!” We entered a tall, glass-ceiling dome where rainbow light tumbled down over a river of spirits. They danced to a lively melody.

A tall Korean girl with clever black eyes pranced around with a violin tucked under her chin as if it were an extension of her. Her waist-length hair flowed around her like threads of shadowy silk. Up above, ghosts of small children, bearded turtles, miniature winged horses, and blue paper cranes flew in time to the music. In the heart of them all: a gamboling green dragon. I laughed and waved at Heesu.

Citlalli fell into a defensive crouch, sniffing about warily. “What is this? Are we in Eve?”

Mun Mu smiled proudly. “This is the Rainbow Room. Its ceiling is made of special crystals that refract not only light, but dimensions. We can see into other realms besides ours. Especially at dawn and sunset, the veil is thin and we see the spirits most clearly. Which is why Sun Bin should have brought offerings, just in case they decided to come over to our side.” He frowned at the dancing violin girl.

She ignored him, leaping onto the empty offering table and drawing the playful melody down to a slow-moving interlude. The spirits mirrored her music, coming to sway gently like leaves in the wind. Sun Bin leaned heavily on the lower strings, and eventually the spirits were lulled to sleep. They blinked once, twice, their auras swelling like heartbeats, and then they vanished amidst the setting sun’s rays.

Heesu had been lulled to sleep by the enchanting music as well. She awoke mid-fall and just managed to shift back into a human girl in time. Even so, she landed heavily on her rear.

“Ouch! Unni! You did that on purpose!” she cried in Korean.

Sun Bin burst out laughing, a wicked gleam darkening her eyes. “Oh, poor baby girl. Next time I’ll bring Appa’s food offerings for you to land in.”

“Yong Sun Bin. Yong Heesu. Behave yourselves,” Mun Mu said sharply. “This is your half-sister Raina and her sister, Citlalli Alvarez.”

Heesu recovered quickly from her fall. She bounded over to hug me and then pumped Citlalli’s hand enthusiastically. Sun Bin hung back, carefully arranging her violin in its case while sizing me up behind her curtain of dark hair.

“So you’re the Yong family bastard,” she drawled. Her English was casual and smooth with a hint of a British accent, as if she had spent extensive time overseas. She seemed to think no more of using it than of tying her shoes.

Sun Bin rubbed resin down her bow once, twice. “Shitty time you chose to show up. Now I get to devote all of my time training to be the fuckin’ ice lizard princess instead of winning an international violin competition.”

Crap. I had met my older half-sister, and she was a beautiful, mean-spirited version of Mari.

Mun Mu hissed in displeasure and placed his hands over Heesu’s ears. “Yong Sun Bin
,
you will not treat our guests with such disrespect—”

She put up her hands. “Whoa, make up your mind, Dad. Are they guests or are they family? I’m just speaking to them in a language they
understand
. Wouldn’t want there to be any
miscommunications
.”

“So there is a reason winter is everyone’s least favorite month.” I’d known Citlalli wouldn’t be quiet for long. She folded her arms. “Please go to your fancy orchestra thingy. I’m sure we’ll all get on fine without the ice lizard bitchess.”

Sun Bin’s eyes lit up. She sauntered over to Citlalli, her long neck bobbing like a reptile’s. “My, my, where did you come from?” she exclaimed. “I like you. You say what you mean, unlike this one.” She clicked her tongue at me. “
Can
you even speak?”

Heesu gripped my hand, and I felt a little stronger. “Yes, go to your violin recital,” I said hoarsely. “Just because I’m in your life now doesn’t mean everything else has to stop.”

Sun Bin sighed and regarded me pityingly. “Poor baby imugi,” she said, reaching out to smooth my hair. I caught a flash of silver in her eyes and realized it was her inner Were, probably thinking up ways to freeze me to death. “You didn’t grow up a Yong, or else you would know that now everything
does
stop. Your school work. Your love life. And worst of all: your K-drama time. We only have so much time to train before the next yeouiju falls.”

“What’s a yeouiju?” Citlalli nodded to Mun Mu. “Can we add that to my take-home list?”

This was the third time she’d made him laugh. All of the Yongs were practically in stitches.

“A yeouiju is the Dragon’s Pearl,” Heesu finally managed. “It only falls from Heaven during Chuseok in eighth lunar month, usually your September. The Dragon’s Pearl give you omni—omnipot—how do I say?” she asked her father.

“Don’t give yourself a brain aneurysm, sweetie,” Sun Bin said, bored. “Omnipotent powers. All-powerful, creation-at-will abilities. You see, Alvarez,” she continued lecturing me, “we are only three-toed imugi. Unwise, silly children. We cannot hold a yeouiju in our current form or else it would break and scatter calamities across the earth. That is why we must present ourselves to the Lady Tiger in Eve, pass four tests from these old-as-dust guardians to gain wisdom, and then grow our fourth claw. Only then can one of us catch a yeouiju and become a full dragon.”

“Does it matter who catches the yeouiju?” I asked. Sun Bin said, “No,” at the same time Heesu cried, “YES!” and glared at her.

“Raina, we are a team,” my younger half-sister said fiercely, grabbing my arm. “We are Summer and Spring. If one of us catches the yeouiju, then there will be many happy, golden years as opposed to Sun Bin and her twin brother Ankor, who cast shadows. Whichever Celestial Dragon wields a yeouiju will make the fortunes for the age. Since it may be some time before all of the Celestial Dragons have them,
who
catches the yeouiju first is very important.”

“Yes, I plan on pounding the earth with hailstorms, blizzards, and general snow fuckery,” Sun Bin said, and Mun Mu grabbed her roughly by the arm.

“That does it. With the way you act, Raina stands the best chance of catching her yeouiju first. You have no sense of maturity. Get out of here.”

Sun Bin stood her ground rebelliously. “You owe me monies for serenading injured spirits for the past four hours, Big Daddy.”

“Get out!”

Seeing your father start to breathe smoke was a ball-breaker, even for Sun Bin. The Winter Dragon punched me in the shoulder as she left. “See how much fun this is going to be?”

Chapter 11: Internal Differences

~Citlalli~

We returned home to find Miguel sprawled on the couch watching a TV news broadcast. The weather forecaster skipped over Jeju Island as if it didn’t exist, and I swallowed. It was as if the giant tropical island had just vanished off the face of the earth. Weren’t families thinking of their loved ones there? Weren’t resorts noticing a sizeable decrease in profits, at least?

In the bathroom, Mami applied her favorite purple eye shadow from The Face Shop.

“How did it go?” she asked, leaning over the sink to dust the creases of her eyes sparkling violet.

“Great,” I said at the same time Raina answered, “Horrible.”

Immediately, Mami’s attention snapped to her youngest daughter. “Did he treat you poorly, Raina? I’ll call Mun right now and give him a piece of my mind.”

“I bet you’ll give dear old ‘Mun’ a piece of something,” Miguel muttered as I flopped down beside him.

“Cut it out.” I punched him in the shoulder. “Dude, you should see Yong Enterprises. It’s amazing. Raina’s father said he might get me a job there, so you better give me a good reference,
Manager
Alvarez.”

“He’s that rich, eh?” Miguel grinned. “Wait until you see his house!”

“What?” Raina spluttered.

Miguel waved a hand in Mami’s direction. “Why do you think
la
señorita
is dolling herself up? You’ve been invited over for dinner tonight!”

“You are welcome to come too,
Miguelo
,” Mami called.

“Just wear the Dokkaebi invisibility cap I gave you,” I added. “You can scout out the dragon’s lair before deciding if you’re going to make an appearance at dinner.” I’d passed the invaluable bowler’s hat on to my brother after Raina and I had decided that he needed a one-up on any vampyres who targeted him—mainly so he could run away.

“As much as I’d love rubbing elbows with the man who destroyed our family, I have a date tonight with a beautiful lady.”

I gagged, and Miguel elbowed me. “Take pictures of the Lizard Mansion, okay? Let’s see how much won this guy is worth. Must be in the upper digits if he owns a house instead of an apartment.”

Unruffled, Mami applied a thick layer of mascara. “Glad to see you two have your priorities straight as usual.”

I bounded up and down on the couch next to Miguel like a newborn pup. “Yong Enterprises produces this thing called a Yeong-o Bot that teaches English, and I bet Mun Mu could hook up Daniella with one for her classroom! The kids would
love
her!”

“Okay, enough!”

The unfamiliar harsh voice made us all drop what we were doing and turn toward Raina. Wolf whined, and I gulped. She was glaring straight at me.

Raina took a couple of deep breaths, struggling to calm herself. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to
your
pack, Citlalli?”

I glanced around uncertainly. Mami’s hair straightener hissed in the background. “Yeah, but you come first. You’re my blood family, and this is the first time you’ve met your father—”

“Exactly,” Raina breathed through her nostrils. “
My
father. He’s not yours. In fact, it’s funny, isn’t it, that you are so forgiving of him when you and Miguel held a grudge against Mami ever since my birth exposed the affair. If Mun Mu were
poor
would you be so quick to sing his praises?”

I glanced sideways at Miguel. He looked as stunned as I felt. I muttered, “Well, technically Mami and Mun Mu would have never met if he hadn’t been wealthy enough to hire a foreign food service consultant—”

“You both are horrible opportunists who’ve treated Mami and me badly my entire life!” she cried, and I flinched.

“Mija.” Mami emerged from the bathroom in an elegant scarlet dress and placed a hand on Raina’s trembling shoulder. Miguel opened his mouth, but she raised a neatly manicured hand.

“You are a blessing, Raina, and others should never resent you,” Mami said softly. “I do not believe in one love for life; I believe in many. Mun Mu and I didn’t intend to come to care for one another, but we were young. We believed in passion and making the most of a life you only live once. There were consequences to my actions, but they are mine alone. I hurt your father, your siblings, and you for the stigmas you have to endure. But at the end of our business engagement, when Mun Mu asked me to come back to Korea with him—I ended things. I couldn’t leave my children.”

“Why’d you do it?” Miguel crouched rigid and alert on the edge of the sofa. “I’ve asked you a thousand times, but I never understood why. Papi gave up everything for you. He never wanted to live in America. Now he only stays there and drinks in some silly fantasy that one day you’ll return.”

“Your father stays in America because he must,” Mami spoke, her voice suddenly sharp. “México is not safe.”

“Not everyone in México gets shot up by a cartel like your parents did,” Miguel said flatly.

“There are worse things out there than cartels. Given recent events, I would expect you two to understand that,” Mami evaded, giving Miguel and me a stern look.

“Don’t be too hard on Mami,” I told Miguel. “She sacrificed me to save your life after you were wounded facing Duck Young, after all. And now you’re co-manager at the ‘family’ restaurant while I’ve been fired.”

“Oh, Citlalli.” Mami sighed and glanced at the clock. “Do you really need to bring this up now?”

“Well how about this, then? While the rest of you are set in your financial futures, I don’t have a job, and I gave myself a high school diploma because my homeschool mentor was murdered!” I folded my arms to hide the smoke curling up from my fingertips. “Kinda decreases my chances to get into a highly-competitive Korean university, doncha think? So excuse me for being
opportunistic
and pulling a few strings to get in at a respected, innovative company! Think of it as something
good
coming out of this whole shitty mess!”