Despite not feeding, Miyoung was still fast when she wanted to be. At least she was faster than any human, and she quickly overtook her target. She spun the girl around, black hair swinging to obscure the pale face.
“Song Nara.” Miyoung spat out the name. “What are you doing here?”
Nara adjusted her jacket, trying to assert a semblance of dignity. “I heard you were back in town.”
Miyoung didn’t like the sound of that. Had the shaman been keeping tabs on her?
As if reading Miyoung’s mind, Nara answered, “When a dokkaebi and a gumiho come back into town, the spirits talk. I didn’t realize you’d grown close to Junu.”
“Who I spend time with is none of your business. What do you want? Why are you following me?”
“I’m not following you,” Nara said. “I was following Ahn Jihoon. I wanted to warn him.”
“Warn him? About what?”
“About you. I figured the only reason you’d return was to rip your bead back out of his chest.”
Miyoung startled at the mention of her bead. How could Nara know about that? “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The spirits talk. What you did is unnatural.” Nara paused, conflict clear in her eyes before she continued. “But it was also brave. You saved Ahn Jihoon’s life. I didn’t expect that of you.”
“You didn’t know me as well as you thought you did.”
“Perhaps,” Nara said, studying Miyoung. “But if you truly do care about him, then you’ll leave him alone. My halmeoni still has plans and you should know by now that nothing will get in her way.”
“Threats?” Miyoung lifted a brow. “I’m not scared of you.”
Nara frowned. “If you ever trusted me—”
“I didn’t,” Miyoung lied.
Nara pursed her lips, and Miyoung felt grim satisfaction at the young shaman’s frustration. “Don’t ignore my warning. My halmeoni doesn’t forget and rarely forgives. If I know you’re back, then so will she.”
“That warning is as meaningless as your friendship. You’d never betray your halmeoni like this, and I have unfinished business.”
“If you’re not here to get your bead back, then why did you return?”
“You think I’d tell you that?” Miyoung scoffed.
“Well, if it was easy to accomplish, you’d have done it already. You even have Junu on your side. Perhaps it’s because you don’t have a solution for your problem.”
“And you do? Are you saying you can take my bead out of Jihoon without killing one of us?”
Nara hesitated. “I can’t. I took advantage of a month with a lot of spiritual power when I did it the first time. If I do it wrong . . .” She trailed off, but the implication was clear. Done wrong, it would kill him.
“Then you’re of no use to me,” Miyoung said, and began to leave.
“I did what I did for my family,” Nara called after her. “I thought maybe you could understand that.”
Fury filled Miyoung. “Funny that you think honoring your family requires you to kill. You’re right; it’s something I can understand all too well. I guess that means we’re both monsters in our own right and we’ll both never live up to our families’ expectations now.”
The words aimed to wound. Nara stiffened as they hit their target.
“He shouldn’t be out tonight,” Nara said. “His body has healed from his injuries, but it’s still mortal. And the bead gains power from the moon. It could overwhelm him.”
“What?” Miyoung asked, annoyance lacing her voice.
Nara frowned, then pointed to the sky, toward the full moon.
Miyoung cursed. How could she be so brainless as to lose track of the time. And now she was out during the full moon. It shone down on her, causing her heart to squeeze and her breath to catch.
“Are you okay?” Nara asked, stepping toward Miyoung, but she held up a hand.
“Don’t worry yourself about me,” Miyoung said. “And don’t get in my way. Or your halmeoni will have another reason to want revenge against my family.”
That stopped Nara in her tracks. She gave a curt nod and turned to disappear down the alleyway.
Miyoung glanced back at the moon and rubbed at her chest. She needed to find Jihoon.
47
SENIOR YEAR WAS on the horizon, arguably the hardest year for any Korean teen. And Jihoon found himself hoping for it to arrive faster. He hated the time he spent with nothing but his thoughts. Changwan was away with family for the school break, and Jihoon could only spend so much time at Somin’s without being fussed over.
He tried to fill his time by visiting his halmeoni, but after his own