Wicked Fox (Gumiho #1)(61)

“She’s here because you’re about to get what you deserve.” The old shaman’s voice was filled with a hate that stung Miyoung even though she wasn’t the target.

“You’re still caught up about that?” Yena flicked her fingers, dismissing Shaman Kim’s anger so easily that the older woman glowered. “That happened twenty years ago.”

“Sixteen,” Nara shouted. “You killed my parents sixteen years ago.”

“No.” Miyoung’s voice came out a croak of surprise. Yena didn’t spare her a glance, but Nara did.

“I’m sorry. You were just a path to her.” The moonlight on her skin might have been pretty if Nara’s face wasn’t contorted in rage.

“What are you saying?” Miyoung asked.

“It’s not enough to take her life,” Shaman Kim hissed. “She took almost everything from us. We will take the same from her.”

Yena’s eyes flashed and she took a menacing step.

“Stop!” Nara yelled. Clearly a command for Yena but it was Miyoung who suddenly felt rooted to the ground.

“What’s going on?” Miyoung asked, trying desperately to lift her feet.

“I have her yeowu guseul.” Nara held up her fisted hand, then turned to Yena. “Don’t come closer or she’ll suffer.”

Yena’s lips peeled back in a snarl and she took another step.

“Seonbae, break your hand,” Nara said.

Miyoung gripped her left hand with her right before she could stop herself, squeezing until she felt the minute crack of bone. She let out a howl of pain but still she held on, crushing her fingers until they were swollen, broken things.

“Stop this!” Jihoon shouted, trying to pry her hands apart.

“Fine!” Yena halted.

“Stop,” Nara commanded, and Miyoung let go with a whimper. Her hands fell to her sides and she would have dropped to her knees if Jihoon wasn’t holding her up.

“You always told me I deserved redemption,” Miyoung said, sorrow thick in her voice. “And the whole time you were a monster, too.”

Tears fell in tracks down Nara’s cheeks. “I did want redemption for you. Maybe you can find it in the afterlife.”

The pain of Nara’s words pierced deep. Nara’s friendship had all been a lie, a cruel trick to get Miyoung to trust her.

“I guess Jihoon would have been collateral damage, then. If that dokkaebi had killed him, too?” Somehow, that enraged her the most. That Jihoon would have died for Nara’s revenge.

“He wasn’t supposed to be there. It could have ended quietly, without all of the pain you’ve felt the past two months.”

“Oh, how kind of you, to want to kill me quickly.” Miyoung’s words were meant to be cold, but she couldn’t stop the break in her voice.

Not Nara. She cared about me, her mind cried, denying this new truth.

“The Taoist talisman?”

“The ghosts were supposed to scare you enough to come to us for help.”

A flash of movement appeared and Miyoung thought it was those ghosts at first.

“Mother!” she shouted as Yena sprinted forward. Her mother hesitated mid-step, not for long, but long enough for Shaman Kim to scramble back, pulling Nara with her.

The young girl fell to her hands and knees and squealed as she went sprawling. The yeowu guseul slipped from her hand, rolling across the ground. Miyoung was finally released from the hold, and she dove, grabbing Yena’s ankle. Her mother kicked out, connecting with Miyoung’s broken hand, forcing her to let go. But it had been enough to allow Nara to limp after her halmeoni.

There was no time to think about why Miyoung sought to save Nara. Maybe she needed to prove she was not the monster the shamans painted her to be.

Shaman Kim ducked behind the first line of trees. It seemed a faulty strategy: The thick trunks did little to hide the woman, and Nara’s bright hanbok was like a beacon among the gray trees.

Yena grinned as she homed in on her prey.

Shaman Kim pulled a bujeok out of her sleeve. The red hanja glowed as the woman muttered desperate words.

Yena leapt at the same moment Shaman Kim slapped the bujeok against a tree trunk. Yena was shoved back as if by an invisible wall. Falling through the air to land with a heavy thud.

“Mother!” Miyoung ran to her side.

“You will not touch my kin again,” Shaman Kim decreed from behind the safety of her talisman. “Come, Nara.”

As they fled, Yena shoved Miyoung away in a rage. “You fool! Look what you’ve done!”

Miyoung opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped at the sound of shuffling to their left. Jihoon stood in the middle of the clearing, now cradling the yeowu guseul delicately.

“Give that back!” Yena leapt up.

Miyoung scrambled after her.

Yena’s legs were longer than Miyoung’s. Her muscles were quicker. But Miyoung had the strength of fear. She tackled her mother to the ground.

They rolled through dead leaves and grass.

“You will kill him or I will,” Yena growled, yanking free easily, as Miyoung had only one good hand. She grabbed Miyoung by the shoulders.

“I can’t.” Miyoung grimaced as her mother’s nails dug into her flesh, drawing blood.

“I told you not to talk to the shamans and you did. I told you not to use Taoist magic and you did. When will you realize that everything I do is for you?” Yena’s eyes became wide white orbs, her nostrils flaring.