The Spirit Heir (31 page)

"Perhaps she has not told me the complete truth, but she is far less guilty than you."

"A loyal friend." He sighed, raising his brows. "But not so loyal that you'll kill me and end it all now."

Jinji remained silent, completely still. But that was response enough.

"Well," he continued, "you can tell my spirit-self not to be so worried about her world. One lifetime is all I need to destroy it. Unless of course, you decide to destroy me first."

It was a challenge.

Jinji bit her lip, muscles straining.

Your brother is already dead
, the voice whispered,
he would want you to do it.

But he wasn't dead. Just as the spirit dragon lived in her head, Janu was in there somewhere, and Jinji could not kill him. At least not yet. Not until she heard his voice, his true voice—full of kindness and joy. The voice that always made her laugh, always brought her so much joy. The voice that used to whisper with her in the darkness of their family tent, playing games, sharing secrets, telling stories, wondering what their futures would bring but never imagining this.

No.

Not yet.

Not unless he told her to.

"Well, this has been interesting, but—"

A roar cut the shadow off, stealing the words from his breath as the ground below them began to tremble, began to shake. Rage and fury fueled the sound, burning her skin as though the air were on fire.

Everything stopped.

Jinji stared at the shadow. He stared at her.

And then he ran, sprinting backward down the cavernous room, turning down an empty hall. Jinji chased after him, one thought filling her mind.

Rhen.

She didn’t know what or how, but she knew that Rhen was involved. Her fire spirit. Her prince. Her troublemaker.

The shadow didn't stop until his feet raced outside onto a wide balcony. Jinji followed, slamming into a stone rail, distracted by the view swelling in her eyes.

Flames.

Opposite them, high on a towering peak, orange and red glowed against the Gates, furiously sparking against the blue sky, brighter than the sun. There was no source, no clue as to how or why, but the mountain had caught fire.

A dragon has been awakened
, the voice whispered, tone laced with glee, cheerful.

"Dragon?" she mouthed.

And then Jinji understood. It was what the phantom had been trying to tell them—the dragons were alive, they were just waiting—waiting for riders.

Rhen. The fire spirit had found his dragon. A fire dragon.

Were there others?

Three others?

A scream interrupted her thoughts, pulling Jinji back to the balcony, back to the shadow who had grabbed his head in frustration, turning on her with wide eyes. "One," he seethed, "you have one but you won't get the others."

And then he paused, taking a deep breath before curling his lips in a sinister smile. Taunting, daring her, he purred, “Watch after my body while I’m gone.” Then the shadow collapsed, body crumbling hard against the stone as his eyes slammed shut.

"Janu!" Jinji cried, dropping to the floor.

But her brother didn’t stir. His lids remained shut and his breathing slowed, steady as though in sleep. Jinji shifted his head onto her lap, brushing his bony cheeks with her fingers, relishing in the copper skin that melded together—the same color, the same blood.

Family.

She had family.

She wasn't alone.

Overwhelmed, Jinji closed her eyes, brushing her lips against his forehead, hating how dry and lifeless his skin felt. Coarse black hair slid between her fingers, longer than hers, bringing a slight grin to her lips.

Would he recognize her when he woke?

Would he think he looked into a mirror?

Gazing down, she saw the small differences, but Jinji had worn his face for so long that looking at Janu felt like looking at her own reflection. But they had both grown up, matured—she a woman, he a man—but so much more. After all he had been through, would he remember their family? Their people? Their bond?

Can you feel it?
the voice asked.

Jinji didn't bother to glance up. Her eyes remained glued to Janu, and she wasn't sure if she would ever look away.

"Feel what?"

The dragon. Can you feel it burn your chest?

"I can." Jinji sighed, wanting to ignore the words, but at the same time unable to deny the sensation tickling her heart, the new awareness that part of her was alive somewhere else in the world. "Why can I?"

Because it is part of us, our powers brought to life. Fire. Earth. Water. Air. Four dragons, one for each element. Made to protect the world when I cannot, to keep my spirit realm safe when I am gone or when I cannot be everywhere at once.

"Why haven't I felt them before? Where are the others?"

Only the riders can bring them life. The fire dragon chose Rhen, so now they are as one—one mind, one body, one power. You must find other spirit humans and you must bring them here to undergo the trial. We must wake all four of the dragons before it is too late.

Suddenly everything clicked into place. Jinji gasped. "Is that why the shadow has been killing the spirit users? So we cannot wake the dragons?"

They are our only weapons against the souls he will bring through the ether, the only chance we have.

"I—"

But the moment her mouth opened, the body in her lap shifted, dragging her attention away. All thoughts of dragons, of shadows, of spirits, completely fled her mind. There was nothing but her brother, resting in her arms, miraculously brought back from the dead.

"Janu," she murmured. "Can you hear me?"

He stirred. But remained silent.

Jinji cupped his cheek, leaning over him. "Janu, come back to me."

The corners of his cheeks lifted and her heart soared. Did he recognize her voice? Did he know she was there? That she was watching over him? Or was it just the shadow, playing another cruel trick?

Jinji pushed the thought aside.

Nothing would destroy this moment.

She bit her lip, looking down, waiting. All the while memories flashed across her thoughts. Janu waking her in the middle of the night, holding her hand when she had a bad dream. Janu running through the forest, charging ahead as she rushed to keep up, laughter filling her ears. Janu holding her arms, shifting the bow in her hand, teaching her to fight in secret.

Her twin brother.

Her best friend.

Her other half.

Jinji squeezed his fingers. His callused hands closed around hers, holding tight. Then his eyes opened. Warm brown, the color of dirt glowing golden in the sun, laced with tree sap. Kind. Loving. Wet with unshed tears.

She couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.

"Jinji?" his soft voice whispered, laced with disbelief, full of hope.

Elation seized her chest, bubbling hot. But at the same time her heart broke.

Janu was alive.

He was the shadow.

And she would never have the strength to kill him.

20

RHEN

~ THE GATES ~

The dragon landed, settling its wings, burrowing the fire back under its skin. For a moment, it looked at Rhen through the falling embers, questioning. And then slowly, the dragon extended its neck, placing its head right before Rhen's waist.

Grinning, Rhen extended his arm.

The moment his fingers touched the warm scales, a clamp closed around his chest, tight binds wrapped around his heart. Rhen wanted to step back, to step away, but he was frozen in place. Could not move. Could not run. And then the ropes gathering under his skin traveled up, clenching his brain until he believed his head might burst from the pressure. Heat coursed through his body, burning, painful. His vision flashed white. His lips opened in a scream but no sound came out.

As quick as it began, it was over.

Rhen stumbled, stepping back. A new awareness blossomed to life in the back of his mind, as though a piece of him had drifted free of his body and rested somewhere else. A new feeling pinched his heart, tightening his chest. A second heartbeat, slower than his, thrummed through his veins, liquid lava, on fire.

Rhen looked up.

The dragon sat on its hind legs, watching him, waiting.

Rhen stepped closer and the dragon shifted, lowering its wings, slithering as flat as it could go, offering its back. Rhen brushed its scales, pleasure gathering to life in the back of his mind, distant, as though the feeling were his and yet not.

Taking his time, Rhen climbed onto the base of the dragon's neck, finding a secure hold as the beast shifted below him, rising to a standing position. Rhen gripped the sharp rocks cascading down its scales, but they did not break his skin. Beneath his touch, they softened as though made for his palms to hold.

And then nothing.

They sat. Did not move, did not shift.

A lingering sense of impatience filtered across Rhen's thoughts, foreign and familiar. The beat drumming in his veins grew faster.

Curious, Rhen let a single thought fill his mind.

Fly.

Wings pumped beneath him as they surged up, quickly leaving the ground far below as air rushed all around him—air and fire. In seconds, they flew free of the stone room, breaking through the open roof and into the sky. Blue and orange filled Rhen's vision and he held on tight.

Nerves circulated with the growing height—nerves and excitement. And something else—a sense of stretching old muscles, of awakening from a long sleep, almost as though the dragon and he were one.

Left.

The dragon shifted below him, arching to the side in a wide swoop as the flames ran off his skin, brushing over Rhen in a warm blast before tumbling back into the sky.

Right.

They changed directions.

Down.

Wings flattened as they plummeted toward the sea, diving straight down, until at the last second Rhen commanded they soar up. Tail whipping the sea, water splashed across their bodies as the cloudless sky filled his vision.

Rhen's stomach flipped but laughter tore free of his lips. The dragon was him. He was the dragon. Somehow their minds were one, their bodies were one—almost as though Rhen had never been whole until this moment. He had always been missing something, had always felt out of place, alone. Not anymore.

There was only one thing left to do. Something he had ached for since youth, since the first time his pudgy fingers had sunk into a flame unscathed. A power that had always alluded him. A control.

Fire.

The dragon roared, deep and booming, and the air around him trembled with the sheer force of the sound. A blaze traveled beneath the scales, scorching Rhen's hands, until finally flames exploded into the sky, a river of heat. Though it came from the dragon's mouth, Rhen felt that fire in his heart, as though it tore free of his palms. And then he sucked it all from the sky, burrowing the heat beneath his muscles.

Finally, after pretending for so long, Rhen truly was a Lord of Fire.

He could create it.

He could smother it.

He could ride it.

Closing his eyes, at peace, Rhen let the hot wind lick his cheeks.

And then he opened them, turning his gaze south, mind and body focused on one thing—home. Rayfort. His family. His people. They were counting on him and for once, Rhen would not fail them.

But for a moment, Rhen looked back over his shoulders to the white mountains below. Drawn there. Not sure if he should leave.

Jin
.

Rhen had yet to see her since he woke. Was she in danger? Was she hurt? Was she in trouble? But it was her choice not to wake him. To leave him. To exclude him. Where had she gone that she did not want him to follow?

Rhen's heart split down the middle, torn between the people he had abandoned and the woman who had abandoned him.

He wanted to land, to find her, to make sure she was safe. But at the same time, Rhen's thoughts drifted to the army of ships barreling down on his home. Were they there? Had the siege begun? Were his people already dying? His family? The baby?

Jinji was strong—stronger than him.

But his people, they were surrounded, waiting for a miracle.

Decision made, Rhen gritted his teeth and turned the dragon south, urging the beast to fly faster as he pushed thoughts of Jinji from his mind. Wherever she was, Rhen was sure she was safe, was sure he would feel it in his gut if she needed him. And he would return for her, would come find her after the war was over—after he ended it.

Water rushed below them, white caps flashing and disappearing beneath the turquoise waves. From so high, the sea stretched in all directions, ground shifting color depending on the depth of the floor so far below. Dark blue grew lighter, more aqua, clearer as the sand increased in elevation.