Year of the Tiger (Changeling Sisters) (21 page)

“My brother grew suspicious. If I were a poor, toiling blacksmith, then where were my scars? Why had I filled out nice and plump, and my hair was free of lice? So he spent one year making this in secret: the truth lantern.”

I held my breath. It was one of the wonders he’d offered to me in his workshop long ago: a lantern that could tell truth from lies.

“He was very sorrowful as he began asking the usual questions:
How were Anli and the children? How was Mother? Had the Emperor threatened us again?
And each time I answered, his face broke down a little bit more. This lantern glowed red the entire time: red, the color of lies. He finally couldn’t speak anymore through his tears.
Why aren’t you green?
he kept repeating.
Why aren’t you true?
I saw the glass lantern, and I knew. I was so angry, I threw it at his shelf. Several fire lanterns fell and combusted. My brother and I escaped, but his hands were burned, badly burned. He would never make lanterns again. And I…” Those empty sockets ached for something to fill them. “I couldn’t see.”

I was almost afraid to ask: “What happened to you?”

“Oh, we were cast out in the streets, of course. My girls, I never saw again. They were taken, in case they later developed the talent. Mother lapsed into senility, but it was a delighted bliss. She would always prattle happily that her two sons had returned to her, and so it was that even in her old age, she took care of us once again. Every day on the streets she would beg for us, imploring strangers: ‘Please. Help my sons. One has no hands. One is blind.’ I would take the coin and go demanding cures from doctors and medicine men for my blindness. I was only robbed. One ancient medicine man finally told me, as he emptied my coin purse: ‘There is no cure for what blinds your eyes.’

“Anli found us eventually. I’d forgotten that my brother had given her a garden lantern for her birthday, which would sprout every evening into the most beautiful flowers. After I’d left her, she’d survived by selling passerby the most wondrous bouquets, until a passing nobleman fell in love with ‘the Flower Girl.’ She now lived in a two-roomed villa overlooking a lush garden in the mountains. When she approached, I could hear her favorite lucky rabbit bracelet jangling and smell the peony perfume she was so fond of. I heard her footsteps pass me by. They stopped at my brother first, and then my mother. Then all three of them faded away.”

That was it. I felt the wind beat at the emptiness rattling within both of us. “So. You died alone on the streets.”

He nodded.

“That sucks. I mean—” I tried to cast around for any silver lining. “You were an asshole even up until the end of your life, but
damn
.”

“I thought much the same, myself. In the end.”

“Well, at least you got your wish.” He glanced at me, and I shrugged. “Certainly it happened in a much more tragic and gruesome way than you pictured—but your family didn’t perish along with you. They were taken care of.”

He still looked miserable. I tried to cheer him up. “And, I mean, it’s not like you’re burning in Hell or something. You’re in Eve. The In-Between. You’ve been given the chance to figure all of this out. And you’re obviously making progress. When I first met you, I would have never guessed you were a cold-hearted son-of-a bitch who sold out his family for riches and power.”

Finally, a small smile. “You say things very plainly.”

“Best way to avoid confusion.”

My fingers wandered over the second glass lantern. It was in the shape of a rhombus, with two crossed branches inside. At my touch, the glass grew warm.

“A second glass lantern?”

“He blew the glass himself. It took me forty sleepless nights to make a copy.” Old Man Zhi cupped it fondly. “It’s a warning lantern. The birthday present he left me. If you think of a loved one really hard, then the warning lantern will tell you if they’re in danger.” He pressed it into my hands. “Here. I think you will use it more than I ever did.”

“Thank you!” I held the lantern close to my heart and closed my eyes, thinking of Raina. The glass grew so hot that I nearly dropped it, but then just as suddenly, it fell cold. When I peered into the rhombus, milky whiteness sloshed around inside.

“It can’t find her.” He looked at me with pity.

Resolutely, I cast Raina aside and thought hard on Marisol. As I’d dreaded, it was the same result.

“It can’t find either of them,” I choked out. Rafael, then. Raf had to be okay. The lantern would find him—

Reassuring yellow warmth seeped through my fingers. Staring hard into the swirling glass, I realized I could
see
him. I recognized his broad shoulders as he leaned over a map. A shorter but just as thickly-muscled man was standing beside him. Jaehoon? The pack had arrived at the shelter, then. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mami.” The pleasant heat remained. She was in her office. Staring out the window. She looked sad, but at least she was safe.

“Miguel.”

The lantern roared to life with intense red-hot fire. The tiny bell dangling from the bottom began to ding high-pitched peals of alarm, and we both covered our ears.

“What does it mean?” I shouted over the bell’s maddening chimes.

“Danger! Life-threatening danger!” Old Man Zhi cried. “Come to your senses, wolf-girl! Find out where!”

I bent low, plugging my ears against the siren. My brother. Face-down on the floor. A shadowy shape pacing back and forth behind.

“What can you see?”

“My brother is a prisoner!” Fear lurched in my chest. No. This couldn’t be happening. I was supposed to meet the vampyres. I was supposed to save Raina. No one was supposed to hurt my family when I wasn’t, when I wasn’t—

What?
Wolf asked sarcastically.
When you aren’t around to protect them? Seems like the perfect time to attack to me.

“Who is it?” I screamed at the warning lantern, shaking it. The infernal heat threatened to melt the skin off my fingers, but I didn’t care. Finally, the figure turned. And I didn’t understand—

“Una,” I whispered. Won Una restlessly prowled around the room, bending from time to time to shake my brother’s shoulders. What was going on? I didn’t understand—but then I saw the candle doorway. The food offering for good spirits. And I knew.

“My brother’s somewhere in Eve!” I shook the lantern as if it were a snow globe, desperate to get more answers, but the red flames only resettled in that image again. I blinked back tears. Damnit, Miguel. Why would he come to Eve? He’d never been here. He wouldn’t know how to handle the not-quite-right-feeling that settled in your stomach upon entering, the ghosts and
Dokkaebi
who lurked in the trees, the trains that could drop you off in an infinity of locations…and a demon fox who knew Miguel’s name before it had ever left my lips.

“Wolf-girl! Put it down! Look at your hands!”

My skin had bubbled up in blisters. With a yelp, I dropped the lantern. Old Man Zhi caught it before it hit the floor.

“Should have known not to trust an animal with something as valuable as this,” he grumbled, tucking it away in a velvet handkerchief.

“My brother is in Eve!” I jumped to my feet, waving my hands wildly to cool them off. Unfortunately, it only looked to Old Man Zhi like I had devolved into a crazy person. He pushed a beaker of water toward me.

“My brother!” I exclaimed again. Old Man Zhi didn’t understand.
His
brother sounded like the type to spend tranquil hours in the company of lily ponds. But Miguel? I could see him now: Miguel, who hated camping because there were “too many trees”, stumbling his way through Eve, updating every ghost from here to Busan on their profanity.

“Zhi Renshu laoshi
.
I know I’m supposed to help you regain your sight.” I frantically scrambled around for my belongings. “I promise I’ll return. But you said it yourself: the warning lantern only glows when someone is in
life-threatening
danger.”

I had to get to my brother. There was no way that was fast enough. Unless— I glanced at the moody skies. I could call a cockatrice. The great chicken dragons used to be charioteers for great kings and queens in past times, but now they would fly you anywhere you wanted in Eve—on the condition that you only called upon them three times. I had kind of already used one of my cockatrice journeys to escape from a fire, my first visit to Eve.

“Citlalli.” I listened when Old Man Zhi said my name. “We’re not alone.”

A tall, fierce woman with panther eyes and skin the color of ebony had materialized out of thin air upon the misty pavilion. A shorter Russian woman with pouty lips and soft curves stood behind her, tightening her mink coat against the light rain.

“Not what you expected, honey?” the tall woman asked me, cocking her head. “Not all of us are hideous soldiers for the Queen to order into battle. Why, some of us Royals are quite beautiful.”

“She’s uglier than either of her sisters,” the Russian woman decided behind her. “And not too bright, either. I wonder if what they say about her hand in Duck Young’s fate is true after all. HELLO?” She stepped closer and waved a mink glove in my face. “You do know why we’re here, don’t you? I am Lady Eva, and this is Lady Amrit, second and first wife to the Throne of Western Europe, his Royal Highness, Prince Donovan Louvel Beauvais. We will escort you to the Vampyre Court.”

“No.” A breath escaped me.

The vampyres exchanged glances. “Excuse me?”

“No! I can’t go with you right now!” I turned desperately back to Old Man Zhi, searching his empty sockets for answers. What should I do? I’d been given a flower-strewn path directly to
two
of my sisters. I’d
sworn
that I would save Raina. The pack’s plans depended on it. But if I fulfilled my vow, then I sacrificed Miguel.

Wolf
, I whimpered,
what should I do
?

Wolf lifted Its head.
I want to hunt fox
, It said,
not shadows
.

I thought of the ethereal white fog floating in the warning lantern. I thought of the harsh lines carving Miguel’s face as he lay on the floor. Both of them needed me.

“Your Queen’s son attacked us unprovoked,” I said bluntly, and both vampyre faces clammed up with something like surprise. “So I’ll be deciding if and when I answer her invitation. You will wait here until I return. Cheer up,” I added to Lady Eva as I shouldered past. “The fresh air’s good for you. Might even add some color to those pasty-ass cheeks.”

I couldn’t understand the steady stream of Russian profanity hitting my back, but I did see Amrit’s face. She suddenly looked—alive. Thirsty. As if something had stirred her from a deep slumber. I didn’t know how old either of them were, but I did know it’d probably been a mistake to make them my enemies.

All in all, I was overjoyed when the great belly of a cockatrice finally broke through the clouds.

Chapter 25: Of Livers and Love

I clung tightly to Kwan’s mane as he propelled his great serpent body through the cloud banks. The cockatrice’s big green head dipped under the clouds, and I spotted an emerald island below, with dramatic peaks jutting up from the jungle. I asked the great cockatrice for the name of the isle, but he only laughed at me, saying that names changed faster than a century’s wind. That didn’t seem very fast to me, but I took his word for it.

“Go to the biggest sea cave,” Kwan said, head bobbling under the ferocity of cold wind currents. “Do not waste any time. I am sorry we could not reunite under better circumstances.”

The soft hairs of his mane rippled against my cheek consolingly.

“Thank you.” My heartbeat slowed as the island grew larger. “Please stay close. I’ll call on you again.”

“And if you do, may you have another passenger with you.” That ominous “if” continued to rumble after he left, leaving me to pick my way over a beach of broken seashells alone. The ocean roared at my back, its frothing waters flooding the cove and soaking my converses. I scrambled higher up the soft black sand, slipping and sliding my way to the sea cave entrance.

Saja rose as I approached, thumping his tail and whimpering. I stroked his fur; it was thick and clumped with wet sand. The oddest of scents broke over my nose. Salty sea brine, sun-cooked kelp… and wet fox.

Wolf’s adrenaline burst through my veins, and I acted on instinct. My fingers abruptly tightened in Saja’s fur, and then I hurled him off the ledge and into the churning seas below. By the time I heard the
splash
, my wet sneakers were already slapping down the cave’s throat.

“MIGUEL?” I stumbled into a tide pool; anxiety made me clumsy.

Chains creaked in the darkness. Wolf’s vision snapped to mind, and I poked my way past a seaweed curtain to see a large cavern of washed-up sea treasures: rusted anchors, wicked-looked harpoons, and Japanese glass fishing floats made from old sake bottles, which glinted jade-green among the rocks.

Miguel was strung up against the wall by rusting cuffs, his toes dragging in the creeping tide. I gave him a quick once-over. He looked all in one piece except for one thing: the three scars above his hipbone, where the liver rested, had split apart.

“Miguel!” I raced to his side and fumbled with the handcuffs. “We’ve got to go, now!”

His eyelashes fluttered. I splashed saltwater on his face to help the process along.

“Citlalli?” Finally, a whisper. “He said you would be with the vampyres. Rescuing our sisters.”

I felt a renewed surge of guilt. “Perfect time for him to swoop in and make me choose one family member over the other. How very Fred-like.”

“Fred? Told me his name was Nicodemo.”

“Yeah, well. Names change faster than a century’s wind. Or something.” I grabbed a rock and smashed the handcuffs. Miguel collapsed to the ground, clutching his abdomen.

“Come on. I threw him in the ocean to buy us some time, but unfortunately, the little fucker knows how to swim.” I dropped to his side in concern. “God, what are you
doing
here, Miguel?”