Year of the Dragon

By Heather Heffner

CITLALLI ALVAREZ HAS RESCUED HER SISTER, become Alpha of the Seoul werewolf pack, and restored balance to the spirit world of Eve—all while waiting tables on the weekends. However, she still can’t go to the Boryeong Mud Festival like a normal eighteen-year-old, not when her friend Una is a prisoner of a nine-tailed fox and the side effects of having a broken soul have begun to splinter her personality irreversibly. Then there’s that little matter of being life-bonded to Vampyre Prince Khyber, whom her former flame Rafael has vowed to destroy no matter what. Priorities, priorities.

Meanwhile, Raina Alvarez meets her father’s family, the prestigious and secretive Yong clan, who teach her the responsibilities that come with being the new Spring Dragon. In order to take her place among the Celestial Dragons who oversee the turn of the seasons, Raina must compete in the Trials of Wisdom against her three cunning dragon-shifter siblings and face her fears of Eve.

However, not everyone is happy about the rise of a Celestial Dragon in the East. Gods of blood and nightmares stir in the West. Old enemies join forces with ruthless new ones, eager to fill the power vacuum the Vampyre Queen left behind.

After all, the only thing standing in their way is a pair of sisters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Heather Heffner
• Release date: May 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463611883

Heather Heffner

HEATHER HEFFNER was born in Seattle, Washington, where she grew up being dragged along on endless hikes by her well-meaning parents. Luckily, her brother was forced to come, too, and they ended up storytelling to entertain themselves. Heather's never given it up since, and now she can't think of anything better than imagining a thousand-page-long epic (and maybe even going for a hike, after).Heather is the author of the dark epic fantasy book, THE TRIBE OF ISHMAEL (Afterlife Chronicles #1), about a boy who accidentally boards a train bound to Hell, and the urban fantasy book, YEAR OF THE WOLF (Changeling Sisters #1), about a girl who faces off against supernatural evil in Seoul, South Korea. You can read all about her adventures, or more likely, misadventures, on her blog:https://heatherheffner.blogspot.com/

Book preview

Foreword

My name is Raina Alvarez.

If we’ve met before, please forgive me if I don’t immediately recall your face. The last few months have been a nightmare. I have only just woken up.

Vampyres are real. The spirit world is, too. It is a strange and dangerous place called Eve. You can find it when the sun rises or sets. It is a world in which ghosts try to reconcile with their former lives, great beasts of legend soar, and sometimes, the occasional mortal discovers.

When my family first moved to South Korea, I hoped I could finally find a place where I belonged. We were running from so many things: my mother’s affair with a wealthy Korean businessman that made me, the subsequent divorce, and my eldest sister Marisol’s mysterious disappearance.

But then Vampyre Queen Maya, Marisol’s kidnapper, came after me, too. She dragged me to her hellish court in Eve. And we knew it was time to stop running.

I have three living siblings now. I am closest to my half-sister, Citlalli. She is one year older than me. Citlalli rescued me from the Vampyre Queen and her seven deadly sons. She joined the Were Nation, one of the shapeshifting forces fighting against the Vampyre Court. In the process, she became a werewolf. Then she became a leader. After the war was over, Citlalli emerged as the controversial Alpha of the Seoul werewolves. Her opponents currently include her former flame, Rafael Dominguez, and Xu Xiang, goshawk shapeshifter and leader of the International Were Council.

We survived the Were War by joining forces with one of the Vampyre Queen’s sons, the eldest crown prince named Khyber. He has been trying to put a stop to his vicious brothers’ reign for ages. Then he plans to end his own undead existence. Together, we rounded up and destroyed his brothers’ souls. This severed their link with immortality. Now all of the vampyre princes can be killed.

However, my sister didn’t survive the war unharmed. A vengeful Dark Spirit named Xec cursed Citlalli to a life bond with Khyber. Now the only way for Khyber to die is if Citlalli does, too. I fear this life bond is changing my sister. Sometimes, dark shadows cross her face and she does not seem like herself.

However, I have come into my own power as well. I hope it will be enough to help my sister and defeat the last of the vampyres. I discovered the reason the Vampyre Queen wanted me: I am the Changeling Soul, a shapeshifting water dragon from my father’s line. Now I am preparing to meet my father to discover just what that means.

Our enemies retreated after Maya’s fall, but the new Lady of Eve, known as the White Tiger, warns us to be cautious. The Were Nation is a threat to be taken seriously now. She fears we have awoken something far more dangerous: the vampyres’ makers.

After what the Dark Spirits did to me and my family, I say let them come. We will show them that it is not death they have to fear; it is us.

—Raina

KEY PLAYERS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNDECIDED

Alvarez Family:

Raina: me. I just learned that I am a shapeshifting water dragon with the ability to call the rains and create storms. Now I know how I won so many hold-your-breath-underwater competitions.

Citlalli: my half-sister, one year older than me. She is as tough as nails and carries an attitude as big as her curls. Citlalli was turned into a werewolf by Rafael Dominguez while trying to rescue me from the vampyres. She lost an eye and a finger during the Were War. Not even my brother will mess with her now.

Marisol: my deceased eldest sister, whom the Vampyre Queen mistook for the Changeling Soul. Now she is at peace.

Miguel: my older brother who works as a manager at our family restaurant in Itaewon. He doesn’t understand the difference between politeness and profanity, or the general concept of boundaries for that matter. Our relationship is strained.

Daniella: my older sister who serves as a Foreign English Teacher and the moral compass of the family. She is currently back in America looking after Papi with her boyfriend, Hosuk.

Mami: our mother, who goes after what she wants and gets it. She grew up an orphan in México City, so she is big on tough love. Now she owns the Alvarez Family Restaurant in Itaewon.

The Seoul Werewolf Pack:

Rafael: Citlalli’s werewolf creator and estranged packmate. I can see why she fell for him. He’s not hard on the eyes, and he uses that to go after what he wants: the annihilation of all vampyres. Specifically, he is out for Khyber’s blood because he holds him responsible for the deaths of his mother and his sister, Tica.

Yu Li: Rafael’s ex-girlfriend. Citlalli is always at odds with her, but I personally admire her commitment to the pack while raising her son, Young Soo.

Kaelan: an Irishman whose daughter was stolen by the Vampyre Queen. He witnessed Seu Jaehoon, the old Alpha, give Citlalli the Red Fang Necklace before he died, which is the symbol of leadership among wolves.

The Were Nation:

Una: our spirit walker friend, who developed a crush on Miguel. During the Were War, she gave herself up to a devious nine-tailed fox named Fred in exchange for our brother’s life. We really wish we could have talked her out of that one.

Hyeon Bin: Una’s uncle, a fighting monk who takes down vampyres with his staff.

Thaksin: a shapeshifting nāga from Thailand. He is Citlalli’s close ally.

Yong Mun Mu: the King of Dragons, Guardian of the East Sea, and CEO of Yong Enterprises. Another title I’ve recently added to the list: Dad.

The Lady of Eve: a wise old spirit tiger. After the Vampyre Queen’s fall, She restored peace and balance to the world of Eve.

Xu Xiang: the Red Bird and leader of the International Were Council. He rules the shapeshifting goshawk clan in China.

The Vampyre Court:

Maya: the deceased Vampyre Queen. She ruled Eve since the Korean War until recently, but her age spans many centuries. Obsessed with immortality and power, Maya entered into increasingly dangerous deals with the Dark Spirits and sacrificed many lives in order to create her seven sons, the vampyre princes. She transformed the spirit world into a dark, ugly place of despair and enslaved all of the ghosts. Citlalli and the White Tiger defeated her.

Khyber: Maya’s eldest son. A long time ago, he sacrificed himself in order for his sisters to escape from Maya. He can kill with a touch. Khyber is called the Prince of Sorrow or the Crow, referring to his shabby black wings. I try to block out as much as I can about my captivity in the Vampyre Court, but I remember feeling safe with him. I also remember the kiss.

Donovan: Maya’s third son, originally from France. He tried to make me his vampyre bride. It is difficult to speak of him. He is seductive and cruel.

Aaron, Santiago, and Aleksandr: the other surviving vampyre princes of Maya’s brood. They hail from Israel, Spain, and Russia respectively.

Fred: a tricky nine-tailed fox. He fell in love with Una and tried to eat Miguel’s liver to become human for her. Una sacrificed herself so my brother could escape.

"Xec": a terrifying Dark Spirit who cursed Citlalli to a life bond with Khyber. Little is known about its true motives.

Prologue

~The Vampyre Princes~

The air had long frozen in their lungs and crusted over their wings before they came upon it: Mount Baekdu, one of the three sacred peaks of Korea, jutted up to brush the belly of the heavens. It was a dark shield on the border of North Korea and China warding off the dawn as of yet. Its caldera cupped the deep sapphire Heaven Lake, which had begun to thaw as of late spring.

The vampyre princes Donovan and Aaron dropped onto the rugged meadow, startling a herd of roe deer. Donovan immediately attacked a slower pregnant doe, his fangs sinking into her heaving neck. The doe panicked when she realized she couldn’t shake the undead monster off. She tripped and fell. Donovan held her head almost tenderly until he was finished draining her. The scent of warm, pungent blood lingered in the air.

Donovan rose. Blood stained his new wings made of human skin. His vacant eyes, two shards of turquoise, reflected Heaven Lake and his frowning older brother.

What? I was hungry. When was the last time you flew from Seoul to the tallest mountain on the Korean peninsula in one night?

Constantly, to keep up my strength. Aaron extended his royal violet wings and beat them twice, buffeting Donovan over his dead prey.

His younger brother scowled. My original white wings would not have tired. Damn that werewolf Rafael for destroying them. Damn our brother Santiago for calling a summit on an actual summit.

Indeed, Aaron said, eyeing the black veins pulsating within the tissue of Donovan’s unnatural fleshy wings. Skin tears easily. We must be cautious. The Mother is gone. The spirit world of Eve is our enemy now that the White Tiger has returned. With our souls destroyed by the traitorous Prince of Sorrow, our next death…shall be our last.

I always told you we couldn’t trust Khyber the Crow, Donovan sneered. "If that ugly coward wanted to die so badly, then I would have helped! Yet he turned to dear Raina and her wolf bitch sister Citlalli instead… How is it, dear brother, that Khyber is the only one still tethered to immortality? The Dark Spirits could have cursed him with anything after he double-crossed them! Why another life bond with that infuriating dog slut?"

"Why indeed, mis hermanos?" a new voice mocked. They looked up to see a man with eyes as gray as gunmetal, a golden-brown complexion, and dark facial hair standing on the rock above. He had a proud stance and still carried his Toledo sword from the days when he’d been a Spanish conquistador in the early sixteenth century. His golden wings snapped up around his head like the wrath of the sun, and his gleaming white teeth were ever-so-slightly sharpened. A tote bag rested on his shoulder.

Donovan remembered when they had first found Santiago. Their mother, the great Vampyre Queen Maya, had been drawn to the Americas by promises of magic and immortality. She’d hated being dependent on the Dark Spirits and had sought her own power. Her three oldest sons had come with her.

Khyber, Aaron, and he had functioned like a single entity back then—a vengeful hand of God. Donovan had never thought he’d fight alongside a Korean and a Jew, but Maya had shown them that nationality didn’t matter after death (and for the most part, they believed her). Graceful and thorough, the brothers butchered, bathed, and drank from the rich rivers of blood flowing down the Yucatán during the Spanish conquests. They had followed the blood rivers up to their source, the great Aztec city of Tenochtitlán.

The Mother had let them play longer than necessary in order to pursue her depraved obsession with youth and immortality. Soon it came time to pay the Dark Spirits for their undead lives. They had rounded up a herd of Aztec boys studying to be healers and locked them in a pen. However, whilst preparing for the sacrificial ritual, a disturbance had arisen from the captives’ enclosure. Donovan and his brothers had rushed back to find a single conquistador smiling broadly as he cut down the pleading boys.

Startled, Khyber had asked the man why he’d slaughtered the defenseless captives.

These people are a weed growing rampant on our King’s land, Santiago had replied, and without their children, they will not grow back.

Impressed by the man’s brutality, they had presented him to Maya. She had him killed and marked his corpse with the brand of the Dark Spirits. Santiago rose three days later with golden wings and a new allegiance.

Where is Aleksandr? Aaron asked Santiago about their last surviving brother. There had been eight vampyre princes once. Takakazu of Japan and Duck Young of Korea were dead at the teeth of the Seoul werewolf pack. Crispin of America had died fighting Khyber after their eldest brother had betrayed them all. However, Donovan had received reports that the hellbent-on-revenge werewolf, Rafael, had struck the killing blow. He would have to make that mangy dog a priority kill. His death would be all the sweeter since Citlalli Alvarez, the one-eyed werewolf responsible for Queen Maya’s death—for taking Raina away—was rumored to care for him.

Donovan grinned, displaying crimson-stained fangs. He could work with that.

Alek builds his armies in Russia, Santiago replied, landing before them with a graceful leap. "Leave the Frost King be; he works best alone. We shall need his rusalki for what is to come."

Aaron looked at him curiously. What are you up to, Santiago? Who have you brought us here to meet?

The Were Alliance may have overthrown the Mother from Eve, but they have also suffered a crippling blow. On the brink of their new golden age, they will be at their most vulnerable, Santiago said. His face was relaxed and patient, and his eyes were sharp with cunning. Santiago often bragged about his tutelage under Hernán Cortés: he knew when to fight in force and when to turn the enemy against each other. "If the shapeshifters have joined forces, then we must unite ours. The Mother’s mistake was to work against the Dark Spirits, not with them."

Aaron frowned. You are not the first vampyre prince to have attempted such. The Dark Spirits cannot be controlled. Most are unpredictable ghosts of vengeance and chaos.

Santiago waggled a finger. Come now, brother. You followed the Yucatán down to the Central Americas the same as I, the week of the seven-day solar eclipse. You know of the Elder Dark Spirits who are out there.

Aaron sucked in his breath. You speak of the Twelve.

"I speak of our mutual purpose. Santiago opened the bag and dumped out something heavy: a body. It looked to be a young Korean girl who’d starved to death. The lines on her face were relaxed as if she were sleeping. Santiago nodded in satisfaction and then drew an ugly character on her forehead. She will do. It likes to pluck out the eyes." Then he kicked her body into the lake.

Donovan’s skin began to redden as to the east, a fierce orange sun flashed between peaks, as if angry to find its sacred valleys polluted by the undead. The sun’s fingers spread further, like the wings of a phoenix, until the entire skyline blazed pink.

Well? Where is your mysterious little friend? he demanded of Santiago. Unless it thinks we’ll be more useful as pillars of ash, then it had better show itself.

I forgot the other summoning ingredient. Santiago smiled wickedly at Donovan’s crimson-splattered face. Fresh blood. Then he shoved Donovan’s head into the glacial waters of Heaven Lake.

Donovan’s eyes and throat began to burn, while his back buckled under the sun’s advance. He opened his mouth to roar his fury. Crimson blossoms undulated out of his skin and into the deeper water.

Suddenly, the entire lake vanished. Donovan blinked, staring down the charred throat of a caldera.

A powerful Dark Spirit has made a dwelling here. Aaron helped Donovan to his feet. Look.

A storm front had amassed to the north so quickly that the three vampyre princes stopped to watch. Rolling winds tumbled forward in unnatural silence. They took on the form of charging bulls, which chased away the dawn’s light with stampeding hooves and a swing of their heads. The avenging sunrise was trampled flat. Velvety night returned to the peak of Baekdu, ringing with the hoot of an owl, and underneath—a slow, dry hiss, like a disturbed snake rattling beneath leaves.

He was so intent on the skies, Donovan almost didn’t hear the slow scrape of something climbing out of the caldera. A head of sticky, matted black hair emerged first, followed by a pale torso. The Dark Spirit blurred and then reappeared directly in front of them. Slowly, it extended a hand.

–Come–

Aaron froze at Donovan’s side. Xec.

Surely not the first Dark Spirit who offered Queen Maya vampyrehood? Donovan demanded as the wasting apparition swayed before them.

–I am Xecotcovach, the Face Gouger. Destroyer of the first humans-made-of-wood. I am the Bird who plucked out their eyes and swallowed them. Afterwards, my god had no use for me and cast me to the winds. Now I serve a new master–

The Twelve. Aaron’s grip hadn’t loosened from his broadsword.

–The humans disturb my masters’ sleep in the underworld with their insatiable ways. The time has come for them to be reduced to dust again. However, they are protected–

There is a new Spring Dragon in the East, Aaron agreed. Raina Alvarez, daughter of the great Yong Mun Mu. She is the Changeling Soul.

–The Alvarez sisters have indeed revealed themselves– Xec said –but they do not know who they are. They do not know what they are. Raina is imugi. She is not a dragon yet. I already have agents in place who will steer her to us. Indeed, she and her dragon siblings will prove most useful–

The three princes managed to gaze upon the Dark Spirit’s face. The Face Gouger had no eyes of its own, only two botched holes. Its black lips were spread to the nubs of its ears: a dead man’s grin full of awful promise.

***

~Khyber~

The dream bridge broke with a violent snap. Intended or not, I didn’t know. Anger pounded in my skull, and I almost tore the door free from my hideaway bedroom. How dare that demon bird befoul sacred Baekdu San.

The jjimjilbang was silent in the early hours of dawn. No one was awake in the bathhouse, save for a stooped ajumma mopping the halls. She started prattling about how I’d enjoyed my sleep, but I shut her up with one look. I stalked down the stairs to the baths where I could lose myself in the quiet hiss of the spa’s steam.

I knew what was coming. I, too, had been there the week of the seven-day solar eclipse so long ago. The conquistadors had ceased their bloodshed against the First Peoples for an instant, fearing they had awoken something more horrible than the ugliness in their hearts. They always looked above to the heavens and never to the earth below.

Its name escaped my lips—a thing half-buried to hide the worst parts I couldn’t bear to remember:

Xibalba.

The Place of Fear.

Once I had marveled at my vampyric power, my ability to kill with a touch. Now I knew there were entities out there older and greater than the vampyres. The Twelve Maya Lords of Death who ruled the underworld of Xibalba were the primordial. We were their children. My death touch, my undead existence…all of my accursed gifts stemmed from them.

Long ago, the formidable Maya Death Gods would grow angry every time the mortal world interrupted their slumber. Before they had been locked away by the Maya Hero Twins, they had plotted to transform all of Eve into a realm of pain, humiliation, and despair. They wanted to punish the living so that they, too, would have no rest. It was rumored that the eldest of the Death Lords desired to eat the sun itself, feast on the ensuing wave of global anguish, and then sleep in eternal silence.

Not a bad dream. It would mean the end of the world, but I had to break this damn life bond somehow. The old Khyber would have been fully behind my brothers’ plan, but now I knew it meant putting Raina in danger. If she truly was Mun Mu’s daughter, then she, a newborn imugi, couldn’t understand yet the duties that came with being the Spring Dragon: bringing the rains to thaw winter’s chill, watering a thirsty earth during drought, and most importantly, balancing the power of the sacred pearl only a dragon was wise enough to wield: the Yeouiju.

I knew that if the world were to survive, then we vampyres must be rebellious children who departed our parents’ path. As much as I despised Maya, at least she’d understood this.

But now I had just watched my remaining brothers shake hands with a demon bird out of hell: the messenger.

I hadn’t believed the old legends, but Xecotcovach seemed convinced of the Alvarez sisters’ identities—especially considering the circumstances of Maya’s fall in the last battle of the Were War. If the demon bird reported back to its masters, then their servants would be coming. They would strike soon, before Raina, Citlalli, or any of the shapeshifters realized a new horror was stalking them.

Korea wasn’t ready for the Death Lords of Xibalba. Only a dragon was.

Part 1: Imugi

Chapter 1: Unburied Secrets

~Mami~

Ileana Alvarez locked the door with a practiced click and then stood back to survey her joy. Her pride. The growing Alvarez Family Restaurant had been put to bed after a busy night. Earlier, the two stories and the overhanging balcony had been teeming with laughter, and tiny fairy lanterns had lit up the patio like a wreath of stars.

This restaurant was another child to her after she had lost so many in different ways. Marisol, gone save for the tango floor Ileana had erected for her near the bar. Miguel was in the Sol beer stocking the fridge; Daniella was the intricate menu design. Citlalli and Raina were embedded in the foundation itself: Raina loved the mural of jumping dolphins at Puerto Vallarta and the candles that smelled like the sea. Citlalli was the striking scarlet porch and the golden-stitched carpets that brought this place alive. The restaurant was her child. It was all of her children.

Her lip curled. Not bad for an orphan naca who had crawled out of the belly of México City. She had always known she was different than the other street children. She had survived that terrible gunfight while her parents had perished. Her dreams were meant to be lived: Restaurant owner. International food service consultant. As The Korea Herald had glowingly remarked: Ileana Alvarez’s passion and dedication to quality are quickly establishing her reputation as ambassador of Mexican cuisine to the Republic of Korea. She had done it all. It was just a matter of paying the price.

Wind gusted down the Itaewon alley, silencing the hum of the neon lights and making bar signs creak.

Have you paid the price, Ileana?

She walked faster. Shadows crawled up the graffiti-sprayed walls and twisted around colonnades, but she didn’t look. She had learned not to look a long time ago. However, a pile of trash was in her way, in which something scuffled. Ileana pulled back to the wall. Her heart thudded as she kept an eye on the shifting debris, and she stepped lightly like she’d learned to do as a young girl when danger was close.

It was a flock of chickens. Ileana released her breath and shook her head in amusement. If only Nana could see her now! Her brave and adventurous granddaughter, scared witless by a few clucking birds. They must have escaped from Old Yana’s Henhouse up the street. Smiling, Ileana checked her cellphone. She’d have to hurry to catch the last subway home.

Suddenly, the hens rose in an uproar, flapping their stunted wings and squawking as if being chased by a butcher. Ileana fell back, gripping her shawl tighter. At the heart of the feathered fury was a shock-white rooster, its eyes beady red. It ripped open the jugular of a smaller cock, savagely shaking its rival until their feathers glistened rubicund. Then it noticed her watching.

The white rooster dropped the dead bird and opened its beak. What started as a hiss deepened to a dark, mournful sound: the foreboding hoot of an owl.

No. She hadn’t paid the price. A survivor knew when to fight and when to hide. She’d thought her family was safe on the far side of the world.

But now They had found her.

Ileana gathered up her skirts and ran. By the time she left the alley, six warning hoots echoed in her ears.

Chapter 2: Ablaze

~Citlalli~

It was half past eight on a Friday night, and I, Citlalli Alvarez, newly appointed Alpha of the Seoul werewolf pack and restorer of the White Tiger to the throne of Eve, had two more tables of campers to get through.

Campers are restaurant customers who decide that they have nowhere else better to be and will take up your section for hours, rarely leaving enough to compensate. Not that tipping was expected in Seoul, but I sure as hell didn’t dissuade them. One table was full of elderly tourists who’d practically cried at being able to pronounce the names of things again. They’d stumbled upon the rare Alvarez Family Mexican Restaurant amidst the bustle of the immigrant district of Itaewon two hours earlier. Awe had enveloped their faces, and their fingers had seized the Western-style silverware with fierce familiarity.

My other table was a rowdier party of college boys from Seoul National University, who thought they were the shit. They had been taking full advantage of our beer pitcher deal all night.

Spiro was front-of-house manager tonight. He stood in the back and glared down his nasty long nose at me. I returned the look with equal affection. You’d never catch him in anything less than long sleeves. My brother Miguel and I were convinced that it was because he was a fully decorated veteran of a gang or something equally as bad. He was also an immigrant who spoke spooky-good Korean, so Mami had hired him as the night shift manager.

My cellphone tweeted like a bird, and my heart leaped to my throat. That was Hyeon Bin’s ringtone. Hyeon Bin was my kidnapped friend Una’s uncle, a fighting monk who was part of the dwindling spirit-walking Won family. I double-booked it to the kitchen and checked the message.

Disappointment flooded my chest. Peomeosa Temple had been a letdown. No one had seen Fred, the devious nine-tailed fox who had captured Una, since the Lady of Eve’s return to the spirit world. Hyeon Bin’s message said he was following a lead south to Jeju Island, but he would meet me a week from now in Eve.

I put away the phone and headed briskly for the expo window. This only confirmed it for me. If a nine-hundred-year-old fox didn’t want to be found, then he wouldn’t. Hyeon Bin may not approve, but I needed to lure Fred out…and then bargain whatever I needed in order to make him return Una safe and sound.

"Citlalli!" Without fail, Spiro’s nasally voice made me shudder. "Citlalli Alvarez!"

I paused in the middle of hoisting a fully-loaded tray and fixed a polite smile on my face. Albeit, showing a lot of bared teeth.

I’m trying to run some food, Spiro. The tray rattled on my shoulder, and I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my ear. The kitchen door swung open, blowing the scent of grilled chicken and zesty cilantro over my face.

"Which should have been out five minutes ago. You weren’t texting while on the clock, were you?"

I had gnawed through the throats of undead horrors and picked fights with hungry ghosts. Now the most dangerous thing I could do was sneak in a level of Candy Crush during work. I gave a mock gasp. "There are servers here who do that?"

Spiro examined me idly. I need you to close back-of-house tonight for Jung Yeon.

I nearly dropped the tray in shock. What? I closed last night!

She does not feel well, he stated.

I glared at Jung Yeon’s head bobbing across the restaurant. Liar. Probably had to study for one of the gazillion tests she was always taking.

Here at the Alvarez Family Restaurant, we step up to support one another because we are a family. Spiro smiled with slightly sharpened teeth. "All of us are equal teammates. Just because one little girl happens to be the daughter of the owner does not mean she shouldn’t be expected to do her share. After some of the no-show stunts you’ve pulled in the past… Spiro shrugged, ignoring my buckling knees. I’m surprised you know what back-of-house closing is."

My body was full on shaking now, but it wasn’t me. It was something else. Wolf wanted to tear the man’s face off. A single golden eye in a midnight-black coat leaped to the forefront of my mind, and I had to use my remaining strength to shove It back. However, that left room for Her—

***

~Demon~

My head snaps up, and I smile at Spiro. It is made all the more disconcerting because of my prosthetic eye, tilted slightly so light slides off the glassy surface. I didn’t make it through the Were War without what the Omega calls…injuries. I call them improvements, the best being me, the true Alpha of this shifter body. The Omega shouts and Wolf snarls, but I ignore them both.

That won’t be a problem.

The little man’s stupid grin disappears. I smile disarmingly again and then turn on my heel, the tray missing him by a hair.

Waitress!

The college boys. They insist they’ve never left the country, and yet they can converse quite comfortably in English. The implications aren’t lost upon me as I waltz up to their table.

Your name one more time? Cit—

It feels good to pull these human muscles back in a dangerous smile. My name is Citlalli.

Very beautiful, the leader says, tilting a head of cropped black hair. My name is Minho. It is nice to meet you.

"Pangapseumnida, I reply in turn, and a chorus of polite Ohhh!"s breaks out over my elementary nice to meet you greeting. Minho nods to his friends.

Citlalli, he says more confidently, hoisting up his plate, you are a very good waitress. These—how do I say—?

"Empanadas."

They are very…delicious!

One of the other boys raises an empty pint glass. One more round.

I tilt my head so my thick black curls cascade over my shoulder. Here? On a Friday night? Don’t you think this restaurant is a little…boring?

Minho understands my meaning. He’s a smart one. I keep my smile fixed on him as he stutters about for a response.

Maybe, but…you are here. So it is not boring.

What if I were somewhere else? I pretend to think. Please tell me you know Club Karma.

Karma? Oh! It is very fun club!

I shrug. Let’s go.

Yes, but… Minho looks around confusedly. You at work?

Yana, take Table 10, I call over my shoulder. No point in hanging around a restaurant in a country where tipping isn’t expected. The smaller girl nods meekly. I smile. Daughter of the restaurant owner unimportant, my ass.

Minho, give me your credit card for close out. And then, let’s…go.

We go. I just have time to see a red-faced Spiro dash over to a cringing Yana, and then the door slams shut.

I laugh and light up a cigarette with Minho. It’s about time I ditch this piece-of-shit job anyway. One of Minho’s friends magically produces a case of soju, and we toast each other as we walk, the neon-glowing cityscape of Itaewon spreading far and wide before us.

A laughing black monkey points the way to Club Karma. We spy him painted on road signs and plastered on the side of street vendor carts. Wolf’s ears pick up the deep beat pulsing beneath the ground, and we shove open the grimy door leading down into the concrete earth.

All around, people hug the walls and climb atop platforms to escape from the throbbing mob on the dance floor. The liquor runs smooth and sweet in shiny purple buckets that you could take to the beach. Minho tucks a pink paper umbrella behind my ear. I laugh and drain the last of the bucket dry. Green lights wink like exploding stars. The giant monkey spray-painted on the wall appears to leap around the room, laughing at some angles and snarling at others. Minho shoves more crinkled bills into the bartender’s hand. We cheer with our buckets. I grab Minho, and we fight our way over to the platform that protrudes up from the heart of the dance floor like a lone island.

Minho grabs my hips, and he shoves up roughly from behind. I smirk, seize his hands, and then run them up and down my calves. He gasps, excited, before tightening his arms around me. I inhale his wintergreen cologne approvingly. As the beat accelerates, I lean back and lazily flick my tongue up Minho’s neck and ear. The crowd roars its appreciation. My left eye rolls up, blinded by the hot glare of lights above.

Minho spins me around, and he touches his forehead to mine. His brown eyes reflect no inner Were, no beast snarling to get out. Just the warm trust of a lamb. He shudders as I pull him closer, and our lips touch.

It’s snowing. The bubbles tickle my ear gently at first, but then they begin to fall in greater, heavier drifts until the entire club is a blur of strobe lights tearing through a blizzard.

FOAM PARTY! Minho’s friends pump their fists. My hair is soaked, and Minho’s shirt clings to his chest. We run our fingers up and down each other’s wet skin wonderingly, desperately. Finally, Minho gives a small groan and surges forward, seizing my lips in a kiss that trails down to explore the shape of my collarbone. I throw back my wet hair and howl my victory to the artificial moon.

Chapter 3: An Intervention

~Demon~

Feet pad softly against wooden floors. Somewhere, a door slides open and then shut. I open my eye to the room I share with my sister—the TV is on mute, a Hello Kitty alarm clock ticks in the corner, and Raina’s poster of SS501 singer Kim Hyun Joong graces the left wall. Minho’s disheveled hair pokes out of the covers next to me.

I slip from the bed and carefully survey the hall. Raina is asleep on the couch. No sign of Mami.

Hey. My younger sister sits up and stretches, her silky black hair spilling down to her shoulders. Where were you last night? Woojin came by to see you.

I say nothing. Behind me, Minho emerges, red-eyed in the morning sunlight.

Hello, he says to a startled Raina. You must be Citlalli’s younger sister, yes? I am Minho.

Um…nice to meet you.

I’ll call you later, Minho, I say quickly.

Minho looks surprised. Do you have time for breakfast?

Nope. I smile and hold out his wrinkled jacket. It smells strongly of beer and cigarettes.

It was so much fun, Citlalli. You will ca—

Still nodding sweetly, I close the front door in his face. Yawning, I shake my enormous bedhead and amble back toward the darkness of my den.

Raina’s voice stops me. Citlalli? she asks, sounding weird. Who was that?

I think about it. Minho. Met him last night.

Weren’t you supposed to work until late last night? When she receives no response, she tries again: Aren’t you seeing Woojin? The optometrist?

I shrug. Sure.

And…wouldn’t he be hurt if he knew you brought some random guy home at five in the morning?

Don’t know. Don’t need his permission. My phone beeps, and the thin blanket of bliss covering my mind tears. FUCK! Who the hell texts someone so early in the motherfuckin’ morning?

Raina regards me with somber eyes. You don’t have to get so worked up over it.

I ignore her, scanning the text. Raina doesn’t understand how to balance a social life because she doesn’t have one. Jesus, Tino. No, I don’t want to ‘hang out.’ Doesn’t he know what ‘let’s just be friends,’ means?

Tino really liked you, Raina says in a low voice.

And I liked his abs. It worked out well for the time it took us to run our course. I jerk my head toward the sliding door. You can have your side of the bed now, if you want.

No thanks. Raina hugs her knees to her chest. I think…I’ll stay out here.

"More of the bed for me. Hasta la vista, bitch. Tell Mami not to bother me until noon." Flashing a peace sign, I happily return to slumber.

***

Of course, one simple command is too difficult for her to understand. I hear them whispering furtively in the dark like mice, and my ear arches curiously toward the door:

That’s not her.

What do you mean?

"It’s something else inside her. She smells like smoke."

Silence. A low growl rises in my throat. I recognize my rival’s scent of crushed rose petals.

The Alpha has been smoking more these days, Yu Li says carefully.

It’s not from cigarettes, Raina insists. Also, her left eye looks as dead as her right. Her voice is cold and guttural. And…this is the third guy in two weeks that she’s brought home.

Oh?

That’s not her. Raina begins to sound defensive. "That’s not my sister."

Clothing rustles. Finally, Yu Li’s voice, barely above a