Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim

Author:Sophie Kim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Action & Adventure; Teen & Young Adult Friendship Fiction; Teen & Young Adult Girls & Women Fiction; Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fiction; Teen & Young Adult Romance eBooks; Last of the Talons; Sophie Kim; Entangled Teen; Single Title Fiction; YA Fantasy; Young Adult Fantasy; Teen Fantasy novel; Young Adult Fantasy Series; Young Adult YA Epic Fantasy; Young Adult Book; Teen Romance; Korea; Korean Folklore; Dokkaebi; goblin; Assassin; Imugi; Dragon; Enemies; Enemies to Lovers; Prince; Royalty; King; Wrath of the Talon; Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim; enemies to lovers; enemies ot lovers romance; revenge; fantasy
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2024-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

“I already know the story,” I say, sitting on a cushion in the kitchen. Chan leans against the wall, Hana next to him, while Kang and Rui sit across from me. I haven’t bothered to serve tea. “It is what the Imugi told me when it approached me.” They do not need to know that I am coming from a meeting with Sonagi. Let them think there has been only one.

“It told you?” Rui looks stricken. “You knew?”

“I wanted to give you a chance to explain first,” I reply, and this time my words taste sour. Honest. So different from the sweetness of a lie. “To tell your truth. But you would not,” I add, leaning forward across the low table. A muscle in Rui’s jaw flickers. “You refused. I do not pretend to know why the Imugi told me.” Lie. “But it did. It told me that you offered a bargain. A retreat on both sides, and a Night of the Reaping each year. The emergence of the Pied Piper.”

“Lina…” He is pale, so very pale.

“Why innocents?” I snap, knowing the words will hurt him. I don’t particularly care who was taken, but the idea of cutting Rui with my words is all too appealing. “Why not those who are evil? Who deserve it?”

Rui swallows hard. I see his throat bob. “It’s all part of the punishment,” he rasps. “My punishment. It’s what they demand from me.”

Sneering, I glower at him. “This is what you kept from me. Why you broke your vow.”

“I vowed only to cease the kidnappings of humans if I must,” he retorts quietly. “And I must not, Lina. For the Night of the Reaping. I did not lie, not truly.”

The Voice reaches gnarled fingers into the recesses of my mind, withdrawing a memory.

“I will cease the kidnappings of humans if I must. But I cannot return those I have already taken. This is all I can give you, Lina. This is my only bargain.”

A sneer curls my lips. Such Dokkaebi logic. Loopholes and lies—it is purely the sort of thing Rui would gravitate toward.

“So you deceived me,” I say flatly, “from the start.”

“I wish I’d been the one to tell you,” he insists hoarsely. “I wanted to tell you, little thief. To explain, but…”

“It is my fault.” Kang warily meets my eye. “I told him to wait.”

The silence between us is as loud as the roaring of the underworld’s Seocheongang River. I am the one to break it, viciously, violently.

“Tell me,” I say through gritted teeth, “what harm could knowing the truth possibly have done?”

“Some stories inspire us,” the advisor replies calmly. “They guide our actions, influence our decisions. Change us.”

“You thought I’d seek out the Imugi once I heard more about them.” I roll my eyes.

What sort of reasoning is that? The Voice smirks. They would have found us first.

Kang says nothing. It is Chan who replies, brusque and blunt. “Lina, you have their snakeskin. You are of the Imugi. So, yes, we

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