Page 123 of Reign of the Talon
“Always,” Chara says, face crumpling as she embraces me once more.
“Always,” her twin echoes, tears trekking down her cheeks.
Yoonho claps my shoulder. “Always,” he says gruffly, mouth tight with emotion.
The rest of you, too, I add and look steadily at Yoonho.Live a good life, an honest life. I do not want more unnecessary bloodshed on Sunpo’s streets. I do not want to hear tell that you have resumed your old ways. If you do, trust that I will know. And that I will be…disappointed.
He nods, exhaling heavily. There is guilt in his eyes, and I think that he understands the role he played in all of this. Fondness for him still fills my heart; I do not blame him for the turns my life took, but I will not be pleased if he finds another desperate orphan to wield as a weapon, no matter how willing they may seem. Let my story be a warning. “Yes,” Yoonho whispers. “I understand.”
Live your lives well. For me.
“We love you,” Chryse whispers as the Talons embrace me, and gods, if this is not everything I have ever wanted. Tears spill down my cheeks as they hold tight. As Eunbi squeezes herself into the hug, Chryse smiles down at her. “We’ll do right for her, Lina.”
“And we’ll see you again,” Sang whispers. “We’ll be back for you, L.”
The embrace breaks, and I take one final look at the Talons—together, faces shining, whole and unbroken. Sang. Chara. Yoonho. Chryse.
I love you, I sign, holding each of their gazes, salt slipping past my lips as I smile.Now, go. Live.
And as the fingers of death relinquish their hold on them, they do.
The Talons vanish in a shower of dark purple sparks, brilliant and beautiful.
Long live the Talons, I think, a bittersweet ache in my chest.Long live the damned.
Eunbi, still here, begins to cry. “I’ll miss you,” she whispers, and I scoop her up as I used to when she was a child. “I love you so much, Lili. Thank you. Thank you for everything.”
I kiss her temple, squeezing her close, knowing that the kiss says more than words ever could. As she smiles tearily up at me, I coax one of the jade garakji from my fingers and slip it onto Eunbi’s thumb—the only finger it currently fits.
She will walk the realm above, and I the realm below.
Yet we will always be connected, she and I.
Eunbi’s smile grows and grows as death leaves her, fingers falling away from her neck. “I love you, Lili,” she whispers before she vanishes completely.
I cannot help it—a sob escapes my lips, and Rui gathers me to him. “Little thief,” he says hoarsely, pressing me close. Shaking hard, I draw back only slightly, enough for me to be able to sign the words I selfishly wish I would not. If Rui leaves me…
If you want to go, I say, but Rui shakes his head immediately, clasping his hands over mine.
“Never,” he breathes, pressing his forehead to mine. “Do not ever ask it of me again. I love you, Lina. I want this. I wantyou. And if being dead is what it takes…” Rui cocks his head, and there it is—his old, rakish smile, that telltale glint of mischief in his eyes. “I will welcome it with open arms, little thief.”
Emotion swells up within me, and I pull him closer, kissing him as the wrongfully dead leave Jeoseung with hope in their hearts. His lips are soft and gentle against mine, his hands covetous as one slips to my waist, the other to the side of my face.
“How is it that we’re dead, yet my heart still beats for you?” he whispers against me.
Love shudders throughout my body, bright and brilliant and utterly overwhelming. Rui, my Rui, is here with me—Rui, with his dancing silver eyes and crooked smile, as if he has never been touched by war or heartbreak. With his mischievous smirk, he looks just as he did on the Sunpo rooftop so long ago, when he appeared from a shadowed corridor and caught a couple of sugar-glistening pastries in his elegant hands.
I love you, I sign, and his eyes shine like all the stars in the sky. Rui takes my hand in his, pressing his lips to the silver ring.
“I love you, too,” he murmurs. “Are you ready for this, little thief?” There is no skepticism in his tone—only warm curiosity. Slowly, I look to the throne.
Death does not die, Shin Lina, and neither will you.
To become Death herself… Perhaps Yoonho somehow sensed my destiny, all those years ago.
For so long, I prayed to the gods. They never answered me, never acknowledged the girl who still believed. I wept for them. I screamed for them. Never did they respond.
But now, the girl who still believed holds goddesshood within her. She glows, a radiant silver, before her throne. Hand drifting to the truths around my neck, I swear a silent vow—I will be everything I wanted them to be. Kind, and just, and attentive. I’m not so naive as to think that power like this comes without a cost, but I have been through enough to know now, who I am. Not power-hungry, not vengeful. I will not lose myself again; I willendthis war.
