There’s no way I’m letting him see me going down on my bottom. I jerk to a wobbly standing position and focus forward, but not before I see Marc’s look of shock as he spots me.
There’s only one thing to do to save my image. I dig my poles into the soft snow and push.
I ski straight down the last bit of The Cliff. My hair snaps across my face. The cold lashes against my cheeks. My nerves are totally fried. It’s what I suppose flying might feel like, and oddly, I love it. The danger, the thrill, and the complete uncertainty of not knowing which bones I’ll break this time.
I expect to flip head over heels when I hit the bottom. I bend my knees to take the impact and tuck my poles under my arms. I land on both skis, but I’ve got a huge problem. I’m flying in a bullet-straight path down the mountain. How do I stop? Do I cross my skis? Or plant my poles in somewhere and hold on?
There’s a patch of trees to my left with clumps of bushes covered in snow. Possible landing gear, I decide. I tilt my body to the left and aim for the bushes.
I miss. A tree comes at me. I swerve to the right and then another quick left. It’s like the scene in Return of the Jedi where Princess Leia is trying to escape the storm trooper on her speeder. Only I don’t have Jedi reflexes.
I crash. And it’s not in the bushes. I hit a rock that sends me tumbling and rolling until I smash into a pine tree. The forest whirls around me in blurry stars. My hand and ankle scream in agony. I lie flat in the snow, willing my body to ignore the pain like I do in Tae Kwon Do class. The ringing in my ears dulls, and I can think.
I’ve broken something.
No. I sit up and groan. I’ve broken two things: my wrist and ankle. Or maybe my ankle is just sprained. I want to hit something. I’m that angry about this stupid accident.
The wind tinkles a thousand chimes around me, and the trees waver like a mirage. I rub my eyes, wondering when the shock of the fall will fade away.
It doesn’t. It only intensifies. Heat pricks my skin, burning as hot as my screaming wrist and ankle. I push against the trunk of the tree to stand, and its sticky sap clings to my hand.
A movement catches my eye through the shimmering forest. I peer up to find a man standing there, his maroon robes swirling around him in the pulsating light. The same man who stole my arrow that night at the museum.
Haemosu.
CHAPTER 13
I take in a sharp breath and lean against the tree for support. I know I should be freaking out; I know it’s him, and he’s got me trapped with my wrist and ankle probably broken. But for some reason I find myself spellbound.
“Annyeong haseyo, my princess,” Haemosu says, a smile lighting his eyes, as warm as honey. “You are even more beautiful than I remembered.” His hair is pulled back in a topknot that accentuates his high cheekbones. He has the air of a king.
Warmth drenches over me, and it’s as if nothing could be more perfect than this moment. Somewhere deep in the back of my brain I remember how Komo said that my best chance to defeat Haemosu is in our world. How convenient for him that we meet when I’m practically crippled.
“You speak English?”
He chuckles. “Just one of my talents, dearest.”
“Nice bow,” I say, noticing his horn bow. “Hunting?” I wonder what kind of marksman he is. And if he’s here to kill me.
“Ah, I knew you would like the bow. Do you wish to try it?”
“I’ll pass.” Why do I get the feeling he’s trying to impress me? He hardly seems like the evil villain Grandfather makes him out to be. Maybe Grandfather and Komo are wrong about Haemosu. “I should be going.”
I try to shuffle backward, using the tree for support. I grit my teeth, determined for him not to notice I’m injured.
“But I have been waiting so long for you.” He reaches out his hand. I stare at his fingers, remembering Komo’s warning not to touch him.
My breath quickens as he steps closer; his presence is overwhelming. His robe, decorated with dragons and gold-embroidered edging, brushes across the ground.
“Please. I insist.” He unstraps the bow from his shoulder and holds it out to me. His smile is warm and inviting, and my defenses fall away.
“It’s beautiful,” I say.
The wood glimmers like gold, and I’m so intrigued that I reach out and lightly touch its surface. It tingles beneath my fingertips. I nearly forget that I should be running, not standing here mesmerized.
It won’t be long before he realizes I’m injured and tries to take advantage of me. What would Grandfather and Komo want me to do?
Kill him, probably.
Could I do that? I stare into his honey-colored eyes, and I know I can’t. There’s a connection between the two of us that I can barely even understand. But it’s there. I can feel it tug as if a hook has sunk deep within me. And even if I wanted to kill him, I couldn’t possibly pull the string with my broken wrist.
“I should go,” I somehow manage. Why is it so hard to say?
“Come with me. There is so much I wish to show you.”
“No.” Somehow I swallow down the yes that demands to be spoken.
“You will like what I have in store for you. I promise you this.”
I squeeze my eyes closed as the pain in my wrist and ankle yanks at my consciousness. And something else. A desperation pulls at me.
To be with him. To follow him. To touch him.
“You don’t even know what I like,” I say.
“Well.” He raises his chin. “Is this a challenge, my princess? Let me prove my worth.”
Haemosu stretches his hand toward me. Heat crawls through my fingers, into my wrist, and then courses through my body all the way down to my toes. The pain in my body disappears.
“Now do you believe me?” he says.
I hold out my hand, my mouth gaping as I make a fist. No pain. I twirl my ankle and jump on it. Healed. Completely healed.
“Forget those lies your family has been telling you,” he says. “I have the power to give you immortality. Follow me, and I will show you a place where time is left behind.”
My wrist and ankle still sizzle with that odd healing sensation. I can hear Komo’s voice telling me this is my chance to hurt him. But how can I hurt the person who’s just healed me?
“I’ve already seen your land,” I say, remembering that awful pinnacle. “I think I’ll pass.”
“What you saw was nothing compared to my palace. Come and see for yourself.”
I peer around him, but all I can see is the snowy forest.
“So you will come, then. To the land of the wonderful dream.” He extends his hand, and I take it without thinking. The instant we touch, it’s as if a small electrical shock surges into my fingertips. With a flick of the wrist, he commands my consciousness, dragging me into darkness.
I’m falling.
Through an abyss of stars, swirling and rippling around me. And I know I’m not in the forest anymore, but in a space beyond time. Hot air brushes my face. I smell honeysuckle and strawberries, so sweet I can almost taste them.
The snow is replaced with tiny purple flowers scattered around my feet and stretching all the way to a bamboo grove. I swivel around, searching for Haemosu, and take in the rolling hills in the distance, spread with new rice, the tips spring green. He’s nowhere in sight. The breeze kicks in again, and with it the scent of tangerines. The back of my neck pricks, and I know he’s near. Then I hear hoofbeats and turn around. It’s a buck, the sun glistening across its sleek brown coat. He bows his head and breaks into a run.
I feel oddly free in this place. And it seems so familiar. As if I’ve been away and now I’m home. All my pain has disappeared, and suddenly I’m a little girl again, running across the playground while Mom watches with a smile on her face.