Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3) Read Free Page A

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. And 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 I: 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 its 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 Mami 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 night’s gunfight while her parentshad perished. Her dreams were meant to be lived: Restaurant owner. International food service consultant. And 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 wooden 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. But a pile of trash was in her way, and something scuffled amongst it. 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 its 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 darker and far more 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