Year of the Dragon (Changeling Sisters Book 3) Read online

  Changeling Sisters III

  Year of the Dragon

  By Heather Heffner

  The right of Heather Heffner to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1988.

  YEAR OF THE DRAGON. Text copyright © 2016 Heather Heffner. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Find out the latest news on the Changeling Sisters series at:

  http://heatherheffner.blogspot.com/

  Dark, action-packed fantasy epics from author

  Heather Heffner:

  Seven deadly vampyre princes. Two sisters far from home. And one spirit world in trouble. Let the shifting begin.

  The Changeling Sisters Series

  Year of the Wolf

  Year of the Tiger

  Year of the Dragon

  Year of the Rat (Forthcoming)

  ~Available on all major online eBook retailers~

  The Changeling Sisters Novellas

  Year of the Boar: Tica (#1.5)

  Welcome to Hell. Don’t abandon all hope. That wouldn’t be as much fun.

  Afterlife Chronicles

  The Tribe of Ishmael

  The Staff of Aaron (Forthcoming)

  ~Available on Amazon.com~

  For my wolf pack who helped me hunt down my dreams: Janae, Thavy, Una, Ogonna, Irene

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  Prologue

  Part I: Imugi

  Chapter 1: Unburied Secrets

  Chapter 2: Ablaze

  Chapter 3: An Intervention

  Chapter 4: The Water Dragon

  Chapter 5: The Mud Festival

  Chapter 6: Drinking Makgeolli

  Chapter 7: The Pearl

  Chapter 8: A Day of Tae

  Chapter 9: The Lost Doorkeeper

  Chapter 10: Yong Enterprises

  Chapter 11: Internal Differences

  Chapter 12: Family Dinner

  Chapter 13: The Hall of Heroes

  Chapter 14: Jaehoon’s Farewell

  Chapter 15: Mr. Kim

  Chapter 16: The Job Interview

  Chapter 17: The Red Company

  Chapter 18: Khyber Returns

  Chapter 19: Strong Wing and Fierce Breath

  Chapter 20: The Great Wall of China

  Chapter 21: The Wailing Woman

  Chapter 22: Three’s a Crowd

  Chapter 23: Hidden Agendas

  Chapter 24: Werewolf Politics

  Chapter 25: Just Friends

  Chapter 26: The Hearing

  Chapter 27: The Energy Dragon

  Chapter 28: The Yeouiju’s Curse

  Chapter 29: The Weretiger Clan

  Chapter 30: The Second Trial

  Chapter 31: An Unlikely Alliance

  Chapter 32: Darkening the Doorway

  Chapter 33: The Third Trial

  Chapter 34: The Air Dragon

  Chapter 35: The Ore Dragon

  Chapter 36: Call to Arms

  Chapter 37: Out to Sea

  Chapter 38: Sun Charm

  Chapter 39: Typhoon

  Part II: Dragon

  Chapter 40: Council of Elders

  Chapter 41: The Forgotten Island

  Chapter 42: Jungle Fury

  Chapter 43: Pandora’s Box

  Chapter 44: The Great King Rocks

  Chapter 45: The Final Trial

  Chapter 46: The Dreaming Dragon

  Chapter 47: Tica’s Sacrifice

  Chapter 48: The Rescue

  Chapter 49: Night of Falling Dreams

  Chapter 50: The Earth Dragon

  Chapter 51: The Sea Castle

  Chapter 52: Battle of the Southern Isles

  Chapter 53: The Death Circle

  Chapter 54: Face Gouger

  Chapter 55: Sunrise at the Edge of the World

  Chapter 56: A Mother’s Choice

  Chapter 57: Custody Battle

  Chapter 58: Choosing Sides

  Chapter 59: Road to Retribution

  Chapter 60: Cold is the Blade of the Knife

  Chapter 61: The Heart of Deception

  Chapter 62: The Yeouiju’s Curse

  Chapter 63: Goodnight, Seoul

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary

  Foreword

  My name is Raina Alvarez.

  If you’ve met me before, please forgive me if I don’t immediately remember 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; my eldest sister Marisol’s mysterious disappearance.

  But then the Vampyre Queen Maya who had kidnapped Marisol 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 the Goshawk, 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 fades, too. I fear this “life bond” is changing my sister. Sometimes, dark shadows cross her face and she does not seem like herself.

  But 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 the 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 t
hey 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 black 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 pack mate. 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, passing the Red Fang Necklace on to Citlalli before he died, which is the symbol of leadership amongst 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 naga 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.” He is the leader of the International Were Council and 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 to rule. And 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 three-foot-long 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 eldest three 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 had 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 preparin
g 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 the King of Castile’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 hell-bent-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. And we shall need his legions of 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.”