The Last Fallen Star, Graci Kim [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

I was so grief-stricken over having lost my best friend that I believed what the council told me. That the Horangi were responsible. It was easier that way—to have someone to blame.”

Sora and Austin growl.

Auntie Okja gives them a guilty look, massages her temples, and continues. “But the truth is, I always thought something was off. The pieces didn’t add up. It was too convenient that the scholars were there at the wrong place at the wrong time when they were the keepers of the artifact in the first place. But it wasn’t until things went sour at Hattie’s initiation that I started digging. And no matter where I looked, the same answer kept coming up. It all centered around one person who was adamant about keeping the scholars in the community’s disfavor.”

We all lean in. “Who?” I demand. “Who was it?”

“Bongjoon Pyo. The Samjogo elder. The chairperson of the LA council.”

I let out a yelp, and then feel a weird sense of relief wash over me. I want so badly to believe Auntie Okja. “So it wasn’t you?” I ask. “You weren’t the one who wanted the sunstone ax? You’re innocent?”

She hangs her head. “I’m far from innocent. I should have spoken up about my doubts a long, long time ago.” She looks at Emmett and the three scholars. “And that’s a burden I will forever carry on my shoulders. But I swear on my life, I didn’t want Sookhee’s position, and I never wanted the sunstone ax.”

“Why do you think it’s him?” Emmett asks dubiously. “What proof do you have?”

Auntie Okja’s forehead crinkles in concentration. “He claimed that as chairperson of the council, only he had the authority to report illegal interactions with the Horangi clan to the Godrealm. But it was odd, considering that council elders always communicate collectively with the goddesses. Plus, he’s always been dead set against my attempts to bring more diversity and inclusion into the community. I thought he was just old-fashioned, but after Hattie’s ceremony, when I tried to reason with him, I saw a different side of him. A darker side.” Her eyes crease with concern. “And then, the other day, when he told the council about his vision of Sora breaking into and entering the temple—”

“I never did such a thing!” Sora interrupts. “I tried to meet with Gumiho Elder Kim to warn her about the prophecy, but she wasn’t willing to talk to me, so I left it at that.”

Auntie Okja nods. “I know, I know. And that’s what I figured out. Elder Pyo claimed to have seen you breaking in, but the next time he described the vision, the details were different. Each time he told us the story, it changed. That’s how I knew he was making it all up.”

“So why come clean now?” Sora asks, her face somber.

Auntie Okja looks at me and Emmett, and then Hattie’s dying heart. “Because if these young people can be brave, then so can I. I believe Elder Pyo has been after the artifacts the whole time. He’s the one responsible for all the deception, encouraging Sookhee Harrison to steal the ax, the deaths, and the banishment of the Horangi clan.” The three scholars tense, and I see Austin clenching his fists. “Furthermore, I believe he is on the hunt for the last artifact as we speak. And we need to stop him before he finds it.”

Austin puts his hand on Sora’s shoulder and whispers a few words. He must not be sure about Auntie Okja’s testimony, and I can’t say I blame him. Not after everything they’ve suffered.

But Sora shakes her head. “If the end of days really is coming, and the last artifact will bring it on, then we need to find it before anyone else does.”

She looks at Auntie Okja, her eyes like pinpricks. “I don’t trust you, Okja, but I do believe you. So let’s go find this monster of a human and stop him before he destroys the world.”

MY PARENTS, AUNTIE OKJA, the three Horangi, Emmett (with Boris), and I all drive to the Woori America Bank’s LA headquarters. When we park and I jump out of Eomma’s SUV, the sky goes dark. I frown and look up, only to find that it’s not a storm cloud that’s blocked the sun, but a bird. A ginormous bird with a human woman’s face.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Areum. “What if the saram see you? You don’t exactly…well, blend in.”

She shrinks to dove size and gently lowers herself onto my shoulder. “I yielded to you, Riley Oh. Wherever you go, I now go.”

That alarms me. I’m flattered that this mighty bird-woman has decided I’m important enough to follow around, but I’m finding it hard to imagine having her on my shoulder for the rest of my life. It’s a bit too pirate-y for my liking.

Taeyo studies Areum’s shrunken form curiously, but all the adults keep a safe distance. They’ve seen her in fury mode, so I can understand why they’re wary.

Emmett nudges me in the side. “Come on, Rye, you tamed her. You gotta take responsibility for her now. Besides, she might come in handy—you never know.”

Areum turns her little head and stares expectantly at me. I guess it can’t hurt for her to stay with us for the time being. “Well, you can’t come into the building with us, or else the saram are gonna think they’re hallucinating,” I say. “But maybe you can stay outside until we come back? And keep out of sight, if you can?”

She squawks in response and flies toward the roof of the bank.

Auntie Okja ushers us to the front of the mid-rise office building, and then she turns to Sora, Austin, and Taeyo. “I’m sure you already know this, but Elder Pyo, when not acting as chairperson of the gifted council, is also chair of the Woori America Bank.” Then she addresses the rest of us. “I called his assistant earlier, and