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

summon the Godrealm’s last fallen star, I demand that which you hold dear. I demand the elemental magic that now flows through your blood.”

I freeze. Did he just say he wants my magic?

I rub my biochipped left wrist against my right and watch the gifted mark glow red. I remember how it felt to channel my inner element and spit out that little ball of fire. It wasn’t much, but it had given me a taste of my potential.

If the dokkaebi took my elemental magic, my gifted mark would disappear. And that means no matter how many times I got biochipped, my ability to wield fire would be gone for good.

But then Sora’s words from before the initiation come back to me again. What we’re looking for is your commitment and loyalty.

My success in the trial wasn’t about my ability to wield fire. It was about the way I approached the task.

Something clicks into place inside me.

My new magic might be a part of me that I’d like to nurture and grow. But I would still be me without it. I thought I needed magic to be someone. But now I know that’s not true. It’s my actions, regardless of the magic, that really count. And right now, everything is riding on them.

“Fine,” I say, holding my ground and standing tall. I’m eager for this to be over. “You can have my magic.”

The dokkaebi’s eyebrows make choppy waves on his face. He was obviously looking for more of a fight, and it’s satisfying to know I’ve surprised him.

The goblin pauses, but only for a split second. His mouth opens again, spreading a horrible stench. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Miss Oh. The negotiation isn’t over quite yet.”

I suck in a breath. How could it not be over? There’s nothing more he could possibly take from me!

“In addition to your magic, I require something else. Something you cherish above all else. The thing you cannot live without.” His black eyes harden like coals, and I know that whatever comes next will be devastating. I can feel it in my bones.

“I demand the Horangi’s and Gom’s memories of you. You will be erased from the minds of your two clans and your two families. All of them. That is the final payment I require for delivering to you the Godrealm’s last fallen star.”

I fall to my knees. No, no, no! He has found the one way to destroy me from the inside out. My biggest vulnerability: the fear of being forgotten. The fear of being unloved by those I love most.

I pull out the vial from under my shirt and see that only a quarter of Hattie’s heart is red now. It’s me or Hattie. That’s what this has come down to.

And it’s funny, really. You’d think this would be the hardest decision in the entire three realms to make. It should be an impossible choice, like the one my eomma was faced with, having to choose between Hattie and me.

But it’s not. After everything that’s happened—after everything I’ve put my loved ones through—it is the easiest decision I’ve had to make all day. The only way I can make things right again is to take the deal. To be forgotten by both the Gom family that raised me and the Horangi clan that welcomed me into their arms. It’s the price I must pay.

I close my eyes. I picture my eomma, my appa, my auntie Okja. I picture Emmett, who, being half-Gom, will also be affected, I’m sure. I picture Sora, Austin, and Taeyo. And most of all, I picture my sister. I imagine them all smiling and posing for a family photo, and I take a snapshot in my mind. They may forget me, but I want to remember them for the rest of my life.

“Good-bye,” I whisper. “Thank you for everything.”

Then, before I can change my mind, I turn back toward the creature. “Dokkaebi!” I announce bravely. “I’ll do it.”

The goblin rubs his horns and cackles at the top of his lungs. “Miss Oh, you have yourself a deal!”

He reaches his hand toward the vial around my neck, and I scream, grabbing the glass protectively. I will not let him get his nasty red fingers on Hattie’s heart.

Instead, he clenches his fist in the air. And as something dark and icy seeps into my chest, I realize he wasn’t after Hattie’s heart.

He’s after mine.

As he pulls back his fist, a beating black heart is extracted from my chest. The dokkaebi reels it in like a fish while licking his crimson lips.

“Ahh, human pain and suffering. My favorite meal.”

Then, before my very eyes, he seizes my payment and sinks his teeth into it.

I cry out and shed tears for the life I’ve lost and the life I’ll never have. I started with one family who loved me, gained another, and now I’ve lost them both.

“Absolutely divine!” The dokkaebi licks the final bits of my suffering off his lips. Black goo dribbles down his face. “And now to deliver you your fallen star.” He flexes his small, red hand, and then calls out, “Bangmangi! Materialize!”

In a blink, a weird wooden club appears in his hand. It’s half the length of a baseball bat, but at least twice as fat, and it’s covered with pointy black and red spikes. While holding it, the creature closes his eyes and spits out words I’ve never heard before. His chanting gets louder as he waves his bangmangi in a weird dance-like motion, until finally there is an explosion of sound and light in the room.

“Well, well, well,” the dokkaebi says to me, amusement dancing at the edges of his mouth. “This is an interesting turn of events. It seems, Miss Oh, that you are already in possession of the fallen star.”

I’m already what?!

He chuckles, quietly at first, and then it crescendos into an avalanche of sound. “Such a shame, considering that you had to pay a price, but I upheld my end of the bargain.