Over the next week, the whispers increased. People stared. People talked. At first, no one had the guts to say anything to Seolhyun directly, but the Genuines… well, they knew Seolhyun couldn’t touch them.

Hyejeong gave her a puzzled look when she entered the training room. “Seolhyun?”

She looked up, not surprised to see that Hyejeong was now standing in front of her. Concern lined her face. She forced a smile, “Do you think there’s a chance… my mom didn’t attack those people?”

Hyejeong dropped the mat and placed two gentle hands on her shoulders. “It is.”

“Part of me hopes that she’s still in there somehow. That she isn’t all evil, and she’s still Mom.”

“I know.” Hyejeong’s voice was soft. She stepped forward, eyes were so bright and so warm. Seolhyun wanted to forget about everything and fall into those eyes. “There is nothing wrong with hope, Seolhyun.”

“But?”

“But you have to know when to let hope go.” Hyejeong brought the tips of her fingers across Seolhyun’s cheek. Her hand dropped and she stepped back, the connection broken. “Do you remember why you said you needed to be in the Ephensy?”

The question knocked Seolhyun off guard. “Yeah… I needed to fight Demon. I have to.”

Hyejeong nodded. “And do you still need that? Even after knowing that your mother is one of them?”

Seolhyun thought about that for a moment. “Yes. They’re still out there, killing. They… have to be stopped. I still need that even though Mom’s one of them.”

A small smile played over Hyejeong’s lips. “Then there is hope.”

Later that night, Seolhyun felt the stares again in the common lounge.

Eventually, word did reach her. Some of them, Genuines and Myxs, didn’t think she could be trusted. Not with her Mom so close and so deadly. And it got worse. Now people questioned why they’d left three years ago, and why she’d never returned to the Ephensy during that time. Rumors circulated.

And some people believed it.

Days passed, and only a few Myxs spoke to her. None of the Genuines did. Jimin wasn’t helping matters either, and damn, she was everywhere; in the courtyard after practice, eating dinner with Chanmi and Jisoo. She even showed up randomly during practice, always watching quietly. It was annoying and creepy.

A certain look would cross Hyejeong’s face whenever Jimin stopped by. Seolhyun liked to tell herself it was a mixture of dislike and protectiveness. Though, today they made it through practice without Jimin showing up. She watched as Hyejeong grabbed one of the dummies they’d been practicing with and dragged it toward the wall. The thing weighed a ton, but she moved it around like it weighed nothing.

“Need any help?” Seolhyun offered anyway.

She shook her head and placed it against the wall. “Come over here.”

“What’s up?”

“You see this?” Hyejeong pointed at the dummy’s chest. There were several indentations in the flesh-like material. When Seolhyun nodded, Hyejeong ran her fingertips over them. “These are from your jabs today.” Her voice filled with pride, and it was better than any look she could give Jimin. “That is how strong your hits have become. Remarkable.”

Seolhyun beamed. “Wow. I have the fingers of death.”

The Guru chuckled softly. “And this is from your kicks.” Hyejeong brushed her hands over the dummy’s hip. Part of the material had been knocked in. And part of Seolhyun was envious of the dummy. She wanted Hyejeong’s fingers to touch her like that. “There are students your age who’ve gone through years of training and can’t inflict that kind of damage.”

“I’m the kungfu master. So what do you say? Am I ready to play with the grownup toys?”

“Possibly.” Hyejeong steered her away from the wall at that point. “You’re stronger than you realize, Seolhyun. Being a Linus is a way of life for you, not just a better option like it is for some of the others.”

Once again, her words brought a wealth of warmth. “How do you know I’m so strong?”

“You’re always… so alive, even when you’re going through something that would darken the souls of most.” Hyejeong stopped there, becoming aware of what she’d said. The hollows of her cheeks flushed. “Anyway, you’re incredibly determined, to the point of stubbornness. You wouldn’t stop until you succeeded. Seolhyun, you know what’s right and what’s not. I’m not worried about you not being strong. I’m worried about you being too strong.”

Seolhyun’s heart sort of swelled. Somehow, it made her feel better about her own conflicted emotions, and Hyejeong did bring up a valid point. No matter who she faced out there, if they were Demon, it was her duty to kill them. It was why she was training now.

She took a deep breath. “You know… I hate when you’re right.”

Hyejeong laughed as Seolhyun made a face at her. “Okay,” she held up her hands. “Training you is fun and definitely not boring.”

Seolhyun murmured something incoherent, because her chest, well, it was doing that fluttery thing again. Practice was over, and even though she wanted to stay with her, there were no other reasons for her to hang out. She headed for the doors.

“Seolhyun?”

Stomach tightened. “Yeah?”

Hyejeong stood a few feet away. “I think it would be a good idea… if you don’t wear that to practice again.”

Oh. She’d forgotten what she was wearing. It was a pair of questionable shorts Chanmi had picked up for her. Looking at Hyejeong now, she realized she had noticed. Seolhyun fixed an overly innocent look on her face.

“Do you find these shorts distracting?”

Hyejeong gave her one of her rare smiles. Every cell in Seolhyun’s body warmed. Her smile had that kind of impact.

“It’s not the shorts I find distracting.” She brushed past her, stopping at the door. “In our next practice I may let you train with the daggers if we have time.”

Her distracting shorts and everything else were forgotten for the time being. “No way. You’re being serious?”

Hyejeong tried to look serious, but her grin looked a bit mischievous. “I think it wouldn’t hurt, but only for a little bit. I think it will help you get a feel on how to handle them.”

Without thinking, she closed the distance between them and hugged her. Hyejeong immediately stiffened, obviously caught off guard. It was just a simple hug, but the tension racked up several degrees. Seolhyun suddenly wondered what it would feel like if she rested her head against her chest, or if her arms came around her and she held her, but not out of comfort.

Or if she kissed her again like she had that night… would she kiss her back?

The Next Day

Just before dawn, the funeral for those murdered at Lake Waiji began. Following ancient Greek tradition, the funeral consisted of three parts. All of the bodies, the ones recovered were laid out before the funeral began. Seolhyun stayed in the back of the funeral home, refusing to go anywhere near the dead. She paid her respects from a healthy distance.

The three bodies of the Lee & Goo family, Rose’s father and stepmother, and the Guards were wrapped in linen and draped in gold. From there, the funeral procession began, and it was long. The bodies were lifted onto pyres and carried through the main street. All tourist activity had been cut off to Ephti Island, and the streets were filled with Genuines and Myx mourners.

Seolhyun stayed close to Chanmi and Lisa, and she only caught a quick glimpse of Rose and Jasmine at the cemetery. The sisters shared the same red hair and impossibly thin bodies, and even with puffy eyes, Jasmine was absolutely stunning.

After burning the remains, they erected massive marble statues. The artist’s rendering of the one that would honor the family depicted their images set on a pedestal carved with a Greek verse about immortality among the Gods. The round pedestal already occupied the site.

Slowly, the mourners broke apart. Some headed back home, others went to small receptions held in the homes of the families. Seolhyun trailed behind Chanmi and Lisa, going back to the Ephensy, away from all the death and despair.

As they passed the pyres, her eyes found Hyejeong. She stood with Yonghwa, a few feet away from Rose and Jasmine. She looked up, and their eyes met. She then nodded slightly before turning to Jasmine, offering her condolences.

Seolhyun turned her attention to the large iron gates separating the town from the plot of meaningless statues. Jimin stood there, dressed in her black uniform. There was no doubt she was watching them. Seolhyun ignored her as they left the cemetery.

For the rest of the day, she tried to forget that they’d lost so many innocent people.

***

Seolhyun didn’t get to do anything with the daggers in the next practice.  “Come on,” she pushed the mats off the floor. “How am I supposed to get caught up when I can’t even touch a dagger?”

Hyejeong nudged her out of the way and took over mat duty. “I need to make sure you know how to defend yourself.”

“She hasn’t practiced with Ephensy blades at all?”

Jimin leaned against the door frame, arms folded across her chest. She watched them with a lazy expression, but her eyes were extraordinarily bright.

Hyejeong straightened, barely bothering to look at her. “I would swear I shut and locked that door.”

Jimin smirked. “I unlocked and opened the door.”

“How’d you do that?” Seolhyun asked. “The door locks from the inside.”

“Elpis secrets. Can’t give them away.” She winked at Seolhyun before turning those eyes on Hyejeong. “How can she be prepared to fight if she doesn’t know how to wield the only weapon she will have against a Demon?”

Jimin gained cool points with that question. Seolhyun looked at Hyejeong expectedly. The cold, distasteful expression she wore earned way more cool points.

“I was unaware that you had any say in her training.” Hyejeong arched an eyebrow.

“I don’t.” Jimin pushed off the wall and sauntered across the training room. She plucked one of the daggers off the wall and faced them. “I’m sure I could convince Heechul or Jonghyun to let Seolhyun have a few rounds with me. Would you like that, Seolhyun?”

Seolhyun felt Hyejeong stiffen beside her and she shook her head. “No. Not really.”

A slow smile crept across Jimin’s face as she flipped the dagger in her hand. “Really, I’d let you play… with the grownup toys.” She stopped in front of Seolhyun, offering the blade handle first. “Here. Take it.”

Seolhyun’s gaze fell to the shiny metal in her hand. The end had been sharpened to a point. Like she was under a powerful compulsion, she reached for it.

Hyejeong’s hand clamped down on Jimin’s, pulling the dagger and Jimin’s hand out of Seolhyun’s reach. Startled, she looked up at Hyejeong. Furious eyes met and held Jimin’s.

“She will train with the daggers when I decide so. Not you. Your presence here is not welcome.”

Jimin’s eyes flicked to Hyejeong’s hand. Her smile didn’t falter once. “Awfully controlling, aren’t you? Since when do Genuines care so much about what a Myx touches or doesn’t touch?”

“Since when would an Elpis concern herself with a Myx girl? One would think she had better things to do?”

“Okay.” Seolhyun stepped between the two, cutting off only the Gods knew what Jimin was about to say. Neither of them seemed to hear or see her. Sighing, Seolhyun grabbed Hyejeong’s arm. She looked at her then. “Practice is over, right? It’s dinner time.”

Reluctantly, she let go and backed off. Even Jimin looked surprised by her response, but Hyejeong watched her intently. “For now, yes.”

Jimin shrugged and flipped the blade over again, gaze centered on Seolhyun once more. “I actually don’t have anything better to do then concern myself with a Myx girl.”

There was something about the way Jimin spoke that gave Seolhyun the chills. Or it could have been the skill in which she handled the blade with.

As soon as Seolhyun arrived at the hall, she knew things weren’t going to be fun. Everyone stopped talking. Genuines and Myx staring at her, and the moment she found Jisoo come closer to their table, people started whispering.

Pretending like she wasn’t at all bothered, she sat down as soon as Jisoo joined her. “How you doing?”

“Great.”

Someone from the other side of the room whispered something they couldn’t make out, but Rowoon busted into laughter. Feeling paranoid, Seolhyun tried to ignore him.

“They’re talking about you.”

Slowly, she looked at Jisoo. “Thanks, buddy.”

“Everyone is.” Jisoo shrugged. “Frankly, I don’t care. Your mom’s a Demon. So what? It’s not like you can help it. You’re not responsible for what your mother did.”

Seolhyun bit her lip, staring at the floor. “No one knows if she did anything.”

Jisoo raised her eyebrows as she took a long drink. “You’re right.”

The group across from them erupted in snickers and sly looks. Taeyang shook his head, turning his attention to the tray in his hand.

“They’re just scared, Seolhyun.” Jisoo gave a pointed look at the knot of people across the room. “They all fear being turned. The Demons have never been this close. Three hours isn’t that far away, and it could’ve been any of them. It could’ve been their deaths.”

Seolhyun shivered and yearned for another fry from Jisoo’s plate. “Why aren’t you afraid?”

“We all got to die sometime, right?”

“That’s dark.”

“And you let a bunch of Genuines get you that upset?” A familiar voice echoed behind her.

“For the Holy Zeus’ sake, Jimin, stop doing that!” Seolhyun was so ready to flip everything off in front of her. “How long were you standing there?”

“Long enough to realize I find it entertaining, but you have to know that you are not responsible for what your mother did. Who cares what a bunch of spoiled Genuines think?”

“You don’t know if my mom did anything!”

“Are you serious?” Jimin’s eyes searched her face. She found what she was looking for. “Now I can add stupid to my list of adjectives for describing you.”

Seolhyun wondered what the other adjectives were. “Whatever. Just leave me alone.”

Jimin cut her off. “She’s a Demon. She kills innocent people. That’s what Demon do. There is no reason behind it. That’s what she is doing, but it is not your fault.”

Seolhyun really wanted to kick or punch her, but neither of those things would be smart. See, she did have intelligence and obedience. She sidestepped her, but Jimin wasn’t having it.