The cave transforms more and more the deeper they venture into it. The sharp, flat surface riddled with grime beneath them gives way to stairs formed from slippery, jutting rock leading into an inky abyss below. Kisa keeps one hand on the slimy cave wall and one hand on the thread as she and Somi quietly pick their way downward. The air is heavy here, thick and sulfurous, damp when it hits their lungs. There is also the faint smell of unwashed body, which only grows stronger as the makeshift stairways end at the bottom of a cavern with three dark tunnels.

“Which one?” Somi whispers.

The thread stretches down the second. Kisa gestures toward it, but hesitates. There must be traps. No prison ever comes without them. Seokga’s sword is at the top of the SRC Flatliner, and Somi’s claws are broken and useless. All they have with them are their wits.

The two women edge cautiously into the second tunnel. Kisa half-expects some sort of demon to jump out at them, but instead, they’re met by—the CEO? Her heart lurches in her chest as Yeomra emerges from the darkness, eyeshadow glittering even in the depthless shadow.

If he’s with Jang…

But Yeomra shakes his head, ever so slightly, raising one pale finger to his lips.

“Good of you to finally show up,” Somi snaps.

The CEO ignores the irate gumiho, stepping closer to Kisa. “Seokga is unconscious,” he whispers. “When his wounds heal, he’ll be forced to untie his father.”

“Can’t you do something about Jang?” Kisa demands, but it sounds more like a plea. “Send her into one of the hells?” Even if Hajun finds Jang’s heart and throws it overboard, it’s no use now. Jang is off the ship.

“I can,” whispers Yeomra, “and I will. But that’s not the problem. Seokga is.”

“No,” she vehemently insists. “He’s not a willing participant in any of this—”

Yeomra’s black eyes flash. “You don’t understand the influence Mireuk has over Seokga. It’s the reason Jang singled Seokga out of all the other gods. Even though he’ll fight against it, Seokga will still do anything for his father if it means being loved by him. Don’t you know what we call him in Okhwang?” He leans forward, as if to deliver the killing blow. “We call him the Lonely God.”

“I know that.” She glares, even as pain fractures her chest. The Lonely God. “I also know that you’re underestimating him. He fought Jang on the ship, and he was the one who imprisoned Mireuk in the first place.”