Loosening his grip, Zizi tried his best to breathe normally. The burning sensation tapered off, and he let go of the collar. But that tug inside him shifted instantly. For a moment, he felt like he was losing his balance and falling, but the descent was happening in hismind, like something was dragging his consciousness down into the dark.
Breath ragged, Zizi floundered.
Ten quirked his head. “Black again? I see. There is a fight going on inside you, and it explains why your eyes keep changing. But understand that you have no choice but to return with me to the underworld. Know that your presence will mend the rift between the realms and restore balance. The Nothing will retreat to its confines, and the underworld will be safe. When that happens, our realm will stabilize, and the Blight will stop mutating and infectinghumansin this world. And the girl will not be in danger.”
His grandmother’s words came to Zizi suddenly, spoken four years ago on a cold winter’s morning after he had found Rui that fateful night.
Your story will not end well. The girl must be left alone, Madam Meng had said, in a voice that sounded barely human. She wasn’t a kindlyrelative who had taken him in after all, but someone he had bound to himself. Someone who made sure he drank his tea so he would forget. So he would keep forgetting.
When Rui lost her own spiritual energy, the power of the underworld must have surfaced, yearning to return to its master. The strange episodes of Zizi losing pockets of time, appearing in different places without knowing how he got there—it was all linked to the awakening of that power. But now, equilibrium was restored. The black lines on his hands and arms had vanished, and he could feel that power coursing through his veins.
Zizi clenched his fists. In the end, Madam Meng’s words did ring true. She had warned him to stay away from Rui. He had refused. And now, Rui was paying the price.
Ten was right. There was no other choice.
“I won’t go without saying goodbye,” he said. “Unfreeze everything.”
“There is no time for silly farewells,” Ten mocked. “You will soon forget your life here and you will be forgotten, too.”
Zizi shot him a deathly glare. “You’re wrong. I will never,everforget her.”
“You think you are in love with her, but it is false, merely something you feel because she held the power that belonged to you.” Ten scoffed. “You do not love her. Youcannot—you are a King.”
Anger throbbed in Zizi’s veins at that thought. He felt a rush of something big and unknown surging through his body. He flung out a hand by instinct.
Time flowed again.
Water dripped from the cracks in the ceiling, and musty air filled his nostrils.
Rui was staring at him in horror.
Ten cackled. “Oh my, getting reacquainted with your power so soon, brother?”
55
Rui
The world had reeled out of control. There was a black vortex across the width of the tunnel spinning impossibly fast. The ground beneath her was shaking, throwing her off balance. Pieces of debris were falling from the walls and ceiling.
But Rui’s attention was fixed on the boy standing in front of her with his new eyes, so dark against his pale skin.
Zizi looked otherwise the same. But she wasn’t sure if she recognized him. If she knew him.
“Rui.”
He even sounded the same.
“Rui,” he repeated, with more emphasis, with more meaning.
He stepped closer, but she shrank back. “Stay away from me,” she said, trembling with anger.
Hurt flashed across his face. Grunting, he clutched his head like it hurt or like he was trying to squeeze something out. He let go, panting heavily, turning to her—
His eyes.They were pale blue again.
“Who are you?” Rui shouted. What was going on? Was he Four? Or was he—
The walls around them creaked loudly, lines forming on the cement, the fractures spreading.
