After Four’s disappearance, the other nine Kings had come together to search for their missing brother, taking turns traveling to the far-flung corners of their realm, where no Reaper would survive and no soul could exist.
But no trace of Four was ever found.
All the Kings knew was that One had unwittingly enabled Four’s disappearance by lending him an artifact in the form of a willow branch, and Four had used its power. For that momentary lapse in judgment, One was confined to their palace, never to step out of their throne room. It wasn’t fair, Nikai thought. He’d been witness to the incident, and he knew One had no idea that Four had planned to steal the willow branch to use it. But someone had to bear the blame, and the burden fell on the First King.
The only other clue was a cryptic message Four had left with the Lady of the Pavilion, an immortal who tended to Wangyi Lake.
Those who seek me shall never see me.
No one knew why Four had left the message with her, nor what it truly meant. It was assumed to be a farewell taunt, and that Four had found a way to hide himself somewhere in the vast and mysterious regions of the underworld that did not appear on any map.
Nikai had been interrogated too. But to his shame, he was of little help. As days turned into years and the Fourth King did not return, doubt mushroomed in Nikai’s mind. Why did Four give up his throne? PerhapsNikai didn’t understand his friend at all, or perhaps, they’d never really been friends. Still, Nikai refused to believe his King was gone forever.
Sighing deeply, Nikai wiped his eyes with his handkerchief.
Seconds later, the clouds parted and the stars emerged.
Nikai sat on the swing, taking in the conjunction of the realms. He wondered how many humans were looking up right now, marveling at the same night sky as he was in the underworld.
Nikai remembered a time when he and Four were sitting right on these same swings. Nikai had been thinking about how humans liked to wish upon stars, as if the celestial bodies of hot gases had the power to change fate.
What would you wish for?he’d asked Four.
To see the stars forever, Four said, a childlike sense of awe blossoming on his face.How about you?
Nikai had shrugged, making up something trite. He didn’t like hiding things from his friend, but some wishes were dangerous.
“To see the stars forever,” Nikai said out loud to himself now. What had Four meant? How could one see the stars forever? It was certainly impossible in the underworld, apart from these few precious minutes once a month. But in the human realm, one could see the stars every night, he supposed.
Nikai kicked his legs in the air, urging the swing higher. A stray thought crept into his head. Didheever gaze at the stars when he was human? Had hebeenthe sort of human who would gaze at the stars?
An unexplained longing crept into Nikai’s chest, a desire too treacherous to consider. When he was granted the chance to leave the Nothing, he’d made a choice to forget everything about his mortal life or why he’d been sent there in the first place. He’d drunk the tea. He’d let go of his past life forever. It was pointless to think or feel too much. His mortal memories would never return.
Hell was his home now.
Time to get back to work. Nikai pushed himself off the swing and straightened his suit.
As he made his way nimbly down the hill, something made him pause. He glanced back up at the sky.
The clouds were curtaining, hiding the stars once again. But a strange light peeked through. It grew bright, brighter, its edges a blurred green. It was hurtling eastward across the night sky.
The First King’s voice rang in Nikai’s head,Did you see the green light heading east? The spirit trail of a dying star has appeared, which means an anomaly has occurred in the human realm.
Nikai was afraid to breathe. Something was happening in the human realm at this very moment. He kept his head and made a note of the coordinates of the dying star’s spirit trail, then sped down the hill as if a pack of wolves were nipping at his heels.
Fate was intervening, the same way it did just before Four had vanished. And Nikai was determined to witness it once again.
11
Yiran
Yiran kicked at the front door of the weird-looking shophouse. Scattered thoughts flew through his mind. Did he just kill a Revenant? Did he havemagicnow? No. It couldn’t be. This couldn’t be happening—but the girl in his arms was proof that something did happen. An image of her surfaced in his mind: lying in the passenger seat of his car, blood fanned out on cream-colored leather like vicious angel wings.
The car. There was so much blood on the leather seats. What was he going to tell his grandfather? Maybe he could pay someone to clean it first or—
He swore loudly. If his arms were not full of bleeding girl, he’d slap himself. Why was he thinking about a freaking car when the girl was slumped against him, silent and still?Is she dead?asked his good-for-nothing brain. He shushed it and kicked the front door of the shophouse again.
“Open up!”
