The Tenth King was easy to spot.
He was sunlight glistening in a pool of blood. His flaxen hair shimmered as he brushed his long ponytail off slim shoulders that were accentuated by a formfitting red hanfu with intricate embroidery. Black leather straps crisscrossed his narrow torso, cinched at the waist with metal buckles. His face was a perfectly chiseled heart, lips full and red like ripe cherries. Dark lashes framed his doe-like eyes, his deep brown irises flecked with gold, and a wash of terra-cotta-red eye shadow and a pop of glitter decorated his lids.
He sat in the corner, stripping off a pair of half-palm leather gloves. The delicate grace of his movements reminded Nikai of a fairy-tale princess who needed rescuing—if that princess had a penchant for biting off the head of every suitor who sought her company.
At this early hour, the only human in the café was the orange-haired boy at the counter reading manga. The music from his headphones was blasting so loudly Nikai could hear it.
Nikai greeted Ten with a bow. “My apologies for disturbing you, Your Majesty, but I come with an urgent and important request.”
Ten sucked the last tapioca ball in his tea through an oversized straw and chewed it slowly, staring at Nikai as if he were contemplating the universe or, perhaps, a little murder. He held up a crooked finger. The trail of red polish on his nail made it look like his finger was bleeding.
The orange-haired boy at the counter glanced up, lifting his headphones.“Another cup of the usual—iced oolong tea, no sugar, extra bubbles?”
Ten nodded.
The boy put his headphones back on and disappeared into the kitchen. Nikai longed for some five-spice popcorn chicken himself, but that could wait.
“Hello, Reaper,” Ten said, finally acknowledging him. “I was enjoying some alone time. Pray tell, what is so urgent that you could not wait for my return?”
Nikai sat on the plasticky chair across from him. “I need to use the Darkroom in the Archives, and since you’re the regent of the Fourth Court, I require your approval on the paperwork.”
“The Darkroom is not a place for Reapers. I see no reason for you to visit it,” Ten said, his languid manner unchanging.
“But I wish to look into the birth story of a living human,” Nikai said, “and the Darkroom is the only place that allows me to do so.”
“Alivinghuman?” Ten’s pretty eyes glinted. “Tell me more.”
“I followed the spirit trail of a dying star last night to a park in the human realm, where I encountered a Revenant attacking two teenagers—a boy and a girl. The creature was eventually killed. The girl is a cadet at the Exorcist academy and—”
“Exorcist cadets are trained to kill Revenants. How is this out of the ordinary?” Ten cut in, looking thoroughly unimpressed. “Why are you interested in such mundane things, Reaper? It is unbecoming.”
“Your Majesty, it was the boy who killed the Revenant. What’s more, he is a human without magic.”
“Why did you not start with that? Iadoreplot twists.” Ten clasped his hands in delight. “So you are curious about the boy?” When Nikai nodded, Ten shifted his head, peering sideways at Nikai as if he knew the Reaper was holding something back. “Why?”
“I saw the cadet casting a spell,” Nikai replied, his heart pressed against his rib cage as he recalled what he’d seen. “Her spiritual energy was transferred to the boy, and he was able to use it to wield her weaponimmediately—he was able to domagic.”
“How can that be? You said the boy is a—what is that word?” Ten knitted his brow.
“I believe he is called anormiein the present era of human terminology, Your Majesty.” Nikai prided himself in keeping up with the times and the casual language of the youths.
“I suppose it is interesting that this normie survived the ordeal,” Ten said, “but it is interesting in the way a new bubble tea flavor is interesting for only the first sip. Why are you wasting your time on the petty lives of humans, Reaper?” Ten turned to the group of small children playing at a park across the street. Their laughter carried into the café. “Look at them,” he said softly, as if to himself. “Look at these humans, going about their meaningless little lives, finding joy in the silliest of things.”
Nikai was thrown by his expression. He’d never seen the Tenth King look so wistful.
But Ten snapped out of it quickly enough. He tutted, examining his nails, condescension returning as he said to Nikai, “I advise you to stay away from the Archives and the Darkroom, Reaper, lest you be tempted. No, I will not help you with the paperwork.”
It had been a long shot, but it was the only shot Nikai had. He refused to give up. He knew Ten wanted to be rid of the burden of overseeing the Fourth Court. Only Four’s return could guarantee that. And with the Tenth Court in heightened danger because of the Nothing, Ten might just be the only King who would entertain Nikai’s wild theory.
“I must enter the Darkroom because this may be connected to Four,” he blurted.
“Explain yourself,” Ten said, suddenly alert.
“We know Four still exists because the Kings are eternal. But what if we’ve been wrong about everything else? What if Four isn’t in the underworld buthere? Four told me he wanted to see the stars forever. It didn’t occur to me then, but now, I think what he meant was he wanted to see the starsfromthe human realm.”
“Here? Among these plebeians?” Ten scoffed. “I want my brother back more than you do, Reaper. But I do not delude myself with ridiculous speculation. Besides, he cannot exist in the human realm permanently. His power tethers him to the underworld. Like you and I, he is bound.”
Underworld beings could only stay in the human world for short periods of time, and the ancient tenets did not allow them to exert the full extent of their powers while they were here. Even now, Nikai could feel the threads of his world hovering around him, pulling him back. But if his hunch was correct...
