“How... how did you know?” she stammered.
“Like I said, I know many things.” Ten threw a cursory glance at thestill-frozen Yiran before turning back to her. “Let us make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes, a mutually beneficial agreement. It is simple. You will help me find my brother, and you shall receive something in return.”
Rui remembered a story her mother once told her, about a god who owed a human a favor for helping them. If she knew anything about fairy tales, it was that they were all too real.
A favor from a god... She could ask for her magic back. For good grades, for money, for her father’s health, for him to stop gambling. She could ask for the world, and Ten might give it to her.
He was watching her carefully. “Shall we proceed with this fair exchange between you and me?”
How could there ever be a fair exchange between a mortal and a god? Her mother’s bedtime story had ended with the human’s downfall.
Rui shook her head. “No deals with devils.”
Ten howled with laughter. “But I am no devil.” He ran his tongue over his mouth in a way that made her linger on his cherry lips for longer than she wished to.
Then, he cracked a knuckle.
Rui clutched her chest, legs buckling as she gasped for air.
Ten had unleashed something. An invisible force that felt like spiritual energy. Not bright and warm like yangqi, nor dark and cold like the yinqi of Revenants. It was different, way more powerful, beyond worlds and all-consuming.
Rui fell to the ground.
Ten closed in, the light in his eyes greedy. “Would you like to make a deal, my dear?”
Rui did not want—no, shedid. She wanted to say yes. She felt the word forcing its way up her throat. She stabbed her nails into her palms and clamped her lips shut with all her might. But there were other ways to show acquiescence. The muscles at the back of her neck relaxed, and she felt her head lowering into a nod.
Ten. He’s doing this.Fury sparked in her. A god or not, Rui wasn’t going to let him take away her choice. She dug in—and pushed back.
The invisible pressure lifted.
For a moment, the world spun. It felt like she’d eaten something foul, the taste making her retch. Slowly, she pulled herself to her knees and hunched over the bench.
“Whatever you’re trying, it won’t work,” she said, breathing heavily. “You can’t force me to agree with you.”
Ten was looking at her like he’d discovered hidden treasure. “I cannot coerce someone to make a deal. It must be done voluntarily. I was merely testing you for something else. That was less than a tenth of my spiritual power, but you managed to withstand it even in your weakened state. Astonishing—I am impressed, and I am seldom so. You must help me, there can be no other way.”
Rui shook her head, more to clear her mind than to disagree.
Ten shifted to Yiran.
“Hmm,” he mused, caressing Yiran’s cheek. He pinched it. Left a red mark on smooth skin. “It would be a pity if thisnormiewere to perish, would it not?”
“Are you going to kill him if I don’t help you?”
“Please. I would never be so uncouth,” Ten admonished. “Besides, he does not needmyhelp. He is like a balloon filled with air, he will just keep expanding. Until one day—” Ten mimed an explosion. “It is only a matter of time.”
Guilt roiled in Rui’s stomach. She had seen Yiran lose control in the Simulator. Seen how magic lit him up from the inside and burned through him. His life was in peril, and it was her fault. Even if her spirit core healed, there was a chance Zizi might not be able to transfer her spiritual energy and magic back. Rui trusted Zizi’s skill, but she’d never seen him so worried before, like he wasn’t confident he could reverse the spell. And if Zizi couldn’t help, did it mean Yiran would eventually die? Did it mean Rui would have to live without magic forever?
“The boy.” Ten’s voice cut through her thoughts. “He means something to you.”
“He means nothing to me,” Rui said. But it only made Ten smile.
“Shall we revisit the terms of my proposed deal? Humans are full of desires. Surely I can offer you something in return that will pique your interest? Money tends to do the trick. But for you”—Ten’s eyes turned to slits—“vengeance, redemption, and maybe a little true love?”
