“That should whittle your field down. Oh, and one more thing—there is another reason you should hasten your search. A little incentive, perhaps.”
Ten giggled when Rui made a frustrated sound. She didn’t like the imbalance of power between them. How he was stringing her along, how he seemed to know everything, and she, nothing at all. Still, if he could find her mother’s murderer...
“What incentive?”
“Humans would not treasure life if they knew nothing of death, and death loses its meaning if one never experiences the full spectrum of life. Life and death exist symbiotically, as do our realms. My brother’s disappearance disrupted this balance. Our Reapers collect the souls of the departed, and if souls are not ferried safely into my realm, they will linger as spirits in yours, vulnerable to the Blight. What do you think will happen if my brother is not found?”
Rui swallowed dryly. “More Revenants.”
“Clever girl. Now you know why you need to hurry.” Ten swiped athis arm, as if brushing away invisible hands tugging at him. “Speaking of time, I must leave your world now.” There was an off-color tinge to Ten’s face, a translucency she hadn’t noticed before. He was fading before her eyes.
“Wait! How do I contact you?”
“Focus on your search. I will find you.” The specter of the Tenth King wagged a gloved finger, whispering, “Remember, this is our little secret. No one else must know of this or the consequences will be grave. We do not want to alert my brother, or anyone else who may be helping him.”
Ten vanished, and the world was in motion again.
“What are we waiting for?”
Rui yelped in surprise.
Yiran was looking at her quizzically. “Are you okay?”
“I... yeah,” she said, unable to take her eyes off him. He seemed perfectly fine and alive, untouched by any death god magic.
“Well, you’re really pale.” Yiran shrugged off his jacket and held it over her head. “Let’s get you out of the rain and get those fries you were talking about.”
He made no move to squeeze under his jacket with her, putting her comfort first. Rui was surprised he was capable of such a chivalrous and kind act.
As they headed for shelter, she pondered over her encounter with Ten. The enormity of her task daunted her. But now, there was a way to get her magic back and have her vengeance. She glanced sideways at Yiran. And there was a way to save this foolish boy’s life. Finally, there was some hope in sight.
But first, she had to hunt down a god.
20
Nikai
From his perch in the observation room, Nikai stared out at all eighteen levels of the Tenth Court’s administrative area. He could see the souls hunched over computer terminals in their cubicles, heads bent in concentration. But no one could see him.
Some time ago, Ten had redesigned this place to resemble a panopticon—a circular prison with cells going round a central tower. Using a clever play of light, the inmatescould notsee into the guard tower, which stood in the middle, but the tower itself gave the impression of beingall-seeing. Similarly, Ten’s staff and the souls working here never knew if their King was watching them, and so they self-regulated and behaved as if he had eyes on them all the time. It was a stroke of genius.
And it told Nikai everything he needed to know about the Tenth King.
Underneath the tower, the fiery pits of the kingdom were on full display beneath glass walkways, the sight intimidating enough to deter any wayward soul. But the Tenth Court’s area of expertise was psychological. There were pitch-black cells that served the purpose of harsher punishments, should judgment call for it. The atmosphere of the whole kingdom was so different from the Fourth Court it gave Nikai whiplash every time he visited, which, thank the gods, wasn’t very often.
Today, however, he was here on his own accord.
Nikai paced, irritated. His pager was going off incessantly with messages from the other Reapers. There was just so much to do.
Ten swept in like a river of blood, interrupting Nikai in mid-curse. “I do not recall asking for you.”
Nikai stuffed his pager into his pocket. “Your Majesty.” He bowed. There was a corner of gray at the edge of Ten’s robes by his foot. “I’m aware I have not been summoned, but I couldn’t wait. Did you talk to the girl?”
“I did.”
“What happened, Your Majesty?”
Ten took his time to answer, circling the room, observing the workers outside in their cubicles. He seemed to enjoy the sight of Nikai squirming in silence, holding in his barrage of questions for fear of being rude.
