“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. It’s time to go back; you owe me a song next time.”
As Ada led her to the group of cadets waiting for them, Rui looked over her shoulder.
Zizi was standing at the end of the street, staring at her from afar.
She turned away first, a funny feeling in her chest she couldn’t blame on alcohol.
24
Rui
Rui removed her lanyard and surrendered her security pass to the receptionist.
“I hope you had an enriching time at our headquarters today, Cadet Lin.” The receptionist smiled warmly. “We’re always happy to have our most promising cadets over. I’m sure Professor Wong is looking forward to your report.”
Rui faked her brightest and most enthusiastic grin. “It was an amazing experience. Thank you,” she gushed. She waved a cheerful goodbye and went through the security turnstile.
Her smile dropped once she was outside the modern knife-shaped building. Citing her research on reconnaissance tactics, she had convinced Professor Wong to get her access to a few Guild personnel at the headquarters. She’d requested field Exorcists to interview, but when she arrived, she realized the Guild had only made a couple of paper pushers available to her. They had low spiritual energies, just on the border of being normies. None of them were potential candidates for Four. She’d wasted the morning listening to mind-numbingly boring explanations of the protocol for writing incident reports.
She should’ve known that, top cadet or not, the Guild would only allow her superficial access to their people and operations. Now she was stuck writing a lengthy essay on mind-numbingly boring explanations of the protocol for writing incident reports.
Time for plan B: using her connection with Ash to get close to actual Exorcists. Problem was, Ash was the kind of smart that could see through a flimsy scheme. She’d have to think things through before approaching him.
Stomach growling, Rui stopped at Laodifang for soup dumplings beforegoing back to campus for the last lecture of her day. She pulled out her phone and dialed Zizi’s number. It rang, but he didn’t pick up. She’d been trying to get hold of him for the last few weeks. At first, she thought he was busy. But then she remembered the missing mages.
It’s Zizi. He can take care of himself, she rationalized. But her heart twinged with worry.
The dumplings, delicious as they were, did nothing to settle her mind. As she headed to the terminal for the shuttle back to the Academy, her skin twitched with the same prickly feeling she had at the Night Market.
A flash of blue behind her. There, then gone again.
Was someone following her?
Rui loosened her limbs, adding a casual jauntiness to her gait. She meandered her way around the next few blocks, stopping occasionally to window-shop, slowly leading her potential stalker to a less crowded area close to a construction site.
When she was sure they were alone, she spun around, kicking up a cloud of dust with her boot.
“Oh! Argh—” A young man was waving his hands and coughing from the dust.
He didn’tlookdangerous; he was wearing an expensive-looking suit and had the kind of face mothers and grandmothers trusted. But a criminal could wear anything they wanted, and a pretty face could hide the darkest heart. A part of her brain wondered what kind of hair dye he used to keep his hair that shade of peacock blue. It was a color Ada would appreciate.
His hair.The flashes of blue.
“It wasyouat the Night Market that night, wasn’t it?” she accused, keeping her hand on her sword bag. “Why are you following me?”
The young man looked flustered. “Greetings, Rui.” He bowed.
She was briefly dumbstruck by his politeness and immediate admission of guilt. “How do you know my name?”
“I apologize for being sneaky. I wasn’t sure how to approach you.” Hefumbled with something in his hands. The scent wafting from the plain white box smelled suspiciously like fried chicken. He lifted the lid. “Five-spice popcorn chicken,” he announced grandly as if he were offering her a plate of caviar.
Rui kept her distance. “I’m not taking food from a stranger. Answer my question. Who are you?”
The young man’s brow wrinkled. “In my world, a gift is always appreciated when one is visiting, and we prefer delicacies from the mortal realm. Though I suppose, technically, I am not visiting right now.” He closed the box, looking glum.
“That’s right, you were stalking—wait—” Rui’s brain caught up. He’d said the wordsmortal realm. Which meant— “Are you a King?”
“No!” the young man exclaimed. “I am Nikai, an usher from the Fourth Court.”
