Was she losing him again? Her voice wavered. “Are you leaving already?”
“Not yet, but I can only visit the mortal world when the realms converge, like tonight. That way, the balance isn’t affected and it’s safest for everyone.” He hesitated again. “But I will only visit if you want me to. Say the word, and I’ll never bother you again.”
Rui crossed her arms, pretending to be offended. “Excuse me—whathappened toin all the worlds and all lifetimes? Besides, I have your cat. If you think you’re getting away from me so easily—”
Zizi drew her close, hugging her tight again. She could sense his relief. His joy.
“How often does this convergence happen?” she said when they pulled apart.
Zizi brushed her hair out of her eyes, looking as though he thought his answer would disappoint. “Once a month. And I’m sorry—I don’t know ifforeverexists.”
But Rui laughed instead. “Being able to see you once a month isn’tthatbad. If you think about it, it’s like long-distance dating,” she quipped. “And I’m a girl who needs her own space from time to time. Besides”—she reached up on her toes—“it doesn’t need to be forever to be enough.”
Before she could land her kiss, the doors to the building flung open, startling them.
Zizi narrowed his eyes at the cadets dressed in formal gowns and suits trickling out, growling softly as if he was about to smite them with some underworld lightning.
“Maybe we should go,” Rui said hastily.
“Someplace private,” he agreed.
He scooped her up in his arms, and she gave a dignified little wave at her gawking schoolmates as they watched the mysterious boy in the celestial suit sauntering away with their star cadet in his arms and an off-kilter grin lighting up his face.
After a magical night spent with Rui in the mortal realm, Zizi returned to the underworld, his steps lighter than they had been in centuries. The shadows that once clung to him seemed to retreat, unable to withstand the warmth still lingering from her touch. For the first time in ages, the underworld felt less like a prison. But there was still one thing he had to do.
The Tenth Court was as he remembered: decorated in luxurious shades of deep burgundy, but frosty at its marbled heart. Ten was seated on histhrone, brushing his long flaxen hair with a thick-toothed comb as he hummed softly. He’d been sentenced to a permanent internment, and it was their first meeting since he had dragged Zizi back to this realm.
“I see you decided to upgrade your wardrobe,” he said, his gold-flecked eyes flicking up and down Zizi’s person. “Wish I could say the same about your face.”
Zizi gave him a mocking bow. “You’re being too harsh—Six thinks I’ve become more handsome.”
Ten’s ethereal features contorted into an ugly expression. “Came to gloat? I heard things worked out with your little mortal.”
Zizi gasped. “Do you really think I’m that petty? Do you think I would come all the way to your godsforsaken Court just to laugh at you in person? To witness you in this state, like a miserable drowned rat stuck in a trap of its own making? To—”
Ten slammed his comb down. He closed his eyes briefly, letting out a long-suffering sigh. “Since you are here, I want to know how you outsmarted the Elder Gods.”
“It’s fairly complicated—”
“I am intelligent.”
“That’s debatable—” Zizi held up a hand to halt Ten’s protests. “As it turns out, past-me had challenged the Elders andthe Celestials to a mahjong game and won. After I beat them the second time, I merely asked for what I was owed—a question about the circumstances of the first game and a request for safe passage out of Hell for Rui and me to save her realm.”
“What happened the first time?” Ten asked, listening intently.
“We had an agreement: if I could beat them at mahjong, the Elders would save Lei Ying’s soul from the Nothing, but I would forget the bargain I had struck. It was only later that I found out from Rui that Lei Ying never took her own life, so her soul wouldneverhave been banished to the Nothing in the first place.”
Ten sat up. “She did not need to be saved from the Nothing—which meant your bargain with the Elders could be disputed.”
Zizi nodded. “On the pretext of saving her, the Elders intercepted her soul collection and placed her in the Celestial realm. Their goal was to keep us apart because we were never meant to fall in love. But since her soul was never meant to be there either, the star eventually exhausted its power from harboring her soul.” He sighed happily. “And that’s why my darling Rui exists.”
Ten let out a derisive snort. “So the Elders cheated, and they punished you by letting you believe her soul was stuck in the Nothing all that time. You were miserable for centuries. I guess they were torturing you.”
“That’s one way to put it.” Zizi smirked. “But the good old universe conspired to make things right in the end, and true love does conquer all odds.”
Ten pretended to throw up.
“Anyway,” Zizi said, “after I saved the realms and survived, I went back to the Elders to expose their ruse and demanded that they agree to a new request as part of the first agreement.”
