Nikai was looking starry-eyed for some reason, and he was practically gushing. “You mean so much to him that he would do anything. It’s incredibly romantic if you think about it.”
Rui was even more baffled now. “You’re wrong. The Fourth King doesn’t care about me.”
“Zizi cares.”
She must have misheard him. “Say that again.”
“Zizi.”Nikai repeated the name reverently. “He’s the Fourth King.”
33
Zizi
Zizi’s mood had gotten progressively worse since he opened his eyes at dawn. The revelations from his conversation with One in the Garden of Tongues sat uncomfortably beneath his skin. But he’d made up his mind. Just because he had to remain in Hell to recover his original form, it didn’t mean he had to sit and do nothing. If he wasspecial, as One said, then surely he would be able to find a way to save the mortal realm from the Hybridsandundo the accursed deal he’d unknowingly made in the past.
Relics were what he needed. The willow branch that had been used to create the rogue talisman would be ideal to trace and destroy it, but the branch had withered away, its power completely spent. His favorite relic—his timekeeper—was lost to him as well. Try as he might, he couldn’t remember what happened to it.
Lines scored his forehead as he stood in front of the Fourth Court’s vault, channeling his power for the third time in a row.
The door remained unaffected.
He drove a fist into the metal with an angry grunt. What was the point of being an all-powerful being who allegedly bridged the three realms when he couldn’t even open his own damned vault? Was his mortal form the problem? Was it blocking him from entering?
A throat cleared behind him.
“Excuse me, Zizi,” said Nikai politely. “Your meeting with the Reapers is starting.”
“What meeting?” Zizi said irritably, though he was thankful that his friend didn’t ask why he was punching metal doors so early in the morning.
“There are matters of grave importance that you need to address,” Nikai said.
Sighing, Zizi followed him to the throne room. His secret mission would have to wait.
It took less than an hour for him to realize that none of the items on the agenda warranted the labelgravely important. He knew the real intent of the gathering. The Reapers wanted a good look at their newly returned King.
So he perched dutifully on his throne, indulging the concerns and complaints of his Reapers, behaving in a Kingly fashion and doling out Kingly wisdom. Halfway through, he called for more food. Lyn had hinted at a surprise from the mortal realm, and he was hoping it would be sushi from his favorite restaurant.
And what a surprise it had been when the food finally arrived.
Why wasRuistanding in front of him?
What trick had brought her to the underworld? Was she dead? The shock of seeing her threw his emotions into a turbulent loop, the storm brewing out of control as the might of his spiritual presence unleashed.
Zizi grappled with it, subduing it immediately. But even that one brief moment of unraveling was too much for Rui to handle.
As she fell to the floor, something caught his eye.
A tiny crimson spark next to her ear. Yangqi.
She was stillalive.
He wanted so badly to sweep her into his arms, but if he had noticed her yangqi, the Reapers would too. He had to hide her. Quickly, he wiped away all traces of the mortal boy he once was. He was a King, one of ten who ruled the underworld.
He spoke in a voice like winter glass, sharp and untouched by warmth. “I’m afraid you have the misfortune of encountering me in an exceptionally foul mood today, which means a little punishment is in store.”
But secretly, he’d begun weaving a layer of protection around her to mask any trace of her yangqi. It was a delicate process. He had to be fast, but he had to be sure he wasn’t harming her. Fortunately, his Reapersseemed none the wiser, probably distracted by the volatility of their King, who had been jesting with them only minutes ago. Zizi decided it was a good thing for them to understand that a god still resided under his droll facade.
He was so convincing, he even succeeded in fooling Rui. Her stare was a knife to his gut, her wrath and despair painful to behold. Shehatedthe icy King in front of her, the one he was pretending to be. And in that moment, Zizi knew two things to be true.
