Chapter 33 Zizi
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 was special, as One said, then surely he would be able to find a way to save the mortal realm from the Hybrids and undo 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 label gravely 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 was Rui standing 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 still alive.
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 Reapers seemed 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. She hated the icy King in front of her, the one he was pretending to be. And in that moment, Zizi knew two things to be true.
She truly loved him. He had to break her heart.
He was bound to the underworld, and he’d vowed to rewrite their tangled fate and forge a new story where she would be happy—without
him. It would shatter him, but he would be strong. For her.
“Get her out of my sight. Nikai—deal with it.”
Fortunately, Nikai caught on quickly. Pretending everything was normal, Zizi recommenced his meeting.
It took Nikai a while to return. After he signaled that Rui was safe, Zizi breathed a touch easier. But there was no telling
how long that safety would last. He had to see her at once.
He stormed to his chambers the moment the meeting ended. He didn’t care why or how Rui had come. Only one thing mattered—getting
her out of the underworld alive. He would make her leave, even if he had to crush her spirit. He rehearsed his speech in his
head, running through the award-worthy performance he had to give to convince her that there was nothing between them, that
whatever she thought they shared in the mortal realm was a lie. He would take her feelings, and he would destroy them. It
was the only way.
But when Zizi saw her standing on the balcony in the soft halo of the sun’s radiance, his mind went blank. He forgot his grand
speeches and noble vows. Forgot everything around him.
Two things were true.
He loved her. And he was an idiot to think he could ever break her heart.
Rui turned, eyes widening at the sight of him. She barged into the living room, slamming the glass door shut so hard, the windows shook.
Zizi had never seen her so furious. She got in his face at once, backing him against the wall. Amusingly, her platform boots
gave her a height advantage she’d never had before. She leaned in, glowering at him. Her beautiful dark eyes glittered and
the tiny embers of her yangqi glowed brighter. He sensed her taking him in despite herself, fighting against her own desire,
and he couldn’t help but feel a little smug about it.
She was so close. Too close.
He wanted her closer.
“You.” She slammed a hand on the wall next to his head.
She was terrifying. He liked it.
“What’s the meaning of all this?” she demanded. “I thought you were imprisoned. I thought you were dying! But look at you,
dressed like an enormous bat, prancing around and playing ooh, I’m a big scary King of Hell.”
Zizi wanted to say something clever, something devastatingly charming, but his arm rose to show off his pretty cloak and his
mouth retorted sarcastically, “These are meant to look like feathers, silly. Bats don’t have feathers. And at least I’m not wearing an abomination of a maid’s outfit.”
“Abomination?” Rui said, her voice reaching a whole pitch higher. “Why do you think I’m wearing it in the first place? Why do you think
I did that weird ritual—two rituals, in fact—so I could come here? I even sacrificed my—” She stopped talking abruptly, slamming the wall again.
Zizi was getting pissed too, not at her but at the whole situation. What rituals was she talking about? Deal or no deal, he
couldn’t let fate repeat itself. He couldn’t let her die because of him again. At any moment, the Guardians could show up
and take her away.
“No one asked you to come here,” he snapped. “I don’t need any saving, least of all from you.”
Rui’s expression fell. “Clearly. I can see you’re doing perfectly fine without me.”
There was a tremor in her voice that made him want to apologize profusely, but she was still speaking.
“Somehow, you’ve managed to convince everyone in the underworld that you’re one of them, and you almost fooled me,” she said.
“But then Nikai called you Zizi and claimed you were the Fourth King. He said the Fourth King wanted to keep me safe, which is preposterous! Why would the
King care about me? I knew it had to be you. How did you overpower Four’s soul?”
“That is your conclusion?” Zizi said, stupefied. She had gotten it all wrong. But if he told her the truth about the depth and the
extent of their entanglement, would she refuse to leave the underworld? There were more pressing things he wanted to know.
“Who helped you come here? What did you sacrifice?”
“None of your business.”
Zizi’s emotions got the better of him. “Tell me, what exactly was your plan, waltzing into Hell like this? How were you going
to free me and get me out? That’s right, you can’t. You don’t have the power to. You’re not dead, Rui. You’re not supposed
to be here—why is that so hard to understand? I left the mortal realm to keep you safe. Now you show up and ruin everything.”
Rui’s cheeks grew pink. “I ruined everything? You think I’m here in the underworld for you?” Her yangqi crackled around her as she got more worked up. “You think I’m here because I miss you or because I think about
you every waking moment or something ridiculous like that? Get over yourself. I’m here because you created a spell that armed
the Hybrids with a dangerous weapon and now my realm is paying the price. I’m here because I want to destroy the—”
“Shut up—”
“How dare you—”
“Shut up,” Zizi repeated. He could see her yangqi clearly now, but it was too dangerous to use his spiritual presence to mask it when
she was so close. He had to distract her. Calm her down. He wrapped his arm around her waist. “I’m not going to ask you this
time.”