“It is.”
“I don’t think I can do it.”
“Tahki.” Rye grabbed his hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Tahki’s body shook. “What if we go over the waterfall instead?”
“We won’t.”
Tahki tried to step back farther, but Rye held him.
“Close your eyes,” Rye said.
“No.”
“Close your eyes, count to ten.”
“No.”
Rye pulled him closer. “Trust me.”
Tahki thought back to the conversation he’d had with Sornjia after Pooka had attacked him. Sornjia had said trust was a feeling of wholeness, a feeling of control even when you had none.
Tahki put his hand on Rye’s chest and took a deep breath. “Don’t let me drown, or I swear I’ll come back as an evil spirit and haunt you.”
Rye smiled but didn’t reply. Instead, he grasped Tahki’s hand so tight it felt like his finger bones might bruise. It happened fast after that, so fast Tahki didn’t have time to contemplate his decision, which was probably what Rye had intended. Rye pushed Tahki in and held on, and they both remained submerged a moment as they drifted under the castle. The cold knocked the breath out of Tahki, but Rye’s arm drew them to the surface and kept them afloat. It was dark beneath the castle. Tahki didn’t know how Rye managed to find the bank and pull them out, but he did, and they rested in the dirt on their backs, taking deep breaths.
“Eleven,” Tahki panted.
“What?” Rye said.
“You said count to ten, but it took eleven seconds.”
Rye shoved Tahki’s face gently away with a wet hand and smiled. He looked like he was about to say something when a hard hand struck Tahki’s shoulder, and then he was flying upward, out of control. He flailed and stumbled, his arms twisting so painfully behind him he feared they might break.
“Dyraien said you might try something like this,” Zinc said. “I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough.”
They fought to break free. Rye, too, had been restrained. It took two men and a woman to hold him back. Tahki couldn’t believe he’d risked jumping in the river only to be caught immediately.
“After you,” Zinc said with a bow. He shoved them down the dark tunnel lined with lightning roots. Zinc breathed heavily. He walked with a more pronounced limp, and his sides had been bandaged where Pooka had bitten him. The only way he could possibly stand would be if he’d taken drugs to ease the pain, which meant they might be able to overpower him.
But when Tahki glanced to Rye, he didn’t appear to struggle, and a moment later they found themselves behind the black gates. This time, instead of Nii in the black pool, Gotem sat tied and gagged. Water came up to his chest. The monk’s eyes were only a sliver, but when he caught sight of Tahki, they opened wide in fearful recognition.
“Gotem,” Tahki said. If he hadn’t run away, if he hadn’t completed the castle for Dyraien, Gotem would be safe back home, meditating in a temple.
“Let him go,” Dyraien said to the three holding Rye. He stood a few feet away from Gotem.
Rye yanked free of their grasp. He stepped forward, his eyes traveling all over the room. Tahki, too, observed the differences from his last visit. He saw the ceiling had been opened up and noticed a brass ring had been set in the dirt, like a giant gaping mouth above them.
And there were other differences. Unlike last time, blue lanterns had been hung all around, illuminating the space in an eerie light. Tahki also noticed a ring of stones in the center of the room. He squinted and discovered they weren’t stones but minerals. A collection of minerals from all over the world. Some he couldn’t remember the names of, and a few he didn’t recognize. Some minerals were the size of Tahki’s head, others the size of his small toe. Some of them gleamed in the blue light; others reflected a dozen colors. A few absorbed light. Others blended in with the dirt. Someone—Dyraien, he guessed—had arranged them in a specific order. The pattern appeared ritualistic. In the center of the mineral circle, pieces of obsidian formed a human-sized X.
“Dyraien,” Rye said. “What is all this?”
Dyraien pivoted on his heels and strode slowly to Rye’s side. He laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “I’m not angry with you, Rye. He’s manipulating you, so it’s not your fault. But everything he has told you is a lie.”
Rye glanced to Gotem. “It doesn’t look like a lie.”
Dyraien released his shoulder. “So that’s all it takes? All someone needs to do is spread their legs for you, and you’ll kick me into the gutter and forget all I’ve done for you?”
“That’s not true,” Rye said. “I came back for you. To give you a chance to explain yourself.”
Dyraien laughed. “Me explain? You’re the one who betrayed me, Rye.”
Rye stepped closer. “Did you do it? Did you have your mother killed?”
“Is this how it’s going to be?” Dyraien said. “His word against mine?”
“Answer the question, Dyraien.”
“Tell me where the cat is first.”
Tahki saw him tense as he spoke of Pooka. Zinc and his people also looked around the room, nervous at the mention of the cat.
“She’s outside,” Tahki said. “Waiting for my command to attack.”
Dyraien hesitated and then looked to Rye. “Is he telling the truth?”
Rye said nothing.
“We’re giving you a chance here,” Tahki said. “Let Gotem go, and I won’t call her.”
Dyraien studied him. There was no telling what went through his head. Tahki still wasn’t totally sure what Dyraien wanted from them.
“Call the beast, then,” Dyraien said. “Because I have no intention of letting the monk go. Not until I get what I want.”
“And what do you want?” Rye said.
Tahki looked around for anything that might aid in their escape, but they were trapped. Why would Dyraien humor them like this? Why not just lock them up and do whatever it was he planned to do? Dyraien was intelligent. He didn’t seem like the kind of man to play
