By feeling along walls, Rali managed to catch up to Uchiko before she turned down another street. The buildings in Xing Sishen weren’t invisible, he quickly learned. They were reflections of the infinite sprawl of galaxies in other universes. Or maybe they were built from that starry matter.

  Whatever the technicalities were, they felt as solid as concrete and Rali couldn’t see through them. If he concentrated, he could find the place where one building ended and the street continued, but focusing so hard with what used to be his Ki-sight quickly gave him a pounding headache. Better to keep close to his guide.

  Abruptly, Uchiko stopped and turned back to face him.

  “All right. We’re here. Stick close to me inside, and don’t say or do anything. Show the proper respect for your immortal betters at all times. Do not make eye contact with anyone who hasn’t directly addressed you.”

  A frisson of excitement shivered down Rali’s spine, zinging down his arms and legs.

  “I’ll be on my best behavior,” he promised.

  Uchiko scowled. “And none of that friendly nonsense. It presumes an equal footing that you do not have with anyone in Xing Sishen.”

  He nodded. “Understood.”

  “Are you capable of holding your tongue?”

  “Very capable,” Rali said. “Not always very willing.”

  “And another thing—”

  Light blazed around a crack in the stars. A boxy Reaper walked out of it, nearly bumping into Uchiko.

  “Ope, excuse me, Reaper Eleven,” he said, edging around her before hopping into the air. As he flew off, Rali heard him grumble, “Stand right in front of the door, why dontcha.”

  Uchiko was too busy sizing Rali up with a pained expression on her face.

  “I suppose you’re as good as you’re going to get,” she said.

  Reaching out, she opened that crack in the stars again, then waved Rali through.

  He braced himself for a change of scenery and stepped into the light.

  And found that he was still surrounded by stars.

  Uchiko joined him a moment later, then motioned for him to follow her. There were many more Reapers inside, walking up and down what Rali guessed were halls. A few of the marble immortals frowned at Rali as he passed, but none of them addressed him. Most pretended he wasn’t there.

  Several Reapers carried strange rectangles under their arms made of thin cardboard. Between the two flaps of cardboard were leaves of paper.

  “What are those?” he whispered to Uchiko.

  The closest Reapers glared at his insolence, but none slowed down to smite him.

  “Files on people to be reaped,” she hissed. “Now be silent.”

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  Rali obeyed, less because he feared retribution for his insolence and more because he was pondering the differences between these files and the types stored on the hyperweb.

  Paper was a temporary medium, everybody knew that. No one in his universe used paper to store important information. But here in the officeworld of Reapers, permanent creatures had chosen a temporary medium to represent temporary creatures. It was mindboggling, in the best way.

  He and Uchiko passed the occasional light-edged crack as they traversed the halls. Through one, he saw a Reaper sitting and reading one of those strange files. Through another, two Reapers chatted, one pacing while he talked and the other sitting with her feet kicked up on a starry surface, her hands laced behind her head.

  Once again, Uchiko came to an abrupt stop and Rali followed suit. A moment later, a slice opened in the stars in front of them, widening from both sides until they could both step through.

  It was an elevator. It give the customary lurch beneath Rali’s feet, but after that, he couldn’t tell whether they were going up or down. They rode the lift for a full minute, never getting closer to or farther from the stars surrounding them. Then it lurched to a stop and the slice opened up again, allowing them out.

  This hall—or room or office—was different in that it contained the first Dark Reaper Rali had seen. The Reaper sat at the far end from the elevator, his body partially obscured by a desk of starry void. He appeared to be carved from black onyx. His hair and skin were radiantly dark, so dark that a faint glow of purple seemed to define his lines and hollows. Unlike Uchiko’s mirror-shard eyes, his were endless hungry chasms of molten obsidian.

  His brow furrowed when he saw Rali and Uchiko.

  “Reaper Eleven? What are you doing with a mortal? You’re on probationary reprimand.”

  Uchiko strode to a stop in front of his desk. “I need to see the Grand Reaper. It’s urgent, regarding my reprimand status.”

  “He’s not available.”

  “You didn’t even notify him.”

  “I don’t have to. I make all his appointments. He’s booked solid.”

  Uchiko glanced over the Dark Reaper’s shoulder. “But he’s in right now, isn’t he?”

  “Not to unscheduled audiences. His schedule is incredibly tight.”

  “This won’t take long. Squeeze us in between whatever he’s handling now and his next appointment.”

  “It will take long.” The Dark Reaper sighed. “It always does with you because you don’t listen. You’ll argue with him the same way you’re arguing with me—”

  “I am not arguing! I’m making a reasonable request!”

  “—and before you know it, his schedule is shot. Then I’ll have to juggle everything around, and he’ll have to scramble for the next hundred years to get back on track.”

  “What if this was actually regarding a mortal’s soul?” Rali asked. “A Death cultivator who recently advanced his kishotenketsu to specialize in Cursed Death. What if a meeting with the Grand Reaper was all that stood between that Cursed Death cultivator starting a second Reaper War and following in the footsteps of the Demoness of Death?”

  The Dark Reaper’s obsidian eyes pierced Uchiko, cold and unforgiving.

  “You told a mortal about the Demoness of Death?”

  “It wasn’t her fault,” Rali interjected. “I just kept demanding answers until the whole story came out.”

  “Do not speak, mortal!” The Dark Reaper’s order was no louder than his question, but some power in it shook Rali’s bones and resonated in his teeth.

  “I’m afraid I can’t be silent this time.” Rali knelt and pressed his forehead to the stardust floor. “Please forgive me, esteemed Reaper, for presuming to refuse a command from an immortal. It’s my greatest flaw that I develop attachments to the people around me, and those attachments frequently cause me to act on my emotions rather than sense. That is why I have to speak up.

  “This Cursed Death cultivator is my best friend. If what Uchiko told me about the Reapers holds true, then you already know Hake is a good guy headed down a bad path. But there’s still hope. Just like the Dark Reaper who changed sides to end the war and the Demoness’s reign—just like you must have done after the war to be working here now for the Grand Reaper—Hake can still be redeemed. Please, honorable Reaper, in your immortal wisdom, allow us the opportunity to try.”

  The Dark Reaper frowned down at Rali. “It isn’t a flaw to develop attachments to others, it’s a gift. Mortals are meant to do it. They need one another to find balance. But I can’t help you.”

  The flame of hope where Rali’s Spirit sea used to reside guttered as the Dark Reaper went on.

  “It’s too late for your friend,” he said, crushing the last glowing ember. “The Grand Reaper took an army to reap the Cursed Death cultivator. Grady Hake has already been dealt with.”