The Keeper of Night (The Keeper of Night #1)(34)

The Shinigami lifted the human to his feet as easily as if he was made of paper. Something about the human’s presence seemed lighter, the shadows of darkness now a thick blanket over him, as if he’d become more translucent. The Shinigami turned and pointed in our direction, and together they began to walk toward us.

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Hiro said, hurrying down the shore. “They’re headed for the boats, too, and I don’t want to run into them.” He didn’t bother relighting his lantern, so I followed his footsteps and Neven grabbed onto my sleeve.

“Why not?” I said. But Hiro only took off walking faster, leaving me and Neven trailing behind.

“Are you sure about this?” Neven whispered, hand still twisted tight in my wet kimono. Hiro could probably hear us from only a few feet away, but graciously pretended not to. “Should we really be following him?”

Of course I wasn’t sure. But I hadn’t expected to find a paved golden road leading to Izanami. Of all the creatures that we’d met in Japan so far, Hiro appeared the most innocuous. After all, we’d been standing in his waters, which could have drowned us at any moment, but hadn’t. He’d taken the time to help me dress properly and turned his back to us as if he trusted us. There was a chance that he wanted to drag us deeper and sacrifice us to some river monster, but there was also a chance that he was just a Shinigami helping another Shinigami. Besides, I had no idea how to reach Yomi without him.

“Yes,” I said.

We dragged our feet through the shallow waters for a few silent minutes before Hiro finally lit his lantern and a wet dock came into view. Ten fishing boats sat perfectly still in the water, unbothered by any current.

“Here we are,” Hiro said, picking up a paddle from a small pile on the dock, then gesturing to the boats. “Pick any one you like!”

I knelt down by the first boat, looking inside for any obvious holes or traps. Before I could get inside, Neven blocked my path.

“After you,” he said to Hiro.

I wanted to smack Neven for his impertinence, but Hiro merely smiled and said, “Sure!” before stepping into the boat. Neven untied the rope and held it in one hand, gesturing for me to get in.

I gripped his wrist. “Don’t anger him,” I whispered, squeezing until the rope went slack in his hand.

Neven frowned but didn’t argue back. I stepped carefully into the boat and sat in the middle beside Hiro’s lantern as Neven followed behind, pushing us off.

Hiro started to paddle, and we set off from shore. Soon, the boat gained momentum, cutting through the water as if the universe had tied a string to the bow and was pulling us along. Hiro seemed to know where we were going, even with the lantern only illuminating a small circle around us. He started to hum, the sound echoing as if the waters had turned to a great expanse of marble.

The song carried across the darkness, distant and sad, like an old lullaby. The moment it reached my ears, a tingling settled in my bones. I’d heard that song before. I was positive. But how was that possible?

His song filled up the endless dark with sadness, and I wondered if the melody and not the direction of the boat had carried us across the river.

As he hummed the final notes, the boat began to slow. Shallow water gave way to soft sand, and we slid silently onto the shore. Hiro set his paddle down but did not turn around.

“Welcome to Yomi.”



Chapter Eight


As the boat slid into the sand, Hiro got up and moved as if to help me out, but Neven somehow materialized in front of him and offered me a hand. I ignored both of them and hopped out on my own, the sand damp under my bare feet.

In the distance, hazy lantern light glowed beyond a grove of trees, warm amber and red. The gleam of lights in the stark darkness blurred the edges of the buildings, as if the whole landscape was a fever dream.

“I thought there was no light in Yomi,” I said.

“There’s not much of it,” Hiro said, setting his lantern in the sand and tugging the boat farther up onto the shore. “There’s total darkness near the shrines and most people’s homes, but this is where a lot of new arrivals come, so we try not to scare them too much.”

“You don’t?” Neven said. “Isn’t this Hell?”

Hiro laughed, brushing the sand off his hands and picking up his lantern.

“Ah, that’s right. You’re from London. You might have Heaven and Hell, but in Japan, there is only Yomi.”

“You mean that creature who tried to skin me wasn’t hellish to you?” I said.

Hiro smiled, gesturing for us to follow him down a trodden path in the sand where the beach grass hadn’t grown.

“Even the land of the living has hellish creatures, but that doesn’t make it Hell,” he said. “There are some malicious spirits down here, sure. After all, this world was created with pain. But it’s not meant to be a place of suffering any more than the world above. It’s just that, when you have enough souls in one place, suffering is inevitable.”

The beach grass and sand gave way to soil that softened to the shape of my feet. We approached the grove of trees, their branches blocking the city lights under a canopy of white blossoms. Even without the light of Hiro’s lantern, the sky of flowers had an eerie glow of their own.

“How do they survive with no light?” I said.