29

Kai found a rack of overcoats hanging outside the kitchen entrance. He slipped one over his jumpsuit, buttoned it up, and walked into the kitchen looking as if he belonged. Tucking himself into the doorway to a pantry larger than his top floor bedroom at home, he searched the kitchen for Bree. She wasn’t among the servers, nor those on food preparation duty. He had to go deeper into the kitchen.

Picking the ingredient closest to him—an orange, leafy thing covered in fine fuzz—Kai strode casually through the room and into the washing up area.

And that was where he found Bree.

It didn’t take long to spot the type of worker he needed. One of the washers kept yawning and pressing both hands into the small of her back. A closer look showed her lower back was a mess of glowing green, the muscles all knotted into a spectacular spasm.

He dumped the orange, leafy thing on the prep table closest to him.

“Hey, you! What am I meant to do with this?” The food preparer held it out to him as if Kai had dumped an imitation leather handbag and told him to cook it.

“You’re the cook, you figure it out.”

Kai waited for the washer with the messed up back to step away from the row of sinks. He slipped in next to her. “I’m here to take over from you. Go see someone about that back and get some rest.”

The girl blinked at him. Then her face paled and her eyes widened as she shook her head.

It didn’t take a mind reader to know what was going down in her mind. “This is not a trap or a test. Tau sees you. He knows. Quickly now, before the others notice.”

She left with tears in her eyes, and Kai kicked himself for not doing something about her back. He picked up a pile of dirty plates and slipped in next to Bree. She had to know that the temple she was so eager to get into was a terrible sham.

His hands sank into the soapy water, and he washed a plate before passing it on to Bree for rinsing.

Bree took it from him with her good hand. A few blinks later, it seemed she recognised him. She nearly dropped the plate. “You.”

“There’s something you need to see. How much longer is your shift?”

“I can’t. I’m going to the temple from here. I might be able to secure an interview if my timing is good.”

“OK, that’s good. What I want to show you is at the temple.”

“Why are you here? Don’t you think you’ve caused enough trouble?”

“Could you stop being angry at me just for a moment? Bree, I don’t think your Dad is dead. But he doesn’t have much time. We need you to help us. There is something very weird happening here. I can’t figure it all out. But maybe you could?”

Bree checked to see if they were being watched. The shift supervisor was over at the prep table scratching his head, while the chef-in-training waved an orange, leafy thing at him. He wouldn’t be looking this way for a while it seemed.

“Let’s imagine for a moment that I actually believe you. What could we do anyway? There is no room for anything here.”

Kai dried his hands on his jumpsuit, patting them on his legs to get rid of the last traces of moisture. He traced a finger down Bree’s soft cheek. She pulled away and smacked his hand.

He couldn’t help grinning at her. This feisty Bree was the one he remembered.

“What are you smiling at? OK, fine. We’ll go together after the shift ends.”

“And when is that?”

Her grin was not entirely free of sarcasm. “When all of these are done.”

~*~

Kai rubbed his fingers together as they walked toward the Temple of Tau. If this was the spiritual realm, why were his fingers wrinkled? As he thought about it, the wrinkles smoothed out. He sighed.

Bree pulled his hood down over his face. “I don’t know what you did, but the authorities are still hunting you. Coming here was not your brightest idea, you know.”

The courtyard where the meetings were held was deserted. It would only start filling up again for the next service later on. Kai ignored her comment as if he hadn’t heard, but he kept the hood pulled low over his face.

“So, tell me, Bree. You want to work in Tau’s temple?”

“I’ve already said that.”

“Have you ever been inside?”

“Of course not. Only those who are appointed can go inside.”

“So, you don’t know about the temple itself? Does that mean you’ve changed your opinion of Tau Himself? Do you believe?”

“Of course not.”

“That makes no sense. How can you work in the temple without first believing?”

“The hours are shorter, the pay is better, and the rooms are bigger. Who wouldn’t want to work here rather than in the food hall? It’s a no-brainer really.”

“So they don’t even ask you if you believe or not?”

“Why would it matter?”

“Never mind. We’re here.”

“It’s a wall. What now?”

Kai silently pleaded with Heaven for the same finger miracle he’d had earlier. He shivered slightly as a tremor passed through him. If he could show Bree, she would understand. Or maybe she wouldn’t.

This is the spiritual. The wall is not really a physical wall. Kai took a deep breath and employed his finger the way he had before. Once again, like a hot knife through butter, his finger slid through the stones. Too nervous to deviate, he imitated the exact way he’d gotten through the wall before. A rectangular chunk fell through and Kai stuck his head in to check out if it was safe.

He helped Bree through and climbed in after her. This time around, he wasted no time going left but turned right and followed the curving passageway.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Let’s call it an educational tour. Don’t give me that look. You want to work here. I want you to know what you’ll be doing. That’s fair, right?”

Bree glared at him for a moment, then shrugged. The twinkle in her eye gave away her eagerness. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

Kai walked the spiral hall as a tour guide. “Observe. Beneath your feet, a river of black sludge. Yes?”

“What is it? It is...compelling.”

“That’s not exactly how I’d describe it, but you’re welcome to your opinion.”

“Am I seeing right? It’s flowing opposite to the direction we’re walking.”

Kai walked backward, holding up a finger, “Ah, the lady has spotted an important point. The river of black goop is indeed flowing away from the centre of the temple. Note: Exhibit A.”

“Kai, cut it out. Do you have any idea how annoying that is?” She rolled her eyes and shoved him as she walked past.

They kept going, circling deeper and deeper into the temple.

Bree shook her head. “I don’t understand. I thought there were many different things happening inside the temple. Not this endless spiral. And what is up with the wind? I hate wind.”

“This is not your regular garden variety wind. It blows and that’s about where the similarity ends.” He watched Bree’s face closely as they rounded the final corner into the centre room. Her gaze flicked over the streams of coloured dust flowing across the ceiling into the swirling vortex of the central tube. Her eyes narrowed as they reached the middle of the tube where all the colours smeared to black.

He took her by the hand and walked her around the perimeter, touching each monitor, which illuminated where the flow of matter came from.

“I don’t understand. What is this?”

“This room is a collection point. Everything that I’ve come across in this section—good and wicked—they all give off substances that feed into this room, into that pipe. There they fuse together and become a living force of evil, a web that hunts.” He turned back to Bree. Her face was pale. “That pipe feeds straight into Brio Talee, the spirit cuttings, polluting it. It is all part of the enemy’s work. Even this temple, this city.”

“You can’t say that. These people saved me. They took me in and gave me a place, a family. You’re wrong.”

“Do you feel alive, Bree? Or are you just surviving?”

“There’s not much difference between the two, now is there? Take me back. My shift will be starting soon.”

“Your shift has just ended. I understand, it’s overwhelming. I have one more thing to show you. Come with me.”

“I don’t want to see anything else. Why can’t you just leave me alone? Please. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“I don’t think your dad is dead.”

She turned on him, her eyes flashing. “Don’t you dare—”

“We found his grave. Bree, it had a date of birth and a date deceased. But his death date hasn’t happened yet. We have to find him.”