Though Aina had seen plenty of bodies thrown on the barges to be taken to the mass graves outside the city, this was the first one since her parents’ deaths that sent a chill through her. Teo never even had the chance to say goodbye.

She knew that nothing could have saved Ynes’s life once the bullet met her brain, but part of her was convinced that if Ynes were rich, she might have been spared. At least she would have been buried in the cemetery behind Amethyst Hill, which was reserved only for the wealthiest corpses. She recalled Ynes’s smile, how she’d always welcomed Aina to their house with a cup of tea while Aina recovered from injuries or spent time with Teo, how she’d treated Aina like a daughter, and how she’d pleaded with Aina to always be there for her son.

She’d always thought the fact that she was a child had been the reason she’d been unable to help her parents, but Teo hadn’t been able to save his mother either, even with all his skills. Perhaps she’d placed too much blame on herself.

But if they both were truly powerless to save the ones they loved, then what hope was left at all? She pressed her nails into her arms, afraid to meet her own eyes in the window reflection.

The door creaked open. By the light tread of his footsteps, she could tell it was Ryuu before his reflection even appeared in the window next to hers. A beat of silence passed. She kept her gaze forward, not meeting his eyes as he turned to face her.

“The nurse is almost done tending to Teo,” he finally said. “His injuries are mostly superficial, so he’ll recover after a night of sleep. It’ll be safe here; Amethyst Hill is the last place the Diamond Guards would think to look for either of you. I’m glad we got him out of there today, though. Any longer and he would have faced a real interrogation.”

She nodded, not knowing how to voice her real thoughts. If Teo hated her now, and he’d been interrogated, would he have given up everything he knew about her crimes?

Instead, she changed the subject to something she did understand. “You were good back there. You acted like you break into prisons and beat up guards every day.”

Ryuu let out a small laugh, one of his hands tapping an uneven rhythm on the windowpane. “You underestimate me, don’t you?”

A smile tugged at her lips. “Not as much as I did when we first met.”

“I understand that. Being brave is … something I’m trying to learn. After my parents died, we were afraid every day. Kouta hardly let me leave the house, he was so worried for me. And he fully invested himself in his work to get away from it all. After he told me how our parents really died, I was afraid to walk down the street because I thought I would get shot for having the name Hirai. Being a Steel didn’t keep my parents safe.”