“And then you learned how to fight back,” she said quietly. In their reflections, she noticed their hands, hanging at their sides, were just a few inches apart. If she shifted slightly, they’d be touching.

“I realized the fear itself was worse than the thing I feared.” His other hand trailed to the handle of the gun Teo had given him before getting arrested. “I refused to let fear and not knowing how to defend myself force me into hiding. Force me to stop living my life. My brother has protected me his whole life, even when he was scared too. It’s my turn now, even if it’s terrifying.” He cleared his throat and looked away from her before adding, “That’s why it’s good to have you on my side. I don’t feel as scared knowing I have an actual assassin helping me.”

See, Kohl? I’m still a useful Blade.

As if he’d noticed their proximity too, his hand moved slightly—close enough that they touched for a few brief seconds—and then dropped away again. Maybe he thought of her as a coldhearted killer, but he didn’t know how similar they were, how she felt like a coward too, and how often she tried to convince herself she wasn’t helpless.

Yet, just last night, he’d tried to convince her she might be something more than a Blade. He’d told her to reach higher. But what would she even reach for, when the only thing she could do now was try not to be killed?

She still had to kill his brother, and it would end this new connection between them. The way his eyes darted to her face in the window reflection, how her cheeks burned with the hint of his gaze, and how the few inches separating them seemed to be charged with electricity, would all screech to a halt once Kouta stopped breathing by her blade.

“So, after Teo recovers, we’ll get back to the job,” Ryuu said, watching her through their reflections.

She nodded. “We’ll find your brother.”

“Do you want to go see Teo now?”

She nodded again and followed him to a lounge. She expected to find Teo resting, but he was already sitting up on a divan, with much less bandaging than she’d expected. Raurie sat in a chair across from him, holding a cup of tea.

“You look much better,” Aina said, sitting on the arm of Raurie’s chair and folding her hands in her lap.

“You don’t need to talk to me like I’m fragile, you know,” he said with a weak smile, but the movement pulled at some stitches on his jaw. She winced at the sight, wishing she could help him, but fearing he’d push her away again.

“Teo, I’m sorry,” she said, and let out a relieved sigh when he finally met her eyes. “It’s my fault your mother—”

“No, Aina, it’s not.” He shook his head, but stopped quickly, as if it was painful. “You could say it’s your fault, or mine, Ryuu’s, Raurie’s. But I wasn’t thinking right, when I put it all on you. More than us, you know who’s to blame? The Steels. The Diamond Guards are the ones who killed my mother, and they did it because Bautix puts them up to it. They don’t care if my mother committed a crime or not. To them, she’s just someone who got in the way.” His voice turned to a fierce whisper. “I’m not letting my mother’s death be in vain. We’re going to show these bastard Steels they can’t do whatever they want to us. That they can’t villainize every person who isn’t like them. I’m not going to sit on the sidelines anymore while others die for daring to have a little freedom.”