After a pause, Aina said, “They didn’t.”

“See, you’re smarter now than I was then,” he said, turning to her with a small smile. “They threw me in a cell and caught my friends too.”

“I bet your friends weren’t happy about that.”

“Not at all. One of them was a Milana girl named Clara. You sort of look alike, actually. She hated me the most after they all got caught. A few months in, they all cornered me and started kicking and punching me. I fought back, and in it all, I … I pushed Clara. She fell off the balcony to the prison courtyard from six stories up.”

Aina let the words sink in, imagined a girl who looked like her bleeding out on a prison floor. “So, what about her? No one told you to kill her. Do you blame yourself for her death?”

Instead of answering, he’d reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand hot on her skin.

“Keep doing a good job like you did today,” he’d said, making her beam with pride, until he added, “Unless you want to end up like her.”

Kohl’s lessons were easy enough to remember. But now, her gaze still drifted to Ryuu walking ahead of her in the rain, and her heart clenched once more.

31

When they finally reached it, the storage building was dark, with a chill that seeped into Aina’s bones. Rain still lashed the windows in a steady torrent. Water leaked from the holes in the ceiling, and rats skittered across their path, but at least it was dry in here.

Down the stairs and through a musty corridor, they came to the door leading into the black market. Aina slid a few coins through the slot, spoke the password, and stood back as someone opened the door. With a quick nod to the greeter, they passed smoke rings and blown-glass sculptures on their way to the back corner of the market. Even this early, people still gathered to trade goods and secrets.

While Ryuu purchased their supplies with Teo’s help, Aina stood off to the side near a large quilt spread on the floor where people smoked from tall, colored-glass tubes. The different scents of smoke reached her: peppermint, black licorice, pomegranate, coconut. The smoke covered her a little, making her feel safe and hidden.

She caught Teo’s eye while Ryuu slid some kors to a vendor. A nervous smile flickered on his face. Maybe he was beginning to feel the same guilt she was for continuing to betray Ryuu.

Raurie, who stood a few feet away, nodded toward the corner of the market where she usually worked. “You know how I’ve been buying smuggled liquor here for the past eight years? I started when I was a kid. But it’s still not enough. It’s never enough. They want us to stay poor.”

“Of course, they do,” Aina said in a flat voice. “How else would the Steels stay rich? They wouldn’t be elite anymore if we were all on the same level.”