She tried to listen for him, but he moved without a sound. And then his hand wrapped around her elbow. She tried to jerk out of his grip, but he wrenched her backward.

His leg swept under hers, and she fell to the ground, her elbows and knees slamming into stone.

Before she could roll out of the way, he grabbed her. One of his hands hooked under her jaw. He was going to break her neck.

At the last second, her shoulder shifted to block the movement. She shoved his arm away and spun out of his grasp, then punched forward into the darkness. A sharp crack sounded as her fist collided with his face. Blood dripped from his mouth onto her hand as he stepped back, the shadows enveloping him further.

He was the one who’d taught her how to fight to kill, how to protect herself, how to survive on Kosín’s streets.

But the biggest obstacle to her survival had always been him.

She took advantage of his injury now and fought like she’d never fought anyone before, using all the skills he’d taught her.

Bringing out a knife and keeping her other hand free, she worked with the sound of his footsteps. They shifted around each other, striking out with fists and blades, their movements a blur with quick breaths, careful footsteps, and flashes of steel in the dark corridor.

She wondered why he hadn’t shot her yet, and why he hadn’t killed her when she’d confronted him at the Dom. Even something about his movements now felt hesitant.

He took another step to his right. She shifted to her left and struck with her blade. It slipped, scraping against his side rather than stabbing into flesh, but he still hissed in pain.

Before she could attack again, he sped past her, his footsteps flying down the corridor.

She followed for a few steps, then stopped, panting heavily from the fight. Her pulse pounded as loudly as his footsteps fading away.

The Blood King had never run from a fight before.

She could go after him. But this was bigger than a fight with Kohl. If she continued on to meet Teo and got back to the job, they could free the Inosen who’d been imprisoned for nothing more than wanting freedom. They would take down Bautix and Kohl in one shot.

She turned and sprinted up the stairs. When she reached the seventh level, she peered through the small window set in the door.

The seventh floor of the prison was identical to the lower floors where they’d broken out Teo. A narrow walkway lined the four inner walls of the prison with a pair of stairwells winding up and down to the other floors.

But now, all along the walkway, Diamond Guards were lying in the corners. Five in total, they were paralyzed by her poison darts that Teo had used. Uniforms had been stripped from two of the guards, leaving them in white undershirts. Her eyes flicked to the cell doors. Each had a stick of dynamite tied to one of the bars. A collection of wires led out from under the door she stood in front of and traveled up the stairs toward the upper levels.