But she had to kill him. The future she’d never thought she would have was lurking in the distance, staring her down and daring her to draw near. The next step was spying on her target and coming up with the best plan.

The casino owner likely wouldn’t be the last person who tried to kill her this week, but she’d make sure Kouta Hirai’s blood covered her knife by the end of it.

6

The wind bit as relentlessly as a rabid dog that night. Aina peered over the rooftop, beyond the rushing silver waters of the Minos River, to the fields and mountains far away. Tannis, the Dom’s other Blade, sat on the opposite end of the roof. Even knowing she was there, Aina felt alone and preferred it that way when she was assigned overnight watches. The wind brushed over only her shoulders, the navy night sky enclosed only her, and the river churned past the rusted bridges for her to admire. Kalaan and Isar’s moons were bright specters beyond wispy clouds and puffs of smoke, revealing the night’s darkest corners and shining on a lone train trundling northward from Kosín like a snake in the dark.

As the hours passed, she ran over various scenarios of how she and Teo could break into Kouta Hirai’s mansion. They would meet tomorrow and follow Kouta to come up with a plan. She’d never killed someone so rich before. Whenever she entered a place with money, it felt like she wasn’t really there—like the floor beneath her was quicksand, the expensive jewels and paintings were only make-believe. How would a smear of blood look on silk clothing?

A drop of rain hit her nose, and she cursed. It was too cold for this.

“Want to ditch?” she whispered across the rooftop.

“Very funny.”

When she’d first met Tannis, she’d assumed the other girl was annoyed with her all the time due to her snappish voice, but quickly learned she spoke that way to everyone. They both moved to the center of the roof, disenchanted with the night’s events. Aina almost hoped someone would try to rob the Dom just to liven things up.

Even in darkness, Tannis’s gold Kaiyanis eyes pierced through the night like little suns. Blue hair draped over the ivory skin of her shoulder in pretty, tousled waves, making her look much less deadly than she really was. Throwing stars glinted at her shoulder holsters as a reminder.

“Word is, Kohl’s given you a good job.”

Aina pressed her lips together. Tannis had smuggled herself here on a boat from Kaiyan, a heavily forested country that bordered Linash, and then joined Kohl’s old gang, the Vultures. When Kohl had opened the Dom about a decade ago, he’d plucked Tannis from the Vultures to join him. Why wouldn’t she deserve their highest paid job yet? A small twinge of guilt worked through Aina at the thought. Tannis was excellent at her job and deserved high-paying opportunities. But Aina was good too—and she had an agreement with Kohl, while Tannis didn’t. If Tannis didn’t like it, she could take it up with Kohl.