He held a gun in one hand, its barrel still smoking from the shot he’d fired at her.

“You’re too late,” she hissed, trying to mask the fear that surged through her at the sight of the gun.

A long beat of silence passed. Ryuu shifted slightly. Candlelight caught his face—narrow with high cheekbones, a sweep of black hair, unblemished bronze skin and umber eyes that somehow reflected anger and fear at the same time. They held the shortest, but somehow also the longest, staring contest in history. He had the advantage here, his gun aimed at her face, but he wasn’t shooting. She could tell he didn’t intend to kill. He’d only meant to stall her.

“Who sent you after him? Don’t move.”

She lunged forward and twisted his wrist so the weapon fell, then kicked one of his knees so he dropped to the floor.

“When you yell out threats instead of acting, no one will fear you,” she spat, retrieving her dagger from the ground and sheathing it in the brace on her torso.

Some of the bravery dissipated in his eyes, fear leaking through in its place. He let out a sigh that sounded like resignation, disappointment. When he looked up at her, it was clear he expected to be killed next.

One sentence in Kohl’s voice flitted through her mind with the same dazzling sensation as a shooting star.

Kill anyone who sees you.

She smothered its light. This job had been accomplished through her own merit. She didn’t need Kohl’s lessons anymore with this success behind her.

The door slammed open and three guards rushed inside, shouting for her to step away from Ryuu. Aina bent her knees, prepared to jump behind a bookshelf to dodge any bullets they fired. Just then, two gunshots sounded from the hallway, and one of the guards dropped to the floor screaming with both knees blown out.

Teo appeared behind the second guard and put him in a headlock before he could react to his colleague’s collapse. Aina rolled to the side as the third guard shot at her, then flung a dagger into his side.

They ran into the hall, jumped over the bodies—Aina grabbing her dagger on the way—and slammed the door shut behind them.

“There’s an empty set of stairs down this hall and to the right that leads outside,” Teo said as they ran down the hall, breathing heavily with cuts on his forehead and a bruise swelling under one eye. “You’re bleeding.”

She shrugged, fighting down a wince at the building pain in her side. It didn’t matter if she was bleeding; it only mattered if the job was done. She needed to tell Kohl she’d done the job—collect her money, open her tradehouse, prove to him she was no longer the helpless girl he’d saved—and hope that all their mistakes tonight wouldn’t come back to ruin them.

“Not as much as Kouta Hirai,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

10

Aina tightened the bandage around her waist after cleaning up the wound and wiping the blood off her hands with a wet rag. She wished Teo’s mother, Ynes, didn’t have to see all the blood, but she’d had to take care of the wound as soon as possible. Luckily Ryuu Hirai hadn’t really tried to kill her, and the bullet had passed through cleanly. It would heal over completely in a few weeks.