Kohl never stopped shooting practice early, no matter how much she’d used to beg before learning better.

“No, let’s keep going,” she said in a rush, lifting the pistol again.

Had she really looked so weak that he actually offered to stop early? Was this a trick?

Then he reached out and took the pistol from her, his eyes flicking briefly to her shaking hands before he said, “Seriously, let’s stop. I want to go somewhere else.”

She nodded stiffly, then followed him from the Dom, up the slanting, sleet-slicked hills of the Stacks and toward the train station in the Center.

They passed through the turnstiles without paying. One of the employees gulped nervously and waved them through, but Kohl barely glanced at him.

Passengers and suitcases jostled by them on their way to the hulking metal trains. The wheels alone stood nearly as tall as Aina. Steam and smoke billowed above the platform, making her hold her sleeve to her mouth and nose as they skirted around passengers. Her reflection in the bronze finish of the train showed her trailing after Kohl as if she were his shadow.

They reached a locked door a few minutes later. Kohl picked the lock and led the way up a narrow stairwell, down an empty hall, and to a tower on the second floor. Windows were on all sides except one, where a giant bronze clock hung.

She shivered in silence while Kohl stared out at the city with his arms crossed. It was the beginning of winter, the skies gray, frost climbing on windows. She pulled a pair of frayed mittens from her pocket and tugged them on, wishing the cold didn’t bother her. Kohl seemed to not mind it at all. With a serene look on his face, he stared down at the city like a king gazing upon his subjects.

Fighting the urge to rub her hands together for more warmth, Aina asked, “Did you want to show me something?”

He gestured at the buildings, which were tinged with the purple-gold light of a cold evening. The setting sun was behind them, but there was no warmth in that sunlight this late in the year. Since she’d spent most of the past few years at the Dom, it was easy to forget that other people saw the city from different viewpoints. Most of these streets weren’t anything to look at, but right now, with the city bathed in light before them, she could admit it was rather beautiful.

“When you start working, you’re going to have to get to know the city better.”

Raising an eyebrow, she said, “I grew up here.”

“You grew up in the Stacks. You don’t know the rest of the city and how it might help or hurt you in any job you take.”

The last rays of sunlight glinted on his blue eyes as he turned to face her, leaning against one of the pillars of the tower.

A moment later, she realized she was staring at him and looked away, warmth rising up her cheeks.