Taking out the vial with one of the new poisons she’d brewed, she lobbed it inside the open window like it was a grenade. Glass smashed on the floor inside, the sound making her wince. She covered her nose and mouth with her scarf, breathing in the copper scent of dried blood—which was still better than breathing in the fumes of her poison. A few minutes later, she jumped to the window and tumbled through it to land next to an unconscious guard. All down the hall, at intervals of about ten feet, guards and servants lay on the floor, knocked out from the poison. It had certainly been effective.

She could kill them all, but that would waste precious time—someone still conscious could stumble upon this hallway and raise an alarm. She was safe for now, so she left the unconscious bodies and moved on.

She proceeded down the hall, bounded up a set of stairs while dodging servants and guards, and then slowed. Three guards stood outside of a room around the corner, all armed with guns that could rival any of Kohl’s. She crouched behind the wall, as silent as possible, withdrew her blowgun, and fired. Two guards collapsed, the poison killing them quickly. But right before she fired the third dart, the final guard jolted out of place, leapt in front of Aina and pointed a gun directly at her head.

“Turn around and place your hands above your head.”

Trying not to smirk, Aina turned around and lifted her hands above her head. A second later, the guard grabbed her wrists and twisted them behind her back. Aina slammed her head back and heard the man’s nose break. Whipping around, Aina cracked the guard’s neck and let him drop to the floor.

She stepped over the body and opened the door a fraction. A bedroom greeted her, extending in all directions in sickening luxury—the granite floor, the obnoxiously large bed, floor-to-ceiling windows facing the endless fields and mountains east of Kosín, a broad shelf filled with books, a red lacquer desk, and a glittering gold chandelier that hung above it all.

Steam poured through a gap above another door across the room, and the sound of running water reached her ears. It must have been Ryuu inside.

An idea struck her, and she went back into the hall to retrieve the guard’s corpse. Hauling it inside by the armpits, Aina left the body near the bathroom door. She locked the door to the room, then pushed over the desk from the bedroom and placed it next to the wall. For a moment, she thought she heard Ryuu singing.

She lifted the body upward and then, straining under the man’s dead weight, managed to stand on top of the desk while carrying him. She lifted the body and tossed it over the wall of the shower.

A shout told her all had gone to plan.

15

Aina jumped down from the desk as the door swung open. Before Ryuu could step a foot outside, she rammed her elbow into his nose. He slipped again and nearly fell, but caught himself on the doorframe.