“Wait,” he said. “There’s a reason I told you all this, besides you and your knives. I want your help, and you could use mine. I’m a Hirai. My name alone can open doors.”

“I don’t need you to open doors for me. I got in here just fine on my own.”

“I think you underestimate the situation,” Ryuu said in a flat voice. “Whatever this is with the Black Diamond project my brother was looking into, it’s bigger than some grudge or simple vengeance. That’s why I don’t want any official help until I find out what Kouta discovered. The drawing of you that I gave to the Sentinel will keep them out of my business for now. I need help from someone skilled, who preferably doesn’t have ties to the government or any Steels. How much were you paid to kill him?”

She bit her lip, debating between stabbing him and hearing him out.

“Seventy-five thousand,” she lied.

“Look, I can’t find my brother and keep him safe on my own.” He swallowed hard, his eyes cast away from her, as if this were difficult to admit. “I’ll pay you double that amount if you work for me instead of whoever hired you to kill him. We can ask one of my Inosen employees to do a tracking spell to help find Kouta.”

She almost laughed in his face. He was so naive to think money was all she needed. All the kors in the world were useless to her without Kohl’s protection and with a price on her head. And if Kohl found out she was working for someone else, she’d stand no chance.

But Ryuu was right. His name could open doors for her, if Kouta was really involved with something so secretive. And if his name alone couldn’t open doors, his money definitely would. Since Kohl had taken all her money, she needed the help to pay for weapons, bribes, and a tracking spell to find his brother.

The minute they found Kouta, she’d kill both of them, then regain her position in the city.

“Deal. I’ll help you find your brother,” she said, feeling the half-truth roll off her tongue. Kohl had always said half-truths were the best kinds of lies, and if she wanted to get back under his protection, she needed to use every lesson he’d ever taught her. “Under two conditions. I give the orders, and you cough up the kors.”

He sighed with relief, then reached out to shake her hand.

“Now, there’s no way we’re asking one of your employees for help,” she said, staring at his hand until it fell back to his side. “If they recognize me or find out I’m the one who tried to kill your brother, they’ll hand me over to the Diamond Guards.”

“They’d never betray me like that.”

“For a hundred thousand kors, they would,” Aina said. “And they’d probably think they’re doing you a favor by turning in your brother’s attempted assassin. Besides, I don’t trust you. Once you get the information you need from the tracking spell, you’d happily let them turn me in. We’ll find a different Inosen to track down your brother.” Her tone left no room for argument.