“All of it?” Teo asked in a flat voice. “Everything you earned since you were twelve?” When she nodded, he said, “You can use my half of the earnings, Aina—”

“No,” she snapped. “You earned that, and you need it for your mother. I’m not going to take it from you.” She locked eyes with Teo and hoped he would realize that she still meant to kill Kouta, that this partnership with Ryuu was just temporary. “Ryuu is paying me double what Kohl did to help find his brother alive. So, who do we ask to track him down? You’re friendlier with people. No one would trust me if I show up on their doorstep asking about magic, and we can’t just ask anyone. You never know who will snitch.”

Teo bit his lip and glanced around, checking for any eavesdroppers. “The wrong people could catch us for this at any moment, especially if we use magic. You should lie low until this blows over. Make a job for yourself. Don’t let Kohl decide who you are anymore.”

Her hands curled into fists. “Kohl decides nothing. He’s made it very clear he’s not my boss anymore. But the whole city will be after me for the Sentinel’s reward now that I don’t have Kohl’s protection anymore.”

“Not if you kill him first. That would earn you all the respect you need.”

Aina rolled her eyes and stomped her foot. “Come on, Teo! I understand if you don’t want to help, but please think about it.”

“I could pay you to help us find him,” Ryuu proposed. “What do you need?”

The idea zoomed through her thoughts, and she nearly jumped up and down to suggest it. “Teo, what about medicine for your mom? Ryuu could pay for it.”

“A lifetime supply,” he added with a wide grin. “I’ll pay upfront.”

With a frown, Teo said to Aina, “You know I’ll help. I don’t like seeing you in danger, especially not because of that boss of yours. Let’s get you out of this mess as quickly as possible.” Then he turned to Ryuu. “I earn my money, Hirai. Maybe you look at me and see a criminal, but I keep my work as honest as I can, and I don’t take handouts. Once we know where to find your brother, you’ll get the medicine for my mother.”

“Done.”

“It’s pretty easy to get you to do things once I start pressing the right buttons, did you know that?” She winked at Teo, who shook his head in exasperation, but she saw a smile tugging at his lips.

Ryuu shrugged. “It’s easy to get anyone to do something if you put enough money in front of them.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Must be nice to buy solutions to your problems.”

“Must be nice to threaten your problems,” Ryuu countered with a raised eyebrow.

She couldn’t help but laugh a little at how serious he looked.

Teo led them to a spot in the far west corner of the market. Beyond a haze of smoke was an attractive girl about seventeen or eighteen years old with ochre-brown skin, soft features, black hair, and bright, cedar-brown eyes—features that meant her ancestors had come from the country Marin. There, people still spoke a version of the old holy language to this day and worshiping the Mothers wasn’t outlawed. The girl sat at a table, barrels of alcohol around her, and argued with a man on the price of a jug of liquor he’d smuggled in from Kaiyan.