Then another shot fired, and the boy dropped in front of her, clutching a bleeding arm. Ryuu nodded at her from behind him, his gun still raised.

She turned to the boy, on the verge of delivering a killing blow, but then she remembered his name: Olaf.

And she remembered the hungry look in his eyes as they’d both begged for scraps in Kosín’s alleys. He’d ended up here the same way she had.

She turned away and hissed at Teo to catch his attention. He fired at another Jackal, striking them in the chest, then glanced over his shoulder. She signaled to him to follow Ryuu.

Ryuu jumped behind the next table for cover on his way to the grate. Bullets pinged against the table’s surface, one blasting through and nearly piercing Ryuu’s shoulder. To her surprise, he barely flinched. He moved toward the grate to begin breaking the lock.

As Ryuu and Raurie slipped through the opening in the floor a moment later, Teo backed up next to Aina, and together they faced the last two standing Jackals. He fired at one of their hands, making the man howl in pain and drop the gun.

When the last Jackal raised her gun, Aina threw her other scythe into the woman’s neck. She ran to retrieve the weapon, and on her way back to the sewer opening, ripped off the broken table leg. A second later, she dropped into the sewer where Ryuu and Raurie had disappeared. Teo followed behind her after taking out the last man.

Once Ryuu closed the grate above them, Aina shoved the wooden bar through the lock, hoping it would hold against anyone who tried to break it. For a moment, they slumped against the wall to catch their breath. Aina put away her weapons, fingers shaking as she did. The Jackals had probably seen her as an easy target since she’d lost Kohl’s protection. She scowled, half wishing she could have fought them on her own to prove she was strong by herself, but that was foolish. If Teo, Raurie, and Ryuu hadn’t been there, she’d be dead.

Teo stood apart from the others, staring down the dark tunnel ahead, while Ryuu leaned against the wall. Raurie placed shaking hands on her knees and took deep breaths.

Blinking to adjust her eyes to the dark, Aina turned to Ryuu and muttered, “Thanks for your help back there.”

He scoffed and pushed off from the wall. “You don’t need to thank me. I didn’t do it for you. I’m not going to sit back and let you get killed while we still need to help my brother.”

His voice was harsh, but cracked a little at the end. He’d surprised her with how he’d come alive during the battle with the Jackals, how he’d been able to fight even if he was scared. If his aim was so good, he could have killed her when she’d attacked his brother last night. But he hadn’t.