The prayers in the old holy language spilled from her mother’s lips, memorized instead of read, and Aina had copied her even if she couldn’t understand what was being said. During most of these services, her attention had wavered, and instead, she looked at the statues of Kalaan with her red bow and arrow and Isar with her silver harp embedded in the rock walls. Sometimes she’d prayed too, for the Mothers to watch over them when they risked their lives to come here. Sometimes she’d prayed for her parents to stop, to be safe, and to say their prayers in their hearts instead of out loud where someone might hear them.

In a way, her mother had been the first person to teach her how to be silent and secretive, not Kohl. Occasionally, she wondered if her mother had known they might be facing the wrong end of a gun one day, and had tried to teach Aina to be quiet, to be quick, and to escape before the gun could be turned on her too.

Raurie was a steady presence walking ahead of her, and Aina tried to focus on her instead of letting the darkness swallow her. She was curious how involved Raurie was with her aunt’s faith. Did Raurie know the prayers, or had they trickled from her mind like they had from Aina’s? If magic got her aunt killed, would Raurie consider it a blessing or call it a curse?

A half hour later, Ryuu whispered for them to stop and gestured to a ladder bolted into the wall. They climbed one after the other, exiting into another long tunnel one level up. The air was slightly warmer here, but dust cloaked it, making them cough as they walked. At the end of a tunnel, they reached a wide cavern with dim lights strung along the roof. The new light revealed the strange scene in front of her.

Giant, hollowed-out hunks of metal sat in a cluster. Trains. It was like a mausoleum for the metal beasts that stretched twice her height toward the lights at the top of the cavern. News reports often proclaimed how underground train travel would bring Sumerand ahead in the worldwide rush to industrialize.

They approached a ladder with its rungs dug into the wall, then climbed to another circular door. Ryuu pushed it open and light flooded through. A moment later, they exited onto a street a few blocks from Lyra Avenue.

They rushed to an empty alley between two shops, passing a wall covered in posters of Aina’s face as they did. Cold night air rushed in, making Aina shiver despite the lingering heat of the battle they’d fought. She placed her hand on the bullet wound in her side. New drops of blood dotted her shirt from where the Jackal had punched her. She tied the end of her shirt into a knot near the wound to cover it.

“Wait a minute,” Raurie said, holding up a hand as Aina began to turn away. “I saw those posters. You’re the one who tried to kill Kouta Hirai.”