“No, that’s my way of saying if you think you’re not good enough, you should stay home,” Ash replies.

Ines and I look back and forth between them and it occurs to me that this is the one thing Ash and Aarya have in common: they both love to instigate and take on impossible obstacles.

It also occurs to me that we floated right over something Aarya said. “Hang on, what do you mean, ‘seventy-two hours or less’? How do you know when the ball is going to be when you didn’t even know there was a ball until a minute ago?”

Aarya looks a little too pleased with herself. “Because no one hires a crew more than a week in advance, with the average being about four days. Anything longer than that compromises security and leaves the crew open to bribes, which is essentially what you two idiots suggested. A crew found accepting a bribe would be executed, so you’re just lucky you got out of there without being cut up and added to the stew.”

I swallow and look at Ash. No wonder he said not to mention specifics.

“It was a risk worth taking,” Ash says, even though I’m not sure he should be defending me in this moment. “Without it, we wouldn’t have a lead.”

Aarya opens her mouth to respond but Ines cuts her off.

“So a masquerade ball being hosted by Jag is going to take place sometime in the next few days,” she says. “The first thing we need to do is figure out where it’s being hosted. I can think of at least five properties.”

“We know it’s something extravagant if Jag has several crews working it,” Ash says, dropping his standoff with Aarya. “It’s not your run-of-the-mill Strategia meeting. Plus, the masquerade element suggests a celebration.”

“I thought Strategia don’t celebrate anything,” I say, a little surprised.

Ash leans back on the couch. “We don’t celebrate holidays. But we do celebrate weddings, especially when they unite two Families in a political alliance.”

“Or someone’s ascension to a high office within a Family,” Ines says.

“True,” Aarya says. “But Jag doesn’t keep an advisory council, so there are no offices to fill.”

Ash and I immediately turn to each other. “The Regent,” we say at the same time.

“The Regent?” Aarya says, now swinging her legs down from the armchair and looking at us more seriously. “What do you mean, ‘the Regent’?”

“Supposedly he was killed a month ago,” I say. “And my dad’s been accused—falsely—of killing him.”

Aarya’s eyes widen. “The Lion Regent was murdered a month ago and I’m just hearing it now?”

“I’m shocked you didn’t know, Aarya. It was your cousin who told us,” Ash says, like he has a bad taste in his mouth.