Before I can react to being cornered, Ines grabs the bald man’s mostly empty pint and clobbers him in the head with it. Oh god. Shit. We’re dead. I would expect something rash like that from Aarya, but not in a million years did I think Ines would lose her cool.

I reach for my knife and the table of four men next to us stands up, posturing for a fight. They look from the bald man to me and Ines, and I realize they must be friends with him, or work for him. Even if Ines and I had a chance of fighting Hawk’s crew of five, we have no chance of fighting ten.

To my utter shock, Mary stands, too. Only she doesn’t turn on us; she faces off with the four men. “If you want those pretty faces of yours to stay pretty,” she tells them, “I would sit back down.”

I stare at her, mouth open. Maybe she didn’t like the bald man to begin with or maybe she realizes how young we are, but whatever the reason, it’s working to our advantage.

The rest of Hawk’s crew stands, too, in solidarity with Mary. Mary cracks her knuckles. The four men don’t back down and she throws a side kick at the one closest to her, connecting with his ribs and sending him smashing into the table behind him. And like a scene out of a Western movie, a brawl erupts between Hawk’s crew and the bald man’s crew.

The whole bar turns to watch the fight, taking the spotlight off me and Ines.

“You owe us for this job you just cost us,” Hawk growls, nodding at the bald man, and I get a sense that unallied Strategia are just that—unallied. They didn’t work with Ash and me because the risk was too high, and likewise they would have turned us over at the ball because that was their job, but the moment the ball ended, they were independent agents once again.

Before I can reply, Hawk pulls one of the bald man’s friends off Eddie’s back and punches the guy square in the jaw. Ines offers me her hand and I take it, climbing over the unconscious bald man. We slip out the door and into the alley as the bar begins to attract a crowd. But my relief is short-lived, because as I glance at the Lions’ Den, I realize we have a bigger problem—the tall bouncer has already left.

Chapter Twenty-four

INES AND I stand still for a fraction of a second, surveying the street in front of the Lions’ Den, before she starts walking purposefully toward the center of the Market. But I still don’t see the bouncer, and considering he stands a good half foot taller than most people here, I’m not convinced I’m missing something.