“Do you know he went this way?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

“No,” she says, but doesn’t look at me.

“So you’re guessing?”

“I’m guessing,” she says, and panic grips me once again.

We emerge into the domed Market and I scan the crowd. But the bouncer’s nowhere to be found. I glance at Ines, and even though her expression is unreadable, I can feel the anxiety radiating off her. If we lose him, that’s it. Game over. We will never find the Lion estate or my dad in time.

I keep scanning the crowd, aware that each moment my eyes aren’t down I risk discovery. Every muscle in my body is tense and I take a forceful breath, willing my posture to relax.

There at the opposite side of the square, the tall guard emerges from a shop. The relief I feel is so intense that my eyes water. I know Ines sees him, too, because she picks up her pace.

The tall bouncer exits the Market through an archway, but instead of heading straight for him, Ines leads us through an alternate archway to the left. The moment we exit, the noise diminishes and so does the light. The couple of torches that illuminate the street cast large patches of shadow. About a hundred feet ahead of us the bouncer turns left and we silence our steps. Then, without warning, something grazes my sleeve.

I whip around, my hand reaching for my knife, only to find Ash, with Aarya just a few steps behind. Even from a quick look I can tell there’s tension between them. I didn’t hear them approach and I have no idea what direction they came from; it gives me an unsettled feeling. We’re all so good at sneaking up on one another that you never know who’s following you.

As we near the turn where the bouncer disappeared, we slow our pace. Ines peeks around the doorway and Ash surveys the street behind us. They nod at each other and we turn into an abandoned apartment, weaving around a broken table and some chairs. At the far door, Ines peers out, looking both ways and pointing to her right. And so we follow the bouncer, transitioning from the torchlit streets to the pitch-black ones, where he must have stashed an oil lamp, because all of a sudden there is a beacon of light ahead of us. Ash finds my hand with his and I’m grateful for the comforting gesture.

The guard turns through another doorway, and before Ines can catch up, the light disappears, casting us into complete darkness. Ash pulls me to a stop and we all stand silently still for a couple of awful seconds.

“I’ll follow,” Ash breathes in a way that suggests we should stay put. He lets go of my hand.