“Why are you here?” Falise replaced the glass next to her empty one. “What do you care if I succeed or fail?”

Kylee played with her glass of whiskey, tipping it back and forth until the liquid barely reached the rim. “Dek figures you’re here in response to him sending Dan Wirth back to Solar System. If you’re the best the Taglionis have, you better get on that starship and run. Dek’s got half the planet by the balls, and so far all you’ve done is make a mess of your end.”

Falise, for the first time, stopped glaring, cunning filling her emerald eyes. “Go on.”

“If you killed Chad, Talina’s going to find out.”

“What if I did?”

Kylee shrugged. “I’d say steal an airtruck and get the hell out of PA. It wasn’t a fair fight. He was drugged. From what I’ve heard, they’ll have an inquest. Shig, Yvette, and Talina will have the proof they need, and one of them, probably Talina, will shoot you in the back of the head.”

“Hey, idiot child, I’m a Taglioni, get it? I don’t—”

“That means quetzal shit in PA, get it? This isn’t the fucking Corporation. The Taglioni name only means anything here because Dek made it. Look around. No one in this room gives a flying fuck. Well, maybe but for the spacers down on leave from Turalon.” A beat. “So, did you kill Chad?”

“No.”

Kylee shrugged. “That makes things a little easier. But not much.” She took another sip of the whiskey. “Shit on a stick! People really drink this? On purpose? That’s as bad the second time as the first.”

“What do you get out of this?” Falise asked.

“Pay attention here: Dek’s lineage. That means if you try and retaliate against him for the humiliation, or blame him for your failure, and send Ednund, here, or Clarice after him. Tal and I will kill you all. That’s what lineage means.”

“Why would I—”

“Shut up and listen: You’re nothing but a sister he doesn’t even like. Right now, you’re even a bigger laughingstock than Hofer, and from what I’ve learned, that takes a lot.”

“And you would have me do what?”

“Stop acting like a Taglioni. On Donovan, stupidity is a death sentence.”

Kylee stood, reaching into her belt pouch. “I heard that Dek cleaned you out, left you in debt. Here. There’s a hundred siddars and a bit of plunder to keep you going.”

She tossed the coins, a couple of nuggets, and some uncut opals and sapphires on the table with a clunk.

Falise and the others blinked. “And what is my obligation to you in return?”

“Nothing,” Kylee told her. “I’m not here for that long, and there’s plenty more where that came from. Now, go apologize to Dek for being an idiot.”