“Aina is blushing; it’s a miracle.” Teo shook his head. She could see why so many people found him attractive: He was nineteen years old with clear, golden-brown skin, wavy dark hair that curled in at his sharp jaw, and eyes like copper glinting in the sun. Though he’d been born in Sumerand, his parents had emigrated here from Linash shortly before he was born. Sometimes he used random Linasian words in conversation, or took on his parents’ accent in a way that made most girls line up to date him. If only they knew how many guns were concealed under his jacket. “And who said it was little?”
She hid her laughter behind the mug. “I’ve heard rumors.”
“Rumors, huh?” He shot her a teasing wink. “Are you taking my lovely partners for yourself once I’ve been with them? You’d have liked her; she was quite pretty.”
With another blush, she swatted at him, sloshing her drink over the rim of the mug. As she took another swig, a little creature slinking along the counter caught her eye. Pushing backward so her stool squeaked loudly across the floor, Aina pointed at the spider.
“Kill it, Teo. Please kill it.”
A grin spreading on his face, Teo focused on the spider for a moment, then lifted his eyes to meet hers.
“I still can’t believe,” he began, in a low, enigmatic tone, “that Aina Solís, the greatest assassin in all the world, is afraid of spiders.”
She was used to people teasing her about her ridiculous fear. If that spider had a heartbeat, or flesh and bones, all it would take was some force and a well-placed slash with her knife. But instead, it crept along, its legs itching at her skin when she couldn’t even see it.… She shivered involuntarily.
“Not the whole world,” she conceded, her eyes sticking to the spider as it progressed along the counter. “Just Kosín, maybe Sumerand. Kill it, already! Stop laughing at me!”
As he cupped the spider in his hands and stood, Aina leaned as far away from him as she could. “Don’t you dare stick that thing in my face, or I’ll put you in the hospital, Teo.”
Teo carried the spider to the door, placed it on the ground outside the bar, then came back to sit next to her. “I think I’d prefer getting eaten alive by a spider than going to one of Kosín’s clinics.”
“Good point,” she said, staring into the amber liquid of her firebrandy. The cheap liquor tasted like dish soap with rubbing alcohol thrown in.
“Dearest Aina,” Teo began, “why are you here drinking with me instead of your usual … I dunno, looking angry and lurking around alleys with diamonds in your pockets?”
“Shut up!” she hissed, glancing at the other patrons, who were still engrossed in their card game. The bartender had retreated to the back room. “Because I have an offer for you. Now keep drinking and we’ll come back to it once you’re nice and tipsy.”
Teo continued to drink, but she knew she’d get drunk much quicker than he would. At best, this was a futile attempt at stalling. Teo was his own boss, finding jobs and carrying them out by himself. He didn’t have the same protection and bribes in place that would keep him as safe as if he worked with Kohl or if he was in a gang, but he valued his independence more than he feared the risks. He didn’t even want to work for her once she opened her own tradehouse. He took on a wide range of work, from roughing people up for late payments, to theft, to murder. His kills might not be as clean as Aina’s were, as she was trained specifically to be a Blade, but he got the job done. He was always picky about what jobs he took, though, and what the risks were. Her offer would be … out of the ordinary.
But then again, he was the only person she could really trust in this whole forsaken city, and the only person who believed she was worth something more than her skill with a dagger. He might have girls lining up to date him, but none of them knew how good of a friend he was.
“Okay, I’ll tell you.” She leaned close and whispered, “I got a new job, and I need a partner. Are you interested?”
His eyes narrowed. “A job you can’t handle alone?”
Taking a deep breath, Aina knew there was no point in stalling anymore.
“Kouta Hirai,” she mouthed.
It was the first time she’d ever seen Teo balk. He straightened, swallowed hard, and stared down into his mug with a creased forehead. He glanced at her a few times, trying to find the right words and apparently failing when the silence stretched between them.
“That’s a death sentence, Aina,” he declared in a harsh whisper. “You don’t just get away with killing people like him. The Diamond Guards will hunt you for months if you take out a Steel that high up. What madness has that boss of yours put into your head?”
“I don’t really have a choice in the matter.”
“You always have a choice, even if he makes it seem like you don’t.”
She scoffed. “My job isn’t like yours, Teo. If the Blood King gives me a job, I do it, and I really want to do this one. He’ll let me open my own tradehouse after this.”
A frown tugged at his lips at those words. He knew this was what she’d always wanted. Maybe he’d reconsider helping.
“He knows I can handle this,” she continued, “but he’s not taking any risks. That’s why he told me to get a partner, and I agree.”
“Do you really?”
Her mouth opened and closed, and for once, she didn’t have a snappy response.
Just then, the door banged open. Aina turned to face the newcomer. A man stood in the doorway, practically snarling, with a gun in one hand.
“Aina goddess-forsaken Solís,” he spat. “You’d better run before I put a bullet through your eyes.”
Aina spun on her stool a little to the right and then a little to the left to catch Teo grinning at her.
“Looks like somebody’s mad at you.” He chuckled, waving over the bartender to get another drink.
The man still stood in the doorway. Weak sunlight streaming in lit up his hands as they shook around the gun.
“Well, before you shoot me, I’d like to congratulate you on finding me.” Aina leaned back against the counter, hoping there wasn’t another spider or else she would lose her composure and this man might actually press the trigger. The mere sight of the weapon placed a chill in her veins, but she was well-practiced at hiding her fear of guns. She felt the eyes of everyone in the bar on her back and straightened to show she had no fear. “I didn’t notice you following me around at all. Maybe you should look into being a spy.”
“I can connect you with the right people,” Teo said in a falsely sincere voice, spinning around to join the game. The man’s heavy breaths were the only sound as the whole bar watched to see what would happen next.
“Now, I can tell you’ve never held a gun in your life.” Aina tilted her head to one side. “Let me guess, that make is from Marin and only Rolland deals in those. What did you pay for it? One thousand kors? She ripped you off well, my friend. Next time go to the warehouse near—”
“Shut your mouth, or I swear I’ll blow it off!” the man snarled, fumbling the gun with sweaty hands. For a second, she feared he would locate the trigger by accident. Other patrons began mumbling and moving back, their chairs squeaking across the floor as they tried to put distance between themselves and the gunman.
“I thought that’s why you came here in the first place,” Teo reminded him. “But now you’re saying you’ll let her go if she’s quiet? That’s generous of you.”
“It is,” Aina agreed. “Let’s see. You must be mad because I killed someone. Not someone you care about, no one cares enough about anyone to spend a thousand kors avenging their death. Ah, someone owed you money?” She stood, stepping closer to the man until the cold barrel of the gun graced her shoulder. “Was it the baker? That man never paid his dues. Well, I collected mine from him yesterday. You must be … hmm, the baker loved gambling more than anything. You own that gaudy red-and-gold casino down Lyra Avenue, don’t you? The baker won’t be paying you, and that sounds like a you problem, not a me problem.”
&nb
sp; The man gripped the gun tighter, his eyes so big they threatened to pop out. Teo had gone quiet, but she could almost hear him shaking with laughter.
“So, what are you going to do with that gun?” Aina leaned forward, hands on her hips. The man’s expression bounced between anger and doubt. “The trigger is that little part a few inches away from where your finger is shaking. All you have to do is press a button, and your problems are taken care of. What are you waiting for, permission?”
“Aina…” Teo began in a warning tone.
Good, she thought. He needs to remember I don’t scare so easily.
The man grimaced, his finger finally approaching the trigger, but Aina shifted before he had a chance to press it. In one swift movement, she knocked his wrist to the side. The gun fell and skidded across the floor.
The man reached back to punch her instead, fist flying toward her face. She sidestepped it, pushing him roughly so his gut slammed into the counter. When he turned back around, one of her daggers met his chest. She twisted the blade under his ribs and then yanked it out. Before he could do more than gasp and clutch at his chest, Aina lifted her blade and cut through a carotid artery. A few bar patrons gasped, but most turned away and went back to their conversations.
“You like to make messes when you kill, don’t you?” Teo commented, tapping his fingers along the counter. But Aina was too busy watching the man die. His blood pooled beneath him, and a moment later, he dropped to the floor.
“Idiot,” Teo scoffed. “Did he really think he could get away with killing you? Kohl would retaliate in ten minutes, and then his head would be staked on a pole outside the Dom.”
“That’s true,” she admitted begrudgingly. Though she appreciated Kohl’s protection, she didn’t like the idea that a lot of people would back away from fights with her simply because they knew Kohl would kill them afterward. Did she command as much respect as he did, that no one would dare come after her once she no longer worked for him?
The bartender, who’d just returned from the back room, tossed his towel in the air. “What have I told you about getting blood on my floor? Get that out of here!”
After Teo pocketed the man’s fallen gun, he helped Aina carry the body outside. They left it across the street from The Tipsy Fish so it wouldn’t affect business, then started walking in no particular direction.
Teo was grinning, one hand swinging freely at his side, the other on the handle of a gun inside his jacket. “You know, if anyone can kill that spoiled prick and get away with it, it’ll be you.”
Aina’s mouth dropped open. “Is this true? What am I hearing, Teo? Are you saying you want to…?”
“Join you, yes.” He nodded stiffly as if he were already regretting this decision. “We’ve never done a job together, so it might be fun, and I’m sure this one isn’t coming cheap. I need as many kors as I can get to pay for my mother’s medicine. How much do we earn for it, anyway?”
Kohl’s words came back to her then—she could choose her partner and pay them whatever percentage she wanted out of the fifty thousand kors.
“Twenty-five thousand each. We have a week to do it.”
“When we’re a team? We’ll get it done in a day.”
“Let’s wait until tomorrow when we’re both sober,” she said with a slow nod. “This job is too big to mess up.”
If she were with anyone other than Teo, she would be doing all she could to show off her confidence. But something about the storm-gray set of clouds behind the twisting black spires of the Tower of Steel, miles north in the distance atop Kosín’s hills, stirred unease in her bones while they walked. As the seat of Sumerand’s government, economy, and military, the Tower reminded her that someone was always watching, even if she couldn’t see them.
It was true what Teo said—it wouldn’t be easy to get away with killing Kouta Hirai. Apart from how outnumbered they’d be by the guards at Kouta’s mansion, the Steels in the city wouldn’t rest until the assassin of one of their own was caught. If even one person saw enough of their faces to report to the Tower, they’d be at risk.
But she had to kill him. The future she’d never thought she would have was lurking in the distance, staring her down and daring her to draw near. The next step was spying on her target and coming up with the best plan.
The casino owner likely wouldn’t be the last person who tried to kill her this week, but she’d make sure Kouta Hirai’s blood covered her knife by the end of it.
6
The wind bit as relentlessly as a rabid dog that night. Aina peered over the rooftop, beyond the rushing silver waters of the Minos River, to the fields and mountains far away. Tannis, the Dom’s other Blade, sat on the opposite end of the roof. Even knowing she was there, Aina felt alone and preferred it that way when she was assigned overnight watches. The wind brushed over only her shoulders, the navy night sky enclosed only her, and the river churned past the rusted bridges for her to admire. Kalaan and Isar’s moons were bright specters beyond wispy clouds and puffs of smoke, revealing the night’s darkest corners and shining on a lone train trundling northward from Kosín like a snake in the dark.
As the hours passed, she ran over various scenarios of how she and Teo could break into Kouta Hirai’s mansion. They would meet tomorrow and follow Kouta to come up with a plan. She’d never killed someone so rich before. Whenever she entered a place with money, it felt like she wasn’t really there—like the floor beneath her was quicksand, the expensive jewels and paintings were only make-believe. How would a smear of blood look on silk clothing?
A drop of rain hit her nose, and she cursed. It was too cold for this.
“Want to ditch?” she whispered across the rooftop.
“Very funny.”
When she’d first met Tannis, she’d assumed the other girl was annoyed with her all the time due to her snappish voice, but quickly learned she spoke that way to everyone. They both moved to the center of the roof, disenchanted with the night’s events. Aina almost hoped someone would try to rob the Dom just to liven things up.
Even in darkness, Tannis’s gold Kaiyanis eyes pierced through the night like little suns. Blue hair draped over the ivory skin of her shoulder in pretty, tousled waves, making her look much less deadly than she really was. Throwing stars glinted at her shoulder holsters as a reminder.
“Word is, Kohl’s given you a good job.”
Aina pressed her lips together. Tannis had smuggled herself here on a boat from Kaiyan, a heavily forested country that bordered Linash, and then joined Kohl’s old gang, the Vultures. When Kohl had opened the Dom about a decade ago, he’d plucked Tannis from the Vultures to join him. Why wouldn’t she deserve their highest paid job yet? A small twinge of guilt worked through Aina at the thought. Tannis was excellent at her job and deserved high-paying opportunities. But Aina was good too—and she had an agreement with Kohl, while Tannis didn’t. If Tannis didn’t like it, she could take it up with Kohl.
“Kohl chose me for this job because he thinks I can handle it.” She didn’t care how jealous Tannis was, but she strove to keep things civil between them since they lived and worked together, and because Tannis was pretty—she didn’t want to make her too mad. To ease the tension, she said, “I’m looking forward to taking down a spoiled rich kid.”
Tannis’s laughter rang out in the quiet night, colder than the wind on the nape of Aina’s neck.
“You’re going down, street child.” She never used Aina’s name, and it made her bristle now. She was the Kohl’s best Blade. The words repeated themselves in her mind over and over, as if she were trying to convince herself. “Kohl wants to eliminate his competition. All that nonsense about letting you go off on your own is a lie. Our house has never seen a haul as big as this Kouta Hirai one, so why wouldn’t he want it for himself?”
It was a fair question, but Aina didn’t reply. If anything Tannis said was true, she couldn’t show fear. If anything Tannis said was false, she couldn’t show concern.
“He gave you this job because he thinks it’s suicide,” Tannis whispered, leaning forward so blue hair cascaded down the side of her face. “The city was a madhouse when Kohl opened the Dom. Law didn’t exist, Kohl could kill anyone and face no repercussions. He only wanted people who were as fearless as he was, and he got them. What do you think happened to the ones I worked with, all those men and women slashing throats and robbing mansions while you were still begging for kors on a sidewalk?”
“I bet they tripped up on a job and got shot,” Aina spat out, letting her anger get the best of her. Ignoring the fact that Tannis was only a few years older than her, she added, “I hear it’s harder to move around when you get old. Is that the problem? Worried you’re losing your touch, so you’re trying to make me paranoid? If I’m gone, you’ll start getting the good jobs.”
“Hasn’t Kohl taught you to be wary of Blades older than you? It means we’re dangerous enough to have survived.” Tannis’s shoulders shook with laughter. “You sure believe all the compliments Kohl throws at you, don’t you? The fact you have breasts and pretty hair might be keeping you alive for now, but not much longer. Keep bragging about starting your own tradehouse and competing with Kohl. One day you’ll mess up, and if he still treats you like his favorite pet killer, that’ll make him look weak, and weakness is the one thing he can’t stand. If you lose Kohl’s protection, you’ll become his enemy, and anyone who doesn’t like you will have free rein to kill you. I’ll have free rein to kill you. And no one else here will speak up for you and risk angering Kohl. If they question or betray him, they’ll be dead right after you.”
The wind gusted hard then, chilling Aina along with Tannis’s words.
“I’ve never betrayed Kohl,” she lied through gritted teeth. “I’m not stupid.”
* * *
The next day, Aina waited for Teo in the Center, leaning against the grimy wall of a shoe repair shop and trying not to fall asleep while standing. After the overnight watch with Tannis, she’d slept until midmorning, then spent the afternoon spying on Kouta.
Diamond City Page 4