“You Steels really can afford to be hypocrites, can’t you? As soon as magic becomes useful to you, you’ll use it and get away with it, but otherwise, you’re happy to condemn the poor Inosen and rip their beliefs away to keep them from taking back any power of their own.”
Ryuu’s brow furrowed. “My parents were Inosen. They never received the blessing by Sacoren to be able to use magic, but they still prayed, worshiping the Mothers and asking for guidance. They hid their beliefs once they saw how King Verrain was stirring up trouble, but they still helped the faithful when they could. The maid who helped us, she’s from Natsuda and also Inosen, so my parents took her in to protect her once the war started. They allowed plenty of Inosen to live and work here safely, so my brother and I do the same. Do you think it’s impossible for someone you call a Steel to be faithful?”
“What do you mean, call you a Steel?” she spat. “You are one. You own the diamond mines. You’re rich. All of your inheritance is thanks to the thousands you people killed during the war.”
“I was a child. I didn’t kill anyone—”
“Even if you didn’t personally kill any Inosen during the war, you and your family sat back and watched it, so don’t talk to me like you understand. Maybe your parents let Inosen hide here, but they didn’t do anything to protect the people dying in the streets. My parents were killed for their beliefs because they didn’t have money or high-up friends to protect them. That’s why you’re still breathing after using magic and they’re rotting away in a mass grave with the rest of the Inosen you and other Steels allowed to die.”
He opened his mouth to respond, then closed it and shook his head. “You’re right. It’s not fair.”
She blinked. Never in her life had a Steel admitted the situation wasn’t fair.
“So, do you follow Kalaan and Isar?” she asked after a pause.
It was odd to meet someone her age who was faithful. When people turned faith into money and prayers into bullets during the war, most people began believing the Mothers had abandoned Sumerand. Only a few hundred Inosen remained, and most of them were older.
Ryuu gave a half shrug, half nod. “My parents stopped praying when I was really young, once the war started, so I don’t know too much about the Mothers. But I’ve never been against it. How could anyone in my family be? After all, most of our original fortune was first made from Inosen purchasing diamonds, before magic was banned and we turned to exporting the diamonds as jewels instead. Even people in my family who weren’t faithful themselves never wanted to ban the religion.”
“So, your family were Steels, but they still didn’t turn against magic once the war started,” Aina observed. “Did they ever ask their workers to pick a side?”
He shook his head. “They stayed neutral. Even now, there’s a secret worship center near the mines. We have our private security keep the Diamond Guards’ attention away from it. And while we don’t aid in the illicit sales of diamonds, we also do nothing to stop it. We do favors for the Sentinel when we can, like mining high-value diamonds or selling them jewels and construction materials at a discount, to keep them from looking too closely. I can’t help that I was born rich, but I’ll do what I can to even things out a bit. My parents never did anything to oppress the Inosen and neither will I.”
Her face twisted into a scowl as he spoke. She couldn’t let a rich boy with a heart distract her. She had to get the information from him, then kill him.
“What happened after you saved your brother?”
“I reported that he’d been killed,” Ryuu continued, “gave the Sentinel a sketch of you, and paid off a mortician to pronounce him dead. We didn’t want anyone finding out the truth and coming back to kill him, or looking into things and figuring out we used magic to save him. The Sentinel probably thinks his body is at the morgue right now.”
“So, where is he really?”
Ryuu shrugged. “When I woke up this morning, he was gone. He’s nowhere in Amethyst Hill. He might not even be in Kosín anymore. If he’s afraid someone will come after him again, leaving might have been the safest option. My guess is someone saw him, and the truth got out that he survived … which I suppose is why you’re here.”
“Could someone have taken him? Kidnapped him? Tried to kill him?” Since I failed, she didn’t add.
“No, a servant saw him leave this morning with a few guards.”
“Do you know who wanted him dead?” Aina asked.
“You,” he said, frowning. “Apparently.”
“Someone paid me to kill him,” she corrected. “Can you think of any reason someone would want him dead?”
Tilting his head to the side, Ryuu thought for a long moment. Then he leaned forward, hands balanced on his knees, and whispered, “He found out something about a secret project called ‘Black Diamond.’”
She frowned for a moment, wondering why he was being so open with this information. But then her curiosity took over—if this helped her find and kill his brother, she needed to know it.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t really know. But I think it has to do with our parents’ murder. He’s been trying to figure it out ever since they were killed.”
It was common knowledge that the Hirai brothers had been orphaned at a young age, but she hadn’t known their parents had been murdered, like hers. It might be one of the only things they had in common.
But showing any sympathy would make her look weak, so she kept her voice flat as she asked, “Your parents were killed? I remember the news report. I thought they died in a gas explosion during the war.”
Ryuu winced. “There was an explosion, but they were both shot before it.”
She blinked and stepped back. All she heard was the word shot, and memories of her own parents’ deaths came rushing back. “I didn’t know that.”
“Neither did we until after that winter. The autopsy found bullets in … what was left of them.”
She turned her head, feeling slightly nauseous.
“My parents were shot too, a few years after the war,” she said, unable to hold back the words. Then she shrugged. “They were Inosen, and they used magic. Inosen back then were being killed every day by the Diamond Guards or anyone who worked for them. That’s just how it was.”
After a pause, he continued, “My parents died on a night when King Verrain’s followers attacked the mining site. Everyone assumed they were killed in the gas explosion that occurred during the fighting. Other Steels rose up on their behalf and fought back harder.”
Aina grimaced. Already, the story didn’t add up, and she was growing suspicious too. When King Verrain had shut down the factories, the Steels retaliated, forcing their employees to fight back—the employees mostly did, many of them forsaking their faith and choosing to fight for the Steels because they needed their jobs more than they needed the Mothers. They fought with the weapons the Steels gave them, mostly guns. King Verrain and his followers, including some men from the army who were loyal to him, used guns too, but mostly fought with blood magic. They twisted it in evil ways against what the Mothers wished.
Instead of using it to heal blood-related diseases, Verrain used it to cause hearts and veins to burst inside living people. Instead of using it to build shelter, he used it to topple buildings to ash. Instead of using it to shield themselves, he took the minerals from dirt and rocks and forged them into swords. Countless people’s murders remained a mystery, and apparently Ryuu’s parents were included.
King Verrain hadn’t been subtle in his actions. If he wanted to kill an enemy, he made it obvious. But this …
Ryuu continued, voicing her thoughts, “It was covered up, to make it look like an accident that happened when Verrain attacked. Which means that whoever did it was probably a Steel. I was too young to understand, and my brother didn’t tell me the truth of their deaths until I was older. But Kouta … he was ten when he had to take over our business, and he started looking into their murders. H
e’s been trying to uncover the truth for years. He said he’d tell me more once he found out what this Black Diamond project was, but then you came along before he could. I want to know what he discovered, and I want him to be safe.”
As his voice trailed off, she stared at him for a moment, considering his words. His brother might be a Steel, but he hadn’t lived a completely pampered life. He’d had to start managing a business and investigating his parents’ murder at an age not much older than when she’d found herself on the streets.
But no matter what his life story was, nor why he was being targeted, his survival meant her death. She had to find and kill him.
A heavy knock sounded on the door, making them jump. Someone began shouting, “Master Hirai!” over and over.
Ryuu stood, opening his mouth to call out to the guard, but she kicked him in the knees so he fell to the floor with a huff of breath. She withdrew a dagger and placed it under his earlobe while pinning him to the floor. Leaning close, she whispered, “Try to shout, and I’ll cut off your ear. Try to move without my telling you, and I’ll search for more appendages to remove. How does that sound?”
He froze, then gave a stiff nod.
“Open the door a crack,” she whispered, freeing him from the floor. “Tell them everything is fine. I’ll be right behind you, ready to press this blade into your heart if you give them any hint something is wrong.”
Gulping, he stood and walked slowly to the door with the tip of her blade at his back. She stood to the side as he opened the door and conversed in a low voice with the guard, who informed him of the bodies outside his door and the guards who’d been knocked unconscious downstairs.
“I’m safe in here,” Ryuu declared, his voice surprisingly steady. “Lock down the house and post new guards outside my door. Remain calm and keep vigilant. Whoever it is, they’re after my brother, not me.”
The guard replied affirmatively, and Ryuu shut the door with a weary exhale. When the guard’s footsteps faded away, Ryuu turned to her, and she backed him into the wall and placed her knife under his collarbone. He’d told her enough. She tightened her grip around the knife.
“Wait,” he said. “There’s a reason I told you all this, besides you and your knives. I want your help, and you could use mine. I’m a Hirai. My name alone can open doors.”
“I don’t need you to open doors for me. I got in here just fine on my own.”
“I think you underestimate the situation,” Ryuu said in a flat voice. “Whatever this is with the Black Diamond project my brother was looking into, it’s bigger than some grudge or simple vengeance. That’s why I don’t want any official help until I find out what Kouta discovered. The drawing of you that I gave to the Sentinel will keep them out of my business for now. I need help from someone skilled, who preferably doesn’t have ties to the government or any Steels. How much were you paid to kill him?”
She bit her lip, debating between stabbing him and hearing him out.
“Seventy-five thousand,” she lied.
“Look, I can’t find my brother and keep him safe on my own.” He swallowed hard, his eyes cast away from her, as if this were difficult to admit. “I’ll pay you double that amount if you work for me instead of whoever hired you to kill him. We can ask one of my Inosen employees to do a tracking spell to help find Kouta.”
She almost laughed in his face. He was so naive to think money was all she needed. All the kors in the world were useless to her without Kohl’s protection and with a price on her head. And if Kohl found out she was working for someone else, she’d stand no chance.
But Ryuu was right. His name could open doors for her, if Kouta was really involved with something so secretive. And if his name alone couldn’t open doors, his money definitely would. Since Kohl had taken all her money, she needed the help to pay for weapons, bribes, and a tracking spell to find his brother.
The minute they found Kouta, she’d kill both of them, then regain her position in the city.
“Deal. I’ll help you find your brother,” she said, feeling the half-truth roll off her tongue. Kohl had always said half-truths were the best kinds of lies, and if she wanted to get back under his protection, she needed to use every lesson he’d ever taught her. “Under two conditions. I give the orders, and you cough up the kors.”
He sighed with relief, then reached out to shake her hand.
“Now, there’s no way we’re asking one of your employees for help,” she said, staring at his hand until it fell back to his side. “If they recognize me or find out I’m the one who tried to kill your brother, they’ll hand me over to the Diamond Guards.”
“They’d never betray me like that.”
“For a hundred thousand kors, they would,” Aina said. “And they’d probably think they’re doing you a favor by turning in your brother’s attempted assassin. Besides, I don’t trust you. Once you get the information you need from the tracking spell, you’d happily let them turn me in. We’ll find a different Inosen to track down your brother.” Her tone left no room for argument.
After a pause, he gave a begrudging nod. “So we’re clear, I don’t trust you either. If you try anything, remember I’m the one with the kors.”
She let a small smile spread on her face. “The money is all I want, so don’t worry about me.”
It was so easy to tell a lie to someone who already believed it. His shoulders visibly lost tension as she confirmed what he probably thought of her—a money-hungry girl from the Stacks whose loyalty could be bought, like all the guards and servants in this mansion. She would put him in his place before this was over.
“My name is Aina. Now, how do we get out of here, since you’ve asked your guards to put up more security? I don’t want anyone here seeing me. Even if they don’t recognize me from last night, they have that very helpful sketch you made of me wallpapering half of Kosín to remind them.”
With a sheepish look, he moved to a nightstand near his bed and rummaged through it for a pen and paper. As he scribbled a note, she peered over his shoulder.
“I’m leaving a note that I’ll be gone for a few days,” he said, straightening and placing the paper on the nightstand. “I don’t want the Sentinel to start looking for me too.”
“A note? They’ll probably think you got kidnapped if you just leave a note. Don’t your guards follow you everywhere?”
“Kouta’s the one who manages the company,” Ryuu said with a shrug. “They don’t watch me as much. I’ve been going into the city alone for a few years now.”
Then he gestured for her to follow him to a corner of the room, next to an armoire. He took a jacket from it and drew it over his shoulders. Then he pushed a portion of wall that didn’t look any different from the rest of the wall, and it swung inward to reveal a secret passage with no light except for a slit of a window cut into the wall halfway down.
Narrowing her eyes at him, she said, “If you try anything, remember I’m the one with the knives.”
She kept a short distance between them as he led her down the hall and past a heavy tapestry into the same stairway she and Teo had used to escape last night.
Either the Hirai brothers or she would be lying dead in an alley at the end of this. Ryuu and Kouta had already had their chance at wealth and success. Now it was her turn.
16
The lights of Rose Court shone more than the stars in the sky. Aina kept close to Ryuu as they walked down the cobblestone streets lined with clothing stores, hairstylists, and high-end jewelry shops that would never accept her diamonds. Pedestrians walked leisurely past them, in and out of shops with their hands full of boxes and bags of purchases. Gold and silver electric lights hung brightly in every window, seeming to put her on display the deeper they walked into the city. Earlier, when Kohl had threatened her, had been like a dream, too terrible to be true. But now that she was back in the city, the danger became very real. She kept her face half hidden within her collar, but her eyes found every wanted poster of her, and
she expected a Diamond Guard to jump out and handcuff her at any moment.
Ryuu walked beside her with his hands in the pockets of his long tweed jacket, his chin lifted but his eyes guarded. She wanted to tell him to take his hands out of his pockets, to always be alert and prepared, but then again, they were in Rose Court and not the Stacks. He was either very good at ignoring how people stared at him or he was unaware. People at every corner pointed at him and whispered to each other with curiosity in their eyes, possibly talking about his brother, or maybe they, like she, had just noticed how handsome he was under the golden lights of Rose Court.
She ignored it, mostly, until they turned a corner and a poster with her face and one hundred thousand kors beneath it stared down at her from a shop front.
“You know,” she said, clenching her jaw, “if you would call off that goddess-damned reward for my—”
“I didn’t put that up,” he said with a frown. “I only reported the crime and gave the Sentinel the drawing. They’re the ones giving the reward.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Well, with the new alliance we’re making with Linash and their princess visiting soon, the Sentinel wants the city to look safe. So, they’re being harder on crime now.” He shrugged. “You shouldn’t complain, you know. No one would expect me to be walking around with my brother’s killer, so if you’re with me, no one will look at you and think you’re the suspect.”
She couldn’t argue with that. And his shortcut through the mansion and out of a side door that let them slip into the neighbor’s backyard to escape would have taken her a long time to find on her own. She hadn’t asked what he planned to do with the bodies she’d left behind. She supposed rich people had their own ways of covering up crimes. Then again, this pampered prince seemed far more accustomed to death than she’d expected him to be.
“Where can we find a blood magic practitioner?” he asked.
“Let’s find my friend first,” Aina whispered. With so many people pointing at Ryuu, every word she said seemed amplified for all to hear. “We need to get out of Rose Court. Stuff your wallet down your shirt. I could have robbed you five times by now. Keep your head down when we get out of here. Well, don’t stare at the ground. Keep your head down and up at the same time. I know that doesn’t make sense, but do it.”
Diamond City Page 11