But now, everyone feared the Jackals as much as they might fear her. Anyone in the Stacks would give up information on her if it could buy them protection from violence or extortion by the Jackals, whose ranks seemed to multiply by the day.
“The other tradehouses will trust you soon enough, once they realize you and Tannis are much better than Kohl,” Teo said as they rounded a corner and descended a hill deeper into the Stacks. His voice had gone bitter, and in it she sensed the memory of how Kohl and Bautix’s plans had gotten his mother killed by the Diamond Guards. But it vanished as quickly as it came, his eyes hardening as he said, “We can still stop them if we work fast enough.”
They both looked southeast then, and Aina felt the familiar tension rising, the sense that they were scrambling and would fail if they made one mistake or fell one step behind Kohl and Bautix. Dirt roads and run-down homes spread away before her, each one as familiar to her as the scars and bruises littering her body. The cloying, polluted air clung to her skin and slowly poisoned her lungs, but she would never trade it for the glittering, clean streets in other parts of the city. She imagined the Dom waiting for her at the river shore like it always had—as long as she could hold on to it.
It was the first tradehouse, started by Kohl in the wake of the civil war fourteen years ago, and now whoever ran the Dom managed all the tradehouses—they each paid commission to the boss of the Dom and got all their bribes and weapons through the Dom’s careful negotiations. Since she was twelve, she’d trained there to learn to fight and protect herself, to reach for a future that would never be offered to her, like everyone in the south yearned to do. If she lost it, she’d have nothing.
They soon reached the tavern in the middle of the Stacks that Raurie’s uncle owned. When they entered, smoke billowed out at them and Aina blinked, her eyes watering. Raurie, her uncle, and another employee took orders and prepared drinks at the bar. Since it had been so long since the civil war, most of the drunk patrons here wouldn’t notice the small signs that the bar was run by Inosen—people faithful to the Mothers, the two goddesses the people of Sumerand traditionally believed in; the religion now banned since the end of the war where Inosen and Steels fought one another.
But Aina had been coming here long enough to see it: the red and silver curtains leading to the backrooms, the Mothers’ colors; the names of their specialty drinks on the chalkboard menu that used words from the old holy language; the small drawing of a diamond, the Inosen’s tool for blood magic, on the back of a notebook where they wrote tabs. It was a bold risk; if anyone else noticed and reported them to the Diamond Guards, they could easily be imprisoned.
As she and Teo weaved through the tables, she coughed on the stale scents of smoke and cheap firebrandy. With so many people gathered here in close quarters, the air grew hot, sticky, and hard to breathe. Most people skirted out of their way, recognizing Aina and Teo even while inebriated. She stared straight ahead as they walked, hoping no sign of fear showed on her face—that she was as formidable a leader as Kohl had been.
Someone waved to them through the press of people. Tannis and Ryuu sat in a booth in a tucked away corner, a small candle on the table illuminating their faces and the mugs of ale they each held. Tannis twirled her glass between her hands, her gold eyes calculating as Aina and Teo joined them. Throwing stars glinted at the holsters on Tannis’s shoulders, and the candlelight made her blue hair more vibrant against her pale skin.
It was still odd to see Tannis among her friends when she’d pretended to work against them for so long, while fighting Kohl in her own way. But it had been easy to forgive her, when they’d both come from nothing and had fought their way to the top of Kohl’s ranks. Now they ran the Dom together. “I don’t like leaving the Dom alone too long,” Tannis said, shifting her weight uneasily, then looked at Aina and Teo. “Did you learn anything at the black market?”
“We managed to pick up some new weapons, but no, we didn’t find out anything about where Kohl might be,” she said, meeting Tannis’s apprehensive gaze. No one knew Kohl better than the two of them, nor how ugly things would get when he fought them for control of the Dom. “A spy from Thunder overheard us—and she had backup, Arman’s second. They’re not a problem anymore.”
Silence fell at their table, and Aina’s eyes darted toward the crowd to check for eavesdroppers. Even here, where alcohol flowed freely and everyone seemed relaxed enough, there was a marked change; people stayed in their groups, veering away from anyone they didn’t know, eyes flicking worriedly to the door as if they expected Jackals to break it down and start shooting at any moment.
“They’re testing us to see if we’ll punish them or if we’ll let them do whatever they want,” Tannis said then, drawing Aina’s attention back to the group. “Kohl wouldn’t let them get away with this.”
“We won’t either,” Aina said shortly. Two years ago, a tradehouse boss had gone around to the others and tried to get their support to take down Kohl. She’d been in the office when he found out about it; he’d gone deathly still, asked her to leave. The next day, that boss’s head and arms were found floating in the river—no one ever found the rest of him.
Their job was to decide how much they wanted to be like the Blood King.
As they spoke, Ryuu tapped his fingers on the table and took in the tavern with a careful look in his umber eyes. His wavy black hair framed a narrow face with high cheekbones, and his fancy attire reminded Aina how strange it was that they were friends—he a Steel who’d inherited the biggest mining and construction empire in the country, and the rest of them criminals from the south of the city.
“Do you know what’s going on?” Ryuu asked, crossing his arms and doing a decent job of trying to look comfortable. “Raurie asked us to come.”
“She did?” Aina asked, looking toward the bar where Raurie poured a drink for a customer.
Ryuu gave a tense nod. “I was wondering if she found out something about Kohl.” He met her gaze then, his deep brown eyes lit with the same determination she felt to track down Kohl. Last month, Kohl had sent Aina to kill Ryuu’s brother—that failed, and then they’d worked together against Bautix and Kohl—but eventually Kohl killed his brother himself.
Then Ryuu’s outfit caught her eye—a suit with a red tie, gold watch glimmering against his bronze skin. “Why are you wearing a suit here of all places?”
Ryuu yawned and the bags under his eyes seemed to deepen. “Just had a meeting and didn’t have time to change. Running a mining and construction empire takes away a lot of your free time, apparently. What’s wrong with the suit? Does it make me stand out?”
“Yeah, that,” Teo began, “and your gold watch, and your leather shoes—”
“We match now, my scarf and your tie,” Aina said, lifting up one end of her scarf, which was far too hot to wear in summer, but she had a hard time letting go of it. The bloodstains that had turned it red were certainly memorable, even if they smelled like rust.
Ryuu grimaced. “My tie doesn’t have blood on it, Aina. Do you want a new scarf? I can get you a new scarf.” He paused, then added, “Please let me get you a new scarf.”
“This is handmade artistry, Ryuu,” she said with a grin.
“Took years of work,” Teo added.
“Did you stab anyone today, Aina?” Ryuu asked then, leaning back from the end of the scarf she held out to him. “It smells exceedingly pungent.”
“I did, thanks for noticing. But you really should hide that watch.”
A minute later, Raurie stepped out from behind the bar to take her break. Aina waved as Raurie approached them, and Ryuu slid a drink toward her as she sat down and gave them a bright smile. Chin-length black hair brushed against the ocher brown of her cheeks lit golden by the candlelight at their table. Last month, Raurie had joined them to stop Bautix and Kohl’s plans.
“How is work tonight?” Tannis asked Raurie, her gold eyes lighting up as she leaned slightly across the table—they’d become fri
ends since Raurie helped Tannis escape the Tower last month and recover from her wounds in an Inosen safe house. “When Kushik brought your message, he said you seemed anxious.”
“I overheard a couple of people talking about a hideout nearby. I think they’re new Jackals,” Raurie said, then smirked. “Not as careful with their tongues. The hideout is in the warehouse district, at one of the textile factories. Bautix must have bribed one of the owners to give them space to sleep there.”
“Did they say anything about Kohl?” Aina asked.
Raurie shook her head. “I overheard where it is, but they didn’t say who’s staying there. It’s the best lead we’ve gotten so far.” Then she nodded over her shoulder to the bar, where her uncle and a young girl still took drink orders. “See the new girl? Her family and a few others have joined our safe house, so we have people to help out here. I can leave early.”
“You’re all together in one safe house now?” Ryuu asked.
With a grim nod, Raurie said, “We still have that apartment you gave us, but right now it’s safer to go underground. All the Diamond Guard captains who want to try to get Bautix’s job are cracking down harder than ever on magic users and diamond smugglers. And if Bautix can take back power again by hurting Inosen, he’ll do it.”
“I don’t understand, though,” Teo said, leaning forward over the middle of the table to be heard above the loud, drunken voices nearby. “Why would he focus on the Inosen? Doesn’t he want to take the Tower? I understand he’s prejudiced, but killing the Inosen won’t give him power.”
“Won’t it?” Raurie asked, tightening the purple silk shawl she always wore around her shoulders. “That’s how he got it before, by killing King Verrain. Half the people in the city call him a hero for stopping the war. It’s how he got his position, commanding the Diamond Guards in the city and the whole military.”
A moment of silence passed as they all took in what Raurie said. King Verrain had been an Inosen himself, but instead of embracing the Mothers’ message of peace, he had used magic to kill, gathering his followers to help him shut down the factories since he viewed technology as a natural enemy of faith.
He gave a bad name to us all, her mother had whispered to her, while using the magic to heal a profusely bleeding boy, who’d come to them after getting into a fight, but they’re the ones who decided we’re all the same, that none of us can be good; makes it easier for them to push us down.
Businesses closing, bodies in the street, Inosen hiding in fear for their lives. Aina’s shoulders tensed at the thought. It was as close to the feeling of civil war as Aina had felt since she was a child, despite some of her memories being hazy.
Everyone back then knew someone who had died. She looked around at her friends now, wondering if they’d all make it out of this if another war began. Each of them had fought for a chance at a future in this world, and none of them would go down easily … but she still didn’t like to think of the possibility.
Aina let out a sharp exhale and looked up from the table as something caught her eye. The glint of candlelight on a glass mug reminded her of diamonds, the ones she’d used to smuggle to people like her parents. Power. Beauty. Magic that caused a civil war and brought death to thousands.
Magic that might be useful if she learned to use it now. Goose bumps rose on her arms at the thought. If she could learn to use the same magic as King Verrain, she could use it to fight Kohl and anyone else who tried to take the tradehouses from her.
But for now, she had a lead to follow. One that might take her directly to Kohl’s hiding place.
“We should go,” she said, standing and sliding two of her diamond-edged daggers into her sleeves for easy access—if Kohl was there, she’d need them.
3
When they left the tavern, the night had grown colder. Hair clung to her skin with sweat from the heat inside the bar, and after Aina brushed it away, she tensed, sensing eyes on her from a distance. One hand went to a knife. A fluttering on the ground caught her attention, and she inhaled sharply when she spotted the piece of paper held down by a rock.
“Another note,” Tannis whispered behind her.
As Aina bent to pick up the note, the others circled around her, all of them looking toward the shadows between buildings ahead, the rooftops, the windows, for some sign of who’d left it.
In a rushed handwriting that she didn’t recognize, it said:
You can keep fighting, Miss Solís, but Kosín will belong to General Alsane Bautix again within one week. You’re welcome to join the new order if you fall in line, but first … he’ll knock you down a few rungs on the ladder.
Tannis read it over her shoulder, her eyes hardening as she did. Once Tannis finished reading, Aina curled the note into a ball and tossed it over her shoulder—hoping that whoever left it was watching.
If Bautix managed to take back the city, he wouldn’t stand for having someone in charge of the tradehouses who wasn’t allied with him. Kohl’s leadership had been beneficial for him, but hers was a thorn in his side. She looked over her shoulder, eastward toward the Dom, and her stomach twisted with nerves.
I won’t let them down, she promised herself. I won’t let them fall to the claws of this city.
Then she noticed the girl who’d been working behind the bar had slipped outside to join their group, closing the door softly behind her. She wore her wavy red-violet hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and freckles dotted her ivory Sumeranian features, but her eyes were the bright gold of Kaiyanis people. A bit of dirt was smudged on her nose and she picked at a frayed end of her shirt.
“Can I help you?” Aina asked, one hand settling on the handle of her scythe.
The girl cast one frightened look at the weapon, then turned to Raurie. “Raurie, is this about the Jackals you mentioned earlier? One of the other workers came back from their break, so your uncle said I could leave. Can I go with you?”
She said it all in one breath, a plea in her eyes as she waited for Raurie to reply. “I want you to come, Lill, but it’s not just me who gets to decide,” Raurie said, frowning, then she spoke to the group. “I told Lill she might be able to join us, but I didn’t know all of you would show up. She’s trustworthy, and I’ve never met anyone who hates the Jackals more than her, but there might be too many of us. I don’t want us to get caught before we even get there. Maybe only a few of us should go.”
“But we don’t know how many Jackals there might be,” Ryuu pointed out. “We don’t want to be outnumbered either, and we want to take out as many of them as possible.”
Aina paused, part of her wanting to agree with Raurie, while she also knew Ryuu made a good point. But time was wasting, so she made a decision.
“You can come with us, Lill. These factories are big, so we’ll need a couple of us to keep watch to make sure no more Jackals come in while we’re inside. Let’s go already.”
She and Raurie led the way west, while the others stayed close behind them. From the corner of her eye, Aina saw Lill approach Ryuu, her head tilted to the side.
“You’re Ryuu Hirai,” Lill said with a hint of curiosity.
“I thought you looked familiar,” Ryuu said slowly, and then added with a desperate tone to his voice, “Our parents were friends, weren’t they? Why did you leave our safe house near the mines? It’s secure, I promise—”
“No, it’s not,” Lill cut him off. “The Jackals know about it. They have for years, actually, but we were too afraid to leave until now. The Inosen can only afford to side with one another until we see who ends up ruling this country. Sorry.”
She shrugged, not looking sorry at all, and Aina held back a laugh as Ryuu’s mouth fell open in shock.
As they walked, Raurie whispered the location to her and kept an eye out for any sign of the Jackals she’d seen earlier. Aina checked the location of each of her weapons—the two scythes strapped to her thighs, the brace of diamond-edged daggers across her chest, additional daggers in her sleeves, and a pouc
h of poison darts tied to her belt. Each one made her stronger, made her into a trained killer who’d proved herself in plenty of fights before.
Her confidence rose as they left the Stacks and crossed through the streets of the Center, heading west to the warehouse district. Under the quiet night, the creak of metal and the occasional gust of wind were the only sounds. Apart from two women who walked together across the road under streetlamps and a boy on a bike who sped past while humming to himself, they were the only pedestrians around. The buildings towered above them, the streets growing narrower and the stench of sewage building the farther they went. The steel mills, textile factories, and production plants all clustered together here, and though it usually emptied this late at night, something about the silence seemed eerier than usual.
This was familiar to her, stalking through the dark, noting every brush of the wind against her skin, every movement of shadow in the corners they passed. What was unfamiliar was walking with so many people—friends. Having them at her side now made her feel a little stronger, a little more protected, almost invincible. Almost like she could beat Kohl before he attacked.
“It smells out here,” Tannis remarked, wrinkling her nose as they drew closer to the place Raurie had indicated.
“It always smells,” Aina said with a shrug.
“Different now, though. Like something’s rotting.”
The scents of chemicals and smoke grew thicker in the air as they approached the factory. They gathered in a shadowed alley across the street, steam rising from a manhole in front of them, and took it in.
The textile mill was four stories, one of the biggest in the city, with Sumerand’s symbol engraved above the main entrance: a sword and a pickaxe over a slab of rock. Tannis and Lill took places at either side of the building to watch for more Jackals, while Aina, Ryuu, Teo, and Raurie approached a side door. A stronger sewage scent reached them here while Teo picked the lock, and Aina buried her nose in her scarf.
Shadow City Page 2
