I wasn't sure why I expected her to be anywhere else.
If Ravyn had a second home, it was that dingy little tavern with the crooked sign and a floor sticky enough to trap a lesser man's soul. I slipped through the side alleys, head low, hood up. Couldn't afford to draw attention. Not after the mess with the guards. Not after Kess. Hell, especially not after I woke up to a dagger nearly in my face and thighs wrapped around my skull.
I chuckled to myself. Psycho or not, that woman was something else.
The tavern loomed ahead like a warning—quiet, except for the sounds of groaning and broken furniture. Something was off. The door creaked open under my hand, and the moment I stepped inside, I knew I was right.
Bodies. Everywhere.
Some were crawling. Others weren't moving at all. Chairs shattered, tables flipped, tankards spilled across the floor like someone had thrown a festival and then murdered the guest list.
And right in the center of it all?
Ravyn.
She had a guy pinned under her knee, her dagger pressed up to his cheek like she was about to carve a memory into his skull.
I blinked. "Ravyn?"
She didn't even flinch. Just turned to me like I'd walked in on her arranging flowers.
"Oh. Hey."
"Hey?" I stepped over a guy clutching his stomach. "What the hell happened here?"
"I'm looking for the bastard who sold me out," she said, tightening her grip on the man beneath her. "He's not talking."
"Maybe because he's choking," I muttered.
She grinned. "That's the idea."
He let out a gargled protest, and she rolled her eyes, finally standing up and wiping her blade on his shirt like it was just another Tuesday. Then she looked at me.
"You found me."
"Took a guess."
"And?"
I exhaled, rubbing the back of my neck. "We need to get out of this town."
She frowned. "What? No. I still haven't figured out who snitched."
"Ravyn," I said, voice low, "we beat up half a royal patrol, I may have accidentally murdered a guard or three, and now we're both wanted. You want to sit here and play detective while posters of us go up on every wall?"
She opened her mouth, probably to argue, but closed it again. She wasn't stupid. Stubborn, yes. Suicidal, sometimes. But she knew I was right.
"Alright," she muttered. "But we're gonna need coin. A lot of it."
I looked down at myself. No shirt. No coin pouch. Probably smelled like blood and broken promises.
"Do we look like we have coin?"
Her grin widened. "That's why we're gonna score one."
I narrowed my eyes. "Score?"
She turned on her heel and waved me toward the back door. "Come on, lover boy."
"Wait—what's the score?"
But she was already striding out, red cloak trailing behind her like a dare.
---
I followed her through the winding alleys like a moth chasing a flame that would definitely kill it. She moved fast, always a few steps ahead, glancing back just enough to make sure I hadn't turned around. I should have. I should've asked more questions. I should've known better.
Instead, I kept going.
We reached a wall. Not just any wall.
A massive, sandstone structure easily twenty feet high, topped with iron spikes and torch-lit guards patrolling like clockwork.
Palace walls.
I stopped walking. "No."
She didn't even turn. Just placed a hand on the stone and looked up, nodding to herself like she was studying a painting.
"Ravyn. No."
She finally looked at me. "What?"
"You said a score, not suicide."
"This is the score."
"We're robbing the palace?"
She smirked. "Would you have come if I told you that?"
"Hell no!"
"Exactly."
She stepped forward, closing the distance between us, her voice lowering. "Look, Jin. We need a way out. That means fake names, a fast horse or two, probably a bribe or three. You think we can buy that with tavern scraps?"
I swallowed hard.
She had a point.
"And besides," she continued, voice like honey and poison, "this is the only score big enough to get us out of here for good."
I stared up at the wall again. Palace guards. Royal storage. Magical protections. Probably enchanted death traps. And here I was, about to go in with a rogue I barely trusted and a system I didn't understand.
"…You're insane."
She winked. "That's what makes me fun."
---