the

er in the mirror. "Miss,

he car.

out into the rain, and stood on the pavement with her bag clutched against her chest and the ph

ngy

per, not in a dream she was willing to admit. Her own name, typed b

. Someone knew

awnings, the cars parked bumper to bumper beneath the streetlamps. Her apartment building stood at the end o

every light of

glass, tall and unhu

art hammered so hard that it hurt. Five minutes. Ten. The rain thickened into a drumm

turned his head to scan the street, and t

opped b

d Q

n't

and closed around her elbow, firm and warm through

voice said. "Don't ru

with water. Shen Yuhan stood in the dark mouth of the alley with one hand on

arm free. "You

. Wa

fire escape, to a long black car with its engine idling. He opened the passenger door. She st

e said. "You kn

the car,

ll me that. Three years. Three years I thought... I thought...

the cold mask of his face, something raw and weary. "There is a man across the street with a crow

m. Then, jaw clenched

rove without speaking for three long blocks, and Qingyue sat with her arms wrapped around

?" she ask

e road. "You hid your left hand in your sleeve when Jiahao spoke. You

d me at fami

ed gears. "Three years ago, I thought you were at the bottom of a river. Then Hartwell & Zhao sent me a résu

y you insis

t is

.." Her voice broke. She turned her face to the window and pressed her knuckles to her tee

e, his voice was lower t

me in that room, you wo

s roughly. "Who wa

saw

d Qin works for Aunt Mei. She told me she would have the login traced, and

a cro

on't kn

rrying a duffel bag." Yuhan's voice remained perfectly calm. "I am not asking y

opened her mouth and closed it. The login.

" she said, but the words came

st time. "Then it will cost her nothing f

old and rain. Qingyue stared at her hands, at the pale scar on h

d finally, very quietly. "In the share

ut the air inside it cha

the one who b

s. She only said, "A warning

a safer channel." He was silent for a moment. "Someone else is watching yo

e who wants

r t

nd her hand flew to her collar.

re is

ot look at him. Sh

offense, but approval. "Good. Keep it that way

m properly, this cold, beautiful, infuriating man who had saved her life twice a

red. "Your family was ruined by mine.

not answer. When he spoke, his eyes were on the

ur grandfather, and not one person in that crowd moved." A muscl

's breat

a pair of headlights fla

t had not been there a moment ago. Yuhan's eyes flicked to the

belt,"

n," Qingyu

ed into a narrow lane between warehouses, and killed his headlights, and the car became a shadow among shadows.

ngers dug into the seat. The SUV

it mov

eath, and for the first

ng it off the fading taillights.

ed at him

ssib

out of the lane, and Qingyue sat very still with her cold hands in her lap, thinking of a woman w

self, for the fifth time t

ad stopped s

uiet road near the river. The rain had thinned to a f

ill sleep at a hotel tonight, under my name,

t want y

s seat to face her, and the ghost of a streetlight carve

Wh

held hers. "Your grandfather's study has been sealed for three years. No one has

urch. The crane. The scroll above the ch

softly, "at midnight, I am going i

eyed, her breath fogging

our grandfather left behind, you are