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She arched a brow. “That almost sounds like optimism.”

“Let’s not go crazy.” His voice dropped a fraction, fingers grazing the curve of her breast as he tucked the curl back into place. “Besides, I figure it’s only fair I buy you dinner before anything more... elaborate.”

His slow smile evoked images of tangled sheets and whispered promises in the dark.

“Are you two planning to get a room, or are we leaving sometime tonight?” Kato grumbled.

And just like that, the moment shattered.

“Last chance to forget this and go upstairs,” Skye whispered.

“You’re not getting out of this,” she replied just as softly.

As much as she wanted to find out if the third time really was the charm, freedom beckoned.

The look he gave her said she couldn’t blame a man for trying.

“About damn time,” Kato griped and followed Aiden out the front door. “Why do women always take so long?”

Every shop was open as they walked down the familiar streets, the sky already deep with stars. The sidewalks pulsed with motion—families drifting home, couples lingering by food carts, laughter rising from clusters of strangers. Musicians played on street corners, and entertainers delighted children with flurries of butterflies pulled from the tips of water wands.

Taly wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. People sleeping in the streets, maybe. Just a general feeling of sadness and malaise. Beyond the walls, war raged, but inside them, life went on. She might not have known there was any fighting at all if not for the posters on every lamppost urging citizens to do their part or the signs above grocery stores announcing ration limits.

And at some point, though she couldn’t say when, she stopped looking over her shoulder. She stopped waiting for someone to see through the glamour and the calamity that would surely ensue. In a group of Highborn—Skye on one side, Aimee on the other, with Kato and Aiden walking ahead—she was the least interesting one here.

She was invisible. As a human, she’d hated it. Now people’s eyes slid right off her, and she breathed easier.

Eventually, they found themselves standing in a huddle inside the entrance of Taly’s favorite bar—a cramped little dive tucked away in a narrow alley. The walls were papered with old flyers, the firelamps flickered, and the shadowed doorway in the back led to a truly disgusting set of washrooms. But the food was always delicious, warm, and served in enormous portions, and, most importantly, they allowed Shardless.

A Lowborn with tattoos up his neck, a long scar on his face, and a shock of white hair held out a hand as they entered. “You four can go on in,” he grunted. “Taly, I need you to stay here.”

“What the hell, Rox?” Taly exclaimed, teeth chattering. Kato was still holding the door open, and the wind tunneling down the alley was biting. “Since when do you turn away Shardless?”

Rox squinted at her with his good eye. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come in. New policy. With all the sick humans, boss wants you lot checked for signs of infection.”

Reaching into his tattered coat, Rox produced a thin, rectangular pane of glass with a row of earth crystals set into the side. A vitalis. It could scan body temperature, heart rate, and other vital signs the glamour couldn’t disguise—all of which would show Taly as being distinctlynothuman.

Taly sent a panicked look to Aiden. “What is he talking about?”

“Infection rates among mortals have been up,” Aiden explained. “It’s nothing unusual considering the current world state, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t nervous.”

Rox shook the vitalis, fiddling with the buttons. “I can never get this damn thing to work,” he muttered as Skye slid a protective arm around Taly. Kato was already backing out the door, ready with an excuse.

“I, uh, think I told Eula the wrong place. We should probably—”

Aiden stepped forward, taking the vitalis from Rox. “Here, let me,” he said. “I’m a healer. These things are finicky even when they’re working.”

Aiden turned, giving Taly a wink as he held the device to her forehead. The crystals flashed, and he looked at the screen, pressing a few buttons to edit the entry. He was done in seconds. “All good,” he said, returning the vitalis to Rox.

Rox squinted at the screen. “Can you… can you show me how you did that?” Aiden nodded, happy to stay behind and sell the deception as they filed past.

A ratty red curtain hung across the entrance to the main room. Behind it, Skye led them through the cramped maze of people and tables to a small patio where they found an empty table overlooking the street. Music thrummed, a raucous, upbeat tune that had the people outside dancing as they went by.

Aimee eyed the table, grimacing. It was clean, if a bit battered, but just for good measure, she sent a wave of water whisking across the surface. As well as the benches. And the floor. And the ceiling, working away the dried-out wads of gum stuck there by air mages over the years.

Kato snorted, hanging his overcoat on a nearby hook.

“What?” Aimee snapped at him. She’d taken Taly’s advice and changed into wide-legged slacks, which of course had the effect of making her even more stunning.