The next night,

Author

The safehouse was burning.

Not the main one. The secondary. The one in the warehouse district where they stored munitions and false papers. Aria had been inside thirty seconds ago, pulling files from the safe, when the first explosion rocked the foundation.

She’d moved on instinct. Rolled under the collapsing beam. Came up with her blade in her hand and smoke in her lungs. The front exit was blocked. The back exit was an inferno. She found a window, kicked out the frame, and dropped two stories to the alley below.

She landed. She rolled. She came up running.

The alley was narrow. Brick walls on...