The air outside Cade's place was colder than it should've been. Lucanis welcomed it. The sharp bite of it burned through the leftover scent of blood, metal, and soap. He stalked down the narrow steps, Viago silent beside him.
Only once they were on the street did Lucanis speak.
"They saw four," he said flatly.
Viago nodded. "That's what Caterina said. Four Crows that night."
Lucanis's lip curled. "Then it's Vasha, Jacek, and Elihu. The fourth we can point towards a contact of his."
It fit too perfectly, too cleanly. Which was precisely what they needed.
"Elihu ran," Viago murmured. "He's the only one who could've gotten the artefacts out of the city."
Lucanis gave a sharp nod. "And the others were arrogant enough to stay. We'll say we had suspicions. We were investigating quietly. They caught on and attacked us, we defended ourselves, they didn't survive."
Viago gave him a sidelong glance. "You do realise this puts you in the middle of a story about dead Crows and stolen artefacts?"
Lucanis bared his teeth. "Which is exactly where it belongs. We don't let the story write itself. We hand them the version we want them to tell."
Viago chuckled softly. "That's dangerously close to optimistic."
Lucanis's dark eyes flicked toward him. "It's pragmatic. We're not letting her drown because someone else tried to burn the ship. He stopped at the edge of the alley, glancing back toward Cade's place one last time. "If Elihu turns up-"
"We kill him," Viago finished, casual as anything. "Before he can breathe a word. And the others, we talk to them, lay it out. They play along, or they're next."
Lucanis tilted his head, considering. "Tenna and Ridge might listen. Starling trusts them."
"Cade too. He's angry, not stupid. And the rest... depends how loyal they are to the truth."
Lucanis's smile didn't reach his eyes. "If any of them even think about going to Caterina-"
"They die," Viago finished for him again.
Lucanis didn't reply. He didn't need to. The plan was set. And Maker help whoever stood between them and her now.
--
The house was quiet now, save for the occasional clink of ceramic as Cade poured the tea.
Starling sat at the little table near the window, a thick cotton shirt hanging loosely from her shoulders, the back of it brushing raw against her stitched skin. The pain had dulled to a steady throb, manageable but not ignorable. Like everything else lately.
The warmth of the cup between her hands helped. A little. Cade set his own mug down, leaned back in his chair, and gave her a long look.
"Really, Star?" He asked, that familiar blend of dry amusement and exasperation in his voice. "Lucanis and Viago? You're part of their harem now?"
She didn't even flinch. Just sipped her tea, sighed, and said with wry resignation, "Yes, I'm one of those girls now."
Cade gave a scoff. "Well. Maybe not exactly like those girls. I doubt they'd go to these lengths for any of the others. Maybe you really are that good in bed."
She let out a low huff, half-laugh, half-exhale. "I'd take that as a compliment if the bar weren't 'willing to commit treason.'"
"High praise," he deadpanned, lifting his mug to her in mock toast.
For a moment, they just sat in silence, nursing warmth and weariness. Outside, the city moved on like it always did, unconcerned with their little catastrophe unraveling in the alleys and rooftops.
"How do you think they'll fix it?" She asked quietly.
Cade leaned his chair back on two legs, eyes narrowing a little. "I don't know," he admitted. "But Jacek and Vasha are dead."
Starling didn't flinch this time either.
"Hope you weren't fond of them," Cade added.
"I think my fondness for them died somewhere around the time they tried to kill me."
That got a snort from him. "Fair enough."
She took another sip, more for the comfort of the motion than the drink itself.
She wanted to believe Lucanis and Viago would fix it. That they would burn the path clean and make something survivable out of the wreckage. But there was still that small, sharp piece of her that whispered otherwise. That maybe this was the beginning of the end. Maybe she and Cade were already dead and just too tired to realise it.
She didn't let that thought linger long. Instead, she reached for her cup again and muttered, "If they do fix this, I'll owe them."
Cade shrugged. "They already seem to think they own you."
She shot him a look.
He lifted his hands in surrender, grinning. "Just saying."
Starling didn't answer right away, just tilted her cup and let the last lukewarm sip coat her tongue, sweet and bitter both. She stared into the tea leaves at the bottom of her mug like they might spell out an answer. Something solid, something safe.
Lucanis and Viago.
She kept thinking about them. About what they were willing to do. About how far they were already going - not for information, not for power, not even for Caterina. But for her. She hadn't expected that. She still didn't know what to do with it. Even now, part of her refused to relax, refused to trust it fully. That part was old. Sharp-edged. Built for survival. The part that had learned early not to get too close to anyone in the Crows. Not to expect softness. That nothing good lasted and nothing truly belonged to her.
She'd always kept a distance, even from them. Teasing and flirting and letting them close enough to touch her skin, but not her centre. Not the parts that bled when scraped.
She'd lasted longer than the others they played with - months now, not days or weeks. But she'd told herself that was because she was useful, interesting, maybe even a novelty. Not because they cared and definitely not because they felt something.
But Viago had taken the needle from Cade's hands like it offended him to see anyone else tending her wounds. Lucanis had crouched in front of her like a vow.
She rubbed at her arm absently, her thumb brushing a fading bruise. If they did care, if there was something real in this - what then? It could still end. It might end. They might clean this up, silence what needed to be silenced, and then look at her differently. Like a liability. Like weight. Like a mistake...
But if they didn't... If they meant it. If they would still want her after... Maybe it would be all right to want them back. Not just as shields or weapons, not just as heat in the dark. But as something else. As… hers. The thought felt dangerous, but it didn't go away.
She exhaled slowly, resting her mug on the table. Her fingers curled around its chipped edge, not ready to let go.
She wasn't in love. She wasn't that foolish. But maybe, maybe - if the world didn't fall apart in the next few days - she might let herself think about what came after. And whether they'd still be there. And whether she wanted them to be.
--
Blood still slicked the cobbles beneath them, black-red and thick in the moonlight. Vasha was a heap of limbs and blood and tangled hair. Jacek hadn't fallen far - he'd tried to stop the bleeding, tried to play medic with a bleeding wound himself. Starling had clearly gotten in a few solid strikes. Good for her. Viago couldn't help the small, grim pride that flickered in his chest.
"She's not fragile," he muttered under his breath as he crouched beside the bodies, already rifling through Jacek's cloak.
Lucanis didn't answer, just knelt beside Vasha, checking her pockets with the practiced ease of someone who'd done this too many times. They didn't speak. It was a clean-up, plain and simple. Quick, quiet, clinical. Make sure there was nothing on these two to tie to Starling.
Viago's fingers brushed something solid. He froze. Then slowly, deliberately, he pulled it out of the boy's pocket. A ring. Heavy and ornate. The engraved insignia unmistakable even under the grime and dried blood.
"Maker's breath," Viago said, lifting it to catch the light. "Look what the idiot boy was carrying around on him."
Lucanis turned his head, and his mouth curled in something halfway between a grimace and a grin.
"Linus's signet ring," Viago confirmed.
Lucanis huffed. "That works out nicely."
It did. Very nicely. Physical proof Jacek had been at the scene. More than that - evidence that he'd kept a trophy. A fatal mistake. They wouldn't even need to plant it now. The fool had tied the noose himself.
Viago slipped it into his own pocket, giving Jacek's cooling body one last look. "All this planning, all this secrecy… and it could have been undone by a magpie with a need to collect souvenirs."
Lucanis stood, brushing blood from his gloves. "We need to check their cots. If they were this stupid here, no telling what they left behind at the Hall."
Viago nodded. "Then we talk to the others. Quietly. Figure out if there are more bodies to drop or if we can scare the rest into keeping their mouths shut."
They walked away from the scene without a backward glance. Viago couldn't deny the satisfaction of it, the shape of a solution finally forming. It was ugly. It was brutal. But it was working.
And if it kept Starling alive, he'd kill ten more.