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Onyx likes him. Worse, I think Ryven likes Onyx too.

Ash can’t fix it. He said so himself. He offered everything he owned, and his dad just poured another cup of tea.

I don’t know House law. I don’t know Tempest politics. I don’t know what Veyra wants.

But if every contract has a weakness, I’ll find it.

The cab is already on the pad at the north end, lights on and the door open, as Ash’s cars always are. I get in, wondering whether tonight has started yet, and the city goes by underneath.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this part. Towers glowing in colors Calder reserves for signs, streams of traffic moving between them, stars burning above it all, with the faint shapes of other worlds hanging farther out.

We’ve barely left when my slate buzzes.

ASH: Change of plan.

I look at it, and before I can answer, another message appears.

ASH: Don’t go home. The driver already knows where to take you.

The promise from last night comes straight back, heat climbing into my face as I smile at the screen.

JADE: Is this the surprise?

ASH: You said you wanted one, didn’t you?

My whole body lights up. Fighting a smile, I type back.

JADE: Where are we meeting?

ASH: That would spoil it, wouldn’t it?

My grin widens as I shift deeper into the seat.

JADE: Any other advice?

ASH: Run properly. I’d hate to be disappointed.

I laugh out loud in the empty car, then glance at the mirror, but all I catch is the side of the driver’s face before he shifts out of view.

The partition’s up now too. It wasn’t this morning.

Still, I can’t help smiling. Of course he’s been told not to talk to me. After all, the game has already started, hasn’t it?

The city slips away beneath us, lights giving way to open dark. Above, the stars come out one by one.

I read his messages again. Then one last time.

When the car settles onto the pad, I’m smiling before the door even opens.

I know this building. I once stood on that pad in the dark with five hundred people around me, waiting for the Hunt to begin. The memory hits hard enough that my hands go cold.

The lights come on as we drop, a few along the front and something low inside, enough to pull the glass out of the darkness.

Beyond it lies the forest, black pines climbing the slope toward the ridge, lit softly from underneath by the pads. Four hundred acres sealed behind glass and walls, so vast and convincing that from here it could almost be real.

That’s the terrifying part. Someone had enough money to build all of this. The forest, the weather, the storms, every beautiful fucking inch of it, just so people could be hunted inside.

Light. I can’t believe this is where you brought me.