They did not go home right away.

  That was the first sign something was off.

  “You’re being weird,” she said finally as they crossed a pedestrian bridge.

  Kai did not look at her. “You’re the one who talked to your ex at a hospital fundraiser. I think I am allowed one strange evening.”

  “That is not what I meant.”

  “I know,” he said. “We have company.”

  Lian slowed her pace without stopping. “How close.”

  “Close enough to smell your shampoo,” Kai replied. “Same woman from earlier. She stayed outside the hospital for twelve minutes after we left. Then she followed.”

  “Sloppy,” Lian said.

  “No,” Kai corrected. “She’s confident.”

  They descended the stairs into a night market alley. Lian reached the narrow lane where the stalls thinned out and people stopped paying attention to who passed them.

  “Do you want me to lose her or talk to her,” Kai asked.

  Lian thought for a moment. “Neither. Let her come closer.”

  “That sounds like a trap.”

  “Only if we spring it.”

  They walked another block. Lian stopped at a drinks stall and ordered two bottled teas. She paid in cash and turned, handing one to Kai.

  That was when the woman spoke.

  “You know I am following you,” she said calmly.

  Lian did not flinch. She twisted the cap off her bottle. “Then you should know better.”

  The woman stepped into the light. She was younger than Lian had expected. Mid twenties maybe. Short hair pulled back. No visible weapon but that meant nothing.

  “I am not here to fight,” the woman said.

  Kai smiled faintly. “That makes one of us.”

  The woman looked at him. “You are the brother.”

  “I get that a lot.”

  Lian studied her face. “You watched us at the hospital. That means you wanted to be seen.”

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  “Yes.”

  “Why.”

  The woman shrugged. “Because I was told to look for you. And because I was curious.”

  Kai took a sip of his tea. “By who.”

  She smiled without warmth. “People who like knowing where things are.”

  Lian felt a familiar tension settle in her shoulders. “You should leave.”

  “Maybe,” the woman said. “But then I would not get answers.”

  “Ask,” Lian replied.

  The woman hesitated. “Why do you still do this.”

  Kai blinked. “That was your big question.”

  “I know who you have killed,” the woman said. “I know who you have spared. You are inconsistent.”

  “We prefer to be selective,” Kai said.

  The woman looked back at Lian. “You could disappear. You have the skills. You choose not to.”

  Lian capped her bottle and held it loosely. “So could you.”

  The woman laughed quietly. “Fair.”

  For a moment the three of them stood there with the noise of the market folding around them. Then the woman took a step back.

  “I was told to watch and not interfere,” she said. “Tonight I am satisfied.”

  Kai raised an eyebrow. “That is it.”

  “For now,” she replied.

  Lian met her gaze. “If you follow us again you will not get a conversation.”

  “I believe you,” the woman said. She turned and walked back into the crowd without looking over her shoulder.

  Kai waited until she was gone before exhaling. “I miss when people just tried to kill us.”

  They continued walking. The city settled back into its rhythm.

  After a few blocks Kai spoke again. “You were quiet with him.”

  “I was listening.”

  “That worries me more.”

  Lian stopped near the harbor.

  “He has changed,” she said.

  “Everyone does,” Kai replied. “Except us. Apparently.”

  She looked at him. “You think I should not have gone.”

  “I think you wanted to see if he was real or just a memory,” Kai said. “And now you know.”

  “Do I.”

  Kai leaned on the railing. “He looks clean. He sounds sincere. That does not mean he understands your life.”

  “That does not mean he needs to.”

  Kai tilted his head. “You sound defensive.”

  She frowned. “You sound judgmental.”

  They stood in silence for a moment. Then Kai smiled slightly. “We are terrible at normal conversations.”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  They returned home just before midnight. Kai locked the door and dropped his bag on the floor.

  “I pulled hospital network logs while you were ordering tea,” he said casually. “Nothing illegal. Just public traffic.”

  Lian sat at the table. “And.”

  “There were encrypted pings routed through the research wing earlier this week,” Kai said. “Not tonight. Before.”

  She stiffened. “Can you trace them.”

  “Not yet,” he replied.

  She nodded once. “Keep watching.”

  He hesitated. “Lian.”

  “What.”

  “You are allowed to feel things,” he said. “Just not alone.”

  She looked at him then. Really looked. “I know.”

  He grinned. “Good. Because I would hate to have to stalk you too.”

  She almost laughed.