The door creaked open.

  Magnolia's heart stuttered before she recognized Yi's familiar shape in the doorway. He was dusty again, soot smeared across one cheek, but his eyes were bright as they found her, and then found the book in her hands.

  "Oh?" The corner of his mouth quirked upward. "Interested in Miracles, are we?"

  Magnolia closed the book. Too quickly, she realized immediately. "I was just... curious."

  "Curious. About Peacekeeper training manuals."

  Heat crept up her neck. "Why do you even have this?"

  Yi crossed to the kitchen and filled a cup with water. He drank deeply before answering, then leaned back against the sink.

  "I wanted to join them, once."

  Magnolia blinked. "The Peacekeepers?"

  "Mm." A wry smile crossed his face. "Studied hard. Trained every day. Passed the physicals, even. Scored rather well, actually." The smile turned self-deprecating. "But I dropped out."

  "Why?"

  Yi held out his hand, palm upward.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then Magnolia saw it: thin threads of light crackling between his fingers. Electricity, pale blue and dancing, leaping from fingertip to fingertip like tiny lightning bolts caught in miniature.

  It was beautiful.

  It was also, she realized after a moment, terribly weak.

  The sparks were barely visible, accompanied by a faint crackling sound like static from a wool blanket, and when Yi closed his fist, they vanished entirely.

  "That's my Miracle," he said. "About as strong as rubbing your feet on carpet. There's a low ceiling in the Peacekeepers for those whose sorcery is weak. The Miracle you're bestowed is fixed from birth. And mine..." He wiggled his fingers. "Isn't much."

  "It's still impressive," she finally offered. "That you passed the physicals."

  Yi laughed, though it came out hollow. "Tell that to the instructors who suggested I pursue a 'more suitable career path.'" He moved to sit across from her. "Besides, being a Peacekeeper is dangerous work. Even with the Black Wisteria's leader dead, there are still plenty of criminals running around."

  He said the title with a slight twist of his mouth.

  "Did you hear? The heir of House Jhael was murdered several days ago."

  Magnolia's blood went cold.

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  She kept her face still. Or tried to. But something must have flickered across her features, because Yi's eyes darted to her for just an instant before moving on.

  "Loric Jhael. Spoiled brat, from what I've heard, but still. A noble's son." Yi shook his head. "I can't imagine who would be brave enough to attack a noble these days. Or foolish enough. The Houses are furious. They've got Peacekeepers turning the city inside out looking for the killer."

  Beneath the table, hidden from view, Magnolia's hands clenched so tightly her nails bit into her palms.

  That was me.

  I killed him.

  She didn't remember doing it. That was the worst part. Only fragments remained: the ropes cutting into her wrists, the pain, the fear. And then that voice in her head, laughing, and blood everywhere, so much blood...

  "Anyway." Yi's voice sliced through her spiraling thoughts. "That's another reason I dropped out. I didn't want to leave Skippy alone if something happened to me."

  As though summoned by his name, Skippy trotted over, tail swinging. Yi reached down to scratch behind his ears, and some of the heaviness in the room seemed to lift.

  Then Yi looked up at her, and there was a teasing glint in his eye.

  "Speaking of which... it's rather funny, isn't it?"

  "What is?"

  "You seem terrified of Peacekeepers." He nodded toward the book. "Yet here you are, reading their training manual."

  Magnolia's mouth went dry. "I'm not—"

  "You still haven't told me what you did." Yi was still smiling, but he was watching her now. "For all I know, you're a master thief. An assassin." He put a hand over his heart. "Maybe you killed the Jhael heir!"

  Magnolia forced out a laugh. It sounded thin and unconvincing even to her own ears.

  "You've caught me," she said flatly. "I'm secretly a murderer."

  Yi snorted. "With those noodle arms? Please."

  "My arms are not—"

  "They're noodles. Accept it." He leaned back in his chair, grinning. "Anyway. Have you noticed the streets getting livelier lately?"

  Magnolia seized the new topic gratefully. "A bit. When I was walking Skippy earlier, I saw people hanging lights."

  "Mm. Ashfall Eve is coming."

  "Ashfall Eve?"

  Yi raised an eyebrow. "The annual celebration? Commemorating the defeat of the Black Wisteria's leader?" He studied her face. "Strange that someone living in this city wouldn't know."

  Damn.

  "Of course I know," Magnolia said, too quickly. "I was testing you."

  "Testing me."

  "Yes."

  "By pretending you didn't know about the biggest holiday of the year."

  "Exactly."

  Yi regarded her for a long, silent moment.

  Then he laughed. A real laugh this time, warm and unguarded, and the tension in the room dissolved.

  "You're a dreadful liar," he said. "But I'll let it slide." He stood, stretching. "On Ashfall Eve, there's an enormous fireworks display over the city. They launch them right at sunset, so the whole sky catches fire with color." He glanced down at her, and something in his expression softened. "We should go see it. Together."

  Magnolia's chest did something peculiar. A flutter, quick and light.

  "Together?"

  "Unless you'd rather stay home?" Yi shrugged, but he was watching her face. "I think you'd enjoy it, though. It's the one time of year when this part of the city actually feels... hopeful. Like things might turn out alright after all."

  Magnolia looked down at the book in her hands. At the table where Yi had fed her. At the house that had sheltered her when she had nowhere else to go.

  "Alright," she said quietly. "Let's go together."

  Yi smiled. It was, she thought, a very nice smile.

  "It's a date, then."