Delphi drifted through the moon-washed alleyways of the Imperial Capital like a ghost unsure of where to haunt. Two weeks she'd been here. Wandering between marble towers and past pleasure houses that smelled of women and old secrets, pretending she had a destination. Pretending she wasn't avoiding the one place she feared returning to.

Home.

The word alone tightened her chest. She pulled her cloak closer, letting the hood shadow her silver-white hair. The Imperial Capital was a city of light, lanterns strung between rooftops like captured stars, moonlight pooling on polished stone, but she preferred its shadows. Shadows didn't ask questions. Didn't recognize faces.

A burst of laughter, slurred and ugly, cut through the quiet. Delphi slowed.

Three men staggered near the mouth of another alley, circling a young woman dressed in the unmistakable gem-layered attire of high society. Emeralds glittered at her throat. Her pale green eyes were wide, darting like a trapped bird; her chocolate-brown hair pinned neatly despite her trembling. One man reached for her sleeve. She flinched.

The girl saw Delphi and made a beeline for her, heels clicking sharply against the cobblestones. The men, of course, drunkenly followed.

Delphi exhaled through her nose. Of course. Trouble always found her, even when she wasn't looking for it. Especially then.

The girl reached Delphi and hid behind her, fingers clutching the back of Delphi's cloak like a child gripping her mother's skirt. Her breath came in shallow, frightened bursts. Delphi had no choice in the matter now. She lowered her hood just enough to see clearly, keeping her hair tucked inside.

"Evening," she said calmly. "Why don't you leave the lady alone?"

The nearest man squinted at her. His face was flushed, sweat beading at his temples. "Mind your own business."

Another grinned, breath thick with ale and something sour underneath. "Unless you wanna play too?"

Delphi didn't sigh, though she wanted to. Instead, she snapped at the girl to let go, and then she moved.

Her sidekick slammed into the first man's ribs, and the impact sang up her leg, familiar, almost comforting. He crashed into the wall with a wheeze; sliding down the bricks like a sack of wet grain.

The second swung wildly, fist cutting air where her head had been a heartbeat before. She stepped aside, pivoted on her back foot, and drove her heel into his knee. The crack echoed off the alley walls. He screamed as he fell, and she finished the motion with an axe kick that dropped him flat. His head bounced once against the cobblestones. He didn't get up.

The third tried to be clever, creeping up behind her while she was occupied. She felt the shift in the air, the displacement of shadow, the scrape of a boot, and spun. Her heel slapped across his jaw with a sound like a branch snapping. He hit the ground before he even realized he'd been struck.

Silence settled over the alley. Somewhere distant, a boat's bell chimed twice.

Delphi turned to the girl, rolling the tension out of her shoulders. Her muscles weren't even sore. She almost wished they were.

"Are you hurt?"

She didn't get an answer.

A hand seized her from behind, rough, unyielding, and shoved her hard. Delphi hit the cobblestones, palms scraping against cold stone, her hood slipping free. Pain flared in her wrists. She bit back a curse.

She looked up into grass-green eyes, bright and sharp with fury. For a heartbeat, she thought they glowed, an eerie, unnatural shimmer, like light through stained-glass, before blinking back to normal. The man's messy black hair fell into his face as he stepped protectively in front of the girl, one arm stretched back to shield her.

"What were you doing to her?" he demanded.

Shit. Delphi pulled her hood forward again, hiding her features. Her heart thudded once, hard. "She was in trouble. I intervened."

"Liar." His voice was ice, conviction wrapped in contempt. "You're with them. Trying to earn her gratitude, maybe a reward."

Delphi stood slowly, brushing dust and grit from her cloak. Her palms stung. She ignored it. "Believe what you want. There's no point talking to someone who's already decided the truth."

She moved to walk past him, shoulders angled to slip by. He grabbed her hood and yanked it back.

Silver-white hair spilled out like moonlight given form. It caught the glow from the nearest lantern, shimmering against the dark fabric of her cloak. Delphi's stomach dropped.

Before she could react, before she could run, another voice called from the street behind them.

"Did you find Emmy—?"

The voice died mid-sentence.

A lean, well-muscled man had strode into view. Long, silver-white hair, the same shade as hers, tied neatly back. Gold eyes scanned the scene with practiced efficiency: the unconscious men, the trembling girl, the black-haired man who protected her.

His gaze landed on Delphi.

He froze.

For a long moment, neither of them moved. The city seemed to hold its breath. A boat passed somewhere beyond the alley, oars cutting softly through water, and even that sound felt impossibly far away.

Emotion cracked across his face: shock first, raw and unguarded, then something deeper. His lips parted. His gold eyes, always so steady, so controlled, filled with tears.

"Delphi…?"

Her name in his voice. After all this time.

The world tilted. The city noise faded to a dull hum. Even the moonlight suddenly felt too bright, too exposing, like a stage light pinning her in place. She wanted to run. She wanted to fall into his arms and pretend the last ten years had never happened.

She did neither.

She just stood there, frozen, her silver-white hair catching the light like a betrayal. Proof that no matter how far she wandered, she could never truly disappear.