Pila peered over the edge of the roof, scanning for movement. Making the climb up here hadn’t been easy, not with that heavy sack on his back. Still, he couldn’t complain. That burden was the mark of a successful evening of thievery.

The roof was empty. Nothing but shadows cast by the moonlight. Pila clambered up onto the flat stone surface and sat down. He emptied the sack in front of him, enjoying how its contents gleamed in the light. He tried to do the math in his head, but quickly lost count. Still, this haul would mean some good food and drink in the days to come.

That was about when he stopped breathing.

His hands flew up to this throat, but there was nothing to grab. Something was choking him but he couldn’t touch it even as he was jerked backward. Pila sprawled on the roof, his face starting to turn purple as he strained desperately for breath.

Through the blood rushing in his ears, Pila heard metal boots ringing softly on the stone. Through fading vision, he saw a figure in black armor looking down at him. On his left arm, the figure carried a shield; in his right hand, he carried a whip made of smoke.

Pila knew who it was. He’d heard stories. The rumors alone had been enough to convince some of his friends to clear out of the city and look for easier pickings. But not Pila. He was too smart. He didn’t believe in ghosts. Now, here he was, about to become one.

Tasin reached down and lifted Pila off the roof. Then he dangled the struggling thief over the edge.

Pila felt the pressure on his windpipe ease just a little. Maybe he would get lucky and just be dashed to the ground instead of choked to death. “What do you want? Pull me back!”

Tasin gestured with his shield at the pile of loot.

“Go ahead! Take all of it! Just don’t kill me!”

The armored figure reached out and took the sack of coin off Pila’s belt. Then he held it in front of the thief’s eyes and pointed again at the stolen goods.

“Who’s … who’s paying? Is that what you want to know? Who’s paying me for the stuff?”

Tasin nodded.

“Carnab in the alley off Nedle Square. He only gives me maybe a quarter of what it’s worth, but he pays fast and he keeps his mouth shut. I don’t know if he resells it or melts it down or what. It won’t do any good to go after him, someone else will just take his place. Same with me,” Pila finished weakly.

Tasin took a step back. He was still holding Pila up in the air, but the thief was over solid roof now, not empty space. Better yet, that smoke whip had slid away from around his throat.

“I was always on your side,” Pila said. He realized he was started to babble, but couldn’t stop himself. “I knew kicking you out of town wouldn’t stop you. I knew you’d be back. And, hey, if you need to sell that stuff to get by, I understand. It’s a tough world for all of us. I won’t tell anybody. It’ll be our secret.”

Tasin regarded Pila with dead eyes for a moment or two. Then he casually tossed the thief off the roof.

Pila squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.

And screamed.

He was still screaming when something halted his fall and lifted him gently back onto the roof. Cautiously, he opened his eyes and saw Kogar and Shona and Tasin, the latter now bound up with vines that had burst out of the roof. Kogar flicked a wrist and dropped Pila on top of his loot.

“Is this what you’ve come to?” Kogar said, turning to Tasin. “Killing sneak thieves? Trying to make everyone think they were right about us all the time?”

“Tasin always did understand the need to weed the garden,” Shona breathed.

“That’s not who we are,” Kogar said quietly. “At least, it’s not who we used to be.”

“Tasin hasn’t changed. There simply stopped being anyone around to tell him no. The rest of us walked away. At least he’s still … paying attention. Can you punish him for that?”

The vines abruptly dropped away from Tasin, who immediately started edging toward the shadows.

“I cannot,” Shona finished.

Kogar surged forward. “Stop, don’t let him get into the –”

Too late. Tasin had vanished into a shadow. He could emerge out of any other one, anywhere in the city. They might never find him again. Kogar cursed.

“Hey, watch your language. There are ladies present. Sort of.”

Namil stood in front of them, one fist clamped onto Tasin’s arm. He had reached in and hauled his former teammate out of the shadows. “Bet you forgot I could do that, didn’t you?” he said to his captive.

“I thought you weren’t interested in helping,” said Kogar.

“Me too,” Namil answered. “But I heard. You know, about the little girl. So I went out there and … it’s bad, and getting worse. So I had to admit you’re right, Kogar, it’s our mess. We have to clean it up, even if no one wants us to. Only question is, where do we start?”

Kogar looked around at people who had been his teammates, his friends, for so long. They were all strangers now. And deep down he couldn’t help but wonder if a team of strangers could do what had to be done.

“Only one choice,” he answered. “We start where we ended.”