Dominic and I find Ashina outside, in the back yard overlooked by the woods, firing an arrow at a target. She is clad in black leather pants and a sleeveless leather top that shows her midriff; her dark hair is styled in a high ponytail, and a quiver of arrows is slung across her back.
Ashina doesn’t turn around when she hears us approaching, the gravel crunching beneath our shoes. Instead, she asks, “Dominic, is that you?” She shoots another arrow, hitting the bullseye.
“Yes,” Dominic replies, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. I stand beside him.
Again, without turning around, she asks, “And who is that with you?”
Dominic gives me a brief look before facing Ashina’s back again. “Rue Baker,” he responds.
Ashina was about to fire another arrow, but she stops, lowers the
