Raven Cross had watched her for nine days, and on the tenth he lost her. He stood behind the sakura tree in the plaza, two panthers at his feet, and craned his neck for a glimpse of her blue coat. A vendor's cart rolled past. A crowd swallowed the path. When the crowd thinned, she was gone, and so was the stranger who always walked three steps behind her. The stranger worried him most. Tall man, pale scarf, a smile Raven didn't trust. For three days the man had circled her like a dog around a gate. Raven meant to drive him off. But he couldn't guard her from the open plaza. Every tree had eyes. Every bench put him in plain view, and if she saw him, she'd run. His cats pressed against his legs. The black panther huffed. The white one stared up at the buildings ringing the square. Raven followed its gaze and found an answer. Above a shuttered shop stood a narrow structure, barely wider than a door. A slatted vent sat high on its face. From inside, a man could see the whole street and no one could see in. Raven climbed the back stairs with the panthers at his heels. The door stuck, then gave. The room was small and dark and smelled of dust. He pressed his eye to the vent slats. The plaza opened below him like a map. The sakura tree. The fountain. Every path she might take. He settled in to wait. He fed the cats dried meat from his coat. Hours passed. Then the blue coat appeared beneath the tree, and his chest went tight. She bought bread. She fed a crumb to a pigeon. She never once looked up. For the first time in days, Raven breathed easy. He had her. No crowd could steal her now. No tree could block his view. He could watch, and plan, and choose his moment. Then the pale scarf slid into the frame. The stranger stepped close behind her. He said something. She laughed. She laughed, and touched his sleeve, and the two of them walked off together toward the far edge of the plaza, past the fountain, into a street Raven couldn't see. Raven's hands curled against the wood. From up here he saw everything. And now he had seen the one thing he feared most. She wasn't running from the stranger. She liked him. The white panther growled low. Raven didn't move. Watching wasn't enough anymore. If he wanted her, he had to come down from this room and face the man who made her smile. He pushed the door open and started down the stairs, cats flowing dark and bright beside him.