The receptionist led us through the door into a spacious office dominated by a wooden desk. Behind it sat a pale man with slick black hair and calculating jade-green eyes. Two guards flanked him, standing at rigid attention. A slight woman sat at a smaller desk to one side.

  "Master Yin," the receptionist announced, "Shen Taros and Shen Sarei." He bowed slightly and exited, pulling the door closed behind him.

  Yin Chi rose with fluid grace, gesturing to two chairs across from his desk. "Please, be seated." His voice was surprisingly melodious, almost pleasant. "Would you care for some green tea?"

  "Yes, thank you," I replied before Sarei could refuse. She gripped my arm tightly as we sat.

  Yin Chi nodded to the secretary who poured steaming tea into delicate cups. "I must apologize." he said. "As your visit was unexpected I will need a moment to reacquaint myself with your situation."

  He glanced at the secretary who stood and approached a metal door at the back of the room. The reinforced door was inscribed with sigils that I recognized around its frame. Well, that was interesting. There was no good reason for a mortal to have a protection formation like that around his vault. She unlocked the door with a large key hanging from her belt, and I felt the small pulse of ki from the formation as it recognized her. Disappearing inside, she emerged moments later with a thin folder.

  As Yin Chi donned a pair of wire-framed glasses and began reading, I took the opportunity to study our surroundings. The office spoke of calculated opulence. It was expensive enough to impress clients but not ostentatious enough to suggest he was overcharging.

  More interesting were the people. The secretary, despite her unassuming appearance, had the unmistakable look of good health that radiated from a cultivator at the Breakthrough stage. The guards were even more impressive. They were both Early Initiates if I had to guess. Protection formations and cultivator guards. That was excessive security for even the most paranoid mortal money lender.

  Beside me, Sarei's unease was palpable as the silence stretched out. Her fingers tapped nervously against her knee, but I remained still, recognizing this for the power play that it was.

  I really didn't care. I had faced down legions of Transcendent Realm cultivators. This mortal's petty intimidation tactics meant nothing.

  Finally, Yin Chi removed his glasses and leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. His eyes, cold and assessing, fixed on us.

  "Now then," he said with a thin smile that never reached those jade eyes. "I thank you for your patience. What can I do for you?"

  "It's a small matter," I said, keeping my voice light. "I would like you to write off the debt my family owes."

  Yin Chi's eyebrows rose slightly, and his lips curved into an amused smile. He tapped the folder with a long, manicured finger.

  "Ah, you must be the younger brother who, I've heard, enjoys a drink or two." His jade eyes glinted. "Have you been drinking already today?"

  Beside me, Sarei's face flushed crimson. I could feel the heat of her embarrassment radiating off her. I remained silent and kept my expression neutral.

  Yin Chi leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "You have my interest. Tell me, young man. Why do you think I should simply write off this debt?"

  "Because over the years, with the outrageous interest rate you've been charging, the Shen family has paid back my father's original debt many times over." I kept my tone reasonable despite the provocation in my words. "In fact, by all standards of decency, you shouldn't just cancel the debt but pay us back several years of interest."

  Yin Chi's mouth opened, but I held up my hand.

  "I'm not asking for that, though. What's done is done. I'll settle for the debt being written off, and then we can all walk away."

  The money lender's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment. His guards, sensing their master's displeasure, shifted slightly. Finally, he simply closed the file with a snap.

  "No." The single word fell like a stone. "I will not be canceling the debt. Your next payment is due in a week and a half, and I look forward to receiving it." He gestured toward the door. "If that's all, I wish you a good day."

  I didn't move. "Is that your final word on the matter?"

  For the first time, there was a crack in Yin Chi's polished veneer. A muscle twitched in his jaw, and his eyes narrowed.

  "You're trying my patience, boy. Get out." His voice had lost its melodious quality and turned sharp and cold.

  I remained seated, reaching slowly into my pocket. Sarei tensed beside me, her hand gripping my arm again. The guards stepped forward, hands moving to their weapons.

  I held up one hand to forestall any violence and with deliberate slowness I withdrew the money pouch with the other hand and tossed it onto the desk. It landed with a heavy clink as the coins shifted inside the leather.

  Yin Chi eyed the pouch but made no move to touch it. "And what's this supposed to be?" His voice was neutral.

  "One tear and seventy six fangs," I said simply. "Payment, in its entirety, for the Shen family debt. I've also added this month's interest in full on top of that, so there can be no room for doubt."

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  Confusion flickered across Yin Chi's face. I didn't need to look at Sarei to know her expression. Her rigid posture radiated shock.

  Yin Chi's eyes narrowed. He gestured to his secretary without taking his gaze off me. "Rei Lin."

  The woman approached cautiously, lifting the pouch with delicate fingers. She emptied its contents onto a corner of the desk, arranging the coins in neat stacks. She swiftly counted each pile, occasionally testing a coin by dropping it to check its ring.

  Throughout this process, I kept my eyes fixed on Yin Chi and he reciprocated. His face remained impassive, but the slight flaring of his nostrils and the almost imperceptible tightening around his eyes told me all I needed to know. He may think of himself as a master of this game, but seven centuries of political maneuvering meant I had forgotten more about posturing than he would ever know.

  Finally, the secretary finished her count and gave Yin Chi a small nod.

  "Well," Yin Chi cleared his throat and shuffled the papers on his desk. "It appears everything is in order. The debt is cleared. Our business is concluded." He gestured toward the door. "Good day to you both."

  I remained seated, unmoved by his dismissal. "I want a receipt."

  "Excuse me?"

  "We both know what you're required to do now. A receipt with your signature and the official ki-infused seal of The Golden Current, confirming the debt is paid in full." I leaned forward slightly. "And I want the original copy of the loan agreement with my father. So there can be no misunderstandings about any remaining obligations between us."

  Yin Chi looked like he might object, his jaw tightening. Then he shrugged and waved a hand at his secretary. "Draft a receipt, and get the loan agreement Rei Lin. This pup has teeth."

  The woman quickly produced an elegant document. Yin Chi signed it with a flourish and pressed his seal into a blob of red wax. He was about to hand it to me when he suddenly pulled it back, studying me with renewed interest.

  "You're a interesting young man, Shen Taros." His voice had regained its melodious quality, but now it carried a dangerous edge. "Tell me, how does a family consisting of a drunkard, a fish wife, and a deck hand suddenly produce this much gold and silver? Just last month, you could barely scrape together the interest payment."

  I rose to my feet, holding his gaze. "I believe all debts should be paid in full, Master Yin." I let my words hang in the air for a moment. "I've made it my job to ensure the Shen family gives everyone precisely what they're due."

  I plucked the receipt and the original loan agreement from his fingers before he could react and tucked them securely inside my tunic.

  For a moment Yin Chi stared at me, then a look of vicious amusement spread across his face and he started to laugh. He turned to his secretary. "Did you get that? 'the Shen family gives everyone precisely what they're due.' It was the emphasis on 'precisely' that really sold it. Actual shivers down my spine. Honestly, I would say that was in the top ten for empty words that have been spoken in this office. Not top five, but definitely top ten."

  His laughter cut off abruptly as he turned back to me. "Now, Shen Taros, take your receipt, and your little loan agreement, and get out of here. Some of us have work to do. 'Precisely what they're due,' indeed."

  I didn't reply as I turned toward the door. I could hear Sarei scrambling to follow as I walked out and I could feel Yin Chi's glare at my back as we walked out.

  * * *

  Sarei held her peace until we were several streets away from The Golden Current. Then she grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop in the shadow of a tea shop.

  "Where did you get all that money?" Her voice was low but intense, her eyes searching my face.

  Well if I was going to be sharing a version of the truth with Kaelen, I may as well share the same version with Sarei.

  "I didn't want to tell you as I know you would worry, but I have been fighting in the pits. It's not totally legal but the money is…"

  She cut me off. "Rubbish. Not that much money. Not from fight pits."

  "It was from fighting," I insisted, keeping my expression neutral. "I've been doing well at The Broken Mast."

  "Taros, that was..." She glanced around and lowered her voice further. "That was more silver than I've seen in my entire life. No amateur fighter makes that kind of coin."

  She was sharp, I would have to watch that.

  "I'm not just fighting. I'm working with the owner on a few other things."

  Sarei's face paled. "Illegal things, no doubt. That's dangerous. If you're caught…"

  "I won't be." I started walking again, forcing her to keep pace. "The people who run these operations are professionals."

  She walked beside me in silence for several moments, her brow furrowed. "And what was all that talk about consequences? If your plan was just to pay the debt, why threaten him? He just treated it as a joke."

  "You'll see in time," I said, looking up at a flock of seagulls wheeling overhead.

  "Taros, please. No more secrets." Her voice cracked slightly. "I've spent fifteen years trying to keep this family afloat. I deserve to know what you're planning."

  I sighed. She was right, of course. But some truths were too dangerous to share, even with family. Especially with family.

  "Let's just say Yin Chi and I aren't done yet," I said. "But I don't have anything specific in the works. For now, we're free of him, and we're free of the debt. Isn't that enough?"

  As we continued toward home, my mind was already turning over my next steps. Today had been reconnaissance and deflection as much as anything. The protection formation on the vault, the cultivator guards, it was clear Yin Chi was no ordinary money lender. His security spoke of wealth beyond what should be possible from simple loans to the dregs of a port town.

  I needed more information before I moved against him. And I would need allies to help me get it. Working with a crew was soaked into my bones and if I didn't have shipmates on board quite yet, there were certainly some promising prospects.

  For now, I would wait and plan. Let Yin Chi think that my words were just the blustering of the weak. He would briefly wonder where a drunkard like me had found so much coin and so much nerve. But, as he pointed out, he had people make hollow threats against him every day. He would assume he had seen the last of me and move on.

  That's what I wanted for now, to be remembered then forgotten. I could have just chosen to blend into the background and then strike from the shadows, but that wasn't my way. When my vengeance landed, the guilty would know who had delivered it, and why.

  In time, but not too much time, Yin Chi would learn the true price of the debt that he had imposed on the Shen family. The Emperor of the Tidebound Seas had been renowned for his justice as much as his power. And while I might lack my former strength, my sense of right and wrong remained intact.

  Yin Chi's reckoning had been a decade and a half in the making.

  When my revenge came, and it would come, it would be methodical and complete.