Crooked Kingdom (22 page)

Inej remembered the way the sun had caught the brown in his eyes only hours before. Now they were the color of coffee gone bitter in the brewing. But she was not going to back down.

“They're called friendships, Kaz.”

His gaze shifted to Nina. “I don't like being held hostage.”

“And I don't like shoes that pinch at the toes, but we must all suffer. Think of it as a challenge for your monstrous brain.”

After a long pause, Kaz said, “How many people are we talking about?”

“There are less than thirty Grisha in the city that I know of, other than the Council of Tides.”

“And how would you like to corral them? Hand out pamphlets directing them to a giant raft?”

“There's a tavern near the Ravkan embassy. We use it to leave messages and exchange information. I can get the word out from there. Then we just need a ship. Van Eck can't watch all the harbors.”

Inej didn't want to disagree, but it had to be said. “I think he can. Van Eck has the full power of the city government behind him. And you didn't see his reaction when he discovered Kaz had dared to take Alys.”

“Please tell me he actually frothed at the mouth,” said Jesper.

“It was a close thing.”

Kaz limped to the tomb door, staring out into the darkness. “Van Eck won't have made the choice to involve the city lightly. It's a risk, and he wouldn't take that risk if he didn't intend to capitalize on it to the fullest. He'll have every harbor and watchtower on the coast on full alert, with orders to question anyone trying to leave Ketterdam. He'll just claim that he knows Wylan's captors may plan to take him from Kerch.”

“Trying to get all of the Grisha out will be extremely dangerous,” said Matthias. “The last thing we need is for a group of them to fall into Van Eck's hands when he may still have a store of
parem
.”

Jesper tapped his fingers on the grips of his revolvers. “We need a miracle. And possibly a bottle of whiskey. Helps lubricate the brainpan.”

“No,” said Kaz slowly. “We need a ship. A ship that couldn't possibly be suspect, that Van Eck and the
stadwatch
would never have cause to stop. We need one of
his
ships.”

Nina wriggled to the edge of her chair. “Van Eck's trading company must have plenty of ships heading to Ravka.”

Matthias folded his huge arms, considering. “Get the Grisha refugees out on one of Van Eck's own vessels?”

“We'd need a forged manifest and papers of transit,” said Inej.

“Why do you think they kicked Specht out of the navy?” Kaz asked. “He was forging leave documents and supply orders.”

Wylan pulled on his lip. “But it's not just a question of a few documents. Let's say there are thirty Grisha refugees. A ship's captain is going to want to know why thirty people—”

“Thirty-one,” Kuwei said.

“Are you actually following all of this?” said Jesper incredulously.

“A ship to Ravka,” said Kuwei. “I understand that very well.”

Kaz shrugged. “If we're going to steal a boat, we might as well put you on it.”

“Thirty-one it is,” said Nina with a smile, though if the muscle twitching in Matthias' jaw was any indication, he wasn't nearly so thrilled.

“Okay,” said Wylan, smoothing a crease in the map. “But a ship's captain is going to wonder why there are thirty-one people being added to his manifest.”

“Not if the captain thinks he's in on a secret,” said Kaz. “Van Eck will write a passionately worded letter calling upon the captain to use the utmost discretion in transporting these valuable political refugees and asking him to keep them hidden from anyone susceptible to Shu bribes—including the
stadwatch
—at all costs. Van Eck will promise the captain a huge reward when he returns, just to make sure
he
doesn't get any ideas about selling out the Grisha. We already have a sample of Van Eck's handwriting. We just need his seal.”

“Where does he keep it?” Jesper asked Wylan.

“In his office. At least that's where it used to be.”

“We'll have to get in and out without him noticing,” said Inej. “And we'll have to move quickly after that. As soon as Van Eck realizes the seal is missing, he'll be able to guess what we're up to.”

“We broke into the Ice Court,” said Kaz. “I think we can manage a mercher's office.”

“Well, we did almost die breaking into the Ice Court,” said Inej.

“Several times, if memory serves,” noted Jesper.

“Inej and I lifted a DeKappel from Van Eck. We already know the layout of the house. We'll be fine.”

Wylan's finger was once more tracing the Geldstraat. “You didn't have to get into my father's safe.”

“Van Eck keeps the seal in a safe?” said Jesper with a laugh. “It's almost like he
wants
us to take it. Kaz is better at making friends with combination locks than with people.”

“You've never seen a safe like this,” Wylan said. “He had it installed after the DeKappel was stolen. It has a seven-digit combination that he resets every day, and the locks are built with false tumblers to confuse safecrackers.”

Kaz shrugged. “Then we go around it. I'll take expediency over finesse.”

Wylan shook his head. “The safe walls are made of a unique alloy reinforced with Grisha steel.”

“An explosion?” suggested Jesper.

Kaz raised a brow. “I suspect Van Eck will notice that.”

“A very small explosion?”

Nina snorted. “You just want to blow something up.”

“Actually…” said Wylan. He cocked his head to one side, as if he were listening to a distant song. “Come morning, there would be no hiding we'd been there, but if we can get the refugees out of the harbor before my father discovers the theft … I'm not exactly sure where I can get the materials, but it just might work.…”

“
Inej
,” Jesper whispered.

She leaned forward, peering at Wylan. “Is that scheming face?”

“Possibly.”

Wylan seemed to snap back to reality. “It is
not
. But … but I do think I have an idea.”

“We're waiting, merchling,” Kaz said.

“The weevil is basically just a much more stable version of auric acid.”

“Yes,” said Jesper. “Of course. And that is?”

“A corrosive. It gives off a minor amount of heat once it starts to react, but it's incredibly powerful and incredibly volatile. It can cut through Grisha steel and just about anything else other than balsa glass.”

“Glass?”

“The glass and the sap from the balsa neutralize the corrosion.”

“And where does one come by such a thing?”

“We can find one of the ingredients I need in an ironworks. They use the corrosive to strip oxidation off metals. The other might be tougher to come by. We'd need a quarry with a vein of auris or a similar halide compound.”

“The closest quarry is at Olendaal,” said Kaz.

“That could work. Once we have both compounds, we'll have to be very careful with the transport,” Wylan continued. “Actually, we'll have to be more than careful. After the reaction is completed, auric acid is basically harmless, but while it's active … Well, it's a good way to lose your hands.”

“So,” said Jesper, “
if
we get these ingredients,
and
manage to transport them separately,
and
activate this auric acid,
and
don't lose a limb in the process?”

Wylan tugged at a lock of his hair. “We could burn through the safe door in a matter of minutes.”

“Without damaging the contents inside?” asked Nina.

“Hopefully.”

“Hopefully,” repeated Kaz. “I've worked with worse. We'll need to find out which ships are departing for Ravka tomorrow night and get Specht started on the manifest and papers of transit. Nina, once we've got a vessel chosen, can your little band of refugees make it to the docks on their own or will they need their hands held for that too?”

“I'm not sure how well they know the city,” admitted Nina.

Kaz drummed his fingers over the head of his cane. “Wylan and I can tackle the safe. We can send Jesper to escort the Grisha and we can map a route so Matthias can get Kuwei to the docks. But that leaves only Nina to distract the guards and work the net for Inej at the silos. The net needs at least three people on it for it to be worth anything.”

Inej stretched, gently rolled her shoulders. It was good to be among these people again. She'd been gone for only a few days, and they were sitting in a damp mausoleum, but it still felt like a homecoming.

“I told you,” she said. “I don't work with a net.”

 

12

K
AZ

They stayed up planning well past midnight. Kaz was wary of the changes to the plan as well as the prospect of managing Nina's pack of Grisha. But though he gave no indication to the others, there were elements of this new course that appealed to him. It was possible that Van Eck would piece together what the Shu were doing and go after the city's remaining Grisha himself. They were a weapon Kaz didn't want to see in the mercher's arsenal.

But they couldn't let this little rescue slow them down. With so many opponents and the
stadwatch
involved, they couldn't afford it. Given enough time, the Shu would stop worrying about those dry-docked warships and the Council of Tides, and find their way to Black Veil. Kaz wanted Kuwei out of the city and removed from play as soon as possible.

At last, they put their lists and sketches aside. The wreckage of their makeshift meal was cleared from the table to avoid attracting the rats of Black Veil, and the lanterns were doused.

The others would sleep. Kaz could not. He'd meant what he'd said. Van Eck had more money, more allies, and the might of the city behind him. They couldn't just be smarter than Van Eck, they had to be relentless. And Kaz could see what the others couldn't. They'd won the battle today; they'd set out to get Inej back from Van Eck and they had. But the merch was still winning the war.

That Van Eck was willing to risk involving the
stadwatch
, and by extension the Merchant Council, meant he really believed he was invulnerable. Kaz still had the note Van Eck had sent arranging the meeting on Vellgeluk, but it was shoddy proof of the man's schemes. He remembered what Pekka Rollins had said back at the Emerald Palace, when Kaz had claimed that the Merchant Council would never stand for Van Eck's illegal activities.
And who's going to tell them? A canal rat from the worst slum in the Barrel? Don't kid yourself, Brekker.

At the time, Kaz had barely been able to think beyond the red haze of anger that descended when he was in Rollins' presence. It stripped away the reason that guided him, the patience he relied on. Around Pekka, he lost the shape of who he was—no, he lost the shape of who he'd fought to become. He wasn't Dirtyhands or Kaz Brekker or even the toughest lieutenant in the Dregs. He was just a boy fueled by a white flame of rage, one that threatened to burn the pretense of the hard-won civility he maintained to ash.

But now, leaning on his cane among the graves of Black Veil, he could acknowledge the truth of Pekka's words. You couldn't go to war with an upstanding merch like Van Eck, not if you were a thug with a reputation dirtier than a stable hand's boot sole. To win, Kaz would have to level the field. He would show the world what he already knew: Despite his soft hands and fine suits, Van Eck was a criminal, just as bad as any Barrel thug—worse, because his word was worth nothing.

Kaz didn't hear Inej approach, he just knew when she was there, standing beside the broken columns of a white marble mausoleum. She'd found soap to wash with somewhere, and the scent of the dank rooms of Eil Komedie—that faint hint of hay and greasepaint—was gone. Her black hair shone in the moonlight, already tucked tidily away in a coil at her neck, and her stillness was so complete she might have been mistaken for one of the cemetery's stone guardians.

“Why the net, Kaz?”

Yes, why the net? Why something that would complicate the assault he'd planned on the silos and leave them twice as open to exposure?
I couldn't bear to watch you fall.
“I just went to a lot of trouble to get my spider back. I didn't do it so you could crack your skull open the next day.”

“You protect your investments.” Her voice sounded almost resigned.

“That's right.”

“And you're going off island.”

He should be more concerned that she could guess his next move. “Rotty says the old man's getting restless. I need to go smooth his feathers.”

Per Haskell was still the leader of the Dregs, and Kaz knew he liked the perks of that position, but not the work that went with it. With Kaz gone for so long, things would be starting to unravel. Besides, when Haskell got antsy, he liked to do something stupid just to remind people he was in charge.

“We should get eyes on Van Eck's house too,” said Inej.

“I'll take care of it.”

“He'll have strengthened his security.” The rest went unspoken. There was no one better equipped to slip past Van Eck's defenses than the Wraith.

He should tell her to rest, tell her he would handle the surveillance on his own. Instead, he nodded and set out for one of the
gondels
hidden in the willows, ignoring the relief he felt when she followed.

After the raucous din of the afternoon, the canals seemed more silent than usual, the water unnaturally still.

“Do you think West Stave will be back to itself tonight?” Inej asked, voice low. She'd learned a canal rat's caution when it came to traveling the waterways of Ketterdam.