He woke, gasping. The sun was high in the sky. Wylan stood above him, shaking him gently. “It’s almost time.” Matthias nodded and rose, rolling his shoulders, feeling the warm spring air of Ketterdam around him. It felt alien in his lungs. “Are you all right?” Wylan asked tentatively, but apparently Matthias’ glower was answer enough. “You’re great,” Wylan said, and hurried down the stairs.
Matthias consulted the cheap brass watch Kaz had acquired for him. Almost twelve bells. He hoped Nina had rested more easily than he had. He flashed his mirror once at her balcony and felt a surge of relief when a bright light flashed back to him. He signaled to Jesper, then leaned over the roof’s ledge to wait.
Matthias knew Kaz had chosen West Stave for its anonymity and its crowds. Already its denizens had started to come awake again after the previous evening’s revels. The servants who tended to the needs of their various houses were doing their shopping, accepting shipments of wine and fruit for the next night’s activities. Tourists who had just arrived in the city were strolling down both sides of the canal, pointing to the elaborately decorated signs that marked each house, some famous, some notorious. He could see a many-petaled rose fashioned in white wrought iron and gilded with silver. The House of the White Rose. Nina had worked there for nearly a year. He’d never questioned her about her time there. He had no right to. She had stayed in the city to help him, and she could do as she wished. And yet he’d been unable to keep from imagining her there, the curves of her body laid bare, green eyes heavy-lidded, cream-colored petals caught in the dark waves of her hair. There were nights when he imagined her beckoning him closer, others when it was someone else she welcomed in the dark, and he’d lie awake, wondering if it would be jealousy or desire that drove him mad first. He tore his eyes from the sign and pulled a long glass from his pocket, forcing himself to scan the rest of the Stave.
Just a few minutes before noon, Matthias caught sight of Kaz advancing from the west, his dark shape a blot moving through the crowd, his cane keeping time with his uneven gait. The crowd seemed to part around him, perhaps sensing the purpose that drove him. It reminded Matthias of villagers making signs in the air to ward off evil spirits. Alys Van Eck waddled along beside him. Her blindfold had been removed, and through his long glass, Matthias could see her lips moving. Sweet Djel, is she still singing? Judging from the sour expression on Kaz’s face, it was a distinct possibility.
Beyond the other side of the bridge, Matthias saw Van Eck approach. He held himself rigidly, his posture erect, arms kept tight to his body as if he feared that the sin-rich air of the Barrel would stain his suit.
Kaz had been clear: Taking out Van Eck was a last resort. They didn’t want to kill a member of the Merchant Council, not in broad daylight in front of witnesses.
“Wouldn’t it be cleaner?” Jesper asked. “A heart attack? A brain fever?” Matthias would have preferred an honest kill, an open battle. But that was not the way things were done in Ketterdam.
“He can’t suffer if he’s dead,” Kaz had said, and that had been the end of it. The demjin brooked no argument.
Van Eck had come surrounded by guards dressed in the red-and-gold livery of his house. Their heads swiveled left and right, taking in their surroundings, looking for threats. From the hang of their coats, Matthias could tell they were all armed. But there, surrounded by three huge guards, was a tiny hooded figure. Inej.
Matthias was surprised at the gratitude that flooded him. Though he’d only known the little Suli girl for a short while, he’d admired her courage from the first. And she’d saved their lives multiple times, putting herself at risk to do so. He’d questioned many of his choices, but never his commitment to seeing her freed from Van Eck. He only wished she’d separate herself from Kaz Brekker. The girl deserved better. Then again, maybe Nina deserved better than Matthias.
Both parties reached the bridge. Kaz and Alys walked forward. Van Eck signaled the guards holding Inej.
Matthias looked up. From the other rooftop, Jesper’s mirror was flashing frantically. Matthias scanned the area around the bridge, but he couldn’t see what had gotten Jesper so panicked. He peered through the long glass, training it on the labyrinthine streets that flowed outward from both sides of the Stave. Kaz’s retreat appeared clear. But when Matthias looked past Van Eck to the east, his heart filled with dread. The streets were dotted with clusters of purple, all of them moving toward the Stave. Stadwatch. Was it just a coincidence or something Van Eck had planned? Surely he wouldn’t want to risk city officials finding out what he’d been up to? Could the Fjerdans be involved? What if they were coming to arrest both Van Eck and Kaz?
Matthias flashed his mirror twice at Nina. From her lower vantage point, she wouldn’t see the stadwatch until it was too late. Again he felt the cold lash of the wind, heard his voice calling her name, felt his terror rise as no answer came. She’ll be fine , he told himself. She’s a warrior. But Jesper’s warning ran in his ears. Be careful. She’s not quite herself. He hoped Kaz was ready. He hoped Nina was stronger than she seemed. He hoped the plans they’d laid were enough, that Jesper’s aim was true, that Wylan’s calculations were correct. Trouble was coming for them all.
Matthias reached for his rifle.
K az’s first thought when he glimpsed Van Eck moving toward Goedmedbridge was, This man should never play cards . His second was that someone had broken the merch’s nose. It was crooked and swollen, a dark circle of bruising forming beneath one eye. Kaz suspected a university medik had treated the worst of the damage, but without a Grisha Healer, there was only so much you could do to hide a break like that.
Van Eck was trying to keep his expression neutral, but he was working so hard to look impassive that his high forehead was shiny with sweat. His shoulders were fixed stiffly and his chest jutted forward as if someone had attached a string to his sternum and yanked him upward. He walked onto Goedmedbridge at a stately pace, surrounded by liveried guards in red and gold—now that surprised Kaz. He’d thought Van Eck would prefer to enter the Barrel with as little pomp as possible. He turned this new information over in his mind.
It was dangerous to ignore the details. No man liked to be shown up, and for all his attempts at a dignified promenade, Van Eck’s vanity had to be wounded. A merch prided himself on his business sense, his ability to strategize, to manipulate men and markets. He’d be looking to get a bit of his own back after having his hand forced by a lowly Barrel thug.
Kaz let his eyes pass over the guards once, briefly, searching for Inej. She was hooded, barely visible between the men Van Eck had brought, but he would have recognized that knife-edge posture anywhere. And if the temptation was there to crane his neck, to look closer, to make sure she was unharmed? He could acknowledge it, set it aside. He would not break his focus.