From somewhere below, she heard shouting, the sounds of a fight. Nina. Who or what had Jan Van Eck sent after her? But she could not afford distraction, not on the wire, not faced with this creature.
“I hear you whored for the Peacock,” Dunyasha said as she flung another spiked star at Inej, and another. Inej avoided both, but took the next in the meat of her right shoulder. She was bleeding badly. “I would have killed myself and everyone beneath that roof before letting myself be used in such a way.”
“You’re being used now,” Inej replied. “Van Eck isn’t worthy of your skill.”
“If you must know, Pekka Rollins pays my wages,” said the girl, and Inej’s footsteps faltered. Rollins. “He pays for my travel, my lodgings. But I ask no money for the lives I take. They are the jewels I wear. They are my glory in this world and will bring me honor in the next.”
Pekka Rollins. Had he somehow found Kaz? The others? What if Nina was lying dead below? Inej had to get free of this girl. She had to help them. Another silver star came whirring at her and she bent left to avoid it, almost lost her balance. She danced backward on the wire, glimpsed another glint of silver. Pain lanced through her arm and she hissed in a breath.
Our work is death and it is holy. What dark god did this mercenary serve? Inej imagined some vast deity looming above the city, faceless and featureless, skin taut over its swollen limbs, fattened on the blood of its acolytes’ victims. She could feel its presence, the chill of its shadow.
A star lodged in Inej’s shin, another in her forearm. She glanced over her shoulder. Only ten more feet and she would be at the first silo. Dunyasha might know more about fighting than Inej ever would, but she didn’t know Ketterdam. Inej would race to the bottom of the silo, find Nina. They’d lose this monster in the streets and canals Inej knew so well.
Again, she gauged the distance behind her. Just a few more feet. But when she looked back, Dunyasha was no longer on the wire. Inej saw her bend, saw her hand reach for the magnet. No.
“Protect me,” she whispered to her Saints.
The line went slack. Inej fell, twisting in the air the way she had as a child, searching for her wings.
K az heard a roaring in his ears. As always, he experienced a strange kind of doubling when he looked at Rollins, as if he’d been up too late and had far too much to drink. The man before him was Pekka Rollins, king of the Barrel, gang lord and impresario. But he was also Jakob Hertzoon, the supposedly upstanding merch who had fed Kaz and Jordie on comfort and confidence, then taken their money and left them helpless in a city that put no value on mercy.
Any sign of the respectable Jakob Hertzoon was gone tonight. Rollins wore a green-striped waistcoat snugly buttoned over the beginnings of a gut and trousers with an emerald sheen. Apparently, he’d replaced the watch Kaz had stolen from him, because he took out a new one and glanced at it now.
“This thing never keeps time quite right,” Rollins said, giving the watch a shake, his sideburns quivering slightly as he breathed an exasperated sigh, “but I can’t resist a fine bit of shine. Don’t suppose you kept the one you took off me?” Kaz said nothing. “Well,” Rollins continued with a shrug, snapping the watch shut and returning it to his waistcoat pocket. “Right about now, my lieutenants should be rounding up your crew and a certain priceless hostage at Black Veil Island.”
Wylan released a distressed sound.
“I’ve also prepared something special for the Wraith,” said Rollins. “An extraordinary asset, that girl. I didn’t like the thought of that particular arrow in your quiver, so I found someone even more extraordinary to take care of her.”
A sick sensation settled in Kaz’s stomach. He thought of Inej rolling her shoulders, the tidy frame of her body brimming with confidence. I don’t work with a net.
“Did you really think you’d be that hard to find, Brekker? I’ve been at this game a long time. All I had to do was think what I’d have done when I was younger and more foolish.”
The roaring in Kaz’s ears grew louder. “You’re working for Van Eck.” He’d known it was a possibility, but he’d ignored it. He’d thought that if he moved fast enough, they wouldn’t have time to form an alliance.
“I’m working with Van Eck. After you came to me looking for cash, I had a feeling he might have need of my services. He was hesitant at first, hasn’t had the best luck making deals with Barrel boys. But that little stunt you pulled with his wife drove him right into my loving arms. I told Van Eck you’d always be a step ahead of him because he can’t help thinking like a businessman.”
Kaz nearly flinched. Hadn’t he had the very same thought?
“He’s a savvy one, no doubt,” continued Rollins, “but a man of limited imagination. Whereas you, Brekker, think like a villainous little thug. You’re me with a lot more hair and a lot less style. Van Eck thought he had you all tied up on West Stave, felt pretty good about calling in the stadwatch too. But I knew you’d be more slippery than that.”
“And you knew I’d come here?”
Rollins chuckled. “I knew you couldn’t resist it. Oh, I didn’t know what plan you’d concoct, but I knew whatever scheme you devised would bring you here. You couldn’t pass up the chance to humiliate Van Eck, to take back what you think he owes you.”
“The deal is the deal.”
Rollins shook his head, clucking like a big mother hen. “You take things too personally, Brekker. You should be focused on the job, but you’re too busy holding a grudge.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Kaz. “I don’t hold a grudge. I cradle it. I coddle it. I feed it fine cuts of meat and send it to the best schools. I nurture my grudges, Rollins.”
“I’m glad you’ve kept your sense of humor, lad. Once you’ve served your term in stir—assuming Van Eck lets you live—I might just let you come work for me. Shame to see a talent like yours go to waste.”
“I’d rather be cooked slow on a spit with Van Eck turning the handle.”
Rollins’ smile was magnanimous. “I imagine that can be arranged too. I’m nothing if not accommodating.” Just keep talking , Kaz urged silently, his hand slipping inside Wylan’s satchel.
“What makes you think Van Eck will honor his agreement with you any more than he did with us?”
“Because I have the sense to get cash up front. And my demands are decidedly more moderate. A few million kruge to rid the Barrel of a nuisance I’d like to see gone anyway? Most reasonable.” Rollins hooked his thumbs into his waistcoat. “Fact is, Van Eck and I understand each other. I’m expanding, growing my territory, thinking bigger. The Kaelish Prince is the finest establishment East Stave has ever seen, and it’s only the beginning. Van Eck and I are builders. We want to create something that outlasts us. You’ll grow into it, boy. Now hand over that seal and come quietly, why don’t you?”
Kaz pulled the seal from his pocket, held it up, letting it catch the lamplight, drawing Pekka’s gaze. He hesitated.
“Come now, Brekker. You’re tough, I confess, but I’ve got you cornered and outnumbered. You can’t make the drop from that window, and Van Eck has stadwatch lining the street below. You’re done for, toasted, swinging in the wind, so don’t do anything foolish.”
But if you couldn’t open a door, you just had to make a new one. Rollins was easy to get talking; in fact, Kaz doubted he could stop him if he wanted to. Then it was just a question of keeping Rollins’ eyes on the shiny golden seal in Kaz’s right hand while he opened the jar of auric acid with the left.
“Get ready,” he murmured.
“Kaz—” Wylan protested.
Kaz tossed the seal to Rollins and in the same motion splashed the remaining acid onto the floor. The room filled with heat and the carpet hissed as a plume of acrid smoke rose from it.
“Stop them!” Rollins shouted.
“See you on the other side,” said Kaz. He grabbed his cane and smashed it into the boards beneath their feet. The floor gave way with a groan.