Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,148

“But at least I don’t run from a fight.”

He started down the steps.

Varian had risen from the floor after his fall. Though he didn’t look entirely steady on his feet, he moved toward the stairs, and Inej had to respect his loyalty to Haskell.

Pim pushed off from the wall and blocked Varian’s path. “You’re through,” he said.

“Get Rollins’ men,” Per Haskell commanded Varian. “Raise the alarm!” But Anika drew a long knife and stepped in front of the entry door.

“You a Dime Lion?” she asked. “Or are you Dregs?”

Slowly, his limp pronounced but his back straight, Kaz made his way down the final flight of stairs, leaning heavily on the banister. When he reached the bottom, the remaining crowd parted.

Haskell’s grizzled face was red with fear and indignation. “You’ll never last, boy. Takes more than what you got to get past Pekka Rollins.”

Kaz snatched his cane from Per Haskell’s hand.

“You have two minutes to get out of my house, old man. This city’s price is blood,” said Kaz, “and I’m happy to pay with yours.”

J esper had never seen Kaz so bloodied and banged up—broken nose, split lip, one eye swollen shut. He was clutching his side in a way that made Jesper think at least one of his ribs was broken, and when he coughed into a handkerchief, Jesper saw blood on the white fabric before Kaz shoved it back into his pocket. His limp was worse than ever, but he was still standing, and Anika and Pim were with him. Apparently, they’d left a heavily armed skeleton crew at the Slat in case Pekka got word of Kaz’s coup and decided to try to make a territory grab.

“All Saints,” Jesper said. “So I guess that went well?”

“About as well as expected.”

Matthias shook his head in something between admiration and disbelief. “How many lives do you have, demjin ?”

“One more, I hope.”

Kaz had wriggled out of his coat and managed to yank off his shirt, leaning on the sink in the bathroom.

“For Saints’ sake, let us help you,” said Nina.

Kaz gripped the end of a bandage in his teeth and tore off a piece. “I don’t need your help. Keep working with Colm.”

“What is wrong with him?” Nina grumbled as they went back to the sitting room to drill Colm on his cover story.

“Same thing that’s always wrong with him,” said Jesper. “He’s Kaz Brekker.”

A little more than an hour later, Inej had slipped into the room and handed Kaz a note. It was late afternoon and the windows of the suite were ablaze with buttery gold light.

“Are they coming?” asked Nina.

Inej nodded. “I gave your letter to the guard at the door, and it did the trick. They brought me directly to two members of the Triumvirate.”

“Who did you meet with?” said Kaz.

“Genya Safin and Zoya Nazyalensky.”

Wylan sat forward. “The Tailor? She’s at the embassy?”

Kaz raised a brow. “What an interesting fact to forget to mention, Nina.”

“It wasn’t relevant at the time.”

“Of course it’s relevant!” Wylan said angrily. Jesper was a little surprised. Wylan hadn’t seemed to mind wearing Kuwei’s features at first. He’d almost seemed to welcome the distance it gave him from his father. But that had been before they’d gone to Saint Hilde. And before Jesper had kissed Kuwei.

Nina winced slightly. “Wylan, I thought you were coming to Ravka. You would have been able to meet Genya as soon as we were on the boat.”

“We all know where Nina’s loyalties lie,” said Kaz.

“I didn’t tell the Triumvirate about Kuwei.”

A faint smile touched Kaz’s lips. “Like I said.” He turned to Inej. “Did you state our terms?”

“Yes, they’ll be at the hotel baths in an hour. I told them to make sure no one saw them enter.”

“Let’s hope they can handle it,” said Kaz.

“They can run a country,” said Nina. “They can manage a few simple instructions.”

“Is it safe for them on the streets?” asked Wylan.

“They’re probably the only Grisha safe in Ketterdam,” said Kaz. “Even if the Shu are working up the nerve to start hunting again, they aren’t going to start with two highly placed Ravkan dignitaries. Nina, does Genya have the skill to restore Wylan’s features?”

“I don’t know,” said Nina. “She’s called the First Tailor, and she’s certainly the most gifted, but without parem …” She didn’t have to explain. Parem was the only reason Nina had been able to manage Wylan’s miraculous transformation into Kuwei. Still, Genya Safin was a legend. Anything might still be possible.

“Kaz,” Wylan said, twisting the tail of