Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,186

boys to have horses waiting. And get me a medik.”

“The plague—”

“The one who’s on call for the Emerald Palace. You haul him out of the sick ward yourself if you have to.” He jabbed a finger into Kaz’s chest. “You’ll pay for this, Brekker. You’ll pay and keep paying. There will be no end to your suffering.”

Kaz met Pekka’s gaze. “Suffering is like anything else. Live with it long enough, you learn to like the taste.”

“Let’s go,” said Rollins. He fumbled with the locked door. “Where’s the damn key?” One of his men came forward with it, but Kaz noticed the distance he kept from his boss. They’d be telling the story of Pekka Rollins on his knees all over the Barrel tonight, and Rollins must know it too. He loved his son enough to wager the whole of his pride and reputation. Kaz supposed that should count for something. Maybe to someone else it would have.

The door to the street burst open, and a moment later they were gone.

Inej sank down into a squat, pressing her palms to her eyes. “Will he get there in time?”

“For what?”

“To …” She stared up at him. He was going to miss that look of surprise. “You didn’t do it. You didn’t bury him.”

“I’ve never even seen the kid.”

“But the lion—”

“It was a guess. Pekka’s pride in the Dime Lions is plenty predictable. Kid probably has a thousand lions to play with and a giant wooden lion to ride around on.”

“How did you even know he had a child?”

“I figured it out that night at Van Eck’s house. Rollins wouldn’t stop flapping his gums about the legacy he was building. I knew he had a country house, liked to leave the city. I’d just figured he had a mistress stashed somewhere. But what he said that night made me think again.”

“And that he had a son, not a daughter? That was a guess too?”

“An educated one. He named his new gambling hall the Kaelish Prince. Had to be a little red-headed boy. And what kid isn’t fond of sweets?”

She shook her head. “What will he find in the field?”

“Nothing at all. No doubt his people will report that his son is safe and sound and doing whatever pampered children do when their fathers are away. But hopefully Pekka will spend a few agonized hours digging in the dirt and wandering in circles before that. The important thing is that he won’t be around to back up any of Van Eck’s claims and that people will hear he fled the city in a rush—with a medik in tow.”

Inej gazed up at him and Kaz could see her completing the puzzle. “The outbreak sites.”

“The Kaelish Prince. The Emerald Palace. The Sweet Shop. All businesses owned by Pekka Rollins. They’ll be shut down and quarantined for weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if the city closes some of his other holdings as a precaution if they think his staff is spreading disease. It should take him at least a year to recover financially, maybe more if the panic lasts long enough. Of course, if the Council thinks he helped set up the false consortium, they may never grant him a license to operate again.”

“Fate has plans for us all,” Inej said quietly.

“And sometimes fate needs a little assistance.”

Inej frowned. “I thought you and Nina chose four outbreak sites on the Staves.”

Kaz straightened his cuffs. “I also had her stop at the Menagerie.”

She smiled then, her eyes red, her cheeks scattered with some kind of dust. It was a smile he thought he might die to earn again.

Kaz checked the time. “We should go. This isn’t over.”

He offered her a gloved hand. Inej heaved a long, shuddering breath, then took it, rising like smoke from a flame. But she did not let go. “You showed mercy, Kaz. You were the better man.”

There she went again, seeking decency when there was none to be had. “Inej, I could only kill Pekka’s son once.” He pushed the door open with his cane. “He can imagine his death a thousand times.”

M atthias jogged along beside Kuwei’s lifeless body. Two of the stadwatch had hefted the boy onto a stretcher, and they were running toward the Beurscanal with him as the plague sirens wailed. The medik struggled to keep up, his university robes flapping.

When they reached the dock, the medik took Kuwei’s wrist in his hand. “This is pointless. He has no pulse. The bullet must have pierced his heart.”

Just don’t pull