Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,59

the sun was setting, gilding the tower of Ghezen in the distance. They left the store house, locking it behind them, and joined the workers walking home for the night. They continued south and east, dodging the busiest parts of the Barrel, where no doubt the stadwatch would be prowling, and headed toward a more residential area. In a narrow canal, they boarded a smallboat that they piloted down Grafcanal, and into the mists shrouding Black Veil Island.

Inej felt her excitement increasing as they picked their way through the mausoleums toward the center of the island. Let them be okay , she prayed. Let them all be okay. Finally, she glimpsed a dim light and heard the faint murmur of voices. She broke into a run, not caring when her cap slipped from her head to the vine-covered ground. She tore open the door to the tomb.

The five people inside rose, guns and fists raised, and Inej skidded to a halt.

Nina shrieked, “Inej!”

She flew across the room and crushed Inej in a tight hug. Then they were all around her at once, hugging her, clapping her on the back. Nina would not let go of her. Jesper threw his arms around both of them and crowed, “The Wraith returns!” as Matthias stood back, formal as ever but smiling. She looked from the Shu boy seated at the table in the center of the tomb to the identical Shu boy hovering in front of her.

“Wylan?” she asked of the one closest to her.

He broke into a grin, but it slipped sideways when he said, “Sorry about my father.”

Inej pulled him into the hug and whispered, “We are not our fathers.”

Kaz rapped his cane on the stone floor. He was standing in the doorway to the tomb. “If everyone is done cuddling, we have a job to do.”

“Hold up,” said Jesper, arm still slung around Inej. “We’re not talking about the job until we figure out what those things were on the Stave.”

“What things?” asked Inej.

“Did you miss half the Stave blowing up?”

“We saw the bomb at the White Rose go off,” said Inej, “and then we heard another explosion.”

“At the Anvil,” said Nina.

“After that,” Inej said, “we ran.”

Jesper nodded sagely. “That was your big mistake. If you’d stuck around, you could have nearly been killed by a Shu guy with wings.”

“Two of them,” said Wylan.

Inej frowned. “Two wings?”

“Two guys,” said Jesper.

“With wings?” Inej probed. “Like a bird?”

Nina dragged her toward the cluttered table, where a map of Ketterdam had been spread. “No, more like a moth, a deadly, mechanical moth. Are you hungry? We have chocolate biscuits.”

“Oh sure,” said Jesper. “She gets the cookie hoard.”

Nina planted Inej in a chair and plunked the tin down in front of her. “Eat,” she commanded. “There were two Shu with wings, and a man and a woman who were … not normal.”

“Nina’s power had no effect on them,” said Wylan.

“Hmm,” Nina said noncommittally, nibbling daintily at the edge of a biscuit. Inej had never seen Nina nibble daintily on anything. Her appetite clearly hadn’t returned, but Inej wondered if there was more to it.

Matthias joined them at the table. “The Shu woman we faced was stronger than me, Jesper, and Wylan put together.”

“You heard right,” said Jesper. “Stronger than Wylan.”

“I did my part,” objected Wylan.

“You most definitely did, merchling. What was that violet stuff?”

“Something new I’ve been working on. It’s based on a Ravkan invention called lumiya ; the flames are almost impossible to extinguish, but I changed the formulation so that it burns a lot hotter.”

“We were lucky to have you there,” said Matthias with a small bow that left Wylan looking pleased and entirely flustered. “The creatures were nearly impervious to bullets.”

“Nearly,” Nina said grimly. “They had nets. They were looking to hunt and capture Grisha.”

Kaz rested his shoulders against the wall. “Were they using parem ?”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t think they were Grisha. They didn’t display any powers, and they weren’t healing their wounds. It looked like they had some kind of metal plating beneath their skin.”

She spoke to Kuwei rapidly in Shu.

Kuwei groaned. “Kherguud.” They all looked at him blankly. He sighed and said, “When my father made parem , the government tests it on Fabrikators.”

Jesper cocked his head to one side. “Is it just me or is your Kerch getting better?”

“My Kerch is good. You all talk too fast.”

“Okay,” drawled Jesper. “Why did your dear Shu friends test parem on Fabrikators?” He was sprawled in his