Crooked Kingdom (The Six of Crows Duology #2) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,61

us by our smell.”

“Is that even possible?” Inej asked, horrified.

“I’ve never heard of Grisha giving off a particular scent,” said Nina, “but I guess it’s possible. If the soldiers’ olfactory receptors were improved … Maybe it’s a scent ordinary people can’t detect.”

“I don’t think this was the first attack,” Jesper said. “Wylan, remember how terrified that Squaller in the rare books room was? And what about that merch ship Rotty told us about?”

Kaz nodded. “It was torn apart, a bunch of sailors were found dead. At the time, they thought the crew’s Squaller might have gone rogue, busted out of his indenture. But maybe he didn’t disappear. Maybe he was captured. He was one of old Councilman Hoede’s Grisha.”

“Emil Retvenko,” said Nina.

“That’s the one. You knew him?”

“I knew of him. Most of the Grisha in Ketterdam know about each other. We share information, try to keep an eye out for one another. The Shu must have spies here if they knew where to look for each of us. The other Grisha—” Nina stood up, then grabbed the back of her chair, as if the sudden movement had made her woozy.

Inej and Matthias were on their feet instantly.

“Are you all right?” Inej asked.

“Splendid,” Nina said with an unconvincing smile. “But if the other Grisha in Ketterdam are in danger—”

“You’re going to do what?” Jesper said, and Inej was surprised by the harsh edge to his voice. “You’re lucky to be alive after what happened today. Those Shu soldiers can smell us, Nina.” He turned on Kuwei. “Your father made that possible.”

“Hey,” said Wylan, “go easy.”

“Go easy? Like things weren’t bad enough for the Grisha before? What if they track us to Black Veil? There are three of us here.”

Kaz rapped his knuckles against the table. “Wylan’s right. Go easy. The city wasn’t safe before and it isn’t safe now. So let’s all get rich enough to relocate.”

Nina placed her hands on her hips. “Are we really talking about money?”

“We’re talking about the job and making Van Eck pay up.”

Inej looped her arm through Nina’s. “I want to know what we can do to help the Grisha who are still in Ketterdam.” She saw the mallet glint as it reached the top of its arc. “And I’d also like to know how we’re going to make Van Eck suffer.”

“There are bigger issues here,” said Matthias.

“Not for me,” Jesper said. “I have two days left to get right with my father.”

Inej wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “Your father?”

“Yup. Family reunion in Ketterdam,” said Jesper. “Everyone’s invited.”

Inej wasn’t fooled by Jesper’s airy tone. “The loan?”

His hands returned to his revolvers. “Yeah. So I’d really like to know just how we intend to settle this score.”

Kaz shifted his weight on his cane. “Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?”

Inej’s gut clenched. “You went to Pekka Rollins for a loan?”

“I would never go into debt with Rollins. I sold him my shares in Fifth Harbor and the Crow Club.”

No. Kaz had built those places from nothing. They were testaments to what he’d done for the Dregs. “Kaz—”

“Where do you think the money went?” he repeated.

“Guns?” asked Jesper.

“Ships?” queried Inej.

“Bombs?” suggested Wylan.

“Political bribes?” offered Nina. They all looked at Matthias. “This is where you tell us how awful we are,” she whispered.

He shrugged. “They all seem like practical choices.”

“Sugar,” said Kaz.

Jesper nudged the sugar bowl down the table to him.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Not for my coffee, you podge. I used the money to buy up sugar shares and placed them in private accounts for all of us—under aliases, of course.”

“I don’t like speculation,” said Matthias.

“Of course you don’t. You like things you can see. Like piles of snow and benevolent tree gods.”

“Oh, there it is!” said Inej, resting her head on Nina’s shoulder and beaming at Matthias. “I missed his glower.”

“Besides,” Kaz said, “it’s hardly speculation if you know the outcome.”

“You know something about the sugar crop?” Jesper asked.

“I know something about the supply.”

Wylan sat up straighter. “The silos,” he said. “The silos at Sweet Reef.”

“Very good, merchling.”

Matthias shook his head. “What’s Sweet Reef?”

“It’s an area just south of Sixth Harbor,” said Inej. She remembered the view of the vast silos towering over the warehouse district. They were the size of small mountains. “It’s where they keep molasses, raw cane, and the processing plants to refine sugar. We were right near there today. That wasn’t a coincidence, was it?”

“No,” said Kaz. “I wanted you to get a