Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) - Leigh Bardugo Page 0,19
it do to sorry sobs like you and me?”
Van Eck seemed to bristle slightly at being lumped in with Kaz, but he said, “It’s lethal. An ordinary mind cannot tolerate parem in even the lowest doses.”
“You said you gave it to three Grisha. What can the others do?”
“Here,” Van Eck said, reaching for a drawer in his desk.
Kaz lifted his pistol. “Easy.”
With exaggerated slowness, Van Eck slid his hand into the desk drawer and pulled out a lump of gold. “This started as lead.”
“Like hell it did.”
Van Eck shrugged. “I can only tell you what I saw. The Fabrikator took a piece of lead in his hands, and moments later we had this.”
“How do you even know it’s real?” asked Kaz.
“It has the same melting point as gold, the same weight and malleability. If it’s not identical to gold in every way, the difference has eluded us. Have it tested if you like.”
Kaz tucked his cane under his arm and took the heavy lump from Van Eck’s hand. He slipped it into his pocket. Whether it was real or just a convincing imitation, a chunk of yellow that big could buy plenty on the streets of the Barrel.
“You could have gotten that anywhere,” Kaz pointed out.
“I would bring Hoede’s Fabrikator here to show you himself, but he isn’t well.”
Kaz’s gaze flicked to Mikka’s sickly face and damp brow. The drug clearly came with a price.
“Let’s say this is all true and not cheap, coin-trick magic. What does it have to do with me?”
“Perhaps you heard of the Shu paying off the entirety of their debt to Kerch with a sudden influx of gold? The assassination of the trade ambassador from Novyi Zem? The theft of documents from a military base in Ravka?”
So that was the secret behind the murder of the ambassador in the washroom. And the gold in those three Shu ships must have been Fabrikator made. Kaz hadn’t heard anything about Ravkan documents, but he nodded anyway.
“We believe all these occurrences are the work of Grisha under the control of the Shu government and under the influence of jurda parem.” Van Eck scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Mister Brekker, I want you to think for a moment about what I’m telling you. Men who can walk through walls—no vault or fortress will ever be safe again. People who can make gold from lead, or anything else for that matter, who can alter the very material of the world—financial markets would be thrown into chaos. The world economy would collapse.”
“Very exciting. What is it you want from me, Van Eck? You want me to steal a shipment? The formula?”
“No, I want you to steal the man.”
“Kidnap Bo Yul-Bayur?”
“Save him. A month ago we received a message from Yul-Bayur begging for asylum. He was concerned about his government’s plans for jurda parem, and we agreed to help him defect. We set up a rendezvous, but there was a skirmish at the drop point.”
“With the Shu?”
“No, with Fjerdans.”
Kaz frowned. The Fjerdans must have spies deep in Shu Han or Kerch if they had learned about the drug and Bo Yul-Bayur’s plans so quickly. “So send some of your agents after him.”
“The diplomatic situation is somewhat delicate. It is essential that our government not be tied to Yul-Bayur in any way.”
“You have to know he’s probably dead. The Fjerdans hate Grisha. There’s no way they’d let knowledge of this drug get out.”
“Our sources say he is very much alive and that he is awaiting trial.” Van Eck cleared his throat. “At the Ice Court.”
Kaz stared at Van Eck for a long minute, then burst out laughing. “Well, it’s been a pleasure being knocked unconscious and taken captive by you, Van Eck. You can be sure your hospitality will be repaid when the time is right. Now have one of your lackeys show me to the door.”
“We’re prepared to offer you five million kruge.”
Kaz pocketed the pistol. He wasn’t afraid for his life now, just irritated that this fink had wasted his time. “This may come as a surprise to you, Van Eck, but we canal rats value our lives just as much as you do yours.”
“Ten million.”
“There’s no point to a fortune I won’t be alive to spend. Where’s my hat—did your Tidemaker leave it behind in the alley?”
“Twenty.”
Kaz paused. He had the eerie sense that the carved fish on the walls had halted midleap to listen. “Twenty million kruge?”