Jordie wrapped his arms around Kaz and said, “The city is winning so far. But you’ll see who wins in the end.”
The next morning, Jordie woke with a fever.
The bone didn’t set right, and he’d limped ever after. So he’d found himself a Fabrikator and had his cane made. It became a declaration. There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part that was not stronger for having been broken.
He didn’t call out to her. She would make herself visible when she was good and ready. Usually he liked the quiet; in fact, he would have happily sewn most people’s lips shut. But when she wanted to, Inej had a way of making you feel her silence. It tugged at your edges.
She danced around him in the snow, poking his chest, his stomach, his side. “Goodness! You’re very solid. This is strenuous work.” He started to laugh. “It’s working! The beguiling has begun. The Fjerdan has fallen. You are powerless to resist me. You—”
Again she leaned in. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, her mouth slightly open. Her lips were bare inches from his. If he sat up straighter, they’d be kissing.
“You have to look at me,” she instructed.
/I am./ He shifted his gaze to hers. /Do you remember this shore, Nina?/
He held up his gun. “Show me your papers.”
“No papers, Lars.”
The witchhunter’s head snapped up as Matthias stepped forwards. “Do I know you?”
“You did once, though I looked a bit different. Hje marden, Lars?”
“Helvar?” he asked. “They … they said you were dead.”
“I was.”
“What the hell was that song?”
“National anthem,” Wylan said smugly. “Schoolroom Fjerdan, remember?”
Jesper shook his head. “I’m impressed. With you and your tutors.”
The opposite wall was adorned by an enormous banner with no discernible pattern, a patchwork of slender strips of cloth – mostly red and blue, but some purple, too. It took Jesper a moment to understand what he was seeing.
“I need your skills, Inej. That’s not the same thing. You may be the best spider crawling around the Barrel, but you’re not the only one. You’d do well to remember it if you want to keep your share of the haul.”
“I wonder what Matthias would have to say about that outfit.”
“He wouldn’t approve.”
“He doesn’t approve of anything about you. But when you laugh, he perks up like a tulip in fresh water.”
“And don’t feign concern for Inej when you’re planning to send her climbing up six storeys of chimney with only a rope and a prayer.”
“The Wraith can manage it.”
“The Wraith is a sixteen-year-old girl currently lying unconscious on a table. She may not even survive the night.”
The thought to bring Nina a cup entered his head, and he crushed it. He didn’t need to tend to her or tell Brekker that she could use relief. He clenched his fingers, looking at the scabbed knuckles. She had seeded such weakness in him.
“Guilty of what?” Nina asked softly.
“Crimes against the people.”
“Which people?”
He could hear the barely leashed anger in her voice. “Natural people,” Matthias replied. “People who live in harmony with the laws of this world instead of twisting them for their own gain.”
Later, he wasn’t sure why he said it. He’d never told anyone, never spoken the words aloud. But now Kaz kept his eyes on the sails above them and said, “Pekka Rollins killed my brother.”
“Don’t want you dead, Wraith. You’re quite the prize. Can’t wait to hear all the gossip you’ve gathered for Dirtyhands, and all his secrets, too. I love a good story.”
“I can tell you how this one ends,” she said on an unsteady breath. “But you’re not going to like it.”
“It’s not a compliment. I’m nothing like him. I don’t belong here.”
“No arguments from me.”
“And you don’t belong here, either.”
“I beg your pardon, merchling?”
She knew her body’s limits, and she knew she had no more to give. She’d made a bad wager. It was as simple as that. The autumn leaf might cling to its branch, but it was already dead. The only question was when it would fall.
“And you’re going to keep your mouth shut about it when we get back to Ketterdam.”
“But why would you lie about—”
“I like walking the streets free,” said Jesper. “I like not worrying about being snatched up by a slaver or put to death by some skiv like our friend Helvar here.”