Crooked Kingdom: Book 2 (Six of Crows)

by Bardugo, Leigh

  And he was a boy who deserved a chance to live without a target on his back.

  “The antidote?” Nina asked, looking at the syringe in Genya’s hand.

  “This is the second dose she’s injected,” said Kaz.

  They all watched as Genya checked his pulse, his breathing. She shook her head.

  “Zoya,” said Sturmhond. His voice had the ring of command.

  Zoya sighed and pushed up her sleeves. “Unbutton his shirt.”

  “What are you doing?” Kaz asked as Genya undid Kuwei’s remaining buttons. His chest was narrow, his ribs visible, all of it spattered with the pig’s blood they’d encased in the wax bladder.

  “I’m either going to wake up his heart or cook him from the inside out,” said Zoya. “Stand back.”

  They did their best to obey in the cramped space. “What exactly does she mean by that?” Kaz asked Nina.

  “I’m not sure,” Nina admitted. Zoya had her hands out and her eyes closed. The air felt suddenly cool and moist.

  Inej inhaled deeply. “It smells like a storm.”

  Zoya opened her eyes and brought her hands together as if in prayer, rubbing her palms against each other briskly.

  Nina felt the pressure drop, tasted metal on her tongue. “I think … I think she’s summoning lightning.”

  “Is that safe?” asked Inej.

  “Not remotely,” said Sturmhond.

  “Has she at least done it before?” said Kaz.

  “For this purpose?” asked Sturmhond. “I’ve seen her do it twice. It worked splendidly. Once.” His voice was oddly familiar, and Nina had the sense they’d met before.

  “Ready?” Zoya asked.

  Genya shoved a thickly folded piece of fabric between Kuwei’s teeth and stepped back. With a shudder, Nina realized it was to keep him from biting his tongue.

  “I really hope she gets this right,” murmured Nina.

  “Not as much as Kuwei does,” said Kaz.

  “It’s tricky,” said Sturmhond. “Lightning doesn’t like a master. Zoya’s putting her own life at risk too.”

  “She didn’t strike me as the type,” Kaz said.

  “You’d be surprised,” Nina and Sturmhond replied in unison. Again, Nina had the eerie sensation that she knew him.

  She saw that Rotty had squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch. Inej’s lips were moving in what Nina knew must be a prayer.

  A faint blue glow crackled between Zoya’s palms. She took a deep breath and slapped them down on Kuwei’s chest.

  Kuwei’s back bowed, his whole body arcing so sharply Nina thought his spine might snap. Then he slammed back down against the stretcher. His eyes didn’t open. His chest remained motionless.

  Genya checked his pulse. “Nothing.”

  Zoya scowled and clapped her palms together again, a light sweat breaking out over her perfect brow. “Are we absolutely sure we want him to live?” she huffed. No one answered, but she kept rubbing her hands together, that crackle building once more.

  “What is this even supposed to do?” said Inej.

  “Shock his heart into returning to its rhythm,” said Genya. “And the heat should help denature the poison.”

  “Or kill him,” said Kaz.

  “Or kill him,” conceded Genya.

  “Now,” said Zoya, her voice determined. Nina wondered if she was anxious for Kuwei to survive or if she just hated to fail at anything.

  Zoya jolted her open palms against Kuwei’s chest. His body bent like a green branch caught by an unforgiving wind, and once more collapsed against the stretcher.

  Kuwei gasped, eyes flying open. He strug gled to sit up, trying to spit out the wad of fabric.

  “Thank the Saints,” said Nina.

  “Thank me ,” said Zoya.

  Genya moved to restrain him, and his eyes widened further as panic seized him.

  “Shhh,” Nina murmured, moving forward. Kuwei knew Genya and Zoya only as members of the Ravkan delegation. They might as well be strangers. “It’s all right. You’re alive. You’re safe.”

  Inej joined her at his side, removed the fabric from his mouth, smoothed back his hair. “You’re safe,” she repeated.

  “The auction—”

  “It’s over.”

  “And the Shu?”

  His golden eyes were terrified, and Nina understood just how frightened he had been.

  “They saw you die,” Nina reassured him. “So did everyone. Representatives from every country saw you get shot in the heart. The medik and hospital staff will testify to your death.”

  “The body—”

  “By tonight, it will be collected by the bodymen,” said Kaz. “It’s over.”

  Kuwei flopped back down, threw an arm over his eyes, and burst into tears. Nina patted him gently. “I know what you mean, kid.”

  Zoya placed her hands on her hips. “Is anyone going to thank me—or Genya, for that matter—for this little miracle?”

  “Thank you for nearly killing and then reviving the most valuable hostage in the world so you could use him for your own gain,” Kaz said. “Now you need to go. The streets are almost empty, and you need to get to the manufacturing district.”

  Zoya’s beautiful blue eyes slitted. “Show your face in Ravka, Brekker. We’ll teach you some manners.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. When they burn me on the Reaper’s Barge, I definitely want to be remembered as polite .”

  “Come with us now, Nina,” urged Genya.

  Nina shook her head. “The job isn’t over, and Kuwei is too weak to make the walk anyway.”

  Zoya pursed her lips. “Just don’t forget where your loyalties lie.” She climbed out of the bottleboat, followed by Genya and Sturmhond.

  The privateer turned back to the bottleboat and gazed down at Nina. His eyes were an odd color, and his features didn’t quite seem to fit together properly. “In case you’re tempted not to return, I want you to know you and your Fjerdan are welcome in Ravka. We can’t estimate how much parem the Shu may still have or how many of those Kherguud soldiers they’ve made. The Second Army needs your gifts.”

  Nina hesitated. “I’m not … I’m not what I was.”

  “You’re a soldier,” said Zoya. “You’re Grisha. And we’d be lucky to have you.”

  Nina’s jaw dropped. That almost sounded like praise.

  “Ravka is grateful for your service,” Sturmhond said as they turned to go. “And so is the crown.” He waved once. In the late afternoon light, with the sun behind him, he looked less like a privateer and more like … But that was just silly.

  “I need to get back to the church,” said Kaz. “I don’t know what the Council is going to do with Wylan.”

  “Go,” said Nina. “We’ll wait here for Matthias.”

  “Stay alert,” Kaz said. “Keep him out of sight until nightfall. Then you know where to go.”

  Kaz climbed from the boat and vanished back in the direction of the Church of Barter.

  Nina didn’t think it would be safe to offer Kuwei wine, so she offered him some water and encouraged him to rest.

  “I’m afraid to close my eyes,” he said.

  Nina strained to see over the lip of the canal and down the street. “What’s taking Matthias so long? Do you think that medik gave him trouble?” But then she saw him striding toward her across the empty square. He raised his hand in greeting.

  She leapt from the boat and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms.

  “Drüsje ,” he said against her hair. “You’re all right.”

  “Of course I’m all right. You’re the one who’s late.”

  “I thought I wouldn’t be able to find you in the storm.”

  Nina pulled back. “Did you stop to get drunk on the way here?”

  He cupped her cheek with his hand. “No,” he said, and then he kissed her.

  “Matthias!”

  “Did I do it wrong?”

  “No, you did it splendidly. But I’m the one who always ki
sses you first.”

  “We should change that,” he said, and then he slumped against her.

  “Matthias?”

  “It’s nothing. I needed to see you again.”

  “Matthias—oh, Saints.” The coat he’d been holding fell away and she saw the bullet wound in his stomach. His shirt was soaked with blood. “Help!” she screamed. “Somebody help!” But the streets were empty. The doors barred. The windows shut up. “Inej!” she cried.

  He was too heavy. They sank to the cobblestones and Nina cradled his head gently in her lap. Inej was sprinting toward them.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “He’s been shot. Oh, Saints, Matthias, who did this?” They had so many enemies.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he said. His breath sounded strange and thready. “All I wanted was to see you once more. Tell you—”

  “Get Kuwei,” Nina said to Inej. “Or Kaz. He has parem . You have to get it for me. I can save him. I can fix him.” But was that even true? If she used the drug, would her power return to what it had been? She could try. She had to try.

  Matthias grabbed her hand with surprising strength. It was wet with his own blood. “No, Nina.”

  “I can fight it a second time. I can heal you and then I can fight it.”

  “It’s not worth the risk.”

  “It’s worth every risk,” she said. “Matthias—”

  “I need you to save the others.”

  “What others?” she asked desperately.

  “The other drüskelle . Swear to me you’ll at least try to help them, to make them see.”

  “We’ll go together, Matthias. We’ll be spies. Genya will tailor us and we’ll go to Fjerda together. I’ll wear all the ugly knitted vests you want.”

  “Go home to Ravka, Nina. Be free, as you were meant to be. Be a warrior, as you always have been. Just save some mercy for my people. There has to be a Fjerda worth saving. Promise me.”

  “I promise.” The words were more sob than sound.

  “I have been made to protect you. Even in death, I will find a way.” He clasped her hand tighter. “Bury me so I can go to Djel. Bury me so I can take root and follow the water north.”

  “I promise, Matthias. I’ll take you home.”

  “Nina,” he said, pressing her hand to his heart. “I am already home.”

  The light vanished from his eyes. His chest stilled beneath her hands.

  Nina screamed, a howl that tore from the black space where her heart had beat only moments before. She searched for his pulse, for the light and force that had been Matthias. If I had my power. If I’d never taken parem. If I had parem. She felt the river around her, the black waters of grief. She reached into the cold.

  Matthias’ chest rose, his body shook.

  “Come back to me,” she whispered. “Come back.”

  She could do this. She could give him a new life, a life born of that deep water. He was no ordinary man. He was Matthias, her brave Fjerdan.

  “Come back ,” she demanded. He breathed. His eyelids fluttered and opened. His eyes shone black.

  “Matthias,” she whispered. “Speak my name.”

  “Nina.”

  His voice, his beautiful voice. It was the same. She clutched his hand, searching for him in that black gaze. But his eyes had been the ice of the north, palest blue, pure. This was all wrong.

  Inej was kneeling beside her. “Let him go, Nina.”

  “I can’t.”

  Inej placed her arm around Nina’s shoulder. “Let him go to his god.”

  “He should be here with me.”

  Nina touched his cold cheek. There must be a way to take this back, to make this right. How many impossible things had they accomplished together?

  “You will meet him again in the next life,” said Inej. “But only if you suffer this now.”

  They were twin souls, soldiers destined to fight for different sides, to find each other and lose each other too quickly. She would not keep him here. Not like this.

  “In the next life then,” she whispered. “Go.” She watched his eyes close once more. “Farvell ,” she said in Fjerdan. “May Djel watch over you until I can once more.”

  M atthias was dreaming again. Dreaming of her. The storm raged around him, drowning out Nina’s voice. And yet his heart was easy. Somehow he knew that she would be safe, she would find shelter from the cold. He was on the ice once more, and somewhere he could hear the wolves howling. But this time, he knew they were welcoming him home.

  W ylan sat between Alys and Jesper in a pew near the front of the church. The Ravkans, Shu, and Fjerdans had gotten themselves into a tangle of a fistfight that had left several soldiers bruised and bleeding and the Fjerdan ambassador with a dislocated shoulder. There was angry talk of trade sanctions and retribution on all sides. But for now, some semblance of order had been restored. Most of the auction goers had long since fled or been ushered out by the stadwatch . The Shu had departed, issuing threats of military action for the death of one of their citizens.

  The Fjerdans had apparently marched to the doors of the Stadhall to demand that Matthias Helvar be found and arrested, only to be informed that emergency plague measures prohibited public assembly. They were to return to their embassy immediately or risk being forcibly removed from the streets.

  People were bruised and concussed, and Wylan had heard that one woman’s hand had been crushed when she’d gotten knocked to the floor during the panicked rush to the cathedral door. But few went to the clinics or hospitals for care. No one wanted to risk exposure to the plague that was spreading through the Barrel. Only the Merchant Council and a few of the stadwatch remained near the altar, arguing in hushed tones that occasionally rose to something more like shouting.

  Wylan, Jesper, Alys, and her maid were bracketed by stadwatch , and Wylan hoped Kaz had been right to insist he remain at the church. He wasn’t sure if he felt like the officers were there to protect him or keep him under watch. By the way Jesper kept drumming his fingers on his knees, Wylan suspected he was feeling equally nervous. It didn’t help that it hurt every time Wylan breathed or that his head felt like a timpani being savaged by an overenthusiastic percussionist.

  He was a mess, there had nearly been a riot, and Ketterdam’s reputation was in tatters, and yet Wylan had to smile to himself.

  “What are you so happy about?” Jesper asked.

  Wylan glanced at Alys and whispered, “We did it. And I know Kaz had his own motives, but I’m pretty sure that we just helped prevent a war.” If Ravka had won the auction, the Shu or the Fjerdans would have found some excuse to launch an attack on Ravka to get their hands on Kuwei. Now Kuwei would be safe, and even if someone else eventually developed parem , the Ravkans might soon be on their way to developing an antidote.

  “Probably,” said Jesper, his teeth flashing white. “What’s one little international incident among friends?”

  “I think Keeg may have broken my nose.”

  “And after Genya made it so nice and straight.”

  Wylan hesitated. “You can go if you need to. I know you must be worried about your father.”

  Jesper glanced at the stadwatch . “I’m not sure our new pals would just let me walk out of here. Besides, I don’t want anyone following me to him.”

  And Wylan had heard Kaz tell Jesper to stay.

  Alys rubbed a hand over her belly. “I’m hungry,” she said, glancing over to where the Merchant Council were still arguing. “When do you think we’ll get to go home?”

  Wylan and Jesper exchanged a glance.

  At that moment, a young man raced up the aisle of the cathedral and handed a sheaf of papers to Jellen Radmakker. They bore the pale green seal of the Gemensbank, and Wylan suspected they would show that all of the Merchant Council’s money had been funneled from a false jurda fund directly into an account intended for the Shu.

  “This is madness!” shouted Van Eck. “You can’t possibly believe any of it!”

&n
bsp; Wylan stood to get a better look, then sucked in a breath at the sharp clap of pain from his ribs. Jesper put a hand out to steady him. But what Wylan saw near the podium drove all thoughts of pain from his mind: A stadwatch officer was clapping shackles on his father, who was thrashing like a fish caught on a line.

  “It’s Brekker’s work,” said Van Eck. “He set up the fund. Find the farmer. Find Pekka Rollins. They’ll tell you.”

  “Stop making a spectacle of yourself,” Radmakker whispered furiously. “For the sake of your family, show some self-control.”

  “Self-control? When you have me in chains?”

  “Be calm, man. You’ll be taken to the Stadhall to await charges. Once you’ve paid your bail—”

  “Bail? I am a member of the Merchant Council. My word—”

  “Is worth nothing!” snapped Radmakker, as Karl Dryden bristled in a way that reminded Wylan distinctly of Alys’ terrier when he spotted a squirrel. “You should be grateful we don’t throw you in Hellgate right now. Seventy million kruge of the Council’s money has vanished. Kerch has been made a laughingstock. Do you have any idea of the damage you caused today?”

  Jesper sighed. “We do all the work and he gets all the credit?”

  “What is happening?” Alys asked, reaching for Wylan’s hand. “Why is Jan in trouble?”

  Wylan felt sorry for her. She was sweet and silly and had never done anything more than marry where her family bid her. If Wylan had the right of it, his father would be brought up on charges of fraud and treason. Knowingly entering into a false contract for the purpose of subverting the market wasn’t just illegal, it was considered blasphemy, a blight on the works of Ghezen, and the penalties were harsh. If his father was found guilty, he’d be stripped of his right to own property or hold funds. His entire fortune would pass to Alys and his unborn heir. Wylan wasn’t sure Alys was ready for that kind of responsibility.