CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
vol ii — home turf

EVERYONE WAS STILL running on the high of their mission from the night, Dinara wanting nothing more than to curl up into a hall and sleep for days. "Guess what we saw on our way out of the Lid?

"Two Shu warships sitting in the harbor."
"I was going to make them guess."
"Shu?"
"Cannons out, red flags flying."

Kaz looked up at the group, "I talked to Specht earlier. The embassies are full up with diplomats and soldiers. Zemeni, Kaelish, Ravkan."

Jesper looked at the leader startled, his mind racing with the reason that they were here in Ketterdam. "You think they know about Kuwei?"

"I think they know about parem. Rumors, at least. And there were plenty of interested parties at the Ice Court to pick up gossip about Kuwei's... liberation. The Fjerdan's are here too. They've got a whole contingent of drüskelle with them," Kaz said to Matthias, the blonde haired boy scrunching his nose up.

"Isn't it nice to be wanted?" Jesper asked Kuwei, nudging his shoulder with the boys, trying to get a positive reaction out of him.

"This is good for us. The Shu and the Fjerdan's don't know where to start looking for Kuwei, and all those diploids making trouble at the Stadhall are going to create some nice noise to distract Van Eck," Kaz said. He was stroking his crow head on the top of his cane, the plan coming together seamlessly in his mind.

"What happened at Smeet's office? Did you find out where Van Eck is keeping her?" Nina asked, sitting at the edge of her seat, clinging onto the hope that the other girl that made up their trio would be found safely and alive.

"I have a pretty good idea. We strike at midnight."
"Is that enough time to prepare?"

"It's all the time we have," Dinara said gloomily, not happy that they were going to have to be rushed in order to have a rescue mission happen.
"How's the weevil coming along, love?"

"The weevil," Jesper asked. His interest was piqued and he needed to know exactly what this mysterious weevil was.

Wylan removed a small vial from his pocket, catching the attention of the Fjerdan, who peered down at the object, his eyebrows knitted. "That's a weevil?"

Wylan let out a small laugh, trying to contain the blush that was wanting to spread onto his cheeks due to all the attention. "Not a real weevil. It's a chemical weevil. It doesn't really have a name yet."

"You've got to give it a name. How else are you going to call it for dinner?" Jesper asked cheekily, only narrowly dodging the heel that was headed for his head at alarming speed ( courtesy of Dinara ).

"Forget what it's called," Kaz snapped at Jesper, having had enough of his antics. Jesper stared at him with an alarming look, wondering why the hell he was being yelled at when Dinara literally threw her shoe at him. "What matters is that this little vial is going to eat Van Eck's bank accounts and his reputation."

"Possibly. The chemistry is complicated. I was hoping Kuwei would help," Wylan said sheepishly, glancing over at Dinara for back up, only receiving a small smile that gave him confidence.

Dinara turned her head to Nina, watching as she whispered something in Shu to Kuwei, not understanding a word that left her lips. The boy sat there with his lip jutted out, giving the Grisha a small shrug.

"Well?"
"I have other interests."
"I suggest rethinking your priorities."

"That's Kaz's way of saying, 'Help Wylan or I'll deal you up in one of these tombs and see how that suits your interests,'" Jesper said, giving the Shu boy another nudge. No one knew how much the Shu boy managed to understand anything that they said, but he clearly understood the message, swallowing harshly and nodding his head. "The power of negotiation."

"Wylan — and the obliging Kuwei — will get the weevil working. Once we have Inej, we can move on to Van Eck's silos."

"Good thing this is all about getting our money and not about saving Inej. Definitely not about that," Nina said, rolling her eyes at the Brekker boy.

"If you don't care about money, Nina dear, then call it by its other names?"
"Kruge? Scrub? Kaz's one true love?"
"Freedom, security, retribution."
"You can't put a price on those things."

"No, but I bet Jesper can. It's the price of the lien in his father's farm," Kaz said, sending the sharpshooter a harsh glare. "What about you, Wylan? Can you put a price on the chance to walk away from Ketterdam and live your own life? And Nina, I suspect you and your Fjerdan may want something more to subsist on than patriotism and longing glances. Dinara wants the money to get a farm and move far away from here. Inej might have a number in mind too. It's the price of the future, and it's Van Eck's turn to pay."

"The Wraith's life is worth more than that. To all of us," Matthias said, sending a look at Nina and Dinara, silently vowing that he would get the girl that made them complete back.

"We get Inej. We get our money. It's as simple as that," Kaz said, not seeing that there would be a problem that they couldn't handle when it came to Van Eck.

"Right, because simple always works out in our books," Dinara said sarcastically. "There has never been a time where a mission has been simple. The only simple thing in my life is being with sweet old Ivan. Speaking of which, Kaz, love, he wants to meet you."

"Put it on the calendar," Kaz said, blushing a light pink when the girl sent him a wink. He had been standing up, but decided to take a seat next to her, his cane brushing up against her leg — which was the closest he would allow himself to be with her in front of people.

"Simple as that. Did you know I'm next in line for the Fjerdan throne? They call me Princess Ilse of Engelsberg," Nina said, looking down to examine her nails.

"There is no princess of Engelsberg. It's a fishing town," Matthias said, looking at Nina with a confused but loving glance.

"If we're going to lie to ourselves, we might as well be grand about it," Nina said, letting out a small shrug, "and I want to be a princess." Kaz ignored her, spreading the map out over the table, smoothing out any of the creases.

"Why won't he just say that he wants to get her back?"
"You've met Kaz, right?"
"But she's one of us."

Jesper's brows rose so high that they almost disappeared under his hat. "One of us? Does that mean she knows the secret handshake? Does that mean you're ready to get the tattoo?" he asked, running his finger up Wylan's forearm, getting a bright pink blush out of him. Dinara shook her head, sparing a glance with Matthias, both of them thinking they could forget Kaz's plans and just let Jesper and Nina seduce the city instead.

"Inej is part of the crows."
"Just don't push it."
"Why not?"

"Because the practical thing would be for Kaz to auction Kuwei to the highest hitter and forget about Inej entirely," Dinara said, a bitter look crossing her face. She knew that it's just the way Kaz worked, not having any emotional attachments, to afraid that everyone was going to leave him.

"He wouldn't—" Wylan started, but suddenly stopped. He realized that it was something Kaz would do, a startling look on his face as he pictured them forgetting about Inej.

"Okay, Kaz," Nina started, "since this is about the almighty plan, how about you stop meditating over that map and tell us just what we're in for."

"I have a feeling that it's nothing good," Dinara said, a grim look crossing her face, which suddenly turned into a smirk. "Which is the best type."

this is just wylan being baby. protect him at all costs