She was not, as Kaz and Jesper liked to tease, a delicate princess. While the base of the Second Army was named the Little Palace, hardly anything about Nina's life in Russia had been luxurious. That did not mean that she was content to wear itchy clothing that most certainly hadn't ever seen soap nor water.
"Are the filthy clothes really necessary?" she had asked when Kaz instructed them to get changed.
"Apologies that you have to suffer with the common people, Your Majesty." The bastard had the audacity to give a deep bow.
Nina threw the bread roll she had been munching on at his head before turning to join Inej. One day, Kaz Brekker would annoy her past the point of no return. She was still deciding how she wanted to rid the world of Dirtyhands.
As the bus approached the prison, nervous tension seeped into her mind. Matthias was within her reach. Dull grey brick buildings sprawled low behind an imposing wall of iron and stone. For all of the medieval architecture that still existed in Russia, Nina hadn't expected a fortress like this here in America. The bus rumbled to a pause at the gate and the driver conferred with one of the two guards stationed there. It lasted only a second, but Nina held her breath as they signalled for the gates to be unlocked. The screech of the iron opening caused several of the other passengers to flinch. Nina bit down on the impulse to seek out Inej's eyes as the bus moved into the courtyard. They were in.
The bus disembarked on the east side of the complex. Nina took the opportunity to examine the other passengers. Not all of them were cleaners. Of the thirty or so people, ten looked to be cooks of some sort, based on their aprons. Understandably, the wardens probably didn't want to allow the prisoners access to knives. The group was instructed to line up again and present their papers to a guard before entering the building. Kaz and Wylan were shuffled off to the opposite side of the girls. Nina strained her ears to hear where they were destined to go. The kitchens were to be blessed with the presence of the boys. She shuddered to think of the terror the pair of them could cause there.
Inej slipped in behind Nina and gave her a reassuring glance under the grime on her face. Wylan had suggested the girls attempt to look unkempt. The guards and the prisoners were bound to be a bit rough and there was no need to catch their eye with a pretty face. Inej's eyes had darkened at his words and she'd dragged Nina off to smear dirt on themselves. Nina wasn't sure her hair would ever recover from the ratting the other girl had inflicted on it.
The guard scrutinized Nina's papers when she reached the front. She clasped her hands in front of her and kept her eyes downward. Zoya's oft repeated chastisement of You are too...boisterous echoed through her mind.
"Eleanor Parker?" he barked. "New?"
"Yes, sir."
He gave her one more hard look before thrusting her papers back and checking something off of his clipboard.
"Visitor's room, cellblock five. See Mr. Murphy regardin' supplies and an escort."
It was as close as Nina could get to Matthias' block without actually being in it. She kept the conflicting relief and terror off of her face as she entered the building. The escort was worrying and potentially problematic. She would have to either lose the tail or knock him out before meeting the others. Nina paused to tie her boot just inside the door. She listened to the man giving Inej her assignment.
"Same as Miss Parker: visitor's room, cellblock five," the guard grunted. "Got a visitin' day tomorrow and the governor's set to tour. Need it spick and span."
Interesting, Nina thought as the Wraith appeared at her side. Would the guards inside be more vigilant? Or would they be distracted by the governor's impending visit? There were too many variables they hadn't accounted for. The plan felt ready to fall apart at the seams before they had ever even seen the inside of a prison block. Nina glanced at Inej, but the usual detachment of the Wraith gave nothing away.
Tension creeped into Nina's fingers like a winding vine. The inside of the receiving room seemed made of the same dull brick of the outside. Spartan benches lined the walls, though no one was seated. Nina and Inej had been near the end of the line. A stout man glared up at the girls as they approached. She could only assume this goblin was Mr. Murphy.
"Visitor's room, cellblock five?" Nina asked hesitantly. Careful, don't want to overdo the shrinking violet act.
The gremlin barked a series of commands in Spanish at the people standing behind him. Though Nina had learned Spanish a lifetime ago at the Little Palace, she could barely understand him. She caught "towels", "vinegar", and "Cunningham" before a hardened old woman thrust a grey bundle into her arms. Inej almost pitched over when a vat of vinegar the size of a large toddler was similarly shoved at her. Nina was also expected to carry a mop and bucket. She just managed to keep an acidic remark from leaving her mouth.
Cunningham was apparently a weedy guard built similarly to the mop in Nina's hands. His tangle of messy red curls looked nothing the the bronze halo Wylan wore. Where the second-best demolitions expert on Fremont looked cherubic, Cunningham appeared unwashed. His personality left something to be desired as well. The guard gestured lethargically for the girls to follow him down a dank hallway.
The transition from paper map to physical maze was jarring. Signs announcing what lay behind various doors kept Nina from getting herself fully lost. It seemed to take ages for the trio to reach the heart of cellblock five.
"They look like pies of some sort," remarked Nina over the blueprints of the cellblocks.
"Are sweets all you think of?" asked Wylan. She shot him a glare, daring him to continue with that train of thought.
Each block was a circular unit no more than two stories high. The cells ran in a loop bordering the visitor's room, galley, and guard command post. A singular exit hall cut through the perimeter of cells into the guard post. The setup allowed for no dark corners for hiding and no easy route out. Inej traced her finger along the plan of cellblock four.
"Forty cells in each block, two men to a cell," she murmured. "It looks like we may run in circles a bit."
The visitor's room was not as dirty as Nina feared. Dust accumulated in the corners and the drinking fountain had a strange brown smear. Vinegar, a wet rag, and a mop would have it visitor friendly in under an hour. Cunningham took a chair at one of the tables and unceremoniously rested his head on his folded arms. Nina plunged his heart rate to a sleeping level. Quick and easy. Two things Nina usually wasn't.
"We have to clean up a little so no one gets suspicious," Inej announced.
"Typical that the women have to clean up while Wylan and Kaz are off doing Saints know what in the kitchens," mumbled Nina as she picked up the mop bucket. Inej chose to ignore her.
They sped through their haphazard cleaning of the room. Neither of their minds were focused too much on scrubbing when they may have to fight against something a lot more fierce than dust bunnies. There was always the chance that the job could go wrong. It had happened before. The crew bore the scars to prove it. Nina couldn't look at Wylan without seeing the mark left behind by the bullet he took for her. She cursed at him in five different languages for trying to be a hero. Stupid boy with his stupid goodness. Some nights Nina still dreamed of his blood on her hands as she healed the wound at his neck.
This was the most dangerous job they had taken yet. The stakes were far higher than lifting a painting or shaking down a mid-level boss who got a little too big for his britches. This was screwing with the government. If we get caught, will they bother with a trial or just throw us in a cell? Nina wasn't sure even Zoya Nazyalensky herself could pull her out of this if she got in over her head. Not that Russia knew she was alive. They probably thought she was dead outside of Wrocław somewhere. Put to the pyre by the Germans. Just another Grisha lost to those monsters. Monsters like Matthias.
"Still not trusting me, Hexenjäger?"
"You're a Hexe, no matter how pretty you talk."
"So you think I'm pretty?"
His voice in her head hurt like a physical ache, but it was a bullet wound rather than a migraine. The pain of it never fully went away. Nina wasn't sure how she was going to handle hearing and seeing the source of it again. All the Healers in the world couldn't heal the bleeding she was expecting.
Inej broke the silence first.
"It's done, I think. How long will he stay out?" She gestured with a tired rag at the uniformed mop.
Nina debated for a moment. "Long enough, hopefully. Assuming no one comes by looking for us."
That seemed to satisfy the other girl and they took off to meet the boys. Even though the prison was inundated with cleaners, cooks, and guards, their path to the storeroom was unobstructed. Inej was right; this feels too easy. The silence was making Nina jumpy. Every cough and shuffle of the prisoners surrounding them made her flinch. Luckily, all the doors for the cells were made of solid steel. A thin slot, too low to the ground for anyone to see them properly, was the only window to the outside world. Nina fought to keep herself from imagining Matthias in such a sterile setting. Nevermind that he's been here for so long already.
Wylan was waiting for them in the cramped storeroom. At first, Nina thought something had gone terribly wrong based on the red covering his face, until he began wiping at it exasperatedly. Garlic and tomato hung in the air.
"Pasta sauce?" Inej asked. Pink bloomed under the vibrant staining.
"I was told I have a hard time following recipes," was all the explanation he would give.
The girls worked to rid Wylan of the substance, though how exactly he had gotten tomato behind his ear Nina would never know. Kaz's abrupt appearance put an end to, what he called, their "incessant pecking" at the kid. From the back of the closet, Inej pulled out a box containing costumes.
"A Midsummer Night's Dream?" Nina asked skeptically.
"Very impressive, Zenik."
"Make me wear an ass' head and find out what happens, Brekker."
Kaz raised an eyebrow in the dark light. "Of course not. You'll be Titania. Helvar will be Nick Bottom."
"It's like watching Mom and Dad fight," Wylan whispered to Inej below Nina's indignant huff. She grabbed the gown and mask out of the other girl's hands and retreated to the corner to change.
When she turned back around, her friends were dressed in the ridiculously frilly Shakespearean getups. Wylan bore the wig and bellows of Francis Flute. Nina was unsure if she had ever seen the Wraith in an actual dress, much less the voluminous gown she now wore, complete with Hippolyta's thick girdle. The mound of fabric dwarfed Inej. The sight was almost as funny as Kaz wearing what appeared to be a full tree and the horns of Puck. Nina bit back a laugh as he adjusted his leaves with gloved hands.
"Don't go giggling too much," he snarled. "You're the one who'll be wearing actual fairy wings."
After the damned wings were secure, masks were set, and the tangles and grime Inej had so thoroughly inflicted were gone, the group set out from the storeroom.
"Why exactly are we dressed like this?" Wylan asked hesitantly.
"We're going to a party, kid. Keep up."
Inej shot Kaz a look. "It was a valid question. You picked this crew for smarts. If you wanted someone who wasn't going to question you, there were other options."
"I'm replacing you all with less chatty substitutes. Can it or consider yourselves fired," he muttered.
It was going to be a long night.
It is a party, Nina thought dumbly. Horror filled her at how these people could mingle and drink surrounded by this much carnage. And they call me the monster.
In what they had thought during planning was an unused gymnasium, masked revelers spun in a dance around a circular pit. Each guest was elegantly dressed in fancy costumes. The crew's Shakespearean getups blended in seamlessly with the shining masquerade. It looks like a dance of the vile or the rusalki. It's like we've wandered into a gruesome fairy realm. Down below, prisoners beat each other bloody and broken. Above, attendees danced and snacked on hors d'oeuvres. Never had Nina seen such blatant disparity between those that have everything and those that have nothing. Not even Russia in the fiercest of winters could be this cruel. Men in suits sporting Dime Lions tattoos snaked through the crowds gathering bets.
"I've got two to one on Helvar breaking both of Schmidt's arms!" called one runner.
It was only Wylan's steadying hand on her elbow that kept Nina from flinching. Thank the Saints her mask covered the majority of her face, because there was no controlling her anger and disgust. She rounded on Kaz to demand an explanation and found nothing but air. Typical. Disappeared before she could get her hands on him.
"Did you know?" she asked Inej. Her pause nearly pushed Nina over the edge, but the Wraith shook her head.
"I knew there was something terrible going on, but not what it was."
The trio moved to gather a drink from the bar. Nina resisted downing hers immediately. She would need her wits about her if they were going to make it out of here. Kaz didn't recruit her for her pretty face. They gathered at a table overlooking the pit. While the rest of the prison was made of clean, sterile lines of steel and concrete, the amphitheater seemed carved out of sandstone. Nina dully remembered the quarry Wylan had mentioned when they went over the maps. The room was large and lit with flaming wall torches. It led to a feeling of primitive grandeur. Inej whispered guesses as to who the other occupants were in Nina's ear. Politicians, merchants, mobsters, Hollywood magnates. The powerful and the wealthy had come to see the lowest of the low battle it out.
"The prisoners volunteer," continued the Wraith. Her hearing missed nothing and she had apparently gathered quite a lot of information on their way from the bar to the table. "They receive private cells, clean blankets, better food. More 'luxurious' treatment than the rest of the population."
Below, the loser of the current fight was dragged back to the door of the arena. The victor postured and raised his hands as the onlookers cheered. The blood left behind on the sand turned Nina's stomach. She steeled herself. You are a soldier in the Second Army. A bit of blood shouldn't make you faint like a schoolgirl. Kaz lowered himself into the empty chair next to her and held out a cigarette case. She took it, curious, as he knew she didn't smoke. On the inside, across from a row of cigarettes, was a note. He fights next. We'll leave after the round following his. To keep the charade, Nina pulled one of the sticks and leaned in to the flame he offered. Now she was nauseous physically and emotionally.
The announcer stepped into the pit once it was clear. The crowd quieted to hear him speak.
"And for our next tournament, we'll have ein sehr interessanter Kampf! Two strapping German men will duke it out for this lovely prize!" He gestured to a cart near the lip of the ring. Covered dishes were revealed by more Dime Lions, displaying an assortment of food. Their table's distance didn't allow Nina to see what exactly they were. The revellers applauded, awaiting carnage eagerly.
"Bring in…Matthias Helvar!"
That's not him, Nina thought wildly. She was wrong.
The Hexenjäger was gone. The boy she had traversed Poland with was gone. Never had she seen his blue eyes so flat and dead. Not even when he had held a gun to her head. This was a changeling, a barbarian. The savage she had once accused him of being. And it was all her fault.
Look, Nina. This is what you did to him. Look at the scars on his arms and chest. See the way they shaved his head? This is his reward for trusting you.
Matthias was impossibly larger. As one of the Grisha hunters he had been trained in combat and had the stature to prove it. The muscles now cording his shoulders seemed almost double in size. Sun-kissed skin from days on the training grounds was traded for a sickly pale that rivaled Kaz's. Standing on the bloodied sand and glaring at the crowd, he finally looked like the monsters Nina had always believed the Hexenjäger to be.
A second man emerged from the doorway. Given the announcer's earlier comments and the height of the prisoner, he was another German. Nina knew this battle would wound Matthias. Countrymen were considered sacred back in Germany. The deep nationalism that ran through the people would make attacking this Schmidt that much harder for him. Nina grabbed at Kaz's foliage covered arm.
"We have to do something!" she whispered. "We can't let this fight go on. What if something goes wrong?"
Matthias picked up a length of chain thrown into the pit. Schmidt grabbed a rusted pipe.
"Release me, Zenik," Kaz growled. She let go. "Helvar will have to get out of this mess himself. He's of no use to me if he can't win a little tussle."
The fight began ruthlessly. Schmidt lunged with the pipe at Matthias' head. He ducked and rolled out of reach. Below the jeering and shouts from the crowd, the pair appeared to be speaking. Matthias pleaded with the other man, but received a swipe to the jaw for his efforts. The blow knocked him back. As soon as his hands hit the dirt, the look on Matthias' face warped. Cold, detached calm spread across his features. He was on his feet in seconds. A leaping pounce had Schmidt pinned under him, the pipe long gone.
In Matthias' hands, the length of chain became a horrific weapon. Schmidt's upper body was squeezed as if a python wrapped around it. His arms were pinned to his sides, no doubt a force of habit from Matthias' training with the Hexenjäger. Gruesome snaps cut through the screaming of the pinned man and the shouting of the crowd. It seemed the Dime Lions' prediction was well made. From Nina's perch she could see tears join the sweat beading down Matthias' face as he moved the chain up and around Schmidt's neck. The crack of his spine signaled the fight was over. The crowd heckled and booed in apparent frustration.
"Why are they so upset?" Nina asked, aghast. "He just killed a man."
Inej's mouth thinned to a line. "They wanted a longer fight."
"That's barbaric!"
"'Hell is empty and all the devils are here,'" said Wylan. He looked green around the edges from the violence. How he had lasted so long on Fremont was a wonder to Nina.
"Not my favorite play, but it'll do," Kaz drawled.
Nina tuned out their banter and turned to the arena. Matthias was led off stage by one of the scampering Dime Lions. The cart rolled past her table, allowing Nina a glance at the food. Badly imitated German fare. The pretzels were limp. The schnitzel looked poorly breaded and soggy. Even the beer was too pale.
A wretched trade for a life, Nina thought. The next competitors were brought out and she forced herself to watch the fight.
"If you poke me one more time with that cane, Brekker, I am going to push my way into that monstrosity you call a brain and–" Nina stopped short as Inej clamped a hand over her mouth and pulled her to a halt.
"Shh!" she hissed. "Listen."
Shuffling sounds and a tinkling of keys echoed from down the circular hall. Nina strained her ears to hear more over the ambient sounds caused by so many men living on top of each other. A voice sliced through clear, like shattered glass on a still night.
"Can it, Helvar. Keep your trap shut and we all get out scot free."
Inej glanced around before spotting a target. Above them was a vent. Nina tried to decipher the quick, silent conversation Inej and Kaz had, but it was over before she understood. Kaz's gloved fingers wove into a basket to boost the small girl up. Luckily they were all out of their ridiculous frippery and back in regular clothing. Saints, they had some luck; the vent opened without a sound. Inej was in the vent in the blink of an eye. Wylan reached to swing the vent door closed before Kaz beckoned him and Nina back into the office.
How does she do that? Nina thought as Inej dropped from the vent in the guard's office moments later. She hadn't even heard her crawling around not two feet above them.
"A couple, one man one woman. The woman is trying to heal Helvar while the man keeps guard. No one I've ever seen before, but the woman looks like trouble," Inej reported under her breath.
"Trouble? Another gang?" Wylan asked.
"There's a tattoo of some kind of blade on her arm," Inej admitted. "But I've never seen it before. Almost like a star. Definitely not one of the Vegas gangs."
"Nevermind that," Kaz said abruptly. Inej looked at him, curious. Whatever the other girl saw, Nina couldn't detect. "Anything about their motives? Who sent them?"
Inej shook her head. "Nothing. Though, they're definitely not on the right side of the law."
"Nina," Kaz barked. "Go around the other side. Take Inej. Wylan and I will engage and you two will come in as soon as their attention is on us."
The girls took off around the loop immediately. Inej's feet made no sound and Nina struggled to make herself as invisible as the Wraith. She failed, but the sounds of the inmates shuffling in their sleep and snoring covered her footfalls. When they were just out of sight of the two strangers, Inej gestured for her to stop in the darkened hall. The smaller girl pulled out one of her knives–where on Earth did that come from?–and Nina lifted her hands.
"The man is closest to us. I'll get a blade on him and you cut off the woman's air," breathed Inej into her ear. She had to stretch en pointe to reach.
"Bit rude to come in and steal the one we're taking?" Nina heard Kaz drawl. "Takes a lot of moxie."
Nina rounded the corner and got the woman in her sights. One clenched fist brought the her to her knees, clutching her throat. Inej danced like the ghost she was named for and held the knife to the man's throat. He went down just as easily as the woman. Kaz and Wylan came around the corner and stood in front of the interlopers. The man's head jutted back from Inej's grasp on his hair, allowing Dirtyhands to look him dead in the eye. Kaz blanched. The man smiled bright and licked his bottom lip.
"Now now," he said. His voice cut like the sharpest edges of Kaz's cruelest snarl. Inej's eyes focused on Kaz's face as she tightened her hold. The other girl's anxiety made Nina focus even more intently on the woman struggling to breathe at her feet. The cane Kaz held fell from a gloved hand.
"Is that any way to greet your brother?"