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Kaz proceeded to explain the plan—well thought out, like all of Kaz's plans. Sure to run into snags, Jesper was sure. But they would handle them. There was no doubt in his mind that by the end of the night, Kaz would be in Pekka Rollins' shoes. Possibly literally.

"Nina and I will handle the Emerald Palace. See you there," Kaz finished.

Jesper spoke their traditional good luck mantra. "No mourners."

Kaz and Inej finished it. "No funerals."

Nina lifted her beer mug to that.

As he walked off with Jesper and Inej, Wylan asked, "Why do you guys say that? Why isn't it just 'good luck' or 'be safe'?"

Jesper smiled a little at the question, but it reminded him how poorly suited Wylan was to the life of a Crow. With him around, there would always be a mourner.

Behind him, Inej answered, "We like to keep our expectations low," and Wylan had to be satisfied with that, although he wondered if he would ever feel like he truly belonged.

Wylan and Jesper were in charge of handing out the vials of Wylan's compound and revelers' costumes to the Dregs, formerly Per Haskell's crew and now, by some particularly Kaz-ian magic, working for the Crows. They would take their part in spraying the compound around at Pekka's holdings. By the time all the vials had been taken, the sun was down, and the streets were filled with partiers, making it easy to move around in their costumes.

Jesper enjoyed spraying down the card tables, pocketing the occasional chip just because he could. Walking among the chaos was lovely; creating more chaos in the process was tremendous fun.

He lingered long enough to make sure it was working. Wylan had come through in spades—if Jesper hadn't known what was happening, he would have been completely convinced that firepox was spreading through Pekka's clubs.

The sirens were wailing in the distance by the time Jesper let himself into the main barroom of the Emerald Palace. He took a quick review of the situation. Kaz was on his feet, although he'd clearly taken a beating; Nina was held at bay with a gun pointed at her heart. And Pekka Rollins was loading a pistol, ready to aim it at Kaz's head.

Because this was Kaz's plan, and Kaz would have it mapped out twelve moves from here, Jesper didn't interfere. He quietly took a seat at the bar, keeping his costume on so he wouldn't be recognized, and kept a hand near his gun, just in case it was needed.

He made eye contact with Nina just as Pekka cocked the pistol and aimed it.

Calmly, as though they were having tea, Kaz said, "I'd reconsider. If you want to see your Kaelish prince again."

Jesper winced. He knew Kaz had already made his plans for the boy before Jesper and Wylan had found him, but he still felt guilty about it.

Pekka still thought they were talking about the club. The boy's name brought silence down on the room. Jesper could hear Kaz's breathing. Broken rib, he'd guess.

"I will kill everything you love, Brekker," Pekka said.

"The trick is not to love anything. Your mistake was that you let someone get in. Someone you'd sacrifice everything for … and it makes you weak."

Did it? Jesper loved Inej. And yes, he was pretty sure he loved Kaz. He would sacrifice everything for one of them—they were a family, and that's what you did. But that didn't feel weak. They made him stronger, if anything, watching his back as he watched theirs. He wondered if Kaz really believed he didn't love anything. It was possible he did. If so … maybe that was his weakness, the lies he told himself.

Kaz went on to tell Brekker he had buried Alby alive. Jesper couldn't imagine that. Not even Kaz would take such liberties with a child's life. But he sold it well, and Jesper couldn't be entirely sure he wasn't telling the truth. Nina would know, but she was hardly in a position where he could ask her.

"What the hell do you want?" Pekka forced the words out between clenched teeth.

"I want you to remember."

And then the story came out, the one Kaz had never told them, about two young boys with a little money to keep them alive, the foolish gamble one of them was led to make with that money, the con man who had taken everything from them and disappeared …

"They ended up on the streets, and they both died. But one of us was reborn."

Pekka didn't remember at first—too many pigeons, as Kaz said to him. And he was wild, desperate with fear for Alby. He shoved Kaz up against the wall, aiming the pistol directly at his head. "You—you tell me where to find my son!"

Nina and Jesper exchanged a look, a question in her eyes, whether they should step in. But Kaz was still master of himself, and thus the situation, so Jesper shook his head. They would wait.

"It's a simple trade, Rollins. Speak my brother's name and your son lives."

The man holding a gun on Nina had lowered it, fascinated by the face-off between Kaz and Rollins. She joined Jesper at the bar, finishing the whiskey he'd poured for himself. It occurred to Jesper that Inej should be here by now. He imagined Kaz had noticed her absence as well, but he was covering any concern he might feel. Wylan wasn't here, either, and Jesper tried not to worry, tried to imagine that Wylan was taking this chance to get shed of them, once and for all. Jesper wouldn't blame him if he did, although he was pretty sure by this point that he'd miss him. Just a little. The way he might miss his arm if it were suddenly removed, for example.

Kaz's brother's name was gone from the mists of Pekka's memory, if he had ever been sure of it in the first place. He had given up trying. "I'll give you whatever you want, Brekker. I'm begging you."

"Are you?" Kaz said softly, emotionlessly. His eyes held Pekka's with unmistakable meaning, and in the face of that unblinking gaze, the King of the Barrel knelt in front of the leader of the Crows.

Jesper and Nina both exhaled the breath they'd been holding, and all of Pekka's men shifted their feet and glanced at one another. Whatever happened tonight, he was never coming back from this. Not to anything like his former dominance.

Kaz removed two papers from inside his coat. "A confession for the murders of Tante Heleen and Constable Sem. And a quitclaim deed for Inej Ghafa." He threw them down in front of Pekka and produced a pen as if from thin air. "Sign both … if you want to find your son alive."

Pekka signed, and stood up, maintaining more dignity than Jesper would have expected for a man in his position. "Where is my son?"

"Black Veil Cemetery. You'll need all your men digging to find him in time."

Pekka's men vacated the room, leaving Kaz in sole possession, and Nina and Jesper waiting to see what Kaz would do.

He turned his head, fixing them with that wide-eyed gaze. "Where is she?"

Jesper shook his head, trying not to be worried. "Not here yet. Maybe she ran into a complication." Maybe Wylan had, too.

"She should be here." Kaz turned his head to the door, where a policeman waited hesitantly. "This is what you came for." He held out the confession. "You'll find him in Black Veil Cemetery."

"The plague cemetery?"

"That's the one." Kaz nearly smiled at the panic on the policeman's face. "And my people and I, we are free to resume our business?"

The policeman looked over the confession. "That you are, Mr. Brekker. Our apologies for the inconvenience."

"Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes. Of course."

And the policeman was gone. Kaz turned to them again. "Name your club, Jesper."

"Let's—let's find Inej first. And Wylan."

Nina looked at him sharply, and he wondered if the worry he was trying not to feel was evident in his voice. Or his heartbeat.

"They were to meet us here."

"Maybe they went to the crypt," Nina suggested. "Besides, don't you want to see them take Pekka down?"

Slowly, Kaz nodded. "Let's go watch the King of the Barrel fall."