Finding a way through the Fold would be no easy feat. Even when I had crossed, I'd simply stowed away on a crossing skiff. A friend of mine had been working on it, and she was willing to listen to me and help me sneak on board. But that would do us no good in crossing again.
So we were forced to traverse the city in search of someone, anyone, who knew of a way across. First stop: a Shu brothel owner that Inej had heard of.
"Tell us how to safely cross the Fold," Kaz demanded of her. She paused in filing her nails and looked up at us.
"The Fold?" she asked. She scoffed. "If I knew safe passage through that, I'd be wealthier than the whole Merchant Council." Inej shook her head from the chair she was sitting in.
"You told me you brought in girls from Os Alta," she said quietly. "The other side." The woman nodded.
"Yeah. The hard way. Lost a few to those damn volcra, too." I glanced up at Kaz, and he shook his head. Next, Jesper had heard a man who claimed he knew how to get through, leading us to a low-arched alleyway in one of the darker parts of the city.
"Nah, there's no trick to it," he said, "except how it makes people disappear from time to time." Jesper sighed.
"I heard you bragging of a way to make a path." The man glanced around before lowering his voice.
"I was taking kruge from a tourist. A little lie." He shook his head. "The Fold keeps those Ravkan bastards and their Grisha attack dogs in check. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be if it wasn't there?" I clenched my fists, and Kaz gently hit my hand with his cane. I looked up at him, and he shook his head subtly before leading us all to an underground fight ring, where he spoke to one of the fighters.
"Just go around," the man told us. Kaz shook his head.
"It stretches all the way north to the Fjerdan border." The man nodded.
"Ja. So go to Fjerda. March through the permafrost." Kaz looked down at me.
"How long would that take?" I sighed.
"From here?" He nodded. "Four months. Maybe five. We don't have that kind of time." He nodded, and the man stood up.
"Either you take your time," he told us, "or you take your chances." Kaz gritted his teeth and turned to walk out of the ring, the three of us following close behind. I jogged to catch up to Kaz, falling into step beside him.
"What are we going to do now?" I asked him. He glanced down at me and sighed.
"We'll have to think of something else," he muttered. "How did you get across? He wouldn't have let you go easily." I sighed and shook my head.
"He didn't," I said honestly. "I had help. My grandmother was the one that got me out, and I had a friend that worked the skiffs. She helped me sneak on board and stowaway until we got to Novokribirsk." I shook my head. "But that wouldn't work for this. There are too many of us." He nodded, and when we got back to the Crow Club, Jesper brought us all drinks. I downed my kvas quickly before leaning my head back on my seat.
"Here's what I don't get," Jesper said suddenly. I groaned.
"Saints," I muttered. Inej nodded.
"We're going to be here all night," she said quietly. The Zemini boy glanced between us.
"Rude." He shook his head. "Why haven't they tried going under it? Just dig a tunnel." Kaz shook his head.
"Tried that," he said. "More than a century ago." His grip on his cane tightened. "Something... heard them digging." Jesper nodded.
"It was made hundreds of years ago by that crazy Grisha-"
"The Black Heretic," Inej interjected. I tensed up, and Kaz glanced at me.
"The one who controls shadow. They've got one in their army now."
"General Kirigan," Kaz muttered bitterly. I clenched my fists, feeling the familiar sting of my nails digging into my palm.
"Your point?" Inej asked Jesper.
"If one of his kind made it, can't he unmake it?" I gritted my teeth.
"Have you ever put out fire by adding more fire?" I asked coldly. Kaz looked over at me directly this time and shook his head, a warning flashing in his eyes before they settled back to their usual impartial haze.
"Then what's the opposite?" Jesper asked the table. Inej sat up straighter.
"A Sun Summoner," she told him. He nodded.
"Right, then, one of those." Kaz shook his head.
"Doesn't exist." She shot a glare in his direction.
"Doesn't exist yet." Kaz sits up, leaning towards the table, determination lacing his features.
"Dreesen comes into town, doesn't waste a minute," he said in a low voice. "Sends out for a crew to steal something but doesn't specify what." He shrugged. "Is it heavy, large, worth more than a million on the black market?" I frowned.
"Maybe he doesn't know," I said quietly. Inej sighed.
"We can let this one go, Kaz." Jesper nodded.
"Sounds like a trap, anyway." I shook my head.
"A trap would sound easy," I told him. Kaz nodded.
"This is something else." Bolliger walked up quickly, and we looked up at him.
"Boss," he said urgently. "We intercepted a note from Dreesen. It's for the owner of the Orchid. Says they require the services of a Heartrender. Tonight." Kaz frowned.
"A Heartrender?" he asked. "Why?" Bolliger shrugged.
"Doesn't say. Just they need it before midnight." I turned to Kaz quickly
"Kaz, you don't bring in a Heartrender unless you need an answer out of someone who isn't willing to talk." He nodded.
"That's how we get this job before anyone else," he said excitedly. "Bring Dreesen a Heartrender." I nodded, but Bolliger sighed.
"Boss, just one problem." We looked up at him. "Pekka Rollins knows." Our eyes turned to Kaz as he scowled, spitting the name like poison on his lips.
"Pekka Rollins."
YOU ARE READING
Midnight Thoughts ~ Shadow & Bone
Fanfiction"Fear is a phoenix. You can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return." Karlin Kaye ran. She ran from her home to a place completely unknown. But as a result she found the ones she knew would make sure she never had to run again. No m...
