Chapter no 34
TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME Nina prayed her panic didn’t show. Did Brum recognise her? He looked exactly the same: long gold hair touched by grey at the temples, the lean jaw marked by a tidy beard, the drüskelle uniform – black and silver, the right sleeve emblazoned with the silver wolf ’s head. It […]
Chapter no 33
TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME “ Just how long are we going to be kept waiting?” a man in wine-coloured velvet asked. The guards ignored him, but the other guests clustered by the entry with Inej grumbled their frustration. “I came here at great expense,” he continued, “and it was not so I could spend […]
Chapter no 32
TEN BELLS AND HALF CHIME Jesper’s clothes were covered in tiny slivers and shavings of steel. His stolen uniform was soaked with sweat, his arms ached, and the headache that had burrowed into his left temple felt as if it was setting up permanent residence there. For nearly a half hour, he had been focusing […]
Chapter no 31
NINE BELLS AND HALF CHIME Nina dared one more glance over her shoulder, watching the guards drag Inej away. She’s smart, deadly. Inej can take care of herself. The thought brought Nina little comfort, but she had to keep moving. She and Inej had clearly been together, and she wanted to be gone before the […]
Chapter no 30
NINE BELLS AND QUARTER CHIME Jesper knew he should be mad at Kaz – for going after Pekka Rollins and blowing their first plan to bits, and for pushing them into deeper danger with this new scheme. But as he and Wylan crept along the drüskelle roof towards the gatehouse, he was too damn happy […]
Chapter no 29
NINE BELLS “ What if I say no, Brekker?” It was mere posturing, Matthias knew that. The time for protest had long passed. They were already jogging down the gentle slope of the embassy roof towards the drüskelle sector, Wylan panting from exertion, Jesper loping along with ease, and Brekker keeping pace despite his crooked […]
Chapter no 28
EIGHT BELLS AND HALF CHIME Kaz was watching her intently, his bitter coffee eyes glittering in the light from the dome. “You know those costumes,” she said. “Heavy cloaks, hoods. That’s all the Fjerdans will see. A Zemeni fawn. A Kaelish mare.” She swallowed and forced the next words past her lips. “A Suli lynx.” […]
Chapter no 27
EIGHT BELLS Where the hell is Kaz? Jesper bounced from foot to foot in front of the incinerator, the dim clang of alarm bells filling his ears, rattling his thoughts. Yellow Protocol? Red Protocol? He couldn’t remember which was which. Their whole plan had been built around never hearing the sound of an alarm. Inej […]
Chapter no 26
Kaz sped through the upper cells, sparing brief seconds for a glance through each grate. Bo Yul-Bayur would not be here. And he didn’t have much time. Part of him felt unhinged. He had no cane. His feet were bare. He was in strange clothes, his hands pale and ungloved. He didn’t feel like himself […]
Chapter no 25
Inej looked up, into the dark. High above her floated a small, grey patch of evening sky. Six levels to climb in the dark with her hands slippery from sweat and the fires of hell burning below, with the rope weighing her down and no net to catch her. Climb, Inej. Bare hands were best […]