Wylan Quotes

He looked down at the keys and played a gentle chord. Jesper wondered at how he could have mistaken Kuwei for Wylan. Their hands were completely different, the shape of the fingers, the knuckles.
"Jes," Wylan said, "did you mean what you told my father? Will you stay with me? Will you help?"
Jesper leaned back on the pianoforte, resting on his elbows. "Let's see. Live in a luxurious merch mansion, get waited on by servants, spend a little extra time with a budding demolitions expert who plays a mean flute? I guess I can manage it." Jesper's eyes traveled from the top of Wylan's red-gold curls to the tips of his toes and back again. "But I do charge a pretty steep fee."
Wylan flushed a magnificent shade of pink. "Well, hopefully the medik will be here to fix my ribs soon," he said as he headed back into the parlor.
"Yeah?"
"Yes," said Wylan, glancing briefly over his shoulder, his cheeks now red as cherries. "I'd like to make a down payment."
Jesper released a bark of laughter. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this good. And no one was even shooting at him. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Help me," said Jesper. "We need to barricade the entrance."
The man behind the desk wore gray scholar's robes. His nostrils were flared so wide in effrontery that Jesper feared being sucked up one of them.
"Young man - " Jesper pointed his gun at the scholar's chest. "Move."
"Jesper!" his father said.
"Don't worry, Da. People point guns at each other all the time in Ketterdam. It's basically a handshake."
"Is that true?" his father asked as the scholar grudgingly moved aside and they shoved the heavy desk in front of the door.
"Absolutely," said Wylan.
"Certainly not ," said the scholar. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Matthias examined the posters. "One hundred thousand kruge!" He shot a disbelieving glower at Kaz. "You're hardly worth taht."
The hint of a smile tugged at Kaz's lips. "As the market wills it."
"Tell me about it," said Jesper. "They're only offering thirty thousand for me."
"Your lives are at stake," said Wylan. "How can you act like this is a competition?"
"We're stuck in a tomb, merchling. You take the action where you find it. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Inej nodded. "I gave your letter to the guard at the door, and it did the trick. They brought me directly to two members of the Triumvirate."
"Who did you meet with?" said Kaz.
"Genya Safin and Zoya Nazyalensky."
Wylan sat forward. "The Tailor? She's at the embassy?"
Kaz raised a brow. "What an interesting fact to forget to mention, Nina."
"It wasn't relevant at the time."
"Of course it's relevant!" Wylan said angrily.
Jesper was a little surprised. Wylan hadn't seemed to mind wearing Kuwei's features at first. He'd almost seemed to welcome the distance it gave him from his father. But that had been before they'd gone to Saint Hilde. And before Jesper had kissed Kuwei. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He gave his father a gentle shove. "Up the stairs."
"Jesper?" said a voice from beneath the nearest table. A pretty blonde girl looked up from where she was crouched on the floor.
"Madeleine?" Jesper said. "Madeleine Michaud?"
"You said we'd have breakfast!"
"I had to go to Fjerda."
"Fjerda?"
Jesper headed up the stairs after Wylan, then poked his head back into the reading room. "If I live, I'll buy you waffles."
"You don't have enough money to buy her waffles," Wylan grumbled.
"Be quiet. We're in a library. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan hadn't realized it then, but Kaz had known his true identity all along. Dirtyhands kept tabs on anyone who took up re
sidence in the Barrel, and he'd placed Wylan under Dregs protection, certain that one day a rich mercher's son would come in handy.
He had no illusions about why Kaz had looked out for him, but he also knew he never would have survived this long without his help. And Kaz didn't care if he could read. Kaz and the others teased him, but they'd given him a chance to prove himself. They valued the things he could do instead of punishing him for the things he couldn't. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper and Kaz swung around, crashed into the mechanism of the clock, righted themselves. It wasn't a fight, it was a brawl - graceless, a tangle of elbows and fists.
"Ghezen and his works, someone stop them!" Wylan said desperately.
"Jesper hasn't shot him," Nina said.
"Kaz isn't using his cane," said Inej.
"You think they can't kill each other with their bare hands?"
They were both bleeding - Jesper from a cut on his lip and Kaz from somewhere near his brow. Jesper's shirt was halfway over his head and Kaz's sleeve was tearing at the seam. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz can pick the lock, " said Wylan.
"No, " said Kaz, "I can't. "
"I don't think I ever heard those words leave your lips, " said Nina. "Say it again, nice and slow. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper shrugged again. He adjusted the buttons on his shirt, touched his thumbs to his revolvers. When he felt like this, mad and scattered, it was as if his hands had a life of their own. His whole body itched. He needed to get out of this room.
Wylan laid his hand on Jesper's shoulder. "Stop."
Jesper didn't know if he wanted to jerk away or pull him closer.
"Just stop," Wylan said. "Breathe." Wylan's gaze was steady.
Jesper couldn't look away from that clear-water blue. He forced himself to still, inhaled, exhaled.
"Again," Wylan said, and when Jesper opened his mouth to take another breath, Wylan leaned forward and kissed him. Jesper's mind emptied. He wasn't thinking of what had happened before or what might happen next. There was only the reality of Wylan's mouth, the press of his lips, then the fine bones of his neck, the silky feel of his curls as Jesper cupped his nape and drew him nearer.
This was the kiss he'd been waiting for. It was a gunshot. It was prairie fire. It was the spin of Makker's Wheel. Jesper felt the pounding of his heart - or was it Wylan's? - like a stampede in his chest, and the only thought in his head was a happy, startled, Oh.
Slowly, inevitably, they broke apart. "Wylan," Jesper said, looking into the wide blue sky of his eyes, "I really hope we don't die. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Pick up the pace," Kaz said, eyeing his watch.
"If I spill a single drop of this, it will burn straight through the floor onto my father's dinner guests."
"Take your time. ~ Leigh Bardugo

On the way out, a man loading up a wagon exchanged a wave with them. "You boys looking for work?" he asked skeptically. "Neither of you looks up to a full day in the field."
"You'd be surprised," said Jesper. "We signed on to do some work out near Saint Hilde."
Wylan waited, nervous, but the man just nodded. "You doing repairs at the hospital?"
"Yup," Jesper said easily.
"Your friend there don't talk much."
"Shu," said Jesper with a shrug.
The older man gave some kind of grunt in agreement and said, "Hop on in. I'm going out to the quarry. I can take you to the gates. What are the flowers for?"
"He has a sweetheart out near Saint Hilde."
"Some sweetheart."
"I'll say. He has terrible taste in women."
Wylan considered shoving Jesper off the wagon. ~ Leigh Bardugo

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

Nina rolled her eyes. "Good thing this is all about getting our money and not about saving Inej. Definitely not about that."

"If you don't care about money, Nina dear, 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? I bet Jesper can. It's the price of the lien on his father's farm." The sharpshooter looked at the toes of his boots. "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. Inej might have a number in mind too. It's the price of a future, and it's Van Eck's turn to pay."

Matthias was not fooled. Kaz always spoke logic, but that didn't mean he always told truth. "The Wraith's life is worth more than that," said Matthias. "To all of us."

"We get Inej. We get our money. It's as simple as that."

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

"There is no princess of Engelsberg," said Matthias. "It's a fishing town."

Nina shrugged. "If we're going to lie to ourselves, we might as ~ Leigh Bardugo

As he lay there, he sought some explanation for what had happened. Surely, Miggson and Prior were to blame; his father hadn't known. [...] As soon as he drew out the thick envelope, he knew his father was guilty. [...] His father hadn't even bothered with a convincing ruse. He'd known Wylan wouldn't try to read the papers. And that his gullible son would never think to suspect his father of lying. Pathetic. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You're the boy Nina tailored to look like Kuwei," Genya said. "And you want me to try to undo her work?"
"Yes," Wylan said, that one word imbued with a whole world of hope. "But I don't have anything to bargain with."
Genya rolled her single amber eye. "Why are the Kerch so focused on money?"
"Says the woman with a bankrupt country," murmured Jesper.
"What was that?" snapped Zoya.
"Nothing," said Jesper. "Just saying Kerch is a morally bankrupt country."
Zoya looked him up and down as if she was considering tossing him into a pool and boiling him alive. "If you want to waste your time and talent on these wretches, feel free. Saints know there's room for improvement."
"Zoya - "
"I'm going to go find a dark room with a deep pool and try to wash some of this country off. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I guess we need to find a way to the quarry?" Jesper said.
Wylan coughed. "No we don't, just a general store."
"But you told Kaz the mineral - "
"It's present in all kinds of paints and enamels. I wanted to make sure I had a reason to go to Olendaal."
"Wylan Van Eck, you lied to Kaz Brekker." Jesper clutched a hand to his chest. "And you got away with it! Do you give lessons?"
Wylan felt ridiculously pleased - until he thought about Kaz finding out. Then he felt a little like the first time he'd tried brandy and ended up spewing his dinner all over his own shoes. ~ Leigh Bardugo

The letters from his father continued to arrive, once, sometimes twice a week. Wylan didn't know what to make of them. Were they threats? Taunts? He stashed them in a stack beneath his mattress, and sometimes at night he thought he could feel the ink bleeding through the pages, up through the mattress and into his heart like dark poison. ~ Leigh Bardugo

It's a law of systems," Wylan murmured. "You build in safeguards for failures, but something in the safeguards ends up causing an unforeseen failure. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Drop heavy," Kaz shouted, and Wylan let loose with every rocket, flash bomb, and bit of demo he'd been able to fit into the boat. The sky above the Van Eck house exploded in an array of light, smoke, and sound as the guards dove for cover.
Kaz put his arms to work, feeling the boat slide into the current as they passed into the glittering traffic of Geldcanal.
"In and out without him ever knowing?" said Rotty. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What the hell just happened?" Jesper asked. He was leaning against the railing, his rifle beside him. His hair was mussed, his pupils dilated. He seemed almost drunk, or like he'd just rolled out of someone's bed. He always had that look after a fight. Helvar was bent over the railing, vomiting. Not a sailor, apparently. At some point they'd need to shackle his legs again.
"We were ambushed," Wylan said from his perch on the forecastle deck. He had his sleeve pushed up and was running his fingers over the red spot where Nina had seen to his wound.
Jesper shot Wylan a withering glare. "Private tutors from the university, and that's what this kid comes up with? 'We were ambushed?'"
Wylan reddened. "Stop calling me kid. We're practically the same age."
"You're not going to like the other names I come up with for you. I know we were ambushed. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Let's let the Ice Court know the Dregs have come to call. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Matthias and Wylan seized the rope to pull him up. Jesper wasn't sure how much Wylan was actually helping, but he was certainly working hard. ~ Leigh Bardugo

My father used to take me everywhere with him."
"Until?"
"Until what?"
"Until. My father took me everywhere until I contracted terrible seasickness, until I vomited at a royal wedding, until I tried to hump the ambassador's leg."
"The leg was asking for it. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan!" Jesper said, taking in the cuts and rapidly forming bruises. "Saints, is all that real?"
"Anika and Keeg did a number on him."
"I wanted it to be believable," said Wylan.
"I admire your commitment to the craft," said Kaz. "Jesper, stay with Wylan. They're going to want to question him."
"I'm fine," said Wylan, though his lip was so swollen it sounded more like, "I'b fibe. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper gave him a little shake. "Pull it together, kid." "Not a kid," Wylan mumbled, batting Jesper's hands away. "Fine, you're an elder statesman. Do you know how to shoot?" Wylan nodded slowly. "Skeet. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Students huddled against the wall and under their chairs, probably thinking they were all about to die.
"Nothing to worry about, everyone!" Jesper called. "Just a little target practice in the courtyard."
"This way," said Wylan, ushering them through a door covered in elaborate scrollwork.
"Oh, you mustn't," said the scholar rushing after them, robes flapping. "Not the rare books room!"
"Do you want to shake hands again? ~ Leigh Bardugo

Pull your shirt up over your mouth," he told Wylan.
"What?"
"Stop being dense. You're cuter when you're smart."
Wylan's cheeks went pink. He scowled and pulled his collar up. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He was always in motion, like a lanky piece of clockwork that ran on invisible energy. Except clocks were simple. Wylan could only guess at Jesper's workings. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan blushed deeper, and Jesper shook his head. "Play piano, too?" "Flute," said Wylan defensively. "Perfect. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Until this moment, Wylan hadn't quite understood how much they meant to him. His father would have sneered at these thugs and thieves, a disgraced soldier, a gambler who couldn't keep out of the red. But they were his first friends, his only friends, and Wylan knew that even if he'd had his pick of a thousand companions, these would have been the people he chose. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Back in the sitting room, Wylan was lighting the lamps. "Are you hungry?"
"Famished," said Jesper. "But Da's asleep. I'm not sure we're allowed to ring for food." He cocked his head to one side, peering at Wylan. "Did you have her make you better-looking?"
Wylan pinked. "Maybe you forgot how handsome I am."
Jesper raised a brow.
"Okay, maybe a little. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Close your eyes!"
"You can't kiss me from down there, Wylan."
"Just do it! ~ Leigh Bardugo

He didn't take her out of the city," she'd said, cheeks glowing with color for the first time since she'd emerged from her battle with parem . "It's obvious he's keeping her there."
But Kaz had simply gazed into the middle distance with that odd look on his face and said, "Too obvious."
"Kaz - "
"How would you like a hundred kruge ?"
"What's the catch?"
"Exactly. Van Eck's making it too easy. He's treating us like marks. But he isn't Barrel born, and we aren't a bunch of dumb culls ready to jump at the first shiny lure he flashes. Van Eck wants us to think she's on that island. Maybe she is. But he'll have plenty of firepower waiting for us too, maybe even a few Grisha using parem ."
"Always hit where the mark isn't looking," Wylan had murmured.
"Sweet Ghezen," said Jesper. "You've been thoroughly corrupted. ~ Leigh Bardugo

In the space of a breath, Kaz had shoved Wylan against the tomb wall with his forearm, the crow head of his cane wedged beneath Wylan's jaw. "Tell me my business again." Wylan swallowed, parted his lips. "Do it," said Kaz. "And I'll cut the tongue from your head and feed it to the first stray cat I can find. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Van Eck keeps the seal in a safe?" said Jesper with a laugh. "It's almost like hewants us to take it. Kaz is better at making friends with combination locks than with people."

"You've never seen a safe like this," Wylan said. "He had it installed after the DeKappel was stolen. It has a seven-digit combination that he resets every day, and the locks are built with false tumblers to confuse safecrackers."

Kaz shrugged. "Then we go around it. I'll take expediency over finesse."

Wylan shook his head. "The safe walls are made of a unique alloy reinforced with Grisha steel."

"An explosion?" suggested Jesper.

Kaz raised a brow. "I suspect Van Eck will notice that."

"A very small explosion?"

Nina snorted. "You just want to blow something up."

"Actually…" said Wylan. He cocked his head to one side, as if he were listening to a distant song. "Come morning, there would be no hiding we'd been there, but if we can get the refugees out of the harbor before my father discovers the theft … I'm not exactly sure where I can get the materials, but it just might work.…"

"Inej," Jesper whispered.

She leaned forward, peering at Wylan. "Is that scheming face?"

"Possibly."

Wylan seemed to snap back to reality. "It is not. But … but I do think I have an idea. ~ Leigh Bardugo

If this was the plan, what was the point to trying to smuggle in those lockpicks?" Wylan asked.

Kaz folded his arms. "Ever hear about the dying man whose medik told him he'd been miraculously cured? He danced into the street and was trampled to death by a horse. You have to let the mark feel like he's won. Were the guards studying Matthias and wondering if he looked familiar? Were they looking for trouble when Jesper went into the showers with paraffin sloughing off his arms? No, they were too busy congratulating themselves on catching me. They thought they'd neutralized the threat. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper gave his shoulder another little shake. "Well, how about this? Kaz is going to tear your father's damn life apart."
Wylan was about to say that didn't help either, but he hesitated. Kaz Brekker was the most brutal, vengeful creature Wylan had ever encountered--and he'd sworn he was going to destroy Jan Van Eck. The thought felt like cool water cascading over the hot, shameful feeling of helplessness he'd been carrying with him for so long. Nothing could make this right, ever. But Kaz could make his father's life very wrong. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Where do you think the money went?" he repeated.
"Guns?" asked Jesper.
"Ships?" queried Inej.
"Bombs?" suggested Wylan.
"Political bribes?" offered Nina. They all looked at Matthias. "This is where you tell us how awful we are," she whispered.
He shrugged. "They all seem like practical choices."
"Sugar," said Kaz.
Jesper nudged the sugar bowl down the table to him.
Kaz rolled his eyes. "Not for my coffee, you podge. I used the money to buy up sugar shares and placed them in private accounts for all of us - under aliases, of course."
"I don't like speculation," said Matthias.
"Of course you don't. You like things you can see. Like piles of snow and benevolent tree gods."
"Oh, there it is!" said Inej, resting her head on Nina's shoulder and beaming at Matthias. "I missed his glower. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You're stupid about a lot of things, Wylan, but you are not stupid. And if I ever hear you call yourself a moron again, I'm going to tell Matthias you tried to kiss Nina. With tongue."
Wylan wiped his nose on his sleeve. "He'll never believe it."
"Then I'll tell Nina you tried to kiss Matthias. With tongue. ~ Leigh Bardugo

It was a calculated risk."
"It was cross-your-fingers-and-hope-for-the-best. Believe me, I know the difference. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan knew Nina could handle just about any man and any situation, but he didn't think she should have to sit half-dressed in a drafty gambling parlor, perched on some leering lawyer's lap. At the very least, she was probably going to catch cold. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Even in the weak morning light trickling through the bakery's window, Wylan could see how weary Colm looked. "I made some big mistakes."
Wylan drew a line on the floor with his finger. "You gave him someone to run to. No matter what he did or what went wrong. I think that's bigger than the big mistakes."
"See now? That's why he likes you. I know, I know - it's none of my business, and I have no idea if he'd be good for you. Probably bring you ten kinds of headache. But I think you'd be good for him."
Wylan's face heated. He knew how much Colm loved Jesper, had seen it in every gesture he'd made. It meant something that he thought Wylan was good enough for his son. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz had been impressed with the sketches. "You think like a lockpick," he'd told Wylan. "I do not." "I mean you can see space along three axes." "I'm not a criminal," Wylan protested. Kaz had cast him an almost pitying look. "No, you're a flautist who fell in with bad company. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What will you do with your shares?"
"Find a ship," said Inej. "Put together a crew."
"Help run an empire," said Jesper.
"Try not to run it into the ground," said Wylan.
"And you, Kaz?" Nina asked.
"Build something new," he said with a shrug. "Watch it burn. ~ Leigh Bardugo

There were two Shu with wings, and a man and a woman who were … not normal."
"Nina's power had no effect on them," said Wylan.
"Hmm," Nina said noncommittally, nibbling daintily at the edge of a biscuit. Inej had never seen Nina nibble daintily on anything. Her appetite clearly hadn't returned, but Inej wondered if there was more to it.
Matthias joined them at the table. "The Shu woman we faced was stronger than me, Jesper, and Wylan put together."
"You heard right," said Jesper. "Stronger than Wylan."
"I did my part," objected Wylan. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan, tell me you're packing more than pens, ink, and weevil makings."
"I've got two flash bombs and something new I rigged up with a little more, um, wallop."
"Bombs?" Jesper's father asked, blinking as if to wake himself from a bad dream.
Jesper shrugged helplessly. "Think of them as science experiments?"
"What kind of numbers are we up against?" asked Wylan.
"Look at you, asking all the right questions. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Move."
"Jesper!" his father said.
"Don't worry, Da. People point guns at each other all the time in Ketterdam. It's basically a handshake."
"Is that true?" his father asked as the scholar grudgingly moved aside and they shoved the heavy desk in front of the door.
"Absolutely," said Wylan.
"Certainly not," said the scholar.
Jesper waved them on. "Depends on the neighborhood. Let's go. ~ Leigh Bardugo

A chemical weevil," said Jesper, "But Wylan still hasn't named it. My vote is for the Wyvil."
"That's terrible," said Wylan.
"It's brilliant," Jesper winked. "Just like you. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan looked back at the water. He'd started to think of Jesper as fearless, but maybe being brave didn't mean being unafraid. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What do you like?'
'Music. Numbers. Equations. They're not like words. They...they don't get mixed up.'
'If only you could talk to girls in equations.'
There was a long silence, and then, eyes trained on the notch they'd created in the link, Wylan said, 'Just girls?'
Jesper restrained a grin. 'No, not just girls. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper ran a finger up Wylan's forearm, and Wylan flushed a vibrant pink. Matthias couldn't help but sympathize with the boy. He knew what it was to be out of your depth, and he sometimes suspected they could forgo all of Kaz's planning and simply let Jesper and Nina flirt the entirety of Ketterdam into submission. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz heard Wylan retching. He tossed the eyeball overboard and jammed his spit-soaked handkerchief into the socket where Oomen's eye had been. Then he grabbed Oomen's jaw, his gloves leaving red smears on the enforcer's chin. His actions were smooth, precise, as if he were dealing cards at the Crow Club or picking an easy lock, but his rage felt hot and mad and unfamiliar. Something within him had torn loose. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He woke, gasping. The sun was high in the sky. Wylan stood above him, shaking him gently. "It's almost time." Matthias nodded and rose, rolling his shoulders, feeling the warm spring air of Ketterdam around him. It felt alien in his lungs. "Are you all right?" Wylan asked tentatively, but apparently Matthias' glower was answer enough. "You're great," Wylan said, and hurried down the stairs. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan drew himself up. "I may not have had your ... education, but I'm sure I know plenty of words that you don't."
"Also the proper way to fold a napkin and dance a minuet. Oh, and you can play the flute. Marketable skills, merchling. Marketable skills."
"No one dances the minuet any more," grumbled Wylan. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan looked as if he was ready to wet himself. Helvar appeared grim as always. Jesper just grinned and whispered, Well, we've managed to get ourselves locked into the most secure prison in the world. We're either geniuses or the dumbest sons of bitches to ever breathe air. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper had no idea how to fill the silence that followed. He wasn't sure what he'd expected from this meeting with his father, but a friendly exchange of pleasantries wasn't it.

Wylan cleared his throat. "Are you hungry, Mister Fahey?"

"Starving," Jesper's father replied gratefully.

Wylan gave Jesper a poke with his elbow. "Maybe we could take your father to lunch?"

"Lunch," Jesper said, repeating the word as if he'd just learned it. "Yes, lunch. Who doesn't like lunch?" Lunch felt like a miracle. They'd eat. They'd talk. Maybe they'd drink. Please let them drink. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Does this bother you, merchling?"
"I don't enjoy feeling like a thief."
"After everything he's done?"
"Yes."
"So much for righteous. You do realize we're stealing your money?"
"Jesper said the same thing, but I'm sure my father wrote me out of his will as soon as Alys became pregnant."
"That doesn't mean you're any less entitled to it."
"I don't want it. I just don't want him to have it."
"What a luxury to turn your back on luxury. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Saints!" his father gasped. "This city is worse than the guidebooks said!"
"Da, it isn't the city," Jesper said, pulling the pistol from his coat. "They're after me. Or after us. Hard to say."
"Who's after you?"
Jesper exchanged a glance with Wylan. Jan Van Eck? A rival gang looking to settle a score? Pekka Rollins or someone else Jesper had borrowed money from? "There's a long list of potential suitors. We need to get out of here before they introduce themselves more personally. ~ Leigh Bardugo

As they split to prepare for the meeting with the Ravkans, Jesper followed Wylan down the hall. "Hey."
Wylan kept going.
Jesper jogged past him and cut off his path, walking backward. "Listen, this thing with Kuwei isn't a thing." He tried again. "There is no thing with Kuwei."
"You don't owe me an explanation. I'm the one who interrupted."
"No, you didn't! Kuwei was sitting at the piano. It was an understandable mistake."
Wylan stopped short. "You thought he was me?"
"Yes!" Jesper said. "See? Just a big mis - "
Wylan's gold eyes flashed. "You really can't tell us apart?"
"I … I mean, usually I can, but - "
"We're nothing alike," Wylan said indignantly. "He's not even that good at science! Half his notebooks are full of doodles. Mostly of you. And those aren't good either. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I can't believe we broke out of the Ice Court but we're trapped in our own town," Wylan said. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Where do think the money went?" he repeated.
"Guns?" asked Jesper.
"Ships?" queried Inej.
"Bombs?" suggested Wylan.
"Political bribes?" offered Nina. They all looked at Matthias. "This is where you tell us how awful we are," she whispered.
He shrugged. "They all seem like practical choices. ~ Leigh Bardugo

We were all supposed to make it," said Wylan softly. Maybe that was naive, the protest of a rich merchant's son who'd only had a taste of Barrel life.
But Jesper realized he'd been thinking the same thing. After all their mad escapes and close calls, he'd started to believe the six of them were somehow charmed, that his guns, Kaz's brains, Nina's wit, Inej's talent, Wylan's ingenuity, and Matthias' strength had made them somehow untouchable. They might suffer. They might take their knocks, but Wylan was right, in the end they were all supposed to stay standing.
"No mourners," said Jesper, surprised by the ache of tears in his throat.
"No funerals," they all replied softly. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I don't like the idea of killing people, either. I don't even like chemistry."
"What do you like?"
"Music. Numbers. Equations. They're not like words. They ... they don't get mixed up."
"If only you could talk to girls in equations."
There was a long silence, and then, eyes trained on the notch they'd created in the link, Wylan said, "Just girls?"
Jesper restrained a grin. "No. Not just girls." It really was a shame they were all probably going to die tonight. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan cleared his throat. "The chemistry is complicated. I was hoping Kuwei would help."
Nina said something to Kuwei in Shu. He shrugged and looked away, lip jutting out slightly. Whether it was the recent death of his father or the fact that he'd found himself stuck in a cemetery with a band of thieves, the boy had become increasingly sullen.
"Well?" Jesper prodded.
"I have other interests," Kuwei replied.
Kaz's black gaze pinned Kuwei like the tip of a dagger. "I suggest rethinking your priorities."
Jesper gave Kuwei another nudge. "That's Kaz's way of saying, 'Help Wylan or I'll seal you up in one of these tombs and see how that suits your interests.' "
Matthias was no longer sure what the Shu boy understood or didn't, but apparently he'd received the message. Kuwei swallowed and nodded grudgingly.
"The power of negotiation," Jesper said, and shoved a cracker in his mouth. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Why do you guys say that, anyway? No mourners, no funerals? Why not just say good luck or be safe?"
"We like to keep our expectations low. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I like singing," said Alys.
Wylan shook his head frantically, mouthing, No, no, no.
"Shall I sing?" Alys asked hopefully. "Bajan says that I'm good enough to be on the stage."
"Maybe we save that for later - " suggested Jesper.
Alys' lower lip began to wobble like a plate about to break.
"Sing," Matthias blurted, "by all means, sing."
And then the real nightmare began.
It wasn't that Alys was so bad, she just never stopped. She sang between bites of food. She sang while she was walking through the graves. She sang from behind a bush when she needed to relieve herself. When she finally dozed off, she hummed in her sleep .
"Maybe this was Van Eck's plan all along," Kaz said glumly when they'd assembled outside the tomb again.
"To drive us mad?" said Nina. "It's working."
Jesper shut his eyes and groaned. "Diabolical. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Sturmhond back into the corridors. As their footfalls faded, silence descended. Wylan cleared his throat and the sound bounced around the blue-tiled room like a spring colt let loose in a corral. Genya's face was bemused. Zoya crossed her arms.
"Well?" "Ma'am …" Wylan attempted. "Miss Genya - "
Genya smiled, her scars tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Oh, he is sweet."
"You always take to the strays," said Zoya sourly. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kuwei moaned and slumped down against the wall. He cast a baleful glance at Nina. "You should have killed me at the Ice Court."

Nina shrugged. "But then Kaz would have killed me and Matthias would have killed Kaz and it would have gotten incredibly messy."

"I can't believe we broke out of the Ice Court but we're trapped in our own town," Wylan said. It didn't seem right.

"Yup," said Jesper. "We are well and truly cooked. ~ Leigh Bardugo