The Devil's in the Wind

Chapter Seven

Everything hurt. And why was the room moving?

Natalia slowly started to wake; her thoughts jumbled. She remembered the thrust of Oomen's knife, climbing the crates, people shouting as she dangled from the tips of her fingers. We wanna play with Dirtyhands' girl. But Kaz had returned for her, to rescue an investment. They must have made it onto the Ferolind.

She tried to roll over, but the pain was too intense, so she settled for turning her head. Nina was drowsing on a stool tucked into the corner by the table. Inej was on another stool closer to where Natalia was resting, her hand grasped lightly in the other girls.

'You're awake,' Inej mumbled. She slapped Nina on the arm. 'Nina, wake up.'

Nina jolted awake. 'I'm up!' she blurted, then peered blearily at Natalia. 'You're awake.' She sat up straighter. 'Oh, Saints, Inej, she's awake!'

And then Nina burst into tears.

Natalia tried to sit up but could barely lift her head. Inej moved her attention to the now sobbing Nina.

'No, no,' Nina said. 'Don't try to move, just rest.'

'Are you okay?'

Nina started to laugh through her tears and Inej held her tightly. 'I'm fine. You're the one who got stabbed. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's just so much easier to kill people then take care of them.'

Natalia blinked and Inej looked confused before all three girls started laughing. 'Owwww,' groaned Natalia. 'Don't make me laugh. That feels awful.'

Inej winced. 'How do you feel?'

'Sore but not terrible. Thirsty.'

Nina offered her a tin cup full of cold water. 'It's fresh. We had rain yesterday.'

Natalia sipped carefully, letting Inej hold her head up. 'How long was I out?'

'Three days, almost four. Jesper is driving us crazy,' Nina sighed. 'I don't think I've seen him sit still for more than two minutes together.' She stood up abruptly. 'I need to tell Kaz you're awake! We thought—'

'Wait,' Nat said, grabbing Nina's hand. 'Just... can we not tell him right away?'

Nina sat back down and Inej gave her a weird look. 'Sure, but—'

'Just for tonight.' She paused. 'Is it night?'

'Yes,' Inej said. 'Just past midnight, actually.'

'Do we know who came after us at the harbor?'

'Pekka Rollins. He hired the Black Tips and the Razorgulls to keep us from getting out of Fifth Harbor.'

'How did he know where we were leaving from?'

'We're not sure yet.'

'I saw Oomen—'

'Oomen's dead,' Nina said. 'Kaz killed him.'

'He did?'

'Kaz killed a lot of people. Rotty saw him go after the Black Tips who had you up on the crates. I believe his exact words were, "There was enough blood to paint a barn red,".'

Inej sighed. 'So much death.'

'He was afraid for you.'

'Kaz isn't afraid of anything,' Nat whispered.