The Devil's in the Wind

Chapter Twenty-Three

              Natalia spent a sleepless night in the dark. When her stomach started to growl, she suspected it was morning, but no one arrived to remove her blindfold or offer her a tray. It seemed Van Eck didn't feel the need to coddle her anymore. He'd seen the fear in her clearly enough. That would be his leverage now, not Bajan's Suli eyes and attempts at kindness.

   When her shivering had passed, she had struggled over to the vent, only to find that it had been bolted firmly shut. It had to have been done while she was in the theater. She wasn't surprised. She suspected Van Eck had left it unsecured just to give her hope and then snatch it away.

   Eventually, her mind had begun to clear, and as she laid in the silence, she'd made a plan. She would talk. There were plenty of safe houses and hideouts that the Dregs had ceased to use because they'd been compromised or simply stopped being convenient. She'd start there. Then there were the supposedly secure places that belonged to some of the other Barrel gangs. She knew of a converted shipping container in Third Harbor that the Liddies occasionally used. The Razorgulls liked to hole up in a dingy hotel only a few streets over from the Slat. They called it Jam Tart House because of its faded raspberry color and the white eaves that looked like they were decorated in icing. It should take Van Eck the better part of a night to search all the rooms. She would stall. She'd lead Van Eck and his men all over Ketterdam looking for Kaz. She'd never been much of an actress but working for Kaz Brekker meant lying every once in a while, and surely, she'd spent enough time around Nina to learn a thing or two.

   When Bajan finally appeared and removed her blindfold, he had six armed guards with him. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she suspected the entire day had gone. Bajan's face looked shallow, and he had trouble meeting her eyes. She hoped he laid awake all night, the weight of her words heavy on his chest. He cut her ankles free but replaced the ropes with shackles. They clanked heavily as the guards led her down the hall.

   This time they took her through the back door of the theater, past flats of scenery and discarded props covered in dust, to the stage. The moth-eaten green curtains had been lowered so that the cavernous seating area and balconies were no longer visible. Closed off from the rest of the theater, warmed by the heat radiating from the stage lights, the set had a curious feeling of intimacy. It seemed less like a stage than a real surgeon's operating room. Natalia's gaze touched the wrecked corner of the table where she'd lain the previous night and then quickly darted away.

   Van Eck was waiting with the blade-nosed guard. Nat made a silent promise. Even if her plan failed, even if he smashed her hands to a pulp, even if she could never hold anything or use her powers every again, she'd find a way to pay him back in kind. She'd survived too much to let Jan Van Eck destroy her.

   'Are you afraid, Natalia?' he asked.

   'Yes.'

   'Such honestly. And are you prepared to tell me what you know?'

   Natalia took a deep breath and hung her head in what she hoped was a convincing display of reluctance. 'Yes,' she whispered.

   'Go on.'

   'How do I know you won't take the information and hurt me anyway?' she asked carefully.

   'If the information is good, you have nothing to fear from me, Natalia. I am not a brute. I've employed the methods you are most accustomed to—threats, violence. The Barrel has trained you to expect such treatment.'

   'I have your word, then?' she asked. It was absurd. Van Eck had made clear exactly what his word was worth when he'd broken their arrangement on Vellgeluk and tried to have them all killed. But he nodded solemnly.