![]() “Are we just going in through the front door?” The lamps were lit along the canal and candles burned in some of the windows, but after ten bells, most of the neighborhood’s respectable citizens had already retired. Smeet’s home also served as his office, and it was located on a dark street with sparse foot traffic. Wylan shrugged apologetically at Matthias, who looked like he was considering dashing Kaz’s skull against a wall, then hurried along the cobblestones after Kaz. Everyone is fine except for me because I’m stuck with a gang of hand-wringing nursemaids. “He only has a daily maid and cook,” Kaz said. “The lights went out on the top floor of Smeet’s house more than an hour ago, but I don’t know if the servants are awake.” Matthias was waiting for them beneath a darkened doorway on Handelcanal. And if there was another reason, a tall, lanky reason with a too-strong taste for games of chance, he wasn’t going to think about that right now.Īs soon as they made it to the outskirts of the Barrel, Wylan and Kaz ditched their capes and sky-blue jackets and wended their way east into the Zelver district. He was here because he desperately needed the money. She’d saved their lives more than once, and he wasn’t going to forget that. He found himself gnawing on his thumb and forced himself to stop. What am I doing here? Wylan wondered again. Or maybe Jesper wanted something more than forgiveness from Kaz. Maybe he was still looking for Kaz’s approval, hoping to earn back his favor after Jesper’s slip had led them into the ambush at the docks that had nearly cost Inej her life. The real question was why Jesper did it all without hesitating. But those weren’t even the right questions. And why make Jesper give up something that meant so much to him? There had to be another way to keep Smeet playing. Then why make him walk into a gambling den? Wylan thought but didn’t say. Eventually he loses, and that just leaves him hungrier for the next run of good luck. ![]() “Someone like Jesper wins two hands and starts to call it a streak. “I hope so,” said Wylan as they hopped onto a browboat crowded with tourists and headed south down the Stave. Who knows? Jesper may even win his revolvers back.” Now he’s feeling confident, like he’s in for a good night-if he loses, he’ll still keep playing. He was ogling those guns almost as much as Nina’s cleavage. I could have made sure Jesper won every hand.” I control the game, Wylan, or I don’t play. But despite his lopsided gait, Wylan had to jog to keep up with him. ![]() Kaz rarely used his cane when they were roaming parts of the city where he might be recognized.
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