Lucky Crows

     Kaz, Zoya, Brynn, and Nikolai traveled to the bay by oxcart. Jesper had told them there were new motorized trucks that had appeared among some of the wealthier merchant families, but they were useless in the narrow streets of the city. Besides, they wanted to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible.

As soon as they arrived at the cliffs Kaz had proposed for their meetup with the Cormorant, Zoya felt something was off. In the distance, she could see the lights of the naval base twinkling through the fog. But here on the cluff tops, there was an eerie quality to the mist rolling in, and her dragon's mind stirred as if recognizing danger. She could only hope that ancient intelligence would stay quiet. She couldn't afford the emotional cost of the dragon's eye opening, not when they had a mission to complete.

Far below, the beach was little more than a sliver of sand, bright and slender as a crescent moon. Waves broke against thickets of white rocks, jagged, hulking phantoms gathered at the shore as if to stand vigil. They're guarding this place, Zoya thought. No boat was meant to find safe harbor here. And we're not meant to be here either. If the beach outside the naval base was anything like this, Zoya could see why no one attempted to approach from the water. The wind howled over the cliffs, a mournful chorus.

"Going to be tough to bring the airship over the base and have it hover," said Kaz. "There's no way we'll be able to get cargo up and down the lines."

Zoya lifted a hand, settling warmth and calm around them as the wind stilled. "That won't be a problem once I'm aboard."

"Be as subtle as you can," instructed Nikolai. "We don't want the guards realizing they're in the eye of a storm."

"Somehow I'll manage it."

Hoofbeats signaled the arrival of two riders.

"We have a problem," said Jesper, sliding from his horse with ease. Wylan dismounted slowly, clearly less accustomed to the task. "They've locked down the goods."

"How?" asked Kaz and Brynn at the same time, as if they had the same mind.

"They're some kind of new metal shell they've installed, protects cargo from the elements." Wylan and Jesper didn't seem to notice how the two always seemed to be on the same page.

Zoya frowned. "Titanium doesn't rust."

"But there's other cargo in the yard on base," said Kaz.

"Iron," added Brynn. "Potential lumber that will rot if it gets wet. They used to just secure everything with tarps, but I guess the military is getting more particular."

"This wasn't part of the intelligence you gathered?" Zoya asked, her temper rising.

"It must have been installed in the last three weeks. And when you rush a job, you don't get to complain when the job goes wrong."

"You take your time or you take your chances," said Jesper.

"And I don't take chances," added Kaz.

Zoya flicked her braid over her shoulder. "You're telling me you can't get past a metal roof?"

"Of course I can. But with a bigger crew. This isn't a bank vault, it's a military base. If Jesper and Wylan are handling the watchtowers, I'll need to get inside, locate whatever mechanism opens the shell, and get it to work without anyone in the base noticing. We don't know where the guards are posted inside or what kind of alarms are rigged up. Assuming we could even get inside, we'd need time to suss it out and at least two lookouts."

"Surely the greatest thief in Ketterdam can outthink such a problem," said Nikolai. "Brynn could probably swim around in the guards' brains for a bit, get the information you need, and leave."

The girl scoffed. "You don't know how my power works, do you? I need to have eye contact with someone to suss out their secrets. And I don't 'swim around' in someone's mind, it just kind of opens up to me. I might be able to flirt, but not long enough to get that kind of information we need without them noticing. When I'm in someone's mind for a long period of time, they start to notice something's in there that shouldn't be. Me."

"This can't be done, not if you want it quiet and bloodless," said Kaz. "If you're willing to take out a few guards or let Wylan blow a hole in this thing—"

"No," said Nikolai firmly. "Ravka's relationship with Kerch is strained enough. I don't want to give them an excuse to ditch their neutrality and use the izmars'ya to help Fjerda break my blockade."

"If Inej were here—" said Jesper.

Brynn's gaze was hard as flint. "But she isn't. So we'll have to figure out how to do this or we don't do it at all."

Zoya knew the Wraith had been Brekker's spider before she'd become Captain Ghafa. Now, Brynn was the spider, but clearly they were used to having a girl who could scale walls and get any piece of information by just listening, leaving no trace behind. Being a replacement wasn't flattering.

"The best we can do is wait," agreed Kaz. "I can get two more Dregs here by tomorrow. Anika. Rotty, maybe."

A high wail sounded from somewhere in the distance, a shrill cry that might be human or animal or something else entirely. Zoya felt a chill pass through her that had nothing to do with the cold. This place isn't meant for us. She felt it in her bones.

"Saints," said Jesper, "what was that?"

Another wail followed, long and piercing. The fog seemed to seethe around them, forming shapes that melted into nothing before Zoya could truly make them out. At first, she thought it was Brynn playing tricks on them, until she saw the confusion on the girl's face.

Jesper set his hands on his revolvers. "These cliffs are supposed to be haunted."

"You don't actually believe that," said Wylan.

"I believe in all kinds of things. Ghosts. Gnomes. True love."

Now another sound—a low hiss—seemed to crawl up from the sea, rising and falling in undulating waves. Zoya felt it like fingers brushing up her spine, making the hair on her arms rise.

"Enough," she snapped. She's had all she could stand of his Saintsforsaken country. She lifted her hands and the fog rolled back in a gust—revealing a circle of people around them, some of them in jackal masks, others with dark scarved pulled up to hide their faces. Moonlight glinted off the barrels of their guns.

"What king card?" asked Wylan.

The jackal's voice carried through the mist. "There are no kings we recognize here."

"I might find that humbling," said Nikolai. "If I'd any practice with humility."

They descended a long path down the cliffside as the wind shrieked up from the water. Zoya's heart thumped wildly, a small creature caught in a snare. This was panic—skittering, mindless panic. Why? She knew Nikolai didn't disdain the Suli. He never would. And she didn't care what these Barrel rats thought. So why did she feel as if the rock was about to crumble beneath her feet? Just because she'd told them what she was? Was that all it took? Was this the terror of being seen?

Halfway down, they passed behind a boulder, and Zoya saw the entrance to a cave, its yawning black mouth carved into the side of the cliff.

Again the Jackal spoke. "If you wish to enter the base, this tunnel runs under the watchtowers and opens in a basement beneath Rentveer."

"Where did it come from?" asked Nikolai.

But Kaz didn't seem surprised. "The Kerch used Suli labor to build the base."

"We always leave a back door," said the woman in the jackal mask. "There are two guards who patrol past the entrance to the basement. The rest is up to you. Daughter, you may use the cliffs to board your ship."

"Why are you helping us?" Zoya asked.

"Can't we just say thank you and be on our way?" asked Jesper.

The jackal-masked woman drew Zoya aside. "Your heart does not belong to you alone. When this is over, when it is all over, remember where you came from."

"The king—"

"I speak of queens, not kings, tonight. Remember, daughter." Then she vanished into the shadows.

Suddenly, they were alone at the tunnel mouth. The Suli were gone.

Zoya whirled on Kaz and Brynn. "You knew, didn't you? You never planned to go through the fence at the base. You knew the Suli were camped here. You knew they had a way in."

Kaz was already limping into the tunnel, Brynn at his side. "I don't walk through a door unless I know there's a window to climb out of. Jesper, Wylan, get back to the cliffs and take out the spotlights. Nikolai, Brynn, and I will tackle the metal shell from inside."

"How could you be sure I spoke Suli?" she called after him.

"That was a spin of Makker's Wheel. Lucky for me, my number came up."

"One day your luck will run out, Mister Brekker."

"Then I'll just have to make some more." He paused and turned to look back over his shoulder at her. Brynn's eyes twinkled as if she knew something Zoya didn't, which she probably did, but she said nothing. "The Suli never forget their own, General Nazyalensky. Just like crows."