𝑮𝑳𝑰𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹 | 𝑘.𝑏.

31

|   |   |
W R A I T H  M E E T  S I R E N
|   |   |

KAZ BREKKER AND FETA CADNER had been waiting for Inej when she entered Tante Heleen's salon on that long ago night. Brekker dressed in his darkest gray, a vision of nightmares; Cadner dressed in sequined silks that billowed elegantly around her, a vision of daydreams. Both terrified her.

Kaz Brekker was every bit as brooding and shady as he'd seemed the first time Inej saw him in Tante Heleen's parlor, paying for information. Feta Cadner was every bit as bright and inviting as she'd seemed last night when Inej passed her in the parlor, whilst she was paying for information in Kaz Brekker's stead, and Inej had foolishly whispered in a moment of desperation, "I can help you."

The golden girl appeared unscathed by the Barrel. Except her smile had shattered on the ground when she saw Inej, leaving Inej to wonder if she saw her or saw a dirty Menagerie girl begging for her attention.

Before Inej could settle her racing heart or insist this had been a mistake, that of course no one as unburdened and unblemished as her wanted to deal with snared creatures like Inej, the girl's smile had returned.

It was the immovable certainty in Feta's eyes that had made Inej believe she hadn't survived in the Barrel by mistake. It was the look of someone who was doing what they had to, who could not be persuaded or coerced by those she did not want to be persuaded or coerced by. There was warmth, there was forgiveness, but there was no real compromise. This was the look of someone who got their way, and if they didn't, they played the game until they did. Inej was instantly terrified of her.

Especially when Feta donned that smile and slipped past Inej without acknowledging that she'd heard her offer. Perhaps she hadn't.

But those keen, stubborn eyes and that intoxicatingly radiant smile said otherwise.

So when Mr. Misery Incarnate and Ms. Too Good To Be True were the first ones Inej saw in the salon all those years ago, she nearly collapsed under the weight of her dread. No doubt Feta had sung her secrets. No doubt Kaz wanted to see the pathetic Suli girl who'd spoken out of turn be brought to justice.

Except Heleen leaned back in her silken chair and said, "Well, little lynx, it seems you're someone else's problem now. Apparently Per Haskell has a taste for Suli girls. He's purchased your indenture for a very tidy sum."

Inej swallowed. "I'm moving to a different house?"

Heleen waved a hand. "Haskell does own a pleasure house — if you can call it that — somewhere in the lower Barrel, but you'd be a waste of his money there — though you'd certainly learn just how kind Tante Heleen has been to you—"

The rest of Heleen's words were drowned out by a stream of giggles, incessant and unashamed. Everyone looked to Feta, Kaz and Heleen sharing the same ticked expression at face value, Kaz experiencing something with no name yet just underneath the surface.

The girl did not apologize. "Remembered something funny," was all she offered. With a grand sweep of her hand, Feta said, "Go on, Peacock."

"If you don't say, Miss Siren," Heleen drawled.

This, Inej had been surprised to hear. Heleen wasn't one for playing into titles. She much preferred clients to think they were no better than anyone else.

Heleen turned her feline eyes back on Inej, a disgusting, painted smirk making Inej's insides curdle. She immediately picked up on Inej's distress and laughed lightly, a vile, cursed sound. "Regardless of what Haskell wants with you, he's probably too old, disgustingly old, to do anything about it. Of course, one never knows." She lifted a shoulder. "Perhaps he'll share you with his errand boy, Mister Br—"