Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)

by Leigh Bardugo

That was when Inej saw Kaz still hadn’t moved. “You don’t look well, Geels.” “I’m just fine,” he said. But he wasn’t. He looked pale and shaky. His eyes were darting right and left as if searching the shadowed walkway of the roof. “Are you?” Kaz asked conversationally. “Things aren’t going quite as planned, are they?” “Kaz,” Jesper said. “Bolliger’s bleeding bad—” “Good,” said Kaz. “Kaz, he needs a medik!” Kaz spared the wounded man the barest glance. “What he needs to do is stop his bellyaching and be glad I didn’t have Holst take him down with a head shot.” Even from above, Inej saw Geels flinch. “That’s the guard’s name, isn’t it?” Kaz asked. “Willem Holst and Bert Van Daal—the two city guards on duty tonight. The ones you emptied the Black Tips’ coffers to bribe?” Geels said nothing. “Willem Holst,” Kaz said loudly, his voice floating up to the roof, “likes to gamble almost as much as Jesper does, so your money held a lot of appeal. But Holst has much bigger problems—let’s call them urges. I won’t go into detail. A secret’s not like coin. It doesn’t keep its value in the spending. You’ll just have to trust me when I say this one would turn even your stomach. Isn’t that right, Holst?” The response was another gunshot. It struck the cobblestones near Geels’ feet. Geels released a shocked bleat and sprang back.