“That’s not my choice to make,” said Zoya. “Not on my own.”
Alina rested her head on the back of the couch. “Why are we even discussing this? From what I understand, the Darkling knew the bargain he made. He stands at the doorway between worlds. If he dies, the Fold ruptures again and the void comes pouring through.”
“Yes,” said Zoya. “But the monk told me that a heart as strong as his could free him.” She’d spoken Liliyana’s words. She’d wanted Zoya to listen.
Genya looked aghast. “Someone to take his place? Unless you’re volunteering Jarl Brum—”
“No, I think it was a riddle. Not someone, something. The first heart to be pierced by the thorn wood. The heart of Sankt Feliks.”
“You’re talking about a relic.” Alina sounded skeptical. “As someone whose finger bones are on sale in villages right now, let me tell you, they’re all fake.”
“She’s right,” said Genya. “If Sankt Feliks really existed and his heart was somehow preserved, no one knows where it is.”
“True,” said Zoya. “And whoever has it won’t be eager to part with an object of so much power.”
Genya made a kind of humming noise. “So, if we decide he deserves the mercy of death, where does that leave us?”
Zoya touched her fingers to the little wire ship on her desk. “A priceless object, impossible to find, no doubt under lock and key, and most certainly in need of stealing? I know a thief who might be up to the task.”
Genya groaned. “You can’t be serious. You can’t stand the man!”
“Because he’s insufferably rude and utterly without morals. But he has his uses.”
“You think he’ll do it?” asked Genya.
“For the right reward.”
There was a long silence in the room. At last Genya reached for Alina’s glass and took a long sip. “I don’t believe the Darkling has earned forgiveness. I don’t know how many years of pain buys that, or when we become the monsters and he becomes the victim. But I don’t want to spend the rest of my life doing that math. If there’s really a way to accomplish it, let’s be rid of this burden once and for all.”
“All right,” said Alina.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Zoya rang for a servant to fetch Nikolai.
“Has a decision been reached?” he asked. “I can’t decide if you all look ruthless or beneficent. Maybe just hungry.”
“Is Captain Ghafa still here?”
“I believe she left an hour ago in the company of Prince Rasmus and his betrothed.”
“Perhaps that’s a sign,” Zoya ventured.
“Zoya,” Alina said warningly. “We did agree.”
“Oh, all right,” Zoya said. “I need Sturmhond to take a message to Ketterdam for me.”
“I hear he’s very busy these days.”
“I think he’ll appreciate the reward.”
He lowered his voice. “If it involves you out of that dress, I have no doubt I can convince him.”
“You won’t stop until you’ve created a scandal, will you?”
“The demon made me do it. What vital message will the world’s most handsome privateer be taking to Ketterdam?”
Zoya sighed. Tragic to think a woman might have everything she desired and still have need of a thief.
“Get a message to the Crow Club,” she said. “Tell Kaz Brekker the queen of Ravka has a job for him.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Rule of Wolves is the seventh novel I’ve written in the Grishaverse, a story that began with a girl trying to find her way through the dark. As Zoya would say, it’s not a metaphor. But I’m still grateful to all the generous people who helped light the way.
Thank you to everyone at Imprint: Dawn Ryan, Hayley Jozwiak, David Briggs, Raymond E. Colón, the meticulous John Morgan, Camille Kellogg, my talented editor Erin Stein, who lets me pitch her wild ideas, and Natalie Sousa, who has worked so hard to make these books beautiful. I’m deeply grateful to the wonderful marketing, publicity, and subrights teams at MCPG: Kathryn Little, Melissa Zar, Teresa Ferraiolo, Julia Gardiner, Lucy Del Priore, Allison Verost, Mariel Dawson, Kristin Dulaney, Kaitlin Loss, Jordan Winch, and Team Triple M: Molly Ellis, Morgan Kane, and Madison Furr. Thank you to the remarkable sales team of Jennifer Edwards, Jessica Brigman, Jasmine Key, Jennifer Golding, Mark Von Bargen, Matthew Mich, Rebecca Schmidt, Sofrina Hinton, and Taylor Armstrong. Also to Jon Yaged, who didn’t fit into any of these lists.