Stars ― Kaz Brekker

10. wings of a dove

THE REFUSE ROOM STINKS of garbage and problems. The heat from the incinerator makes Estera's tunic stick to her skin in the most unpleasant of ways. 

She looks up as Jesper and Matthias enter with their coils of rope. 

"We have a problem," Wylan says. 

"How bad?" Jesper asks, dumping his coils of rope on the floor. 

Inej gestures at a pair of big metal doors set into what looks like a giant chimney that juts out from the wall and stretches all the way up the ceiling. "I think they ran the incinerator this afternoon. 

Estera narrows her eyes at Matthias. "You said they ran it in the mornings."

"They used to."

Jesper opens the door, surveying the damage. Almost as soon as the doors are open, sweat collects at his brow. "Wylan, give me a shirt from one of the bins." 

Wylan does, and Jesper tears off one of the sleeves and tosses it into the shaft. It falls soundlessly, catches flame mid-air, and burns away to nothing.

He shuts the doors and tosses the remnants of the shirt back in the bin. "Well, demo is out," he says. "We can't take explosives in there. Can you still make the climb?" he asks Inej.

"Maybe," Inej says. "I don't know." 

"I can try to cool it down, but there's only so much it'll help," Estera offers. 

"What does Kaz say?" Jesper asks. "Where is Kaz? And where's Nina?" 

Estera scowls. "Kaz doesn't know about the incinerator yet. He and Nina went to search the upper cells." 

Matthias's glower goes dark as a rain-heavy sky ready to split. "Jesper and I were supposed to go with Nina." 

"Kaz didn't want to wait," Inej says.

"We were on time," Matthias says angrily. "What is he up to?" 

Estera wonders the same thing, and she doesn't like that she and the Fjerdan are of one mind on anything. 

"He's going to limp up and down all those flights of stairs, dodging patrols?" Jesper asks incredulously. 

"We tried to point that out to him," Estera grumbles. "He's as stubborn as he is greedy." 

"Inej," Wylan calls from one of the rolling bins. "These are our clothes. 

He reaches in and, one after the other, pulls out Inej's little leather slippers.

Her face breaks into a dazzling smile. Finally, a bit of luck. 

"What do you say, Wraith?" Jesper says. "Can you make the climb?" 

"I can." 

Jesper takes the shoes from Wylan. "If I didn't think these might be crawling with disease, I would kiss them and then you." 

They manage to fish Kaz's gloves out of the bin as well to protect Inej's hands from the incinerator's hot walls. 

As Inej slowly starts to make the climb, Estera leans into the incinerator, focusing a constant gust of cold wind on the still-burning coals and the hot air inside. It isn't a cure-all, but it will keep Inej's body from overheating too terribly, and it will cool the walls enough so that her hands and feet don't burn. As she maintains the wind, she watches Inej's progress, going so far as to offer up a timid prayer to her Saints. 

Estera may not be a believer, but Inej is, and maybe that's enough for the Saints to listen. 

It's slow going, and Estera's face is sticky with sweat as she keeps up the wind. She hears the chime of the Elderclock, but she keeps her focus on the wind. As hot and miserable as this incinerator is, using her power fills her with welcome energy.