As Vladim moved to turn the locks, I heard Genya whisper. "You definitely owe me a kiss after all this, Don't think I won't hold you to it."
I laughed lightly. "We'll see."
"There is no seeing, you will, if I have to be the one to do it then so be...
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A HALF HOUR LATER, WE WERE SEATED AT the end of a table in the gallery, empty glasses of tea in front of us. David was sat across from me, his head bent over a pile of drafting paper as he tried to re-create the plans for the glass skiff and the formula for lumiya from memory.
For better or worse, I didn't believe he'd aided the Darkling intentionally. David's crime was hunger for knowledge, not power.
The rest of the Spinning Wheel was empty and silent, most of the soldiers and rogue Grisha still asleep. Despite being hauled out of bed so early in the morning, Nikolai managed to look put together, even with his olive drab coat thrown over his nightshirt and trousers. It hadn't taken long to update him on all we had learned, and I wasn't surprised by the first question out of his mouth.
"How long have you known this?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"An hour, maybe less. I only waited to confirm the information with David."
"That's impossible—"
"Improbable," I corrected gently. "Nikolai... I heard it from the Darkling's lips himself. He told me."
"You still have the connection?"
"Unfortunately," I said. "But I've gathered some well enough information about it."
"Go on," Nikolai was interested.
"It's like I'm traveling by flying, when I think of him I feel like I'm leaving my body physically but it's not..."
Nikolai rose a brow. "That's it?"
"Well it's harder to explain," I protested.
"How so?"
There's a long beat. "I can't hear other people or really even see them if they aren't immediately next to him or in contact with him. It's as if he's the only real, material thing."
Nikolai's fingers were drumming on the tabletop. "When was the last time this happened?"
I opened my mouth to answer and paused. Nikolai nodded his head in a silent plea.
"Yesterday,"
Nikolai hummed. "Then we could feed him false information... false intelligence." he said, his voice excited. I blinked. That quickly, Nikolai was strategizing. I should have been used to it by now. "Can you do this with other Grisha? Maybe try to get in their heads?"
