Six of Crows: Chapter 12: Inej Summary & Analysis

The first thing Inej’s father taught her was how to safely fall. As Wylan’s bomb explodes, Inej spins, stands, and disappears onto the cargo crates. Judging by how many enemies are shooting at the Dregs, someone talked. Inej can tell Jesper is shooting from the Ferolind, so her job is to buy everyone enough time to get to the schooner. Nobody expects the enemy to come from above, so Inej easily kills an assortment of Black Tips and Razorgulls gang members, six people in total. She says a prayer for each one. But as she tries to climb another container, Oomen, from the Black Tips, stabs her under the arm. She knows everything about him—he can crush skulls in his hands. He twists his knife and says he doesn’t want her dead: he wants her secrets.

Inej uses the blades in her kneepads to hit Oomen in the groin and knows she has to climb. She’s losing blood fast, but it’s the only way she’ll survive. Struggling not to black out, she climbs up one crate and lies there, figuring it’s not a terrible place to die. But someone grabs her ankle—and before Inej can slit her own throat, she realizes it’s Kaz. He picks her up, tells her to keep her eyes open, and carries him to the schooner. Inej remembers hearing the other girls at Tante Heleen’s talking excitedly about Kaz. One night, she whispered to him that she could help him, and the next night he came to take her away. Now, when she observes that he came back for her, he replies that he “protect[s] his investments.” She tells him to apologize but blacks out before he can respond.