Inej senses Kaz Brekker’s return to the Slat, the Dregs’ crowded and crooked headquarters in the Barrel. The chapter establishes Inej’s small room, the constant noise of gang life, and the effect Kaz has on everyone around him as Per Haskell’s favored lieutenant.

Before Kaz returns, Inej carries out Kaz’s order to dismiss Rojakke from the Crow Club. Rojakke protests, insults her, and tries to intimidate her, so Inej strikes him with brass knuckles to preserve the hard-won respect that keeps men in the Barrel from preying on her. Jesper objects that Kaz should not make Inej do his dirty work, but Inej accepts that all their work is dirty and leaves him to his gambling.

Back at the Slat, Inej secretly listens through a vent as Kaz reports to Per Haskell. Haskell objects that Kaz handled Big Bolliger without permission, but Kaz deflects the criticism and reveals that he has a very rich, very dangerous job that will take him away for several weeks. Haskell demands his share and final authority, while Kaz promises wealth and says Pim can manage things in his absence, making Inej wonder why she cares about being passed over when she wants freedom from the Dregs.

Inej meets Kaz in his attic office, where he asks what she would say to four million kruge. Kaz describes the job only as nearly impossible and likely fatal, but his excitement shows that the reward and challenge matter deeply to him. Inej presses for details, and Kaz tells her to gather Jesper and Muzzen by dawn and have Wylan waiting at the Crow Club the next night.

Kaz emphasizes that this is not an assignment but a job Inej may choose to accept or refuse, which alarms her because he has never offered her that freedom before. Kaz gives Inej a ruby tie pin to fence and admits that someone managed to have him jumped, unsettling Inej because she depends on Kaz being untouchable. Before leaving, Kaz orders Inej to secure a stolen DeKappel from Van Eck’s house and buy him a new hat, and their dry banter ends with Inej sliding down the banister ahead of his painful descent.