Mistborn #01 The Final Empire

himself with any jobs lately,” said Harmon, an older, scraggly-bearded burglar. “He’s barely been seen in Luthadel a handful of times during the last few years. In fact, he hasn’t pulled any jobs since . . .”
    “This is the first one?” Ulef asked eagerly. “The first since he escaped the Pits? Then it’s bound to be something spectacular!”
    “Did he say anything about it, Vin?” Disten asked. “Vin?” He waved a stumpy arm in her direction, catching her attention.
    “What?” she asked, looking up. She had cleaned herself slightly since her beating at Camon’s hand, finally accepting a handkerchief from Dockson to wipe the blood from her face. There was little she could do about the bruises, however. Those still throbbed. Hopefully, nothing was broken.
    “Kelsier,” Disten repeated. “Did he say anything about the job he’s planning?”
    Vin shook her head. She glanced down at the bloodied handkerchief. Kelsier and Dockson had left a short time ago, promising to return after she’d had some time to think about the things they had told her. There was an implication in their words, however—an offer. Whatever job they were planning, she was invited to participate.
    “Why’d he pick you to be his twixt, anyway, Vin?” Ulef asked. “Did he say anything about that?”
    That’s what the crew assumed—that Kelsier had chosen her to be his contact with Camon’s . . . Milev’s . . . crew.
    There were two sides to the Luthadel underground. There were the regular crews, like Camon’s. Then there were . . . the special ones. Groups composed of the extremely skillful, the extremely foolhardy, or the extremely talented. Allomancers.
    The two sides of the underworld didn’t mix; regular thieves left their betters alone. However, occasionally one of these Misting crews hired a regular team to do some of its more mundane work, and they would choose a twixt—a go-between—to work with both crews. Hence Ulef’s assumption about Vin.
    Milev’s crewmembers noticed her unresponsiveness, and turned to another topic: Mistings. They spoke of Allomancy with uncertain, whispered tones, and she listened, uncomfortable. How could she be associated with something they held in such awe? Her Luck . . . her Allomancy . . . was something small, something she used to survive, but something really quite unimportant.
    But, such power . . . she thought, looking in at her Luck reserve.
    “What’s Kelsier been doing these last few years, I wonder?” Ulef asked. He had seemed a bit uncomfortable around her at the beginning of the conversation, but that had passed quickly. He’d betrayed her, but this was the underworld. No friends.
    It didn’t seem that way between Kelsier and Dockson. They appeared to trust each other. A front? Or were they simply one of those rare teams that actually didn’t worry about each other’s betrayal?
    The most unsettling thing about Kelsier and Dockson had been their openness with her. They seemed willing to trust, even accept, Vin after a relatively short time. It couldn’t be genuine—no one could survive in the underworld following such tactics. Still, their friendliness was disconcerting.
    “Two years . . .” said Hrud, a flat-faced, quiet thug. “He must have spent the entire time planning for this job.”
    “It must be some job indeed. . . .” Ulef said.
    “Tell me about him,” Vin said quietly.
    “Kelsier?” Disten asked.
    Vin nodded.
    “They didn’t talk about Kelsier down south?”
    Vin shook her head.
    “He was the best crewleader in Luthadel,” Ulef explained. “A legend, even among the Mistings. He robbed some of the wealthiest Great Houses in the city.”
    “And?” Vin asked.
    “Someone betrayed him,” Harmon said in a quiet voice.
    Of course, Vin thought.
    “The Lord Ruler himself caught Kelsier,” Ulef said. “Sent Kelsier and his wife to the Pits of Hathsin. But he escaped. He escaped from the Pits, Vin! He’s the only one who ever has.”
    “And the wife?” Vin asked.
    Ulef glanced at Harmon, who shook his head. “She didn’t make it.”
    So, he’s lost someone too. How can he laugh so much? So honestly?
    “That’s where he got those scars, you know,” Disten said. “The ones on his arms. He got them at the Pits, from the rocks on a sheer wall he had to climb to escape.”
    Harmon snorted. “That’s not how he got them. He killed an Inquisitor while escaping—that’s where he got the scars.”
    “I heard he got them fighting