Dirtyhands {Kaz Brekker X Reader}

Prologue

Big dreams becoming real tonight
So look at me and this opportunity
You're witnessing my moment, you see?
-Sia-

"It doesn't take much to change our lives in the barrel." I continued scribbling on the paper beneath me.

"What about one million kruge?"

I paused; my pen suspended above the paperwork on my desk. I sat back in my chair as a faint breeze whispered through the room, rustling the silhouette of Inej in my window. I reached over at my glass, the contents dwindling down to the last couple drops. With one quick sip, I felt the alcohol burn down my throat. I put the glass down, its thud cutting across the silence in my room.

"One million?" I repeated.

Inej stepped forward from the shadows, the dim light making her face glow. "Imagine what we could do with that." Her eyes glinted with anticipation. Although my brain started calculating every possible catch, obstacle, and trick to this, my heart couldn't help but agree with her.

This could be chance at revenge.

At freedom.

At a new life.

"You'd never have to go back to the Menagerie again." Inej stepped forward once more. She knelt at eye level with me, placing her hands gently on the edge of the desk. She took out a series of papers and placed them in front of me. A small smile grew on her face, and I mirrored it. "This is all that I learned. You need to give this information to Kaz, but burn this paper so that no one else can replicate it." She instructed. I nodded, looking down at the papers she handed me. "And...speaking of the Menagerie... I got this information from Lyla."

"Lyla...? One of the oldest in the Menagerie?" I confirmed. Inej nodded, leaving that piece of information up in the air.

I looked down at the papers, scanning through the information. Just for reassurance, I checked to see if I hadn't made a mistake in hearing Inej. My finger traced over the number written on the page. One million Kruge.

"After this, Kaz wouldn't have to worry about paying you off like he did with me." Inej continued. My smile faded as I glanced down at my wrist.

The tattoo of the caged bird, the symbol of the Menagerie, was more than just a symbol of my freedom. The black ink etched into my skin was a reminder of the scars that place gave me, more of which could never be seen, only felt.

"Once this job is done, you and I are going to get this removed." She pointed at the Menagerie tattoo. "And we're going to get matching tattoos." She smiled.

"We already have matching tattoos." I lifted my sleeve higher to show her the Dregs tattoo.

"Yes, but that's still mandatory. We're going to get one that means something important to both of us." She said.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" I asked, leaning forward.

"Maybe a... rose and dagger?" She suggested.

"Perfect." I encouraged her.

"Did you sell the De' Kappel?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Not yet, Kaz seems to have something else planned for that." I replied, looking down at the work I had been doing on it previously.

"Of course, he does." She sighed stepping back. "I need to go now, these knives..." She pointed to the shining metal glittering on her clothes "...won't polish themselves." She made her way to the window. I saw the ghost of her smile disappear as she stepped out the window as easily as one steps out a door.

She left no trace of her after she left. The only reminder that she had even been here was the papers about the next mission still on my desk.

I held them up, reviewing the information and storing it in my photographic memory. It didn't take long, and I quickly picked up the lighter on my desk. With a quick flick, the fire caught on the edge of the page. Now this information couldn't be replicated or transported anywhere else. I watched the scarlet flames scarfed down the papers, leaving nothing but an ash trail. Once dissolved into nothing, I brushed off the remains.

One million Kruge, I repeated to myself mentally.

That ought to get Kaz excited.