✨ Half my soul ✨ Kaz✖️OC.

Sweet dreams are made of this

EIGHT BELLS

Where the hell is Kaz? Jesper bounced from foot to foot. Yellow Protocol? Red Protocol? He couldn't remember which was which.

Aeolian had secured a rope to the roof and dropped down a line for them to climb. Jesper had sent the rest of the rope up with Wylan and Matthias. There was nothing left to do but wait, and panic when the alarm started to ring. Any minute, some guards might venture down to the basement. If they found Jesper by the incinerator, the route to the roof would be obvious. He'd be damning not only himself but the others as well.

Come on, Kaz. I'm waiting on you. They all were. Nina had come charging into the room. When he asked her where Kaz was, Nina's face had crumpled. "I hoped he was here, seeing her off."

What Nina thought was obvious, Jesper would've thought the same if he was in Nina's place. Whenever Kaz disappears or wanders off, it was mostly in search of Aeolian or something to do with her, that's what they all had noticed.

Had the guards captured Kaz? Was he somewhere in the prison fighting for his life?

He's Kaz Brekker. Even if they locked him up, Kaz could escape any cell, any pair of shackles. If Jesper kept standing there like a podge, they'd all be doomed. There was nothing to do but climb.

Jesper grabbed the rope just as Kaz hurtled through the door. His shirt was covered in blood, his dark hair a wild mess.

"Hurry," Kaz said without preamble.

A thousand questions crowded into Jesper's head, but he didn't stop to ask them. He swung out over the coals and started to climb. He felt the rope tremble as Kaz took hold beneath him.

Jesper put hand over hand, pulling himself up from knot to knot, his arms beginning to ache, the rope cutting into his palms, bracing his feet against the wall of the incinerator when he needed to, then recoiling at the heat of the bricks.

How had Aeolian made this climb with nothing to hold on to? The Shu girl was extraordinary, that's what they all knew but Jesper never thought of the intensity of her skills until now.

High above, the Elderclock's alarm bells still clanged. What had gone wrong? Why had Kaz and Nina been separated? And how were they going to get out of this?

"Thank the Saints," he gasped when Matthias and Wylan grabbed his shoulders and hauled him up the last few feet. "Kaz is on the rope."

Matthias and Wylan seized the rope to pull him up. Jesper wasn't sure how much Wylan was actually helping, but he was certainly working hard. They dragged Kaz out of the shaft. He flopped onto his back, gulping air. "Where's Lin?" he gasped. "Where's Nina?"

"Already on the embassy roof," said Matthias.

The roof of the embassy was curved, it was a bit like walking on the humped back of an enormous whale. Nina and Aeolian were tucked up against the base of the biggest dome. It didn't offer much shelter from the dwindling rain, but the crew would be hidden from view.

Nina had Aeolian's feet in her lap. "I can't get all the rubber off her heels," she said, as she saw them approaching.

"Help her," ordered Kaz.