My Name Is Adela Kirigan (A Shadow and Bone Season 1 Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Kaz Brekker

Ketterdam. The other side of the Fold; island of Kerch. 

Laughter echoed in the rainy, slum streets of Ketterdam as the action moved into one of the nearby bars, the sign of a crow hanging outside. A large man sat at a gambling table. 

'Hey, you take Zemeni coin, yes?' The man tossed a small sack of coins to a man, but another man spoke up first. 

'Let me see that.' He tossed the packet to the young man sitting at the other end of the table, with dark olive skin and a tousled mop of black hair. He caught the packet of coins with ease and pulled one out, studying it. 'The Lucky Nine Casino up the block has had trouble with counterfeit coin lately. Heavy, but brittle.' 

'Oh, come on, now. I've been here for hours.' Jesper Fahey eyed the man, then went back to studying the coin again. 'My money is good, no?' 

'Zemeni coin can take a bullet. But the knockoff...' He tossed it up into the air, pulling out a pearl-handled revolver and shooting the coin in midair. It fell onto the table, a hole showing against the green fabric of the table. 'Busted.' He spun the handle around with ease, shoving it back inside his holster. 

'What does that prove?!' the man shouted, as two people hauled him away from the table. 'Hey! Wait, what are you doing? Get off me!' Jesper cracked a smirk, and leaned forward to steal the money off of the table, but the end of a thin wooden cane slammed on the top of it. Jesper's eyes trailed up the cane to the end, where a gold crow's head rested in the hands and further up, the face of a light-skinned young man with hard edges to his jaw and deep chocolate brown eyes. The younger man shook his head slowly, chiding Jesper silently. 

'No loud noises at the table, Jesper. You'll scare off the pigeons,' Kaz Brekker said, deadpan. Jesper gulped. 

'Wouldn't want that, boss.' 

'Shouldn't you be on the door?' 

'Yeah. Right away, boss.' He got up from the chair and moved towards the door as quickly as he could. Taking his cane off of the table, Kaz limped slightly towards the stairs. 

'A bit early for action, innit, Kaz?' another dark-skinned man asked, walking behind Kaz.

'What do you want, Rotty?' 

'Someone stole a DeKappel from a merch's private residence last night.' 

'Is that so?' Kaz asked, continuing up the stairs, largely ignoring the man. 

'It's a painting. A landscape of Ravka. The Fold. Oil on parchment.' 

'I know who DeKappel is,' Kaz snapped. 

'Well, he don't do nudes, so I never heard of him.' 

'Get to it, Rotty,' Kaz replied, stopping and turning to Rotty. He showed him the painting. 

'Worth something like 10,000 kruge.' Kaz turned to look at the crowd below largely ignoring the man. It was good business tonight. 'The thief had to get past four roving guards, high fences, padlocked doors, and a security system designed by one of them Grisha witches.' 

'Fabrikator.' 

'Whatever. The point is, either it was a group effort or a ghost.' Kaz's head slowly began to turn towards him, like a snake calculating its prey. 

'Why does this concern me?' he asked, his eyebrows raised. 

'I've got a buyer lined up. Legit money,' Rotty replied. 'So... if you hear a whisper...' He clicked his tongue as Kaz leaned close to him. 

'Who can hear a whisper here?' he asked, deadpan, then turned and limped off into the back room of the establishment. 

Kaz Brekker stood at the mirror, shedding his gloves, when he felt a shadow behind him. A wraith of some kind. Without turning, he spoke. 

'Hello, Inej.' She pulled her mask down, said nothing. 'What information do you have for me tonight?' 

'A lead on a job. A big one. Enough money to change lives.' 

'It doesn't take much to change someone's life in the Barrel,' Kaz said, still looking in the mirror. 

'A million kruge?' she replied simply. His head slowly raised, surprised by the amount. 

'What's the name?' he asked. 

'Dreesen. A wealthy merchant.' 

'Dreesen,' he said, having heard the name before, knowing the reputations of everyone in the Barrel. 'I've heard of him. He could afford it. The question is, what's worth a million kruge to him?' 

'He's looking for a crew willing to cross the Fold into East Ravka and bring back something.' 

'The Fold?' Kaz asked, turning to Inej, pulling on his gloves again. There was a certain terror about the mystery of the Shadow Fold that brought fear to everyone, but to Kaz? Not so much. 'Well, of course certain death pays a million,' he added non-chalantly, turning back to the mirror. 'He didn't say what he wants nicked?' 

'No. But he's taking meetings tonight, starting at midnight.' 

'Tell me you followed him.' 

'He brought someone in from a ship. Took a way back to his house in the Garden District to avoid attention. I would have followed him inside, but Dreesen's hired some private security. I would have had to use my knives to get closer,' she said. 

'Private security,' Kaz mused. 'Anyone we know?' 

'A Zemeni man. I think his name is Tendo. You know him?' 

'Yeah. He gambles at one of Pekka's clubs. So I won't have leverage on him. But Pekka will,' he spat, the name in his mouth like a foul taste. 

'Kaz, I got this lead from on of the girls at the Menagerie,' Inej said, pausing at the door to his office. 'They tell me things in case you'd buy them out, like you did with me.'

'I didn't, I'm paying off your indenture.' 

'This one girl, Kesh. She has skill. She's like me.' Kaz turned and glared at her with a sudden fury. 

'I only invest in the one of a kind. She isn't like you. No one is.' Inej, swallowing back the rejection, came to stand in front of Kaz's desk, slightly to his left. 

'So? What's our move now?' Kaz turned, moving to look at the large stolen painting of the Shadow Fold, the sun just lingering behind it. Then, without turning to her, he spoke again. 

'You're the one of us who believes in a higher power. If we're going to survive a round trip through the Fold, we'll need a miracle or two.'