Midnight Thoughts ~ Shadow & Bone

2

Kaz Brekker looked up as I entered with the Zemini boy. We stared each other down as I walked farther into the room.

"Is this her?" he asked the boy. The Zemini nodded.

"Karlin Kaye," he said. "Panther of the Barrel." Kaz nodded and stood from the chair.

"Guard the door, Jesper," he told the boy. Jesper. So that was his name. The curly-haired boy left my side and shut the door behind me, and I looked around the room. There were papers scattered everywhere but it still somehow gave off a neat look. "So..." I looked back at the boy who still stood behind his desk. "You're the Panther." I arched a brow as I stared across the room at him.

"Picked up on that when Jesper said it explicitly, did you?" I saw his jaw clench and smirked. "And considering the gloves, cane, and bad haircut, I take it I'm currently speaking to the Bastard of the Barrel himself." He nodded and sat back down, and I dragged a chair over from the side of the room, sitting down calmly and crossing one leg over the other. "So. Kaz Brekker. What can I do for you?" The brown-haired boy leaned forward, resting his elbows on the wooden desk and clasping his gloved hands.

"I know your secret," he said suddenly. My stomach dropped, but I forced a smile onto my face and shook my head.

"What secret?" I asked. "I'm an open book."

"You're an open book about things that you want out, mostly false information to cover up who you are and where you're from. But everyone has secrets, and in the Barrel, those are dangerous. And valuable to those who know them." I let the smile fall from my face and glared at him.

"And what is it that you think you know, Dirtyhands?"

"You're a Grisha." And that was it. My heart stopped. I shook my head, crossing my arms.

"You're reaching. You have nothing on me and you don't like that, you'd do anything to have something you can hold over my head-"

"Am I?" He arched his brow. "You've been here for barely more than a year, showed up suddenly, and are already one of the most feared people in the city. Anyone that's tried challenging you for that power ends up dead, but there's no clear cause." I glared at him, ice in my dark eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly. "I know the Barrel. It's not that different from how I grew up. So I know that if you didn't want anything from me, you would've kept this to yourself." He stood up and limped around the desk, glaring down at me. Not wanting to appear afraid, I stood up as well. Though I was still smaller, years of watching my father made it easy to intimidate if you knew what you were doing.

"I want to know what in the hell you're doing in Ketterdam," he hissed. "Being a Grisha in Kerch is a death sentence." I smirked.

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" I asked him. His eyes darkened.

"What are you talking about?" I crossed my arms, glaring up at him.

"Did you really think that you were the only person that knew how to dig up a person's past?" His jaw clenched, and he walked back behind his desk, sitting down and clasping his hands on top of his cane as I sat back down as well.

"So it appears we're at a stalemate," he said lowly. I nodded.

"So my question is... what do you have to offer me?" He arched a brow, and I shrugged and smirked. "I have more on you than you have on me. You can tell everyone that I'm a Grisha, but I think I've made it clear that I can take care of myself, and if I can't I can run again. And then you'll have lost your chance to keep me all to yourself."

"Are you saying you'll tell everyone what you know about me?"

"I'm saying I could. Or... You can tell me why you wanted me here, and I'll consider not doing that." He sat up straighter and nodded.

"I want you to work for me," he said simply. I arched my brow.

"Work for you?" He nodded.

"The Crows. You would help us with anything we needed your... talents for. Aside from being Grisha, you have a certain knack for finding things people don't want found. As you've proven." I uncrossed my arms, setting them gently on the armrests of the chair as I stared across the desk at him.

"This sounds to me like you get more benefits than I do. What do I get out of it?"

"You would have a place to live, a place to hide if anyone got word of what you are. You would have people to have your back instead of needing to have your own."

"I have people," I told him. "Children. That I've promised to help if they need it."

"They live with you?" I shook my head.

"No. But similar to what you have here, I've promised them a safe place to go if they need to hide or if they're hurt." He sighed.

"How many?" I furrowed my brows.

"Three." He nodded.

"They can come here." He pointed a warning finger at me. "But only if they desperately need it." I smirked.

"So you give me a place in this godforsaken town, and I help you dig up secrets about anyone and everyone you need. And we don't tell anyone what we know about each other." He nodded.

"So are we in agreement?" I narrowed my eyes at the boy before sitting up and nodding.

"Yes, I believe we are." He nodded and extended a gloved hand across the desk.

"The deal is the deal."