Midnight Thoughts ~ Shadow & Bone

4

Age 20

"Jesper, I swear if we don't die here, I'm going to kill you myself."

You may be wondering how I got into this situation. Well it's really quite simple.

Never trust Jesper Fahey to get into a locked building with the tightest security in Ketterdam quietly.

"I'll get us out of this," the Zemini boy said, "I swear." I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"How are you planning on doing that?" I asked him. "As far as I can see, you don't have your guns, so you can't shoot out the locks. And neither of us knows how to pick them." He shrugged.

"Kaz does." I glared through the bars of the cells.

"Well Kaz isn't here, now is he?" He frowned.

"He'll come for us," he said firmly. "I know you don't think he will, but trust me, he wouldn't just leave us here."

"Not forever. But how long will it be before he comes? How long will he let us wait here to try and teach us a lesson?" He shook his head.

"This wasn't our fault. This isn't my fault."

"Really?" I scoffed. "So you weren't the one who tripped the alarm and shot the guards?"

"To save your life!"

"I had it handled, Jesper! And if you had just trusted me to take care of myself, we wouldn't be here right now!" He sighed.

"I'm not going to apologize for trying to protect you," he said honestly. "And I know you could've handled it yourself. I was just trying to make sure you got home because..." He cut himself off, and I furrowed my brows.

"Because... Why?" He looked up at me.

"Because... Because of Kaz." I frowned.

"Kaz? Why? What about him?" He shook his head, smiling softly.

"Come on, Lin," he said. "He needs you. He might not say it, but he does. He trusts you more than anyone else, but he still worries every time he sends you on an important job because there's always a chance something will happen or you won't come back." I stared across the jail at him.

"Why?" I asked quietly. He chuckled quietly.

"Kaz has never needed a reason for anything," he told me. "But ever since you came... A lot of his reasons have been you." Before I could say anything else, the vent in the middle of the jail slid away, and a familiar figure dropped into the room. Jesper's face lit up. "There she is! Evening, Inej." The girl sighed.

"How many times is this now, Jesper?" she asked, going over to the door to the block and pulling it open. I held up my hands.

"This is a first for me," I claimed. I heard the familiar click of a cane as Kaz came in quickly through the door Inej had gotten open.

"I trust you won't make it a habit," he said, limping over to my cell and getting to work on the lock. I rolled my eyes.

"I wouldn't have done it this time if Jesper hadn't tripped the alarm," I told him. I looked across the room at the Zemini boy and smiled softly. "But I can't complain. He saved my life." Kaz paused as he picked the lock, looking back at Jesper.

"You did?" he asked. Jesper glanced at me, then back at Kaz, and nodded. Kaz stared at him a moment longer, then nodded and went back to work on the lock. It unlocked quickly, and he handed me my pistols and belt of knives before moving on to Jesper's cell as Inej rushed into mine, wrapping me in a hug.