Midnight Thoughts ~ Shadow & Bone

29

After several hours' travel, Jesper was able to find an abandoned barn, and we quickly rushed inside, Kaz pouring the last of our resources on the splintered table. I frowned.

"Is this all we have left?" I asked quietly. He glanced down at me, and I sighed. Inej pressed a hand to her side and groaned. She pulled her shirt up just slightly and shook her head, glancing up at us.

"Jesper, my bag." The tall boy gave it to her, and she quickly peeled off her top shirt. Jesper gagged quietly, and I had to stifle a laugh.

"Mother of Saints," he muttered. He cleared his throat, and Inej tried to sit down. I ran over to her and helped her to the ground.

"It's not healing on its own," she said. "I need to stitch it." Kaz nodded.

"How long before you can travel?" he asked. She glanced up at him momentarily.

"Not long. Where?" He sighed.

"Ketterdam." The three of us paused to look at him, and he shook his head. "Between our dwindling funds, lack of time and conflicting interests, it's time we cut our losses." A small smile played at the corners of my mouth, but I forced it away and turned back to Inej. He glanced at me before turning and leaving the barn, and Jesper looked down at us.

"I guess the Bastard misses the Barrel," he said softly. I chuckled quietly and shook my head.

"I think the Bastard misses having control." Inej finally got her needle threaded and began sewing up her wound, making Jesper exhale sharply. She chuckled a bit and glanced up at him.

"You can watch a bullet tear through a man, but a needle's too much?" He shook his head.

"It..." He sighed. "Yeah, well, you see, bullets are bam, in and out. That's... That's just..." He was unable to finish before he gagged again, and Inej looked up at me.

"My hands are too slick," she said. "Can you..?" I nodded and took the needle from her, picking up where she had left off.

"Where'd you two learn to do that?" Jesper asked from his place across the room. Inej took a sharp breath.

"When I was at the Menagerie." I didn't look up at him as I replied as well.

"Little Palace."

"Yeah, but why would you..." He trailed off as he began to understand. "Oh, that's dark." Inej nodded.

"Which is why we can't go back." Jesper was silent for a moment, but when he spoke up again, his voice was soft.

"If you told Kaz that story, I think he'd murder Heleen and the Darkling himself." I paused my work and looked up at him.

"Jesper, you're not hearing her," I told him. "I escaped from my prison. I'm free." I shook my head. "But she can't go back." I resumed stitching Inej's wound, and it was silent until Jesper cleared his throat.

"What?" Inej asked him. He sighed.

"Well, I was... I was going to tell you to trust Kaz and that he'd never let you go back, but... I don't have the right to tell you what you should do with your shot at freedom." I glanced up at Inej as she smiled a bit, and I found myself smiling as well.

"You make this a lot harder, you know," she told him. I didn't need to see him to know he was grinning like a lunatic.

"I know," he said. "I'd miss me, too. I'm fantastic." I rolled my eyes as I tied off the stitches.

"Don't push your luck," I told him. I stood up and wiped my hands on my shirt. I glanced at Jesper, then back down at Inej, lowering my voice slightly. "I'm gonna go find Kaz. Do you want me to wait?" She pressed her lips together and glanced around the room before shaking her head.