THE RED RIGHT HAND ─ kaz brekker

𝘪𝘷. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳

𝙞𝙫. 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧

kerch, ketterdam

──"I MEAN IT, WE NEED A DEMO MAN." 

"You're still on that?" 

The streets of the Barrel were alive and thriving. It felt as though the city lived in a constant state of nightfall, of tourists and locals moving about from party to party, gambling parlor to gambling parlor, pleasure house to pleasure house, stuck in an endless loop of drunken activity and poor decisions. Only those with the darkest intentions prowled about the winding, narrow streets with such a sober confidence about them. Astrid was among them. She adjusted the edge of her hood and slithered around a group of  young women  drunkenly stumbling into the closest boarding house. Jesper and Kaz cleared the way through the crowd ahead of her, tossing comments back and forth because for the hundredth time Jesper was attempting requisition a demolitions expert for a job that did not require one. 

"I just brought it up tonight!"

Kaz glanced over his shoulder, his pace a steady, quick rhythm. "Jesper, you ask for an explosives expert on every job."

"Well, because I don't want to be the one you point to and say,  'explode something for us,'" Jesper responded. "That is not a Jesper talent. I shoot things with style. And I look good! Exploding things seems like quite the Astrid job, in my opinion. Just play to my strengths, boss."

"Just because I can summon fire doesn't mean I can just make things spontaneously combust," Astrid said, sliding up to Jesper's side when he slowed. She cocked her head to one side, thinking. "I mean, certain things, I suppose."

"Alina Starkov will be kept at the Little Palace. Entering the Little Palace requires us to be quiet," Kaz responded. "If we're blowing something up, we've likely failed." 

"Then we should take Inej." Jesper tossed his arm over Astrid's shoulders, shrugging when Kaz glimpsed back at them. His expression was unamused. Jesper knew the rules. They all knew the rules. Tante Heleen's vice grip on Inej was what was keeping their Suli friend from joining them. And until something changed, that was the way it would remain. "She's a good investment. More quiet than I'll ever be. She can't stay here, you know that." 

Astrid snorted, amused. "It doesn't take too much be quieter than you, Jesper." 

"Hey, listen, that wasn't an open invitation to rag on-- wait. Hang on." Jesper came to an abrupt halt when they came to a less crowded portion of the square, where the narrow, winding street gave way to the front signage and entrance of the Emerald Palace. "Aren't we on Pekka's turf now?"

"I go to Heleen now and and ask for her buyout," Kaz said, ignoring the alarm on Jesper's face, "she knows I need Inej and sets a price I can't pay." 

Jesper frowned. "Well, that's evil. How do you know that?"

"It's what I would do," he replied. "Besides, Inej refuses to kill. Would you trust her in a matter of life and death?"

"Well, I've trusted her so far and I'm still alive, so, yeah. Now, do either of you want to tell me why we're scoping out a rival club?"