REVENGE, kaz brekker

xlviii. old wounds

CHAPTER FOURTY-EIGHT
vol ii — home turf

DINARA STARED COMPLETELY dumbfounded by the boy next to her, who had thought it would be a brilliant idea to give himself up. "Are you a moron or just a moron?" she asked, completely done with him. "You are just going to send yourself to prison, because we both know that Van Eck will build a CAGE for you, one that you can't escape. You will rot in there before you manage to get yourself a trial. You know that. So, I suggest you come up with something else before I throw all of your boundaries out of the window and start punching you senseless." She couldn't even stand to look at the boy, choosing to climb down the stairs of the clock tower, settling on the bottom step.

There was no way in hell that she was going to let that boy walk into a legitimate trap, one that she couldn't even save him from. Head folded in her hands, she took long deep breathes, hoping to calm herself before she marched back up there and started beating him with his cane. Meanwhile, Kaz and the rest stood there completely speechless, knowing that she meant everyword, mostly because she never ever broke Kaz Brekkers boundaries. Never. Not even under certain circumstances, that was the one like she had never crossed. Kaz continued to torment all of them by trying to make himself seem like he was doing the right thing, only to end up in a fist fight with Jesper. Colm had managed to break it up, thankfull, seeing as no one else would. But there were two things Kaz knew, he had to made things right with Dinara and find a way to come out on top.

Dinara sensed him before she heard him. She knew exactly what he was doing and when he was going to do it, she knew his next move even before he did. It was an odd pairing, but it worked. They managed to keep each out of some sort of trouble, unless they both dove head first into it. Dinara scooted over to the side, allowing the boy enough space so they wouldn't be touching, making sure he was sitting comfortably. She could feel his eyes on her, but she refused to look at him, waiting for the reason as to why he thought it was a good idea. "You're an absolute fucking wanker."

"Wanker? You haven't said that in years. Guess you're extremely displeased with me then? Don't answer. I already know," he said, placing his cane to the side, stretching out and massaging his bad leg. He could see from the corner of his eye that she had noticed, a slightly empathic look crossing her face for a second, knowing how much pain he had to be in. "I had a brother."

Dinara snapped her head up to look at Kaz, confusing flashing across her face like a streak of lighting, her eyes searching his for any hint of deception. "Okay. That's new. What next? Your last name isn't your last name?"

"It's not. Retveld, that's my last name. I changed it when I found my way back to shore. But my brother, his name was Jordie." He could see the connection of the name flash across her eyes, her connecting the silent pieces that he didn't even know existed in her mind. "We had come here after our parents died, Jordie was hoping to become a booming merchant, but things weren't exactly easy. We were living off of scraps and since he wouldn't let me work, it was very rare that we had a good meal in our hands. It's why I learned to pickpocket. We had to survive somehow. But, a man came to us, telling us that if we saved up and gave him enough, he would make us rich. Jordie saved like never before, choosing to feed me over himself. But, we gave him the money, only to return later and find out that he didn't even live there."

Dinara reached her hand out, only to pull it away, not really knowing how to comfort the boy. She knew that this was taking everything out of him to try and completely allow her to understand him and everything he did. She settled for knocking her boot against his, giving him a small smile, "Take your time. I'm actually on the edge of my seat. Who knew, Kaz a storyteller."

He cracked a small smile, clearing his throat as he tried to find the right words to get him through this next part. "So, we were living in a small alcove under a bridge, when the plague started going around. Jordie caught it. I tried to help out in any way that I could, pick pocketing as much, giving him all of the food and water I had collected, but even then he was trying to make sure I was eating. I was, but not as much as I should have been. I remember falling asleep and the next thing I knew, the lower half of my body was cold. I was out in the harbor. As I looked around, I was laying on my brothers dead body, surrounded by hundreds of others that had seemingly died as well. They had thought that I died, but I managed to somehow survive it, but it should have been Jordie who did. Not me."

Dinara watched as he let a small shudder run through his body, his eyes squeezing tight for a moment as he relived the moment in his mind. "That's why you wear the gloves and don't do human touch." She didn't even allow him to try and say yes, too busy trying to make him already feel better and get his mind off of that distinct memory. "Christ, Kaz, you really are a cat. You can't be killed. Wow, I'm convinced your going to live through the next fifteen centuries all while running the gang with your little crow cane and mean face."

"I don't know about that, Di," Kaz said, sneaking a small glance at the girl who was busy putting everything she had just heard away in her mind, already back to trying to find a way to get them out. "Don't worry. I'm not going to give myself up, I have a plan."

"Oh thank god, I was about ready to throw you off the building if you were set on that," Dinara said with a small chuckle, turning her body so she was facing him directly. "You know we'll get out of this. We always do. We're the Crows. All we do is survive."

we all knew that this was gonna happen. might as well do it now before everything sad and large happens