The Water's Rising.

Chapter 3-Kaz

Kaz reclined lazily in his leather armchair, dressed in a simple black suit, watching as Inej chained the petrified pigeon up in her own wooden chair on the other side of a hulking, varnished desk in one of the warehouse offices. He saw her look at his cane, his gloves, and go pale, heard her mutter, "Dirtyhands."

And she was right. Kaz Brekker was gone. Dirtyhands had arrived. And that was so much worse.

"So," he said smoothly, "you're the source of all this fuss."

The girl said nothing, hands clenched tight. She was trembling, he noticed. 

Good.

"What's your name?"

The hostage stayed silent. 

"I asked you a question." Kaz's voice was low and threatening.

The girl didn't say a word.

So Kaz stood up, grabbed his cane and limped round to his victim. His leather-clad hands curled into a fist, and he struck her, hard, in the face. The girl's head snapped back. "Next time it'll be the cane. Your name." He snarled.

"L l Lara." She stuttered.

"Well Lara, what the hell do you know about Kaz Rietveld?"

"He's a farm boy, from Lij. He was orphaned when he was young. He came to Ketterdam. His brother's name is Jordie."

Kaz narrowed his coffee-brown eyes. He held Lara's right hand on the desk, gripping her arm just below the wrist. 

"Kaz," warned Inej. "She's just a child. An innocent child."

He shuddered ever so slightly.

The cane rose in an arc, the beak glistening in the flickering lights of the warehouse. 

"KAZ!" Inej screamed.

It slammed down onto her fingers.

Lara screamed, eyes filling with tears. 

"Don't you dare mention Jordie or Kaz Rietveld again, or I will gut you, OK? They're dead, alright? They died in the Queen's Lady Plague!" Dirtyhands yelled.

"What?" Her voice was small.

"Why were you even looking for them?" Kaz spat.

"They're my cousins. I found out a few months ago. I convinced the orphanage matron to tell me in return for a bottle of whisky. She gave me this thing in my pocket."

Inej walked over to where Lara was pointing and pulled out a piece of wood. It was painted black and had a list of names engraved on it, each letter written in gold.

Kaz took it. "Every Rietveld in the last 100 years has their names engraved on this." Lara explained.

There were his parents' names, and next to them, laid out like it was a family tree, another set of names. Geert and Marit. Below Kaz's parents were obviously his and Jordie's names, and under Geert and Marit was a single name.

Lara.

This isn't right, Kaz thought. My parents never mentioned a cousin.

But every Rietveld had one. Kaz knew his parents had one too. They'd mentioned it. But him and his brother had just never found it. His head spun. He was going to hand it back to Lara when she caught his wrist with her good hand. "You know its real, right?" She said desperately.

Her thumb accidentally pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, settled on bare skin. The water rose up around him. 

He could see Jordie in his head. 

Hear him. 

"You've cheated death long enough, brother."

Nausea flooded through the boy. He closed his eyes, tried to pull his wrist free, but Lara held on, sensing his discomfort but not knowing why he felt it. "Mr Brekker, are you OK?"

"Kaz..." There was Inej, calling out to him. Or was it Jordie?

"Kaz..." Jordie again. Could he not leave him alone?

Lara's fingers still on his wrist.

His ragged breaths sounded loud in the barren space.

He felt trapped.

Caged.

Lost.

He could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

Feel the frantic thud of his heart.

He was just about to punch her with his free hand, all sense or control now swamped by the pure, unbridled fear when...

His eyes rolled up in his head and he was falling.