How do you fight an enemy who never shows his face?
The murder of crows must band together with a privateer prince to face their greatest challenge yet. But though Kaz is playing for the Dregs, Nikolai suspects that the future of the world is at sta...
Kaz saw the handle turn as if in slow-motion. Raven. He grabbed Inej and pulled her towards him, dragging the both of them into his wardrobe and shutting the doors.
Then he realised four things at once.
The first: him and Inej were close. Too close.
The second was that this was the second time he'd been literally pinning her against a wall in the space of a few minutes.
The third: what the Djel, Brekker, a psycho has just walked into the room and you're thinking of that???
And the fourth was that it might not be Raven who'd just walked into the room. Which meant that he had possibly just shoved Inej into his closet for no reason whatsoever.
Please be Raven please be Raven please...
"Kaz? You there?"
Not Raven
"Wylan!!!" Inej laughed - that laugh - , and threw open the doors of the wardrobe, sending Kaz - who had been leaning on them - tumbling out onto the floor.
"Inej!" Wylan yelped, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste to reach her. He hugged her hard, and Kaz felt a pang of jealousy at not being able to do the same. But then, that's just me. Wylan's the type of person who'll greet you with a hug. I'm the type of person who'll greet you with a knife to your throat.
Wylan pulled back to look at her, hands gently holding her slim shoulders. "Kaz didn't say you were coming back."
"He didn't know."
Wylan frowned and then looked down at Kaz, who was picking himself off the floor. "Inej, why were you and Kaz..." He paused, looking from them to the wardrobe, then his blue eyes widened, a trademark red blush spreading across his cheeks. "Oh! Oh. Ohhhhhh. That."
"I'm not going to apologise for spoiling your innocence, Van Sunshine, because you live with Jesper; I trust he's already seen to that," Kaz growled. Then he realised he'd basically just falsely admitted to... well... and hastened to cover his mistake. "We weren't doing anything dodgy."
Wylan snorted. "Kaz Brekker, not doing something dodgy?"
"The Barrel has corrupted you, Wylan Van Eck. It is official," cut in Inej.
"Nah, Kaz saw to that after you'd gone. I can pick locks now, see?" Wylan brandished a pair of lock picks in Inej's face.
"And he takes every time he visits me as an opportunity to demonstrate that."
Wylan grinned sheepishly, then asked; "So, what exactly were you two doing in your closet, other than fulfilling your promise to Hannah Smeet?"
Inej raised an eyebrow.
"Wraith, please don't ask. It's a long story," Kaz rasped.
"The closet, Brekker?" insisted Wylan. He agreed with Inej - the merchling was thoroughly corrupted.
"I mistook you for a psychopath; again, don't-"
Inej raised a hand to stop him. Her usually caramel skin was ashen. "Wylan. What is that?"
She pointed to a small pink flower tucked in the red-haired boy's buttonhole, and Kaz's blood ran cold.
"Oh, this? Just something that flower vendor gave me. Pretty, isn't it?"
Kaz was down the stairs in three seconds flat, leg burning from leaving his cane in his room. He shoved past the few Dregs milling in the common-room and threw open the door, scanning the area with gun in hand.
Aside from a few startled passerbys and the usual drunken rabble, the street was empty. He already knew what he would see, but looked down.
A single black feather rested on a cart filled with wild geraniums.
Kaz swore and sprinted back up the stairs to his room, meeting Inej halfway. Wylan hovered in the doorway, unsure of what was going on.
"Wy, Inej, get your stuff and move. We can't stay here."
He pushed past Wylan and grabbed his cane from its position leaning against his bed, feeling the familiar shape of its crow head in his hand. Crossing the room in two strides, his gloved thumb skimmed the spines of the books on his bookshelf, until he came to one who's gold-embossed spine read "Hamilton: the Revolution," and pulled it out.
"Wha..." started Wylan, looking puzzled, then his jaw dropped as Kaz opened the book. It was completely hollow and filled with neatly stacked bundles of kruge. Kaz gave him an "I will kill you if you tell people about this" look and jammed one bundle in the lining of his jacket, then closed the "book" and shoved it into a bag.
"We're going. The Slat isn't safe anymore," he growled, stuffing several crumpled suits into his bag.
"Where to..?" asked Inej.
Kaz kept packing as he replied; "The Van Eck mansion."
"Hey!" Wylan yelped. "That's my house!"
"And you're in my gang."
"But-"
"One more word and I'll dunk your pampered ass in the canal."
"Kaz, listen-" Inej started, a look of pity for the merchling spreading across her face, but Kaz ignored her.
"We've got no time to coddle Wylan's every need. If he wanted out, he should have said so a long time ago. Now move."
Kaz slung his bag over one shoulder and stalked out of the room, Inej and Wylan following close behind.
A/N
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My friends sent me this. I am physically sickened.
