#ninazenik

Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason.

Everyone in the Barrel knew this fact, everyone knew not to question his actions and knew even better not to contradict them, especially his crows. They were used to his wild nature, used to his grumbles and glares, and were often the first ones to eliminate anyone that did. But ever so often, they could not help but to raise a brow at it.

Especially now.

"Pekka has hired a new cub, find out who and why he wants them. I want answers." he had ordered Inej.

"Make another set of bombs, ones that create smoke before exploding. I need them by tonight." he said to Wylan who jolted away from Jesper at his sudden intrusion into their very private moment.

"Matthias, guard the club. I'll have to borrow Zenik from you for a job, hurry up." he knocked at Matthias' room.

Kaz knew what to do, of course he did. He had a plan, a meticulous one that had countermeasures down to the moment they got back to the Slat. Get inside, raid the new club Pekka had balls enough to build right across the harbor, just barely grazing the line of property Brekker swore him not to cross, and get back.

The crows moved swiftly through the night, he informed them of the plan, making Jesper repeat it thrice for good measure, made sure they knew every crevice of Pekka's place from the information Inej got him. Every instance and chance was accounted for and yet, somehow, some way, you had manage to stunt the bastard of the barrel.

The "Kaelish Prince", as Pekka called it, was still closed. Kaz managed to plan the heist just before the grand opening and they managed to enter quietly without Jesper scratching his itch to shoot something.

Meanwhile, Pekka had given you a room in the club, a small room that was far too plain for your taste but you'd rather have this than sleeping in the cold streets of the Barrel.

Shivering at the thought, you had managed to fall into the best sleep you ever had in years, not hearing the soft thump of a cane entering your room just an hour after you drifted off.

His plan was simple. Get information that valued Pekka whether the spider was to bleed or to die.

Kaz and Inej had stood on guard as they entered your room and spotted your form on the bed, buried under a blanket too thin to provide much warmth. She moved to remove your blanket, as quietly as she could, and she might as well have punched Kaz right in his stomach when he was met with the sight of you underneath the blanket.

His eyes widened and without realizing it, he grabbed Inej's hand to stop it from taking one of her knives out, making the Wraith widen her eyes and look at Kaz dead in the eyes before moving her sight down to his hand on hers. She feared to move, not daring to remove his hand as she scrunched her brows in question.

Kaz didn't know how to breathe. Suddenly, he was seeing Jordie laying there next to you locking eyes with him mockingly. "What's wrong brother? You look like you've seen a ghost." Jordie smirked.

You shifted in your sleep and he sharply inhaled, shaking his head to shoo away his thoughts as if it'd all go away--as if you'd go away. He had to be hallucinating, you weren't there, you were dead. He saw you drift away from him and Jordie at the harbor. He saw you breathe your last. He was alone and yet, here you were, like a slap to his face.

"Kaz?" Inej called quietly. Kaz swallowed thickly before snapping his eyes to Inej, to his hand on hers, to you. And as quick as Inej could blink, he had retreated his hand away again as she quietly sighed in silent defeat.

"Move." he said to Inej and kneeled next to you, searching for a pulse despite every fiber of his being complaining. Inej stood by and let Kaz do what he did, still shocked and confused, but she knew there was something Kaz needed to find. Still, she could not shake the feeling that something strange was afoot.

Kaz Brekker did not act brashly, not while on the job and certainly not like this.

Her eyes took in his form, bent over yours as he slowly moved your hand, a hand that had a bracelet was strikingly similar to the tattoo Kaz had on his wrist, to lift the collar of your shirt, hearing him suck in a breathe when he did like he had found gold. Despite all this running through her head, she stayed quiet, waiting for him to finish.

With all dirtyhands as doing, he was surprised that you remained sleeping. He was counting on it though, you were always a heavy sleeper.

He shook his head at his thoughts and shrugged away the twitch that he felt on his lips to remain as calm as he could be. His heart betrayed him though as it pumped loudly when he found what he was looking for; a birthmark in your collarbone. A sign that he was not dreaming. That Pekka was not playing some sort of sick joke by leaving his sister there for him to find. His ears ringed as all his movements just halted at the realization of your existence.

You were here. Not dead. No longer the ghost that haunted his every step. You were alive.

Questions poked at his head.

Why hadn't you looked for him? Where did you go? How long have you been in the Barrel? Why were you taking so long to wake up?

"Kaz." Inej's voice cut through his thoughts and he stood up suddenly, putting the blanket back on your shoulders, and walking away.

Inej's eyebrows would have shot up through the roof if they weren't limited to her forehead.

What is he doing?

"Kaz?" she asked again, following behind him cluelessly. She wanted to ask questions, to pick and prod, she knew better yet this was a new bewilderment, even for Kaz.

"So? Any news?" Jesper asked them the moment they walked out the building but Kaz walked right through him, ignoring the sharpshooter's confused gaze. Nina, who was beside Wylan, looked to Inej for answers to which Inej shrugged at, the answer "I have no idea" getting mouthed as they stood to follow the bastard of the barrel.

"Any words can amount to a 'let's go home, gang' you know that right, boss?" Jesper joked as they jogged to catch up to Kaz who walks surprisingly fast for a person with a cane.

"Not now Jesper." Kaz grumbled.

"Is it possible that you entered a portal and got back to be a whole new level of grumpy?" Nina tried. Kaz remained silent.

They looked to Inej once more to which she shook her head as if to say to leave it alone and they understood. Jesper didn't though.

"What are we shaking our heads about? What-?"

"Shut up, Jesper." they told and he grumbled to that. Grumbled all the way back to the Slat.

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click for part 2 !!!

The rhythmic clatter of his cane echoed on the roof tiles, a rhythm now known, familiar, "I have a job for you." Exclaimed the boy's impassive, hoarse voice, "What business?" "A banquet will be held for the Council Members, you will infiltrate with the actors of the Komedie Brute along with Specht." "Who is the target?" "Jellen Radmakker."

The second floor of the Geldrennen Hotel had been reserved by the Council Members, five of the richest men in Ketterdam, interested only in their image, their place in the city's food chain, protected by more guards than anyone could count, accustomed to wealth, luxury, security, indifferent to the city's needs, concerned only with dressing well, with showing the rest of the city how rich they were, oblivious to how many teenagers and children had lost their innocence by becoming criminals because of them, because none of them deigned to help the citizens, too worried about losing their investment in Jurda's production.

The girl pulled her veil over her face, the costume of the Lost Bride allowed her to hide, to camouflage herself among the actors, no one seemed to notice the few extra actors, but that was her speciality, hiding in the shadows even when the shadows were not there. Lilith noticed Specht's gaze on her, although older than her she knew he had to answer to the girl's orders, all the members of the Crows knew they had to answer to her orders; her reputation, her name, her history, the legends about her past and her family made her more dangerous and important than anyone thought.

The girl's brown eyes studied the room, Jellen Radmakker was sitting at the table, two armed men were staring at him ready to defend him; to his right was Nathan Boreg dressed in grey, his gaze passed from his colleagues to the guards to the actors, the man's breathing was quickened, although he tried to hide it you could see the drops of sweat forming on his forehead; Karl Dryden sat opposite Radmakker, his gaze fixed on the roast quail on the table in front of him, his mouth open, waiting to dig into the dish; to his left Jan Van Eck resided with a look of superiority and disgust towards the rest of the diners, his purple velvet suit fell perfectly over his body, his gold ring shone on his left ring finger under the dim light of the candles, four guards behind him scanned the room for threats; at the head of the table the figure of Hoede resided boredly waiting for entertainment and wine. "I have had news of the arrival of a more than prosperous merchant cargo." Broke the silence Radmakker, "A durast, a healer, a squaller and three other unspecified Grisha." "When will they arrive?" "By the end of the month. I understand they will be sold on the third port when they arrive. No one has been informed of their arrival yet so we will have exclusive rights to them." "I want the names and any information you have on them by tomorrow night." The three merchants exchanged information for the duration of the dinner, information they were not supposed to exchange in public. Their plans were unknown to the girl but the mere knowledge that other kids would be sold to the highest bidder made her blood boil, she adjusted the gloves on her hands, the veil on her face and the wreath on her forehead before shifting her gaze from the merchants' table to Specht, the man was listening to the conversations of the guards, focus on finding something to tell his boss.

The streets of Ketterdam were illuminated by oil lamps and animated by tourists and locals, the Pleasure District, known as the Barrel, was floodlit despite the fact that the sun had been down for several hours, the men and women working in the various bars attracted customers with false claims, false promises, false truths necessary to survive in this place; the tourists looked around, too focused on the bars, the scenes and promises of an unforgettable time to notice the disappearance of watches, wallets, valuables and other items; blonde hair blocked Lilith's view, the voices around the girl seemed to suddenly disappear the moment she felt the pressure of a hand approaching her side, her left hand clasped on the blonde's wrist, the dagger clutched in her right hand stopped at the thief's side, two pitch black eyes locked into Lilith's brown ones, her blonde eyebrows furrowed in shame and disappointment, a half smile formed on Lilith's face before the girl released her grip on the blonde, "You need to relax your breath and your arm, the pressure of the hand near the pocket would have brought you a lot of trouble." Explained Lilith to the blonde, "Check the other dagger." Said the thief with a proud grin, Lilith's hand moved to the dagger hidden in her boot, pulling it out before releasing her grip on the accomplice's wrist, "You must conceal your footsteps, though the noise in these streets is impossible to muffle, your footsteps echo like a pin on marble." The two kids nodded at the brunette before turning on their heels, "Shouldn't you be checking the tables at the Club?" shouted Lilith before turning the corner towards the Slat.

It happened before she could even notice, two men grabbed her arms while a third stopped in front of her, the man's face inches from hers, the smell of alcohol and smoke invaded her nostrils, the three drunk and out of it men stared at her with hungry stares, a look she knew all too well, a look she had seen all too many times at Emerald Palace, the dagger slipped from her sleeve into her hand before making contact with the arm of one of the three men, the man's blood stained the girl's glove, the wreath slipped from her forehead, breaking on impact with the cubblestone beneath her, the dagger in her left hand ready to be used on the second man, eyes fixed on the enemy, her right hand ready to move if necessary but before she could do anything else the smell of gunpowder invaded her nostrils, the man in front of her groaned before falling to the ground in pain, a pool of blood began to spread beneath his body; before the girl could recognise the shooter she felt a burning sensation between her ribs, her hand clutched her side, crimson red began to cover her hand, she managed to pull the dagger from her boot in time to find a new home in the man's sternum before everything went black.