"I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker, or I will not have you at all." Inej prayed he would respond to her, but was not surprised when he did not. She turned away, prepared to leave him in the darkness with the wind howling, but he stopped her.
"I want you in any way. In every way." He finally met her eyes, for the first
time since he had joined her at the railing. "I will have-" He paused, perhaps rethinking his words. For a minute, she thought he was going to change his mind, or tell her that he should not have said anything. "I will let you have me, any way you want, Inej."
A silence fell over them like snow during a snowstorm, and the only noises to be heard were the creaking of sails and the muted conversation of the other crows from the other side of the boat. Her face was still serious, but it softened a little. This was the Kaz Brekker she knew was inside him. He was the boy who had saved her. He was the boy who had given her a home. He had given her a job, a dangerous job, but a job nonetheless. He made her who she was now. He had given her her first knife. He constantly claimed it was some kind of tactical move, that his deal with Heleen had been for his own benefit. Maybe it had been, at least at first, but now, it had grown to so much more.
She had prayed he would give her a reason to stay, any reason to not leave Ketterdam and the Barrel behind. And now, here it was. "All I wanted-" She took a deep breath, starting over. "All I needed was a reason to stay."
"Have I given you that reason, Wraith?" He asked, and for the first time, she could see right through him. She could see that he was hoping, maybe even praying for the answer to be a yes.
She nodded. "I will stay in Ketterdam. I will stay with you." She gave him a small smile, and to her surprise, he smiled too. Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, Bastard of the Barrel, was smiling. She would have almost thought the world was ending.