Author's Note:

Hey lovelies,

I'm going to have to raise the rating to M. It probably already should've been rated that after Kaz's torture scene. Also, I often find myself going between yards and feet in my writing because I'm familiar with both. I usually use feet for the shorter distances and yards for the longer ones. For future reference: 1 yard = 3 feet.

Off we go!

KAZ

A couple of scavengers have collected around the body but otherwise it has, miraculously, remained unnoticed. They flee when they see they have company. As we approach, I hear Ashiana gasp behind me. It has to be her as Inej would have the sense not to draw unwanted attention with too much noise.

The smell of blood is thinning as the sea breeze weaves its way through the streets. The body seems to be in the same position although it wouldn't surprise me if some of the pockets had been rifled through. With the shape the clothes are in, it's hard to tell.

"Alright, Ashiana. You said you could track things. Time to hunt." She doesn't look at me but she holds her ground well. Her face is pale but she doesn't look like she's going to be sick. At least, not yet.

She is a healer. It's not like she's going to faint at the sight of blood. Still, these aren't exactly run-of-the-mill wounds. She approaches cautiously and circles the body a couple times. While she's not entirely avoiding it, she's looking less at the body and more at the ground around it. She steps back, one step, another, then turns away. I can't tell if her movements have a purpose or if she's just leaving. Unfortunately, I doubt it's the latter. She takes a couple more steps away, larger ones this time. When neither Inej nor I move, she turns back to us.

"Are you coming?" I can see Inej glance at me out of the corner of my eye. If she managed to pick up a trail in under two minutes, on these dirty streets, in the middle of the night, I may grudgingly have to admit I underestimated her.

"You found something?" Inej ventures.

"Yes. Here. The footsteps lead this way."

"There were at least three other people out here, that we saw. How can you possibly know it isn't just one of them?"

"Two reasons: One, these footsteps are all over the place. The foot shape and, in some cases, the soles are in the mud over there, the dirt over here, and are leaving bloody footprints away from the scene. Two, in every area that these foot prints are found, those foot prints are too." She points to the victim's feet. It's then I notice that it, he, is wearing-

Are those heels? The things one sees in Ketterdam leave very little to the imagination. I don't give her the satisfaction of a nod. I draw astride and wait.

"Well?" I ask expectantly. She huffs, as though she's well aware that she deserves praise. I feel Inej fall into step beside her as she moves forward. I follow, barely a second behind.

"That was very impressive. You did it so quickly." I can see Ashiana's shoulders lift slightly, as though shrugging off the warranted accolades.

"I told you I'm good at tracking things," I can hear a smile in her voice. Inej touches her arm and I see them lock hands for a moment. I cannot see their faces but I don't need the visual to know they're sharing a smile as well.

A flash of memory - her skin beneath my lips - drives the jealousy deep within me. I want to be the one next to her, touching her, sharing smiles.

I run a hand through my hair in an attempt to clear away the thoughts. There is some kind of violently murderous human hunting other people on the loose, possibly close by, and I'm over here mourning my lack of minor physical contact. Granted, homicidal individuals aren't exactly uncommon in the bowels of Ketterdam but few are so thoroughly destructive. That body was torn to shreds. Unless I want to be next, I need to get myself together and focus on the important things.

More important than Inej? I swear, my mind is taunting me.

You know what's more important right now? Being alive long enough to experience something other than building an empire of criminals. I am proud of my accomplishments. While some might find a life of crime, as a monster, with nicknames like Dirtyhands, unappealing, it is the life I've built for myself. And right now, a slice of my city is being stalked by some psycho with a taste for savagely-spilled blood.

Pull yourself together. It doesn't take long. My only warning is Ashiana's cry. I'm hit by a wall of wind that blows me back at least ten yards. I'm momentarily stunned by my landing. I look around and see Ashiana's golden hair only a couple feet away. I can't see Inej immediately and I struggle to get up. However, the wind will not be denied. It is flatting everything in it's path that isn't cemented to the ground. I stay down, gathering my strength, catching my breath, until I'm ready to spring up. The wind dies abruptly. No soft breezes follow it. Nothing in the air reminiscent of it's presence. Nothing natural made that.

Squaller. It's the only rational answer. I leap up, passing Ashiana. I find Inej beside her, already on her feet when I reach her.

"Did you even try to convince her not to go out into danger for you? Again?"

I motion her forward, not checking to see if Ashiana is following. It's then, in the relative silence of the alleyway ahead of us, that I hear crying. It isn't the cry of an adult, someone strong enough to make a gale like that, but the cry of a child. I start to move on but Inej places a hand on my arm. I give her a look that I hope says 'This isn't our problem. Let's go". If it does, she ignores it.

She stops before she reaches the alleyway, lining her body against the wall at the entry. The crying continues, this time followed by muffled words and moaning. Something in that moan sends up a red alert and I move toward Inej as quickly as possible. Before I can stop her, she is peering around the edge. Something she sees must convince her that her action is needed because she steps around, showing herself to whoever is in that alley. I look over her shoulder but remain in the shadows as much as possible.

"Hello," her voice is soft and I hear the crying hitch in response. "What's wrong, honey?" The lump on the ground next to what I assume is a small girl begins to move. The little girl starts crying again, louder this time, and I let out an almost inaudible groan. A helpless, crying child is exactly the sort of thing that would draw a bloodthirsty person seeking an easy victim.

"My mommy-" more crying. I try to tune them out.

Unless it's already been here. That thought gives me pause. But if it's been here, why is the little girl alive? What happened to the person beside her? They sound...remotely alive. The thing that attacked the man had no interest in leaving survivors.

Perhaps because they are Grisha? One of them is clearly a powerful Squaller and I highly doubt it's the child. That would leave the lump. Perhaps the attacker was held at bay by the wind, as we were. Then again, maybe this is just a regular robbery victim.

In the minutes that follow, I learn three very important things:

One, whatever attacked the child's mother would have served humanity better by leaving her dead. The aforementioned lump draws itself up with impressive swiftness. Blood drips from her mouth and the noise that comes out of it doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard from a human. Somewhere between a roar and a scream. It's admittedly terrifying. I grab Inej by the back of her clothes and haul her out of the way.

Two, whatever happened to the mother bars her from recognizing any individual, even her child. Or perhaps she does recognize her and simply no longer cares. The last thing I see is her grabbing for her daughter. Then, I am running, dragging Inej with me until she picks up speed. I try not to notice the child's screams - and then their abrupt, unnatural silence.

Three, a Grisha in this state, whatever state this is, retains their powers. Wind chases us around the corners but we manage to get far enough away that it cannot debilitate us.

Without intending to, I've led us to the Slat. Once we're inside, Inej drags Ashiana behind her, almost stomping upstairs to my room at the top of the building. I'm right behind her, waving away the Dregs who approach. I open the door quickly and we practically stumble in together. The door slams closed behind me and I lock it back immediately. I grab a bottle of whiskey I lifted from a mercher's house several jobs ago. I pass it around and we all take a couple good, long gulps. Inej moves to the window, her body easily fitting onto the sill. I collapse into the chair behind my desk. Only Ashiana is left without somewhere to sit. We settle into silence for a couple minutes. I can feel a storm brewing before I see Inej move. Apparently, the whiskey added some fuel to the fire I already guessed was simmering inside her. She turns to me and I can almost feel the heat of her anger from her stare alone.

"How could you do that? I could've helped her. If I'd just-" Ashiana approaches her carefully and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Now she's-" Inej looks away. I know this hurts her. She has dedicated the last year of her life to saving people from evil and that - whatever that was - was clearly infected with some kind of evil. Regular people don't just go around, I wince, killing their children. Judging by the child's response, she and her mother were close. If they hadn't been, I doubt she would've been as upset. I take a deep breath.

"We shouldn't have even gone over there. The child wasn't our concern." My voice comes out hard. A reprimanding will only anger her further but I have to make it clear that the right decision was made. If we hadn't moved, we'd be lying in that alley along with the child.

"Not our concern? How can you say that? A child is dead. We were right there. If we'd stayed-"

"We'd be dead." I finish.

"You don't know that. She was defenseless. We are not." Ashiana clears her throat.

"Inej," she starts, her voice apologetic. "He's right. I'm sorry. I wanted to help her too. It's awful but..." she quails under the glare Inej shoots at her. I'm unsure why she doesn't do that when I turn my glare on her. Perhaps because it's so rarely on Inej's face.

When she turns back to me, the blackness in that look is fearsome. I don't ever want her to direct that expression at me again. Unfortunately, with the way things are going, I'm almost positive I'll be on the receiving end again. I refuse to back down though and I'm glad to see Ashiana isn't taking her words back either.

Tension is thick between us but I wait, knowing she'll calm eventually. As much as I want to take on the role of comforter for her again, I can't. My eyes meet Ashiana's for a moment. I can tell we're sharing the same desire but, whatever her reason, neither of us are willing to take action.

Finally, Inej lets out a sigh and lifts herself back into the windowsill. She looks out at the city and I take this as my cue to open the situation up for discussion. Ashiana beats me to it and, although I generally dislike others taking control of the conversation, I'm glad she has. I think open-ended musing might be borne better coming from her, at least at the start. Questions fall from her like rain.

"What the hell was that? I mean, I know what I saw - clearly, the mother was the Squaller. She'd been attacked. She had her child with her. But what happened? What attacked her? If it's the same thing that killed the first person, why weren't she and the child killed? And what- I mean- she killed-" I can see she's struggling to find a way to avoid the already tense topic.

"All good questions," I offer as a way out. I can see she's thankful.

What is happening to me? I've taken the role of smoothing over situations twice tonight. Usually, I'm the one causing the uncomfortable issues.

"Perhaps it's because she's a Grisha. Maybe she was able to fight back and the attacker left in search of easier prey. But that still doesn't explain..." she trails off and I hesitate to let us continue dancing around the topic. Avoiding it isn't going to help.

"Why would she turn on her own child?" I pose the question softly. I can see Inej's shoulders lift and tighten. Her body is still but, to me, it hums with agitation, wound like a spring, ready to snap.

"Maybe she was confused," Inej offers quietly, continuing to stare out the window. As much as I'd like to believe that, it doesn't make sense.

"No. She clearly saw her. She saw us. And she made the decision to go for her child first; the closest and easiest prey. If she recognized her, personal feelings were gone and replaced with... some kind of feral madness. If she didn't recognize her, well, rationality had clearly disappeared. I don't know what could cause that kind of complete amnesia. She drew herself up so quickly. If she was as injured as she'd seemed, how did she move so fast? It was-"

"Unnatural," Ashiana finished. "Something about all this reeks of more than a random attack. Whether it was by the same thing that mauled the first victim or if it was truly random, I've never seen a person be able to, I don't know what you'd call it, transmit? that kind of violence to someone else. It's like- I don't know," she stops, shaking her head. "It just doesn't make sense." Inej, still sitting silently on the sill, finally turns her gaze back toward us. It is soft with sadness.

"I'm not sure how it's happening but we have to stop it from happening again." My eyes widen.

"This isn't our problem, Inej. We d-"

"Isn't our problem?" That black, dangerous look is back. "You were the one who wanted to go out searching for it. You were the one who insisted we find out what attacked the first victim. Now, when it gets tough, you want to stop?"

"This isn't just tough, Inej. This is something different. This isn't a regular psycho attacking other people. There are other things at work here and I'm not going to run headlong into danger without-"

"YOU'RE not going to run into danger? Isn't that what you do? Isn't that what we've always done? Or are you just going to send me this time? Again."

"I would n-"

"Yes! You would! You have! We built this little empire by running into danger, never fully knowing what we'd face, but we did it. I went along with your crazy plans every time! I trusted you to be there with me, to figure it out, to find a way around the problems so we could achieve the end goal. Now, when there's a serious problem, one that goes beyond extending the Dreg's influence or fulfilling your greed, you step back. You refuse to engage. Well, I'm not going to step back. I'm not going to just stand aside and watch people die!" She pauses, breathing heavily, as though the words had cost her a great deal of strength.

"I'm going out there, Kaz. Whether you're with me or not, I'm going. Someone has to figure this out. There aren't many people out there that would, could, make it their problem. I'm not going to wait for you to send me out there this time, once the problem encroaches on your edge of Ketterdam. I'm not just your Wraith anymore, ready to run a job or gather information. And I hope-" she looks away, indecision crossing her face "-I hope you'll come with me. But I'm going, whether you do or not." She looks up at Ashiana.

"I don't expect-"

"Oh I'm coming with you. I don't need a speech." I can see Ashiana give me a sidelong look, as if expecting me to readily agree. The truth is, I don't want Inej to go out there alone. I don't want her to go out there at all. Something holds back my automatic agreement; something akin to fear. It isn't fear for my safety but for hers, even though she's made it very clear she's going, with or without me. The only way to keep her safe is to stay with her, even if every instinct is telling me this is a very bad idea.

"We need a plan," I acquiesce and I see her try to hide a relieved smile.

"I'm open to suggestions."