Chapter 6

Kaz

"Matthias," Kaz said, straightening up from the wall. "What's going on? Where's Kuwei?"

Matthias took another deep breath before answering. "We were ambushed. They took Kuwei, and they're headed for the harbor. I saw at least ten of them – they broke through his window. Left just as fast as they came in."

Kaz said, leaning on his cane as he stormed through the Medik room's door. "Next time, we're putting him in a room without windows."

He heard the others follow behind as he ran through the hall, Matthias groaning with pain before quickly catching up to Kaz. "I saw one of them slipping out at the last second, with the cat-on-a-crown tattoo going up his arm."

Kaz sneered at that. "Pekka's crew."

"Shouldn't we at least figure out what we're going to do instead of running into this blindly, Kaz?" Jesper called from behind him as they dashed out of the Slat. Kaz slowed down to a halt, turning his head slightly to glance back at Jesper. "We always have a plan, Jesper," he replied calmly, "We know who we're up against and what they're after. Our job is to stay ahead of them and not get caught."

"Whatever you say, boss."

Their footsteps echoed through the dimly lit Barrel streets with Kaz leading the way, his cane tapping a steady rhythm against the cobblestones as they weaved through the maze of alleys and side streets.

As they approached the harbor, Kaz slowed his pace, his sharp eyes scanning the docks for any sign of Pekka's gang.

Nothing.

Kaz whipped around, his cane moving in an arc and making contact with a man's neck.

They'd been ambushed.

No one sneaks up on Kaz Brekker.

"Come looking for something, Brekker?" a big man said, right as the other man Kaz just decapacitated crumpled to the ground.

He saw a dozen more people behind him, all sporting the same tattoo. Jesper leaned into Kaz's ear, whispering, "Kaz, these are Pekka's men. I really think we should just let them go. We're outnumbered three to one."

He kept his eyes steady, ignoring Jesper as he made eye contact with the man. "Where's Kuwei."

"Oh, he's long gone. You'll never see your little parem machine ever again."

Kaz felt his heart racing as he surveyed the scene. He knew they were outnumbered and outgunned, but they had to stand their ground. Before the other guy could react, he took him out with another quick swipe of his cane.

"And that's what you get for talking down to Kaz Brekker," Jesper chuckled.

The man fell to the ground, but Kaz barely had time to register the victory before he was tackled from behind. As his attacker pinned him down, Kaz strained against the weight bearing down on him, grunting in exertion. He clenched his teeth as a fist collided with his jaw, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth. Struggling to breathe, he coughed weakly, overwhelmed by the sheer bulk of his assailant.

With a fierce determination, he elbowed the man in the ribs and rolled him off of him. Kaz quickly got back on his feet and looked down at the Dime Lion, who was now on his knees, clutching his side in pain.

"Not so tough now, are you?" he said, sniffling as blood dripped from his mouth.

For such a big man, he wasn't exactly the most pain tolerant. The man let out a few whimpers as Kaz lifted his foot over his face, stomping down hard. He heard the bone-chilling crunch of cartilage fracturing as his boot made contact with his nose.

Jesper was already firing his gun, taking down two more men as he moved to cover Wylan, who was fumbling with his backpack.

Matthias was fighting hand-to-hand with another burly man, exchanging punches and kicks in a brutal dance of violence. Kaz watched as Matthias delivered a swift uppercut, sending the man stumbling backward.

"Stay down!" Wylan yelled, throwing a bomb at the gang as the four of them ducked away. The alleyway exploded in a bright orange flurry of light and smoke. Kaz could hear yelling and yelps of pain from their attackers.

"How does he always have those bombs," Jesper muttered, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. Kaz watched as Jesper offered a hand to Wylan, helping him up from the ground. "Thanks, Jes."

Kaz used his cane to push himself up from the ground remarking, "As my demo man, it's his responsibility to be prepared to use explosives whenever required. Maybe you should focus on performing your own duties adequately." Jesper went silent at that, eyeing Kaz for a moment before turning back to Wylan.

Kaz could hear footsteps stomping toward them through the smoke, causing him to gesture to the others to follow him as he sped down the avenue directly adjacent to the Harbor. He didn't know how much of the gang was left, and they certainly didn't need any more losses with both Nina and Inej being absent. They turned right into another alleyway, this one much narrower than the last.

"They don't have Kuwei at the Harbor," Kaz called behind him, ignoring the ache that was coming from his leg. He kept a mad pace, beginning to lean more of his body weight against his cane. It's no wonder his leg never healed properly considering that this is what he does for a living.

"Van Eck has him."

Matthias - who was back at his side again - shot a look at Kaz with confusion.

"Didn't you hear when that guy mentioned parem? Van Eck is one of the only people at all that knows about parem," Kaz explained. It makes sense that Jan Van Eck and Rollins would work together – Van Eck has the money, and Rollins has the gang members. "We don't have a chance against him with a third of our crew gone."

As they turned onto Kronenburg Street, they found themselves in the heart of the Barrel, surrounded by the pleasure houses and casinos that were the district's claim to fame.

The sun was beginning to set, marking the start of the day for the locals, and the streets were beginning to fill up with crowds eager to test their luck at the gambling tables. In a city where the wealthy got richer by taking advantage of the desperate, these casinos were the lifeblood of Ketterdam's economy.

Jesper took a breath of realization as they made their way through the crowd. "It all makes so much sense now. The two worst people in this city working together."

"They probably found a way to make it some sort of business deal," Matthias snarled, his fists clenched in frustration. "Something along the lines of 'you get half of the money I make from this parem as long as you bring that little Shu boy to me alive'".

Wylan stopped for a moment, looking over at the group. "What are we going to do now? They took Kuwei, they took Inej. Nina's half dead. We can't just storm into my dad's house, he has the entire stadwatch against us," he added, a defeated tone to his voice.

Kaz's mouth curled upwards in a smile. "We're going to pay a visit to the wraith."

A faint knock sounded at Kaz's door, and whoever was there cracked the door open, allowing light to seep into his room from the hall.

Kaz whipped around from his nightstand where he was plotting out the starting point for Inej's rescue. All he saw was Jesper's figure standing in the center of his room.

He sighed. "Jesper, what have I told you about–"

Jesper walked over to him, grabbing him by his shoulders and pushing him down onto his bed.

"What the fuck are you doing, Jesper," Kaz whispered, every muscle in his body tensing up.

"I'm just giving you what you want," he replied, his eyes gleaming in the darkness as he settled on top of Kaz.

"I want this," Jesper whispered. "I want you." He leaned in, his breath grazing Kaz's ear as he whispered, "And I know you want this too." Kaz's heart raced as Jesper's lips found his neck, trailing soft kisses down his collarbone. His back arched, responding instinctively to Jesper's touch, and he grabbed the backside of Jesper's neck, pulling him closer with sudden desperate need.

"Oh, fuck, Jesper," Kaz moaned, his head falling back as he closed his eyes. He had never been kissed like this before, let alone by a man. It felt wrong, yet so incredibly right. Kaz was used to being in control – but with Jesper, he felt powerless, completely at the mercy of the other man's movements, kisses, and words.

Every touch, every caress, sent bolts of electricity through Kaz's body, igniting a fire within him that he couldn't ignore. He wanted to give in to Jesper completely, to let him take control and do whatever he wanted. It was an intoxicating feeling, one that he had never experienced before, and he was completely hooked.

Jesper began making his way up to Kaz's jaw, and as Jesper approached his mouth, he turned his head away. He could barely resist, but he knew that he had to.

If he let Jesper kiss him, it would be all over.

Jesper grabbed Kaz's face, causing him to let out a soft gasp of surprise as their lips crashed together.

At that moment, Kaz's world ended.

He opened his eyes, seeing the look of satisfaction on Jesper's face – as if he finally got what he wanted. He rolled his hips against Jesper's, causing them to simultaneously let out loud groans as Jesper's hard cock pushed against his own. Kaz felt Jesper's grip on the back of his head tighten, his fingers settling in Kaz's straight, black hair.

"Kaz," he said through gritted teeth.

He loved it when Jesper said his name. It made him feel like everything he was doing was right.

Jesper pulled away from Kaz's mouth, trailing his hands down his stomach and landing on his trousers. He slowly stroked his dick over his pants, looking up at Kaz while doing so.

Kaz's hand came to rest in Jesper's hair, pulling at it as he softly grunted at Jesper's hand movements.

Jesper's fingers drifted up to his buttons, undoing them and slipping his hand beneath Kaz's waistband. "Fuck," he groaned, feeling his cock get even harder from Jesper's touch.

He really had no hesitations when it came to sex, did he?

"Wow, Kaz, you're so easy to please," Jesper said, grinning as he pulled Kaz's dick out from his trousers, slowly rubbing it. Suddenly, all Kaz felt was warmth as Jesper's mouth closed over the tip, causing his head to fly back as he pressed Jesper's mouth down further onto his tip. Kaz held Jesper's head there for a moment, groaning as Jesper's tongue moved over all parts of his exposed dick. He placed his hands on Jesper's face, lifting Jesper's mouth from his cock and making him look him in the eyes. "Say my name," he growled.

Jesper pushed off of Kaz's crotch, wrapping his arms around Kaz's neck as he lay back on top of him, their dicks making contact once again.

He moved his mouth down to Kaz's ear.

Moaning, "Kaz."

"Kaz."

Kaz jolted awake, breathless.

He realized it was just a dream, a very vivid one at that. He looked around his room, taking in his surroundings to ground himself in reality. It was just him, alone in his bed, the silence of the night engulfing him.

What the fuck was that.

He looked down. He had a raging boner. He almost never got hard – let alone masturbated. But he had to. He couldn't resist.

He slid his hands underneath his pants, taking himself in his hand. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the memory of Jesper. His movements, his tongue moving all over his cock, hitting it in just the right places. Jesper saying his name. Kaz.

He kept going, to the point that his feet dug into the bed as his hips began to move in erratic movements. "Fuck," he groaned to himself as his breaths quickened. "Fuck, yes, Jesper, yes-" he moaned as hot semen spilled all over his hand and stomach.

He collapsed back on his bed, sweaty and out of breath. His hands were completely covered in semen – that was probably the best orgasm of his life.

With a deep breath, he pushed his covers off and walked over to the bathroom. He needed to shower; not only to clean himself up, but because he needed to get the thought of Jesper out of his mind.

His shirt was already off, so he took off his pants and undergarments, stepping into the shower. He turned on the water, allowing its steady rhythm to soothe him as the water ran over his hair.

As the water ran down his body, he closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his now-wet hair. He let out a shaky breath, feeling his eyes sting as tears began to build up in them.

The reality of what he had just done hit him like a ton of bricks. He had dreamt about having sex with Jesper, then masturbated to him. To a fantasy of him. Of Jesper Fahey.

And he had enjoyed it.

Kaz couldn't stop the tears from falling as he leaned forward against the shower wall, using his arm to hold himself up. He bit down on his lip, trying to stifle a sob from escaping from his throat. He didn't want everyone on this floor to hear him having a breakdown in the shower in the middle of the night.

This was just a one-time thing.

It had to be.

Kaz always knew that Jesper had liked him ever since they met – he never acted on it because he knew that he wasn't gay. Kaz never even focused on thoughts like that. He always had something going on – between the Dregs, taking down Pekka, and trying to become rich, he had never had any desire for anyone. But he couldn't deny that Jesper made him feel a certain way – a way that no one else had ever before. Not even Inej.

Kaz shut his eyes, letting deep, shuddering breaths escape his lips as his tears continued falling to the ground.