Chapter Twelve

Can't Let Your Cold Heart Be Free

It was not a terrible night, pigeons had wandered in and chosen to stay, Kaz had instructed those on the tables to allow the house to lose every few rounds, providing the pigeons with the hope that in turn brought more in. Kaz had Big Bol stationed at the door, keeping a keen eye out for anyone misbehaving or attempting to bring in weapons. He saw glimpses of Inej, she didn't join in on any of the tables, though he did see her drink with Jesper at least once, keeping an eye on the sharpshooter. Jesper himself had already spent the more than generous amount that Kaz had left on his tab for him, an incentive to spend drink and advertise for the club. It had been at this very club that Kaz had first met him, before the renovations, before the history, when Jesper had been a university student falling deep into debt under Kaz's eye when Kaz had noticed how he favoured his guns, noticed his talents. Kaz wondered if Jesper thought of the debts he had racked up in this place, as he continued to rack up more. Kaz let his eyes move over the crowd that filled the club, his club, and turned away to enter its office.

Per Haskell was the first to grace the office, the old man walked in as if the room was his and not Kaz's, in a way this was true, but Kaz would rather have his tongue slit from his throat than say that aloud. The smile Haskell shot him was nothing short of fatherly, if a father's smile was tinted heavily with greed and ownership.

"You've done good boy; we'll make good profit from this reopening."

"I'll be selling off the last of the smaller goods we took from Diijkgraff tonight." Kaz stood behind his desk, kept his hands around the head of his cane, under the desk where he could clench and unclench them away from prying eyes.

"I really thought you botched that up Brekker, but you turned it around."

"I wouldn't let you down, Per Haskell."

"Suppose you've proven that by now."

"But there's always more to prove," Kaz spoke bitterly. However, many victories, however many times he established himself as Per Haskell's right-hand man, there would always be more for him to prove.

After Haskell had finished his invasion of the office and Kaz had finished selling off the merchandise they had taken, he sat alone at his desk and allowed himself to listen to the sounds from the club. This was what he had worked towards, he would go down, have a drink with his Dregs tonight, and revel in his crowd, in his club.

And so Kaz did, he exited the office and walked to the bar where Jesper had moved, snatched the shot Jesper had been reaching for and threw it back in seconds. Jespers eyes widened, and he'd turned with an indignant shout that died out when he saw it was Kaz who had stolen the shot.

"Have you wasted all our money yet?" Kaz spoke, placing the glass down and gesturing for another.

"Yee of little faith boss, I'm due for a winning streak." There was a light in Jespers eyes that Kaz recognized too well from the time spent with the man, a light that flared up around the betting table. Jespers eyes would remain bright until his pockets were bare and he'd all but lost his shoes. Kaz thought perhaps Inej's presence would curve this but that remained to be seen.

Speaking of the wraith she was approaching quickly, taking Jesper's second shot from him before it reached his lips.

"Can't have a winning streak if you're drunk." She scolded lightly, finishing the shot herself.

"You're a storm cloud on my night Inej Ghafa." Jesper grumbled, "Join me in a game."

"Go play Jesper, Inej has business to share."

Jesper rose a brow but turned to leave, accepting that his shadow was being momentarily taken from him.

"I didn't know Rojakke was so good at cards," Inej spoke.

"He's passable."

"Could you do better?"

The question was rhetorical, light, and teasing. But Kaz was in an uncommonly good mood as he took in his opening night, and he pulled a deck of cards from his coat. The slits between his gloves made it easy for him to shift the cards from fingers to fingers and he shuffled them with all the experience that years of card dealing had given him. Even before that he had played with cards, teaching himself magic tricks, it was with a flick of his wrist that he sent the cards back into his coat. Inej smiled and it warmed him more than the alcohol had.

"That was impressive Kaz, an odd skill to have, but impressive."

"You pick up a lot of odd skills in the barrel Inej."

"I've noticed." Her eyes followed his as some pigeons dressed in nicer clothing entered. He made a subtle gesture towards them and Inej was off, seemingly moving closer to Jesper to join in on a round but she had positioned herself next to the table the men were heading for.

Feeling the temporary warmth seep away, Kaz finished his last shot and began his exit of the club. He could file his profits from tonight and plan for the meeting with Radmakker. When the night had ended, and the last bell ran, Inej would come and tell him anything worth knowing. He added a little more to Jesper's tab, the sharpshooter could enjoy himself for a while longer, his enthusiasm was infections to the pigeons and where he went, they would flock.

"You are heading off then Kaz?" Big Bol attempted to make conversation with him as he walked past the entrance. To others this would have seemed normal but for Kaz… It was odd. He nodded in response and walked past as if nothing was amiss, but he resolved to keep an eye on the larger Dreg who had seemed far too comfortable in addressing him at that moment. Alarm bells always rang too easily for Kaz.

In the end, it was in the early hours of the morning that Inej had rapped on his window with information for him. The sun had only just begun to rise, although it would soon be encompassed by clouds, he was sure. She sat there long after the information had been exchanged, nibbling on a sandwich she must have brought with her from the bar. For the most part, he was focused on his work, scrawling the information, and linking it with who it pertained to, easy marks and gullible merchants all listed out neatly. He noticed she had begun tossing bits of the bread onto the rooftop and when he glimpsed up again, he could see crows had begun to congregate on the roof, happy to take the scraps of what should have been her breakfast.

"You shouldn't make friends with crows," He spoke, not looking up but thinking of how the crows would probably flock to his roof every day now that she'd shown them there was food to be found.

"Why not?" Inej responded and he looked up from his work, intent to tell her how he certainly wasn't going to be feeding them, but the words vanished from his tongue.

He had been wrong about the sun, it hadn't vanished into the murky clouds that surrounded the Harbour, instead, it was out in the bright morning sky and Inej was turned towards it. His mouth felt dry as he saw how her lashes fanned over cheeks, a small smile teasing at her mouth as she welcomed the sun. Her dark hair lifted and danced in the harbour wind, for just a moment he was not Kaz Brekker, but Kaz Rietveld, a young boy who believed that the world was full of magic, that she was that magic.

"Why not?" She repeated herself and he darted his eyes back down in case she chose to open hers. He had waited too long to respond.

He said the first foolish thing that fell into his head, "They don't have any manners."

"Neither do you, Kaz." She laughed and the sound filled him again, warming him more than the Ketterdam sun ever could, if they could bottle that sound, he would have sold his club to have just one drink. Terror gripped his heart and chased the warmth away as he cleared his throat and got back to his work.

Something was very wrong.

AN:

Does the window scene make up for just not updating for a month? Probably not but here you go.

From this stage updates will not be regular, I am unwell and in the midst of University whilst also being short-staffed at work. All of this means that I'm freaking exhausted honestly and it makes it hard not to write, but to edit it and actually publish. I know exactly where I want this to go though and I have it semi-planned. So the story will be completed and I appreciate everyone who stays along for the ride.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed it meant so much to read whilst I've been unwell.

anyway... WINDOW SCENE

Responding to Reviews:

Thank you Helianthus7 it's great to know my characterisation of the characters is being enjoyed!

Cat K: Thank you for reviewing, Inej's first kill is coming up! I definitely agree with your thoughts on it being before Nina! She would definitely run to Nina if she had been there. I'm so excited to write it!

~ ThisMayFlower