Nearing the first floor, Inej heard movements, and froze in the staircase. Gergel was hauling Turnboat's body up from the cellar. She watched from the shadows as Gergel opened a hatch by the exit, dumping the body into the hole. From the position she guessed it led to a space behind the cell, most likely a hidden room. Inej wondered. A trap door by the entrance was never good news, and it didn't look recent. That meant that something dark and nefarious had probably happened here in the past as well. Maybe it was the reason for the building getting shut down in its day.
Gergel shut the hatch, and stopped at the table to drive the point of the knife into it, making it stand upright in the wood. "Guess I'll take first watch tonight," he joked to himself. He helped himself to some food and ale, before sitting back into a comfortable, slightly busted, lounge chair. It didn't take long before Inej heard him snore.
She carefully moved down the stairs, inching her way towards her knife, all the while keeping a careful eye on Gergel. Inej noticed that both the blade and Gergel's knuckles were covered in fresh blood. Killing was something she tried to avoid, letting Kaz and Jesper take the needed shots, but hatred was coursing through her at the thought of this man harming Kaz. He was no innocent, but a monstrous creature that enjoyed inflicting pain, on Kaz and most likely others as well. He deserved death, she was sure of it, and neither Jesper nor Kaz was there to help her this time. This one needed to be all her. She hoped her saints would understand.
When she neared the table, she reached for the knife. It was deeply embedded, and she had to struggle to get it out, wriggling it from side to side while trying to twist it free. The blade being slick with blood didn't make the job easier. After a few minutes of effort, it silently slid free of the wood. She wiped her hands and blade clean on her garments, and secured her hold on it. It had been a gift from Kaz to use for her own protection, but now it would become an instrument of vengeance to protect Kaz. She said a prayer, asking for forgiveness for what she was about to do, her only regret being that his death would be too quick. She snuck up behind Gergel, a quick flick of her wrist, and Gergel's life blood was spilling out onto the chair and table. Gergel didn't even have time to struggle before he was dead. She wiped her knife on her clothes again, opened the hatch to the cellar, and descended.
Her heart fell at the sight that met her. Kaz was hanging limply from the chains. His upper body and shirt was slick with blood, and lines of blood from his wrist marred his arms. A puddle of blood had collected beneath him. She noticed redness and what looked like fresh bruising on his chest and stomach, clearly Gergel's latest work. His hair was clinging to his face, perspiration dotting his forehead and chest. His eyes were roaming behind his eyelids, unconsciousness not offering him much solace.
She wanted to reach out to touch him, make him know she was there for him, but she restrained herself. She knew his fear of touch was related to a trauma he had experienced in his past, and she hoped he would one day trust her enough to share it with her. She had her own fair share of trauma, and knew to respect it as healing would only come with time and measured steps, and that some wounds may even be too deep to ever heal fully. Instead of touching him, she called out to him, "Kaz…"
He was submerged again. Everything was dark. Nothing hurt. He was dead.
"Kaz… come back to me," Inej pleaded, carefully pushing back a few strands of hair from his face.
Lances of pain had started shooting through him, making him want to sink deeper. He didn't want to wake, he wanted to stay were nothing hurt, but something was tugging at him, bringing him closer to the surface despite his wish to sink deeper. He was drifting with the waves, lost on the ocean like all the other plague victims. Forgotten. Alone.
"Kaz, I know it hurts, but I need you to fight this, I need you to survive, dammit. So come on!" Inej shouted, anger taking over.
The voice calling him was familiar. It wasn't Jordie. It was a voice that lured him in, beckoned him back. The pain intensified as he neared the surface, so he tried to shy away from it, forcing himself deeper.
"Kaz, you promised me! I refuse to lose you now!" Inej yelled, enforcing her words by slamming her hand over his heart, hoping the shock would bring him out his nightmare.
Kaz felt a burning, painful sensation sink into his body. Something had hooked him, and was pulling him up and out of the sea, away from the cold, away from the dead bodies, away from the rotting skin and death, away from Jordie, and into the painful reality.
He gasped awake, eyes slamming shut against the waves of pain and nausea that rolled through him. He tried to curl in on himself, but the pain only intensified at the movement. He instead tried to breath trough the panic and pain as it washed over him, unsure what was happening. The burning hook disappeared, but the voice remained. "Your ok, it's ok, it's only me… Inej, your Wraith, I'm here, I won't leave you. Just breath".
Kaz focused on Inej's voice. Grasping it, and using it as a guide to calm his pulse and breathing, bringing him back to the here and now. He squinted his eyes open, searching for the owner of the voice. Two worried dark eyes met his, holding him there, refusing to let him go. His Wraith was by his side again. He revelled at the sight of her, memorizing her. Her dark amber skin, her warm brown eyes, the curve of her lips, the dark braid, the affection in her eyes. Was she real or a fever dream? He wasn't sure, and he didn't care.He wanted to bask in her presence, pushing all his pain to the background.
He let his eyes drift over her, but his dream soon started morphing into a nightmare as he took in her appearance. There was fear in her eyes and her clothes were wrong, ripped and stained with blood. Either this was a dreadful dream, or Inej was hurt and needed him. He swallowed hard, and used his left leg to force himself into a more upright position, releasing some of the tension on his arms and shoulders. "Are you hurt? Who harmed you?" he rasped out, voice barely carrying his words.
Inej paused a second, confusion in her eyes before she remembered her bloodstained clothes. "You are halfway dead, and still you're concerned about me? You're unreal!" she said while shaking her head fondly. "I'm okay, I promise. This isn't even my blood, it's Gergel's blood". She didn't mention that some of it was probably Kaz's own blood.
Kaz looked her over sceptically, searching for any injury she might be hiding.
Earlier he had averted his eyes at her current state of dress, but making sure she was all right apparently took precedence over her dignity. She raised her hands, and did a little twirl for him just to prove she was fine. She liked that he cared for her, but hated how he wouldn't let her do the same for him, but this time she was having her way, no matter what he said.
"I'm here for you, and we are both getting out of here tonight. I am not letting them hurt you again," Inej insisted, trying to work how out how she could free Kaz.
Kaz cleared his throat. "Is Gergel…?"
"Dead," she answered curtly, her hatred of the man clear in her voice.
"You did good, he deserved it," Kaz replied, plan E somehow still alive.
She nodded, knowing he was right.
His eyes flickered back to the stairs. "Inej, you have to leave, to get away while you still can, and get help before morning."
She ignored him, instead walking over to her previously discarded outer garments, and started to dress herself.
Kaz huffed in frustration, pulling at his shackles despite the pain. "Inej, leave now! Find help!" he ordered, desperate to keep her away from Keller.
Once dressed, she turned to Kaz, her previous tenderness replaced by indignation and fury. "You don't own me anymore, and can't order me around! It is my choice what I do with my life now!".
Kaz flinched at her words, hurt showing in his eyes before he let his gaze fall to ground.
Inej immediately regretted her words, but she was tired of him trying to protect her. Why couldn't he realize that she needed him too? He was her safety net, and had been for almost as long as she had known him. She didn't want to walk the tightline that was the world without him.
At first, she had thought it was just the threat of the Tante Heleen and the Menagerie that made her feel safer when he was by her side. But even after the threat was gone, she only felt truly safe when Kaz was around. She lived with Jesper and Wylan. It was good, and lots of fun. They had given her a room, a home, a feeling of companionship and family that she had longed for. Her life with them was filled with good food, joy, laughs, antics, music and luxury, but that feeling of safety, that feeling of home that she remembered from her parents, was only ever present when Kaz was there. That feeling only came when she was with Kaz.
Kaz would visit Wylan's house, but would spend most of his time at his office in the Slat. In order to be with him, she had found herself making up excuses to visit him. Sometimes she had even made up rumours just to have an excuse to visit. She suspected Kaz had figured it out, but he had never questioned her on it, or why she came. Instead, he listened and asked his usual questions as she offered her report. Once the report was done, they would sometimes just sit in comfortable silence. He would be working on his papers, and she would be gazing out at the stars or feeding the crows. At other times she would tell him of memories of home, or antics she had seen on the streets, or experienced with Jesper and Wylan. Kaz would always pause in his work, and listen to her stories. She liked how he always had time for her, no matter how often or how late she came, he always put his work aside to sit with her, to listen to her.
The room was usually dimly lit, but she swore she would sometime catch him smiling every now and again. He was reserved, especially around people, so seeing his true smile was rare, and when she managed to bring it out, it always made her heart sing. Her presence seemed to calm him, make him let his guard down a bit. She wondered if he felt safe around her, and if she could feel like home to him? She didn't know. They had been circling each other for a long time, both afraid to make a move. But after seeing him sacrifice himself for her time and time again, she didn't want to hold back anymore. The Wraith belonged to the bastard of the Barrel, and Kaz Brekker belonged to her, if he would have her. But first, she needed to fix the hurt she had caused.
She took a deep breath, trying to find his gaze, but failing. "I'm sorry Kaz, I know you would never consider yourself my owner. I didn't mean what I said, I was just… angry. This whole experience has me scared, scared that I'll lose you." Kaz lifted his head to look at her again, but was hiding his emotions, weighing his choices.
She continued, needing to make him understand "I can't leave, not without you. When I close my eyes, I see Keller killing you, I see you die, hurt and alone. That is not going to happen, not on my watch, okay?" Inej glimpsed a flash of uncertainty on his face, she was getting through to him. She continued. "How do you think it makes me feel to see them hurt you, for them to use me to get to you? It's like a dagger to my heart, and I can't let that happen anymore. You promised to fight, to not give up, and I am going to hold you to that promise, even if it means I will have to fight death himself to keep you with me!"
Inej could see that she had surprised him with her words, but she had one final thing to add, hoping to finally break through his thick, fortified walls. She let her voice drop, and her affection infuse her voice. "Kaz, I need you to survive this so that we can see if these broken and oddly matched crows can fly together despite our pasts, okay?"
Kaz was left speechless, his brain working overtime as he tried to make sense of what Inej had just told him. He had wanted her to leave for her own safety, before Keller's back-up arrived. His desperation and urgency had made his words come out harder than he meant, but still, her response had surprised and hurt him. He always respected her right to make her own choices, regardless of her indenture or him being her boss. He had considered using it to his advantage, letting his cruel tongue lash out at her, pushing her to leave him to keep her out of harms way, but the words that followed her initial reaction had left him uncertain. Did Inej in her own special way just tell him that she not only needed him, but wanted him? Or was he just imagining things he wanted to hear from her?
He had realized he cared for her a long time ago, but had been careful to maintain a distance to her. He had owned her indenture, and hadn't wanted her to in any way feel obliged to offer him anything except her skills as the Wraith. Now that she was free, that weight was gone from their relationship. He had feared she would leave him once she was free, but instead she had kept coming back to the Slat, to his windowsill. Kept coming back for late night conversations despite her being the one to lead the talk. Kept coming back to him, just like she had done now. He had believed he needed to push her away, let his monster loose to sever their ties for her to be free of him, for her to find happiness. But if what she was saying was true, her happiness might include him. Even if it was just wishful thinking, he wasn't willing to extinguish the hope for good, so he would leash his monster again, and fight. As long as there was something to fight for, he would never back down, and he wouldn't this time either. He would always fight for Inej, and for the chance to one day fly as one. With renewed resolve, he locked eyes with her, giving her a nod to show he accepted her terms. Inej's return smile lifted his heart.
Knowing her refusal to leave his side, he set his mind to scheming, needing to work out if plan E was still viable, or if he needed a new plan.
"Inej, before leaving Keller said he would be sending more men to this place, and they can arrive any minute. There is a set of lock picking tools in a secret pocket in my jacket inside the collar. We can use it to open these shackles once the chain is unhooked from the wall".
Inej beamed at him. "It's good to have your scheming face back!"
Jesper's description of his look when he was thinking had stuck, and would apparently always be known as scheming face by his friends. He found it funny, maybe even a bit endearing, the faith they had in him and his plans, but he would never tell.
Inej gathered his jacket from the ground, using her knife to cut the small thread that held the secret pocket closed, holding up her prize to Kaz. She put his jacket down next to him, careful to keep it clear of the blood that had collected under him. Kaz was satisfied to see his gloves peaking out of his jacket pocket.
Inej walked over to the chain that was hooked to the wall, glancing over at Kaz, taking note of his current state. He was a mess, wounds, bruises and blood covering most of his upper body and arms. In addition, he would be weak from exhaustion and blood loss. His bad leg was barely touching the ground, and his good leg was trembling slightly from the work of holding his own weight. His eyes were still sharp, but she could see the effort it cost him to keep himself upright when all his body wanted to do was collapse. Even if she got him lose, getting him up the stairs, and away from this place was going to be a near impossible task. He wasn't a heavy weight, but his lean frame was all muscle, and much bigger than hers. Without his cane he would be reliant on her help to escape. She really wished Jesper was here right now as he could easily have handled Kaz's weight. The issue of Kaz's ruined shirt was also something that complicated matters as she would need to avoid touching his skin while supporting him. She sent another prayer to her saints that her little crow friend had made it to the Slat, and deposited the note in the hollow for Jesper or Wylan to find as she would need their help to rescue Kaz.
Kaz felt her lingering gaze on him. He hated to be weak. His body was barely able to stand, and his head had gained a massive headache from the strained muscles in his neck, shoulder and back. His bad leg had thankfully gone a bit numb, but the knife and bullet wound were sending painful pulsations throughout his body, seeming to coordinate their effort with his other wounds, making his whole upper body feel like one big wound. He forced his focus to the forefront, ignoring the myriads of wounds screaming for his attention, digging deep to find what strength he had left to force his trembling to still and his body to right itself, his hurt leg waking up to once more bear some of his weight. "I'm ready" he offered.
Inej was torn away from her thoughts at Kaz's voice, letting her gaze slide back to the chain. She got a firm grip on the chain, and unhooked it, using her body weight to work as an anchor against the weight of the chain, doing her best to release the chain in a controlled fashion.
Grimaces of pain flicked over Kaz's face as he lowered his arms along with the slack in the chain. As the blood flooded back into them, so did the pain from his chaffed wrists, gunshot wound and strained muscle. He rolled his shoulders and back while rotating his hands. It hurt, abused muscle and wounds demanding rest, but he kept going, knowing the movement would help release muscle tension, and would make him less stiff, hopefully also lessening his headache.
While he was lost in his own concentration, Inej had moved in front of him, holding the lock picks in her hands. When she had become part of his crew, he had taught her how to pick locks so that she could sneak into locked doors and windows. She could handle most ordinary door and window locks, but it had never been a study she excelled at, especially when it came to more advanced locks, so he was still their main lock pick.
Once his hands were usable again, he held out his palm for the lock picks. He fumbled a bit with them, his fingers still slightly numb, but before long both shackles were unlocked. Inej gave him his gloves.
They both froze as they heard the outer door open. "Hide" he whispered.
Inej used the bars of the cell to climb up onto the roof beams, disappearing into the dark shadows in a corner. Kaz quickly slid his gloves back on, and put is hands back into the shackles. He hid the open part of the shackles, hoping they were too stupid realize he was free. Knowing he had Inej in his corner, made him feel confident they could still win this.
Three people came down the stairs, two men and a woman. Kaz recognised the two men as former gang members, but the woman was unfamiliar. She had a different look to her then the people who normally hung out in the Barrel. Her clothing was all white, expensive and of fine quality. She had glasses, and her hair was well kept and set up in a strict hair do. She was carrying a small white case. She was slightly younger than Keller, but most likely belonged in the same upper class as him. The question was only if she was as mad as him.
The two men walked up to him, placing themselves at either side of him, a look of mirth on their faces. "Guess you aren't as tough as you think you are when an old, fat doctor can take you down," one of them said while laughing.
The woman in white walked up to them. "Shut up, you two imbeciles aren't here to talk," she scolded the thugs, before turning her face to him.
"Hello Kaz Brekker, I'm delighted to finally meet the man I've heard so much about. I am Miss Carol King, a colleague of Dr. Kinker. He told me you had some interesting information he would like for you to share, but that you have been a bit reluctant, struggling with trust issues. That makes my Kinker angry and sad, and I don't like him like that, so I offered to help. It isn't an uncommon diagnosis in some patients, but I have an experimental remedy that I made just for you that I think might help you, and make my little Kinker happy again."
Kaz looked at her in confusion. Kinker, doctor, patient, remedy – nothing she said made sense. He was starting to wonder if she was even more crazy then Keller.
She turned her back to him, opening the small case on the floor, contents hidden from him. Once she got back up, she turned and walked towards him, holding up a mystery syringe. He felt his pulse spike. Weapons he knew, but this was something different. He was not letting her inject him with whatever remedy that she had in her syringe. He shucked away his shackles, and dove towards King, knocking her on her back. He heard a thud from behind him. He didn't have to look to know that Inej's knife had found its mark, effectively taking out another thug. 7-0 to them, just two more to go.
His current state made him slower then usual, and before he could get back up, he felt himself being grabbed under the arms, lifted off the ground. The man moved swiftly, and before Kaz could react the man was slamming him hard onto the floor, efficiently knocking the breath out of him. Kaz was dazed as he laid on the ground, unable to move, fighting to get his breath back. He saw King in his side view, but within seconds he saw Inej's knife sink into her, making her crumble in front of him, a shocked stare on her face.
As he laid there, he could hear the sounds of a fight. Inej was battling the last man. He started to rise, but he felt something brush his hand. A look down revealed that King had managed to embed her syringe into his side, and injected him with a little under half of the concoction. He could feel warmth spread from the injection. As he lay there, fighting to clear his head and to move, he heard a small whimper from Inej. The sound brought his focus back, adrenaline once more shooting through him. His Wraith was in danger.