Chapter Text
"I thought I was flying but maybe I’m dying tonight"
-Florence Welch
Kaz
“Where is Kuwei Yul-Bo?” Jan Van Eck demanded, an angry flush creeping up his neck.
“Let us safely off this island with our payment, and I’ll gladly tell you,” Kaz Brekker replied, still calm, still in control. This was an eventuality he planned for.
“You have no way out of this, Brekker. Your little crew is no match for my Grisha.”
Kaz shrugged. “Kill us, and you’ll never find Kuwei.”
Van Eck appeared to consider this. Then he stepped back, “Guards to me!” he shouted.
“Grab Brekker and the money, kill the rest.”
Kaz knew the moment he made the mistake. The instant.
He should have kept his eyes on Van Eck. Kept his wits, and his weapons ready. Instead, he looked at Inej.
And Van Eck saw it.
“Kill her first,” he said with a satisfied grin and Kaz knew Inej could handle herself. Knew they should hold their ground. But he was already turning, already sprinting to get to her.
And she was moving too, her body dodging attacks headed her way as she ran towards him, eyes wide.
He was about to call for Jesper to shoot one of Van Eck’s guards when a force knocked him off his feet and lifted him into the air. Two arms pressed tight around his midsection and Kaz’s mind went blank as the water rose. He could see the ground falling away, he could see Inej’s dark eyes wide with fear. But he couldn’t breath and so he struggled, snapping the sharp head of his cane backwards towards his captor, hard enough to snap bones and rip tendons.
It worked and Kaz plummeted.
There wasn’t time to think when he felt another body boulder into him from the side and then a sharp crack at the base of his skull and then nothing.
Inej
“Bring him down!” Matthias roared at Jesper as they all watched the Grisha lift Kaz higher in the air.
“No!” Inej yelled, her voice sharp in the night air, “A fall from that height would kill him!”
Jesper was still shooting at the remaining Grisha Squaller. His aim was true and the Grisha plummeted from the sky. But by then Van Eck’s guards had grabbed the Kruge and pulled back to the boat.
“You have one week to bring me the real Kuwei Yul-Bo or your leader is dead,” Van Eck shouted. “And if that doesn’t move you, I’ll let it be known that you’re harboring the most valuable hostage in the world. Every gang, government, smuggler, and spy will be after you and the Dregs. You’ll have nowhere to hide.”
“What happened to killing us?” Inej called out, feeling a rage simmering beneath her skin.
“Call this a change of plans,” Van Eck replied with a smile she could just make out from where he stood on the far shore. “I can make the shot,” Jesper told Inej, his pistol trained on Van Eck’s retreating form.
Inej bit her lip and stared up at the retreating Grisha, barely a pinprick in the sky by now.
What would Kaz do?
Kaz would want his money, Van Eck’s death wouldn’t save him. He probably would have planned for that too.
“Let him go,” she said, feeling numb.
And Jesper lowered his rifle staring at her. He looked as in shock as she felt.
“Van Eck will send soldiers and Grisha to search for Kuwei,” Matthias said, his voice low.
“He won’t find him or Nina,” Inej replied, she felt distant from her body but strangely grateful to be the one who actually knew Kaz’s plans.
They were safely stashed in the empty cages beneath Hellgate. Specht had taken them in a second longboat the night before.
Her mind felt too slow to keep up. Jesper was asking Wylan why he let himself be tailored to look like Kuwei and Wylan replied that it was leverage.
“That’s Kaz talking,” Jesper replied.
Inej took a few steps towards the far shore, she could no longer see the Squaller in the sky but she could see Van Eck’s boat heading back to Ketterdam.
She needed to think.
She needed to think like Kaz.
“Maybe I liked your stupid face!” Jesper snapped from somewhere behind her but it was Matthias who stepped up beside her. His blue eyes following her gaze to the boat.
“You want to get him back.” It was phrased like a question but it was a statement. A fact.
She nodded slowly. A cold certainty descending over her.
She was not the Bastard of the Barrel. She wasn’t Dirtyhands.
She was the Wraith.
And yet, Dirtyhands wasn’t here to see the rough work done. So Inej Ghafa would have to do it in his stead.