Chapter Text
“I swear to all the Saints I am going to KILL Jesper whenever we get out of here!” said Kaz as he slammed his fists against the storeroom door, again and again.
“You don’t even believe in the Saints,” Inej replied.
“Maybe not, but I do believe in swearing.” He slumped to the floor after one last hit, finally realizing that punching the door was not getting them anywhere. As his head fell back against the cool stone of the door, a trickle of sweat ran off from his forehead and a sigh escaped from his exhausted lungs. Jesper should have been here by now. Why wasn’t he here? They had said 10 minutes. 10 minutes to search the room, then Jesper would come back to get them out. But those 10 minutes had come and gone, three times over.
Inej studied Kaz from the opposite corner of the room where she sat curled up, elbows on her knees and back pressed up against a crate full of papers, trying to give them both as much space as possible. His grim face and tired eyes were visible despite the dim lighting provided by the single lantern hanging from the ceiling. “You’re bleeding,” she said, and sure enough, a drop of blood ran past Kaz’s black leather gloves and hit the cold stone floor.
“It’s nothing.” Kaz tugged at the edge of his sleeve, pulling it down to hide his gloved hand even further. Taking his rage out on a solid stone door may not have been the best idea. His knuckles stung from the impact, but considering the injuries he’d dealt with in the past, the pain barely registered.
“If I have to go back to the Slat and tell the rest of the Dregs their leader bled out in a closet because he was too stubborn to do anything about it, it’s really going to ruin my day. Not to mention your carefully crafted reputation.” Inej pulled a roll of gauze out of her small leather bag and tossed it towards Kaz. He winced as he reached to grab it.
“That’s my Wraith, always prepared,” Kaz grumbled, pulling off his gloves.
“Wouldn’t need to be if half our jobs didn’t end up with someone getting shot, stabbed, or shoved off a roof. Though I must say, punching a wall–” Inej stopped mid sentence as she caught sight of Kaz’s hands. The skin on his knuckles was almost completely torn away, and what little remained was stained with crimson red blood oozing from the abrasions.
“Saints, I was only kidding about you bleeding out. Do you–”
Kaz cut her off before she could finish the question. “I’m fine. I’ve got it.” he said, struggling to wrap the gauze around his hands. With some semblance of a bandage on his left hand, he tried to tear the piece of gauze with his teeth, but as soon as he moved his hand, the whole thing unraveled. Fresh blood beaded up on his knuckles and Kaz let out another frustrated sigh before starting the whole process again. Inej watched as he tried and failed again, his hands shaking from the effort.
“Kaz, let me help you.”
“I don’t need help!” he growled as his bloodied fingers slipped yet again and he threw his hands down in frustration. A slight grunt of pain broke through Kaz’s attempt to appear calm. Resigned, he tossed the gauze back to Inej and rested his shaking hands on his knees.
“I’ll be as quick as I can,” said Inej, picking up the gauze and closing the small amount of space she had carefully created between them. “Ready?” Inej held out her hand patiently, waiting for Kaz’s permission. She knew how hard this was for him. Kaz asking for help was one thing, but letting her, or anyone, touch him was entirely different. The slightest brush of skin could send him into a full panic attack. She’d seen it before, watched him descend into a tangled web of dark memories, unable to escape and unable to be reached.
“Do it.” Kaz moved one trembling hand towards her, and Inej quickly got to work, wrapping his damaged knuckles with ease that only comes from experience. She tried to touch him as little as possible, but even so Inej soon saw the blood drain from Kaz’s face and his eyes lose focus, his mind clearly elsewhere.
Water. Cold. Waves lapping at his face, lungs burning as he struggles for air. Pain shooting through his legs as he begs them to keep kicking, keep moving forward. Hands. His hands on cold, dead–
“Kaz, stay with me. Kaz, I’m right here. Breathe. You’re safe, I’m right here.” Inej’s voice cut through the memories, pulling him back to land. His ragged breaths began to slow and he looked down to find his hands, wrapped in fresh, white gauze. He looked up to meet Inej’s gaze, her eyes filled with worry.
“Kaz, I– I’m sorry.” Every fiber in her being was telling her to hug him, to comfort him, but she knew that would only make things worse. Instead, she offered the one comfort she could, lowering her head and stepping back, trying to give Kaz the privacy he needed to recover. Which, given the cramped space they found themselves in, was not a lot.
Kaz took a deep breath, and reached for his gloves, pulling them carefully over his bandaged hands. “Thank you, Inej. For– well, let’s just focus on getting out of here.”
~~~~~~
It took a lot of bad luck for them to end up here, but even Kaz’s best laid plans were subject to the misfortunes of life in the Barrel. It was supposed to be a simple job. The Dregs had collected intel that the Black Tips were preparing to make another move on 5th Harbor. Kaz wanted to remind them that it was Dregs territory before they got the chance, so here they were in the house of Luka Elzinger, the newly appointed Black Tips boss. A couple property records, a signet ring, some well placed threats, and the Golden Bend club was supposed to be theirs.
Kaz had the job all laid out. Ezlinger would be out tonight, meeting with the other Tips to formulate their plan. Inej would enter through a skylight on the second floor, slipping downstairs and taking out the pair of guards stationed downstairs with one of Wylan’s latest creations. Then Kaz could pick the front door’s lock without notice, letting him and Jesper in to get to the safe upstairs.
The safe was where this particular job got interesting. It was much more than a safe.Their intelligence found that Elzinger had hired a Grisha Fabrikator to manage a secure storeroom. Kaz could pick nearly any lock, but Fabrikator design was different. They could build mechanisms completely impervious to anyone but another Grisha. That was where Jesper came in. He may not have been formally trained, but he was Fabrikator nonetheless.
The locking system on the door was one of the most complex they had ever encountered. Inej figured out the pattern through some careful surveillance over the past days. Elzinger placed his hand on a plate of metal bolted to the smooth stone wall, then the Fabrikator molded it to fit his handprint. This seemed to activate the rest of the mechanism, which the Fabrikator carefully manipulated to cause a piece of the wall to swing away, forming the door. The door only remained open for a few seconds, before sliding back into place until the Fabrikator reopened it.
Essentially, a Fabrikator needed to be waiting outside, or whoever was in the room would be trapped. That was Jesper’s job. Kaz was able to fake the handprint easily enough with a wax casting, and they slipped into the room without incident. They agreed on 10 minutes to search through the files and valuables to get what they needed, then Jesper would reopen the door and they could slip out of the house without notice.
Something had gone wrong– Kaz didn’t know what, exactly, but this was not the plan. He thought Jesper had gotten distracted or simply lost track of time, but after two hours he knew even Jesper should have been able to get back here.
“Maybe Elzinger came back and he had to run,” Inej suggested. They had both returned to their seats on the floor, after spending an hour scouring the walls for weaknesses, an air vent, or anything that could help them escape, but found not so much as a finger hold in the smooth stones of the wall.
“Maybe,” replied Kaz, but they both knew that was wishful thinking. Elzinger shouldn’t be back yet, even now. Rotti and Spect were ready to waylay him on the streets if the Black Tips’ meetup ended early. They both knew Jesper was either captured or dead, but neither wanted to say it.
They’d already searched through every paper and box in this room, finding what they came for and more. But it was useless if they were trapped in here. Trapped. That’s exactly what they were. Inej glanced around at the walls and ceiling, feeling as if they were getting closer. She curled up a little tighter in the corner she’d claimed.
If Dirtyhand’s only weakness was physical touch, the Wraith’s was captivity. Being trapped here was bringing back unpleasant memories of her year at the Menagerie– Tante Heleen’s wicked smile as she locked Inej in her room each night, the frantic beating of her heart as the looming form of tonight’s lucky gentleman moved closer. And then there was the time she spent as Van Eck’s captive. The memories of gnawing hunger and bound hands, the cold operating table in the theater were too much. He’ll never trade if you break me.The words hurt, even now, when Kaz had proved her wrong time and time again. She tried to maintain her composure, but Kaz knew her too well.
“You’re not at the Menagerie anymore, Inej. I’d burn it down before I’d let you go back to that saintsforsaken place. And Van Eck can’t hurt you now, we all made sure of that.” Kaz tried to comfort her with his words, but in reality he knew the only thing that would help would be getting out of here. Inej smiled at him weakly and closed her eyes, muttering a prayer under her breath.
There had to be something he could do. Kaz picked up his cane, discarded on the ground, and circled the walls yet again. They’d checked every inch, gone through every paper, but this couldn’t be it. They were not going to die here. He ran his gloved hand along the barely visible seam of the door again and again, trying to wedge his lockpicking tools into the miniscule gap. Nothing.
“Kaz, enough. It’s no use.” Inej couldn’t watch him like this anymore. “Look, we’re just going to have to wait until someone tries to get in the room, and be ready when they do. Elzinger will have to come in here at some point, and when he does, we need to be ready. Save your strength for then.”
Kaz sighed, knowing the truth in her words but not wanting to accept it. He winced as he lowered himself back to the floor, bad leg stretched at an awkward angle. The cramped space was not helping his pain.
“You should sleep. I’ll keep watch, in case someone decides to join us” said Kaz.
“You’ve barely slept the past few days, I’ve got first watch.”
“Not tired.”
“Fine,” Inej relented, “but wake me up to switch in a few hours.” She knew Kaz well enough to understand they’d spend all night arguing instead of sleeping if she didn’t give in. So, she took off her cloak, pulled it over herself as a blanket, and slipped into a restless sleep.
~~~~~~~~~
She squeezes her way out of the air vent, the taste of freedom so close. Starving herself might just have been worth it. Then, the lights spring on and terror courses through her veins. The guards are wrestling her to a cold metal table, her hands and legs are bound. Van Eck stands over her, taunting, holding a wickedly sharp knife, dripping with her blood. But then it’s Tante Heleen, wielding a mallet, crashing towards her bound legs–
“Inej!” Kaz was shaking her awake, one cool, gloved hand on her shoulder. She started, scrambling backwards, only to hit the wall, before regaining her composure. “I think you were having a nightmare,” said Kaz.
“I– yeah,” Inej’s breaths were still shallow and rapid as she tried to free herself from the tangle of memories.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Kaz asked, carefully.
“Van Eck again. I’m– I’ll be fine.” The last thing she wanted to do was relive those moments again by explaining them to Kaz. “I don’t think I can sleep anymore. Besides, your watch should be over anyway. Get some rest.”
Kaz almost offered to stay awake with her, but after studying her expression, he didn’t think that would do any good. Besides, he needed the rest. He turned his back to the wall and drifted off to sleep.
Inej sat awake, perched on one of the crates of paperwork they’d searched through. She didn’t know how much longer she could take this. The fear and panic of captivity were growing stronger every minute they had to spend in this prison. She turned to the one thing that might distract her, taking out her knives one by one, reciting their names in her head as she polished them.
Sankta Margareta. Sankt Peter. Sankta Lizabeta. Sankt Lubrov. Sankta Alina.
She continued until each blade was spotless.Then she moved to retelling the stories of each Saint, trying to keep her mind busy enough to stave off the nightmares. She’d made it all the way to the story of Sankt Nikolai when she heard a noise. Someone was outside the door.
“Kaz!” she whispered, “Wake up!” She didn’t dare to shake him, but he didn’t need it. He was awake and alert in seconds. “Someone’s out there,” she said, and they both stilled for a moment to listen. They could hear muffled voices outside, and then a slight grinding inside the door. Kaz stood up, cane at the ready, and Inej drew her knives. The grinding started again. And the door slowly began to swing open. Kaz and Inej shared a look, and it was all the communication they needed as they prepared to jump into combat.
Then there was a voice– “Inej? Kaz? You in there?” But it wasn’t Elzinger and his guards here to kill them. It wasn’t Jesper, either. It was Nina Zenik.
Catching sight of their surprised expressions, a smile spread across Nina’s face. “There’s our two lovebirds! You know, if you just wanted some alone time, there are much easier places to go. Matthias and I would be happy to show you some of our favorites.”
Both of them blushed profusely at her words, but they had never been happier to see her. “C’mon, get out of there before the door closes and Sonya has to go through all that work again.” Kaz and Inej happily complied.
“Sonya?” asked Inej, a confused look on her face as she saw the other girl standing outside.
“A Grisha friend. Heard you needed a Fabrikator to get in here,” Nina explained. Sonya gave a small wave as the door slid closed behind them.
“What happened to Jesper?” Kaz asked, a mix of anger and concern in his voice.
“We were hoping you knew,” said Nina. “Jesper never made it home.”