Fragments *KANEJ*

A Saint's Savior

TW BLOOD AND VIOLENCE

Kaz gently picke the lock of a window on the roof and drops down through it. He then motions for the rest of the crows to follow. Carefully, Jesper peeks over the railing.

"There's about 13 men in the main area. None of them are guarding the door to the downstairs." Jesper whispers. Luckily, not as many as Kaz had anticipated.

Kaz nods and motions for them to continue downstairs another level. He gives the signal, and Nina starts to heartrend two of them, bringing them down to the ground. The other guards look around, confused, and spread out around the area, searching for the intruders.

"Cover your eyes!" Wylan says quietly, then throws a bomb down to the guards, creating a flash of light. As they stumble around, blind, Jesper shoots each of them in the head.

There are 7 left, and Matthias hops down from the 2nd floor and throws punches at them. Kaz then hurries down the stairs, and helps the large crow out by swinging his cane at some of the other men. Soon enough, all of them are dead. Kaz nods to Jesper and Wylan, and then him, Nina, and Matthias head downstairs.

Kaz rushes through the dark halls, as fast as his bad leg will carry him. Where is she... where is she..?! He thinks frantically. Then he spots a heavy wooden door and rushes towards it. Matthias kicked it down in one hard motion and Kaz steps inside. Inej isn't there. Empty shackles lay on the ground, two guards dead beside them. Kaz growls and turns to his entourage.

"She's not here. She's not fucking here!" He says with a frustrated grunt. Nina and Matthias look at each other.

"Let's just get out of here and go back up to Wylan and Jesper." Nina says and the three race back to the others. When they arrive so soon, the couple knows something is wrong.

"Where is Inej?" Jesper asks worriedly.

"Gone." Kaz runs his hands through his hair, trying not to think the worst. A scream saves him from his thoughts. Inej's scream.

"Up at the top!" Kaz says and quickly rushes up to the third floor. Voices can be heard from a room with double doors at the end of a hallway. They run towards it and stop before going in.

"Hide yourselves, but stay close. Leave this to me for now. I'll give you the signal if I need you to step in, but until then, stay put." Kaz orders.

He picks the lock and pushes the door open roughly, knocking a guard to the ground, then stabbing him with his cane to keep him there. He sees Inej on the floor, bloody and bruised, in just her underclothes. Shane Kaneu stands above her, unmasked. Behind his mask is nothing but empty eye sockets and scars.

Rage burns through Kaz like a wildfire in a forest, too large and powerful to stop. But he keeps his cool, except in his eyes, hoping Kaneu senses the anger in them and cowers in fear. Kaneu's men raise their guns, but their boss motions for them to lower them.

"Kaneu. What business do you have with my Wraith?" Kaz asks calmly.

"Simple. She was the one who took my eyes, and now she's going to pay." Kaneu says and spits on her. Kaz growls.

"She's payed enough. And she's mine now, so if you have a grudge against her, you have a grudge against me." Kaz stares into his empty eye sockets, knowing he can't see, but still keeping his cold, dead gaze on his new enemy.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO HAVE EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU??!!!" Kaneu screams in rage. "After I lost my eyes, my wife abandoned me. She was my life, my love, my everything. And she left, because of how I look now." His voice falters, and he looks down for a moment.

"I don't think she left because of your eyes, she was probably just waiting for an excuse. Besides, why would you have been at the menagerie if you truly loved her?" Kaneu looks up at the heartless man.

"You wouldn't know anything about love, Brekker. You are cold, dead, and broken inside. You have never known love, and I highly doubt you ever will." Kaneu snarls.

I know more about love than you think I do. Kaz thinks to himself. "Well, I guess if you get your revenge you won't need your beloved wife anymore. Oh well, I'll just let my men know they can kill her already."

Kaneu furrows his brow for a moment, but then recollects himself quickly. "I know you, Dirtyhands. Everyone knows your tricks, the games you play with your enemies. You're bluffing."

"Am I? Your wife has blond hair, yes? About shoulder length, pale green eyes, she loves... what was it again? Oh right. She loves math and she is a teacher at Gillard's School for Young Girls. Beautiful, wonderful lady. What a shame she has a gun pointed against her head right now." Kaz lies with false sympathy in his tone.

Kaneu growls in anger. "H-how do you know that? Where the hell is she?!?" He pulls a gun out of his coat and loads it, pointing it at Kaz's head.

Inej groans on the ground, and Kaz glances at her broken frame. "I'll tell you if you give me my Wraith." Kaz negotiates back.

"Tell me now, or I'll blow your fucking brains out!" Kaneu yells.

Kaz grins menacingly back at him. "No you won't. If you shoot, I'll have my men rip her heart straight out of her lovely chest."

Kaneu falters and looks over to Inej. "Fine, now tell me where she is." He drops the gun and puts his hands up.

"Fifth harbor, on a boat named "Kronur 17." Kaz said to him. Kaneu quickly takes out a knife and throws it at Inej, but apparently his am is bad, for thankfully it only grazes her arm. She yelps in pain and Kaz looks at Kaneu with a murderous glare. All in a split second, all 8 guards in the room drop dead from various causes, most being Jesper's bullets and Nina's heartrending. Kaz grabs kaneu by the throat with one hand and holds his hands behind his back with the other.

"You do not mess with my Wraith." Kaz pushed the man onto the ground and pinned him down with his body weight. He then brings out a knife and rakes it all the way from his shoulder to his wrist, digging hard into the man's skin. He then stabs the man in his stomach, in a spot that won't kill him immediately, but he will die from loss of blood.

"See you in hell, bastard." Kaneu mutters through the pain, spitting blood on Kaz's face. Kaz gets off of the man and hurries over to Inej to assess the damage.

"Nina! Get over here!" Kaz hisses as panic runs through him at the sight of her, his Wraith, laying on the ground in excruciating pain. Luckily none of the damage looks fatal, and he thanks Inej's saints that Kaneu had mercy. Bloody bruises are all over her bare body, she definitely has multiple ribs broken, knife cuts are all over her just as the bruises, and a small knife is sticking out of her side.

"Jesper, call a healer!!" Kaz orders frantically. He takes his gloved off and gently takes her hand in his. Her eyes flutter and she looks at him.

"Kaz..." she mutters with a soft smile.

"Shh... don't talk. Don't talk. You'll survive this. Just- just keep your eyes open and focused on my face, okay?" Kaz speaks softly, with less of a rasp in his voice than usual. Inej nods. Nina does her best to mend the small wounds as they wait for the mediks and healers to arrive. Unfortunately, they couldn't get a healer, but they were able to get a medik. The medik took over, stitching and bandaging her wounds. Kaz watches from a distance as they work, terrified over whether she will make it or not.

They finish in about an hour and a half and Kaz pays the medik some Kruge, more than thankful that he saved her.

He scoops her half naked frame into his arms, his face heating a bit as he realizes that her clothes are nowhere to be found. He has Matthias search for her knives and clothes as they head out and back to Crow Manor.

"Let's go home, Inej." Kaz whispers into Inej's ear softly as he carries her out the building, vowing to never take advantage of the time he has with her again.