THESE BROKEN VOWS (Kazbrekker x Fem!reader) [ book version]

CHAPTER 16

-KAZ P.O.V-

Kaz knew how damnably stupid he was being, how unlikely it was that
he’d return from the Slat. Kaz had spent his life in a series of dodges and feints. Why come at a problem straight on when you could find some other way to approach? There was always an angle, and he was an expert at finding it.

Now he was about to go stomping ahead like an ox yoked to a plow. Odds were good he’d end up beaten, bloodied, and dragged through
the Barrel straight to Pekka Rollins’ front stoop. But they’d landed in a trap, and if he had to chew his paw off to get them out of it, then that was what he would do.

First he had to find Y/N. She was in the suite’s lavish white-and-gold
bathroom, seated at a vanity table, cutting fresh bandages from the towels.

He strode past her and removed his coat, tossing it onto the sink, beside
the basin. “I need your help plotting a route to the Slat.”

“Inej says she’s coming with you.”

“You know I have to face them alone,” he said. “They’ll be looking for
any sign of weakness, my ross.” He turned the spigots, and after a few
creaking groans, steaming water poured from the tap.

Maybe when he was rolling in kruge he’d have running hot water installed in the Slat. “But she can’t approach at street level.”

“She shouldn’t approach at all.”
He stripped off his gloves and dunked his hands in the water, then
splashed it over his face, running his fingers through his hair. “Talk me
through the best route or I’ll find my own way there.”

He would have preferred to walk instead of climb. Hell, he’d have
preferred to be driven there in a carriage-and-four. But if he tried to make it through the Barrel on the streets, he’d be captured before he got anywhere near the Slat. Besides, if he had any chance of making this work, he needed the high ground.

He dug in his coat pockets and held up the tourist map of Ketterdam he’d
found in the suite’s parlor. It didn’t have as much detail as he would have liked, but their real maps of the city had been left on Black Veil.

“Why don’t you ask Inej? Or Bhagya?They are the best spiders the Barrel could offer.” She'd said.

“Do not question me now, Y/N. If you do not wish to answer, I shall ask them.” Said Kaz, ready to limp out the way he had come in.

“Wait.” Y/N called. “This way is faster, but it’s steeper.”

“I’ll take the long way,” said Kaz.

They laid the map beside the basin and bent to the task as Y/N drew a line through the rooftops, describing the best places to cross the canals.
At one point she tapped the map.

He wanted his mind on the fight ahead and avoiding notice, not on the chance he was going to tumble to his death.

When he was satisfied he could follow the route from memory, he tucked
the map away and took another paper from his pocket. It bore the pale green seal of the Gemensbank. He handed it to her.

“What is this?” she asked, her eyes scanning the page. “It’s not …” She
ran her fingertips over the words as if expecting them to vanish. “The Ghafas’ contract,” she mumbled.