Natasha Van Doren is a shadow summoner. She bides her time and resides in darkness, feared and esteemed by Ketterdam's civilians, a ghost . She cons Kaz Brekker into joining a heist he can't refuse and with thirty million kruge on the line, the crow...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER LIKE YOU."
It was a phrase Natasha's mother had bled through her cerebrum throughout her childhood. She had heard stories of the darkling under many aliases: the black heretic, the starless saint, the shadow king. Yet under the new moon, a daughter of darkness had been born. Her soul shattered by the night - erupting with shadows.
___
"Natasha." Nina Zenic's pale blue eyes were like a lantern in the mist. Her eyes were burdened with worry, her hand steady on Natasha's shoulder. Natasha blinked back her thoughts, cracking the bones in her neck as she turned her head from side to side. "Are you sure your alright?"
"Fine," Natasha said again. Her hands ghosted the curve of her lips, her thumb tucked against the side of her mouth. She shook Nina's hand off kindly, bending down onto her knees, peering over the stone ledge.
She could smell the scent of blood, sweat and filth from her position, so she opted to breathe through her mouth. Natasha curled her ashen hands against the stone ledge floor, leaning forward until her entire torso hung over the balcony.
Anyone could easily push her to her demise. She knew that the thought had already passed several times through Kaz Brekker's macabre mind.
"Rinca Moten," Inej sighed, dropping to the floor beside Natasha. The wraith crouched down onto the balls of her heel, her fingertips arched like the mouth of a cave. She tucked a curl of dark hair behind her ear, looking down at the desert lizard swaying across the sand.
"The poison from its mouth is lethal," Natasha added, looking back at Inej. She had folded the sleeves of her long black tunic up to her elbows - brown skin glistened in the bright light of the moon, casting jewelled shadows on the sharp edge of her cheeks.
"That man will die." Inej sniffed, rising onto her feet. Her lips were pressed firmly, yet Natasha could find no emotion hidden behind her eyes. She must have learnt that from Kaz.
Natasha spared her no smile of pity, wanting the darkness to swallow Inej whole in the hopes she'd be spat out in chewed-up pieces.
She kicked her legs across the edge, her feet dangling in the air. A subtle jostle from someone behind her would send her plummeting. She shifted uncomfortably at the thought, pushing her hands firmer in the stones until she felt as if they had welded into her very skin.
"You have a job to do for Van Eck" she mumbled. "Think about the kruge,"
In honesty, Natasha Van Doren didn't care for the kruge. Money was the flames of Kaz's interest. There was much more to Natasha's life than purple notes.
Power.
It was the very reason why she had left her life back in Noyvi Zem and Ravka behind. The promise of a future where there were no limits, the very world, bowing at her feet. Greed may have been Kaz's lever - shame his currency, but darkness controlled the world.
She had sought out ancient books, travelling to Ravka in search of documents, journals and military reports. It hadn't been the work of parem to steal those, all it had taken was a rebellious edge and thirst for power.
Natasha's father had taught her that knowledge was the greatest weapon; with the ancient magic of Nichevo'ya at her leisure, shadows burned within her heart. With each step, it thundered in her wake, beating alongside her heart.
It was a destiny decided by the saints. Take Ravka as your own. Through parem, it would all be hers, even if it meant betraying the ghosts of her past. A small sacrifice in the name of the small science - the second army would rise to see the dawn.
Kaz Brekker had saved her from the darkness. To say anything less would be dishonest. But that was when she was weak. Without full knowledge of her powers, she forced her limits within, flaying her body in the hopes the darkness would wither. But it hadn't, it had only grown stronger.
Natasha had been bedridden. Her brows sweated, her forehead running high with a horrible temperature. Her mother had joked that she had become a sun summoner. Natasha's skin had never felt so warm. She was sure that she would soon be taken from the Earth.
Kaz Brekker had stayed by her side. He comforted her through the sheet of his gloves, his clothed touch still a reassuring reminder of their friendship. A friendship she had driven into a very deep grave.
She blew out a rattled breath with a long sigh, tucking her chin against her chest. Tonight was going to be a long night, and with that, she jumped onto her heels, spinning off in the direction of Inej Ghafa.
Natasha waited for the condescending tone of Kaz Brekker to chase after, like a wolf after prey. She yearned to hear sarcastic calls of sweetheart, darling and even idiot. What was worse, was that he only glared with wide eyes before following behind her.
Van Doren had visited Hellgate many times before. Nevertheless, the haughty prison never failed to loom like a labyrinth in her mind. The bricks were licked by darkness, blinding her inked sight and casting her into the shadows. The lights revenge, she scoffed, sliding down another slime-slicked corridor.
"Where are you, Helvar?" she mumbled through gritted teeth.
Natasha almost gasped in shock as a gentle hand curved around her wrist. For a moment, she thought it was Kaz, but she couldn't feel the cold leather against her skin. She looked down at the small hand and then up at the Suli girl walking beside her.
Inej Ghafa.
Her lips turned up into a smile, allowing her fingers to curl firm around hers. She squeezed tight, enjoying the sticky silence. It was like honey - sweet tasting, but it only ever left an ugly mess behind.
She ignored the ruined thought in her mind, slowly easing her grip around Inej's hand. Friendship - all it ever lead to was a catastrophe. She shifted back to Inej's side, smiling a nice reassuring grin. She needed allies, and Inej Ghafa was the best she could get her hands on.
Kaz hated to think she was making friends. He was the only one who knew her true nature - darker than any thief's moral code. He kept quiet in her best nature, his heart was steel, but deep down there was a faint thrumming love sealed safe by a thirteen-year-old Kaz.
He was a little boy holding tight to the strings of a balloon. He wouldn't dare let it float away, so he'd simply wait for the helium to drain. A part of him yearned to let it go, to let the silvery foil fly away, into the darkness, never be seen again.
But as the crows marched through the pathways of Hellgate, he couldn't resist holding on tighter.
Not yet, the voice in his mind whispered. Don't let her go.
Not yet.
A/N
- I hope you guys liked this chapter - if you did please comment or vote seeing the response always makes my day <3 Thank you guys for reading, ily & stay safe
