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...
" Your eyes don't look sad anymore. They're bright like stars, "
- W.V.E
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THE ICE HAD CLEARED. Glossy planes exchanged for gnarled stumps, crisp ginger leaves and hand-drawn dirt tracks. The crows sighed in relief, stepping onto a salt-lined path.
"Finally, a road where it doesn't feel like I'm on a slide," Alessia moaned, placing an arm around Inej's neck. "If I slipped another time, I would refuse to get back,"
"All the better," Kaz hummed, wiping the ice off the bottom of his cane. "Fewer people for me to worry about,"
"So you worry about me, Brekker," Alessia laughed. "Consider me positively flattered,"
"Ghafa, control your girlfriend," Inej blushed a dark red.
Natasha moved in step with Wylen. His head was bent, his mouth mumbling at a furious pace. His reddish curls hidden beneath a thin blanket of snow, beads of water trickling into his eyes.
"You alright, Wylen?" She asked. His head perked. It was the first time she had called him by his actual name. He contemplated her for a second, eyes skimming across her face like Natasha was an interesting book.
"Your eyes don't look sad anymore," he smiled. "They're bright like stars,"
"You just look cold," she nudged his shoulder, fixing the sloppy clasp of his cloak. "That's why you're shivering all the time," she frowned, stopping him to refasten the silver clip.
"You've been hooking it wrong the entire time." Natasha brushed the snow off his shoulder, patting them with a grin. "You're all good to go,"
"Thank you," he smiled. Wylen looked over at Jesper, who was eyeing them enviously. "I should go. Jes is looking,"
"Yeah, go ahead," Natasha watched him jog over to Jesper, sighing.
Alessia and Inej were deep in their conversation, head bent, and eyes sparkled with love. She hated how easy going they were with each other. They weren't ashamed to talk and hold hands. They wanted to hold hands.
She looked ahead at Kaz, who was drilling Nina over the protocols of the ice palace. Matthias was not far behind, eyeing them both as if they were spawns of Satan.
"Yellow Protocol?"
"Sector Disturbance,"
"Red Protocol?"
"Sector Breach,"
"Black Protocol,"
"Start picking the colours of your casket,"
Natasha fluidly slid over to Nina's side, placing a gentle arm on her waist. Nina grinned like a child, placing her hand on Natasha's back. "I'd look good in a pink casket," Nina said thoughtfully. "You'd have to dress me in my red kefta. I want a proper Ravkan burial,"
