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...
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"WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU'RE GOING TO DO?"
"Eat," Natasha shrugged.
The boy and girl walked side by side, head down, hands clasped behind their backs. The snow rattled their skeletons, whispering into their ears. But they didn't care.
It was them against the world.
"Eat what?"
"Everything," Natasha laughed. "I want hot chocolate, sweet pastries, chocolate cake, blackcurrant tarts,"
"They're all my favourites,"
"I know," She hummed. Her touch warmed the thick leather of Kaz's gloves, radiating heat directly into his chest. He heard Jordie in his head, laughing with the wind. Kaz pushed the voice away, holding her hand tighter.
"Then when I'm all fat, and round I'll roll into The Little Palace and scare Zoya,"
"Zoya Nazyalensky," Kaz could hear the breath tighten in her throat.
"How do you know her?"
"She funds this village, Little Ravka," He snorted at the name, walking forward. "Pays for their food, prays in their chapel, dresses like them to,"
"How do you know?"
"We're thieves," Kaz said thickly. "We always know,"
"How about you?" Natasha shook her head, throwing a waterfall of raven hair across her back. "What are you going to do when we're out of this frozen hellhole?" She kicked her foot dramatically in the snow.
"I'll get drunk," Kaz said. "And my affairs will be dealt with,"
"Hiding wives in the barrel?" Natasha asked, raising a brow. "Don't tell me a mini Kaz Brekker is tottering on two legs somewhere in Ketterdam,"
"Of course there isn't," He huffed. "Besides, If I had a child, I wouldn't want to know,"
"Why?"
"Do I look like an ideal dad," Kaz scoffed. "They should think I'm dead - then they won't have to deal with a shitty father, who's never around,"
"You'd pull yourself together," Natasha said quietly. "When your affairs are dealt with, you could get out of Ketterdam. You could get yourself a house in Ravka, find work on the harbour, given a few years you could make something for yourself,"
"Why would I want that?"
"Don't you ever want to get away, to see the world, try all the sweets, sleep beneath a new sky every morning? There's so much out there, Kaz."
