Kaz Brekker's Queen

THREE

CHELSEA'S POV:
I stayed very close to Kaz's side that night. I didn't know what I was afraid of more...being away from Kaz again or leaving him on his own after what had happened tonight.
"We're going to the club." He said after about 10 minutes of intense staring into the mirror. I was sat on his desk, my usual spot whenever I was here with Kaz. He liked having me either sat on his desk or behind him, especially when a meeting was in place. He told me it was to keep me out of the grab range of everyone in the room because nobody approached The Boss' desk without invitation unless it was me or Jesper. There was another, more heartfelt reason, that Kaz liked having me sat on or around his desk. He'd told Jesper once and that was relayed back to me - or more like I ruffled Jesper a little to get the info out of him. The main reason Kaz liked me there in particular was because it meant he could see all of me clearly wherever he was in the room even if his back was turned. That's also why he refused to move the mirror from its exact position...so he could see any potential dangers and protect me.
"Chels...?" Kaz snapped his fingers in front of my face. I'd zoned out again.
"I'm good." I replied, forgetting what he'd said prior to when I zoned out.
"You don't seem like it. You seem off. You don't have to come to the club if you're not up to it." He said, cupping my face gently and making me look into his hypnotising eyes.
"I'm not leaving your side Kaz. Never again. I did that once and it got me lost with what seemed like no way back. You need me to protect you." I smiled back, speaking softly to him but making sure my point got across. He took a deep breath and nodded, stroking my cheek gently with his thumb and then turning to pick up his coat. He slipped it on whilst I remained on the desk, tired and my entire body hurting from not having a proper bed and only sleeping on wooden slats. Kaz turned back to me with my old leather jacket from when I ran "errands" for him in his hand.
"You ready then?" He asked me, his gentle tone sending warm shivers across my body.
"Yeah. Let's go. It'll be good to sit down all reunited again. Oh and I want to meet this new girl." I smiled at him, slipping my jacket on and feeling the weight of it. My knives were still there, concealed but easily accessible and deadly if you knew where they were stashed and how to pull them correctly from their concealment. I was Kaz's only assassin that he trusted with his life because my timing was never late. I knew he'd never put his life in somebody's hands like this unless it was me. No wonder Inej wasn't around. She didn't understand how vulnerable Kaz was. Or maybe she just couldn't be asked to do her job properly? Either way, it was down to Kaz what happened with Inej, I was not going to interfere with that one.
"Why? What are you planning?" Kaz asked me suspiciously.
"Nothing. Hey I need a friend you know. Maybe I can pass on a few hinters to her?" I smiled at him.
"What you do is down to you. But she can't get hurt. Not a scratch. I didn't fully pay for her from the menagerie. I plan for her to 'slip up' on our next mission so that I have adequate reason to return her and get back the small amount I paid." Kaz smirked evilly.
"You always were bad." I laughed, hopping off the desk and walking forwards the few steps before taking Kaz's arm that he held out for me and then walking out the building with him limping next to me. It seemed worse than before. Or maybe it was the stress of trying to find me.

The walk to the Crow Club seemed longer than usual but it was the same well-walked route that both me and Kaz knew like the backs of our hands. Maybe it was the silence shared between us? Maybe deep down Kaz was still mad at me for running off?
"You're unusually quiet." I broke the silence, stopping him at the doorway. Usually it was him stopping me by blocking my path with his cane but not today.
"I'm fine. I'm not angry at you and the hurt is gone because you're here, back home with me. I'm just enjoying your company in case we don't make it back." He said with the most love-filled and softest smile ever. Again, nobody saw this side of Kaz Brekker apart from me.
"Okay. If you're sure it's not because of me then I trust you. Like I always have and like I always will." I said back with a ginger smile. Kaz swept some hair from my face and then proceeded to walk inside the Crow Club keeping me beside him so we weren't separated. There was no need. People quickly recognised us and moved out of the way. Kaz had obviously done something to influence this fear. He turned and looked at me with a slight confused expression on his face, one eyebrow raised. Okay maybe it wasn't him after all.
"This is new. Usually some idiot gets in my way." He said quietly to me.
"Maybe they think you'll be more dangerous now that your favourite person is back." I said with a charming smile, sitting down next to Kaz at the table he had picked. Jesper was there too but I could tell by his face that he was worried for Kaz and wondering what I was doing here.
"No. They know I'll be dangerous now that I have my girl back. You don't really think that I'd forget all those feelings and emotions you give me. You make me human. You make me who I am and if it wasn't for you, I'd have called off this job." He spoke quietly, not wanting to draw attention.
"HEEEEYYYYYY! My two favourite people are finally reunited again. Boss...you okay?" Jesper asked. Kaz picked up a shot glass full of something and tipped it down his throat. He never did shots, even when in pain.
"Kaz! What did Pecker Rollins say to you." I demanded, looking at Kaz who's jaw was clenched.
"He tried to warn me off the job. Said I either walked away from it or he'd cave my head in." His voice trembled slightly.
"Right. Where is he. Nobody threatens you whilst I'm still alive." I said firmly.
"Chels. This is Pecker Rollins we're on about, not some Griesher who you can easily take. We'll get him another time." Jesper said, expressing the mans name to me as if it would in some way make me magically know what the guys game was about.
"Look. Right now, it's important we explain what's happening to Chelsea. She still doesn't know what this job is or what it involves." Kaz shot back.
"So what is it and what does it involve then?" I asked, taking the drink that was handed to me by the barman.
"There's this person a man named Dreesen wants. She's called the Sun Summoner and he offered a million Krueger to whoever brings her to him. Applications were to start at midnight but we took him something he desperately needed. A man who emerged from The Fold alive and Dreesen kidnapped him and took him by carriage to his place during the dead of night. This man had information about her but wouldn't talk. So we took Dreesen a heartrender and in return, he gave us the job. It means crossing the fold and kidnapping the Sun Summoner then bringing her to him. Now we just have to find a way across safely." Kaz explained, taking another sip of his drink.
"Sounds like my kind of fun is on the horizon. I'm in." I said, drinking some more of my drink and then moving onto plans and ideas for how to cross safely.