✨ Half my soul ✨ Kaz✖️OC.

Dirtyhands had come to see the rough work done

"And I need money." He told Rollins. "Two hundred thousand kruge."

Rollins nearly choked on his laughter.

Kaz's jaw set. "My shares in the Crow Club and Fifth Harbour."

Rollins sat up straighter. "You'd sell your stake?"

"Yes. And for another ten thousand I'll throw in an original DeKappel." He said.

Rollins leaned back. "It's not enough, you know. Not to go to war with the Merchant Council. And I understand. You want your money; you want your pretty Shu back; you want a bit of Van Eck's hide_"

"No," said Brekker. "When I come for Van Eck, I won't just take what's mine. I'll carve his life hollow. I'll burn his name from the ledger. There will be nothing left."

Pekka Rollins couldn't count the threats he'd heard, the men he'd killed, or the men he'd seen die, but the look in Brekker's eye still sent a chill slithering up his spine. Some wrathful thing in this boy was begging to get loose, and Rollins didn't want to be around when it slipped its leash.

Rollins doled out the cash to Brekker, then had him write out a transfer order for his shares in the Crow Club and Fifth Harbour. When he held out his hand to shake on the deal, Brekker's grip was knuckle-crushing.

"You don't remember me at all, do you?" that black thing flickered behind Brekker's eyes.

Pekka Rollins looked at him in confusion and finally said. "The deal is the deal," eager to be done with this strange lot.

"The deal is the deal." Kaz shook his hand.

Rollins watched Brekker and his crew moving through the crowded gambling hall. Brekker was a wily thief and tough enough, inventive, too. But unlike those poor stooges at the Ice Court, Van Eck would be ready for Brekker. The boy was going into a real battle. He didn't stand a chance.

Rollins reached for his watch. "Son of a bitch," he exclaimed. He held up his watch chain. A turnip was hanging from the fob where his diamond-studded timepiece should have been. Then a thought came to him. He reached for his wallet. It was gone. So was his tie pin, the Kaelish coin pendant he wore for luck, and the gold buckles on his shoes. Rollins wondered if he should check the fillings in his teeth.

No one got one over on Pekka Rollins. No one dared. But Brekker had, and Rollins wondered if that was just the beginning.

"Doughty," he said, "I think we'd best say a prayer for Jan Van Eck." Then he sighed. "We better hope Van Eck kills that boy, otherwise I'll have to."

➖➖➖➖➖

When Rotty showed up with the note from Kaz Brekker, Anika didn't know how to react. Kaz had never send a note before, until now. It was for her and Raske. Was it for another job? Another command from Dirtyhands? She really didn't care. But none of them could've anticipated the intensity of the message.

The chemical factory. 12 bells.

The scrawl was rough and even through the writings, Anika could tell, the pressure Kaz was in.

Raske leaned on an old pillar, adjusting his hat. He's never seen without his hat, like Kaz without his gloves. While Anika sat down on a crate, waiting for Kaz to show up at 12 bells. Her mind wandered.