The Red Ribbon {Kaz Brekker X Reader}

When The Church Bells Ring

Inej takes one last look at the ships in the harbor, seeming to possess a newfound determination. "I'd be surprised if he isn't already downing his fourth cup of coffee."

We both race each other back to the Geldrenner, feeling more free than we have in a while. For a fleeting hour, we weren't confined to a hotel room or worried that a passerby on the streets would notice us. It felt nice. Being stuck in one place made me forget how nice it feels to be free. It makes Zoya's words hit a little bit deeper.

When we enter the living room of the suite, Kaz is in fact drinking coffee. He stares at both of us unimpressed.

"Do you two have a death wish, or do you just like giving people heart attacks?" He asks, finishing his coffee.

I take the cup from him before he can refill it. "I think the amount of caffeine you've consumed in the past 24 hours will do that for us."

He rolls his eyes and goes to the kitchen to get another cup. "Where were you two?"

"On a roof at the harbor," I say.

Inej laughs. "Y/N practically made a sailor piss his pants!"

Kaz stares at me. "What did you do?"

I put my free hand up in defense. "I just splashed him a bit to scare him. Relax, he didn't see me."

He rubs a hand over his forehead. "Y/N, you do understand that many people are out to kill you, right? You need to lay low-"

"I'm not going to hide who I am forever, Kaz. If the city wants me dead so bad, why can't I fight back? Never make decisions out of fear, Kaz, only out of spite," I say.

He looks unimpressed. "I bet you and Zoya got along swell yesterday."

"What is that supposed to mean-"

Inej interrupts us. "Enough you two. We are all tense right now, no need to have another Kaz/Jesper incident."

I turn away from them and refill Kaz's old cup with coffee, then take a walk through the hotel to clear my head. He isn't like you. He doesn't understand and I don't expect him to. But he at least needs to attempt to understand how alive tide summoning makes me feel. I will not cower in fear at the hands of this trading nation. Not anymore. I will make it accept me.

The coffee makes me feel fully alert, but still I am scared half to death when I see Wylan sitting around the corner. He stares blankly at the wall ahead of him, seemingly lost in thought, his brow furrowed. I sit down next to him.

"One kruge for your thoughts?"

"I'm actually selling them for fifteen kruge," he says.

I laugh. "Okay Kaz."

Wylan does a passable impression of Kaz's small grin and raspy voice. "As the market wills it."

"Woah, you are freakishly good at that. But seriously, Wylan, what's on your mind?" I ask.

He pauses, then sighs. "Today, my father will be at the auction. I don't want to see the look on his face when he sees me, actually me, again. He tried to kill me once, you know. He doesn't want me to be a Van Eck, and honestly, I don't want to be one either. I don't want to be like my father."