𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅 || 𝐊𝐚𝐳 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

Idiocy

"Don't." He growls. I step back and put my hands up.

"What happened, Kaz?" I ask the words a sorrowful regret on my lips.

"You want to know what Pekka did to me?" His voice was a snarl, reverberating off the tiles. "How about I tell you what I did when I found the woman who pretended to be his wife, the girl who pretended to be his daughter? Or how about I tell you what happened to the boy who lured us in that first night with his mechanical toy dogs? That's a good one. His name was Filip. I found him running a monte game on Kelstraat. I tortured him for two days and left him bleeding in an alley, the key to a wind-up dog shoved down his throat." I stiffen and watch as all the anger and pain floods from his lips.

"That's right," he continues. "The clerks at the bank who turned over our information. The fake attorney. The man who gave me free hot chocolate at Hertzoon's fake office. I destroyed them all, one by one, brick by brick. And Rollins will be the last. These things don't wash away with prayer, Blade. There is no peace waiting for me, no forgiveness, not in this life, not in the next."

"Forgiveness is not asked for. It's earned."

"Is that what you intend to do, by selling others' information has left a pit in your heart."

"It has and I plan to build my empire doing good. Helping the children of the Barrel. Keep them out of Brothels and fake Saints offices." I say.

Silence passes between us and Kaz's eyes search over me. I mirror him and snatch details from his face. His thick brows. A scar crests a bald line on his left brow. His mouth is set in a thin line, his rosy lips trapped between his teeth. His sharp jaw pulses with his heartbeat.

He kicks off from the wall and brushes past me. He quickly tucks his gloves back on. He whirls around and stands toe to toe with me.

"Whatever happens to me, build your empire. Help the kids, carve your name into Rollins's bones for me. Whatever you do, survive this mess I've gotten us into."

"Kaz don't do this, please."

"If I don't it's all over. No way out. No reward, there's nothing left."

"Nothing," I mutter. "What about me? You're leaving me behind to Kaz. You're leaving me alone."

"You're never alone. And I can never truly leave you, just like you'll never truly leave me." He sighs and crosses to the door. "Look for your enemies tells."

"What?"

"A tell. A dropped shoulder, an old injury.

"Do I have a tell?" I ask.

"You always cross your legs, like it's a dance. You have a wide stance and you keep your arms raised."

"What's yours?" I ask.

"I'm a cripple. No one looks beyond that, they think that's enough."

"Don't go to the Slat, Kaz. We can find another way." I push my way between him and the door.

"Move out of the way, Blade."

"Kaz."

"If you care about me at all you won't follow."

He pushes past me. I refuse to be pushed around like some child. I grab his wrist and tug him back. He stumbles and catches himself on the counter. I unsheath my knife and place the blade at his throat.

"Stop, this is idiocy at its finest." He glares at me. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"Do you really have so little faith?"

"I have faith in you, more so than the gods you mock."

"Then..."

"I will not stand by while you play cards with fate."

"I'm not playing anything."

I release the dagger at his throat and drop to my knees. I grip his gloved hands in mine as tears slip from my cheek.

"Please Kaz don't do this." I cry "we can find another way it doesn't have to be you against the world. We can do it together."

"Trust me to know what I'm doing." He says softly.

"You don't know, that's the problem."

"Really?"

I hear a click and something cold closes around my wrist. I try to back up but my arm catches on something. My eyes leave Kaz's cold ones and see cuffs on the exposed pipe of the bathroom.

My blood drowns out any noise. My skin vibrates, even as Kaz pushes past me. My breath comes in ragged panicked pants. I tug at the cuffs holding me to the exposed pipes in the wall.

My knees give out and I pull. With all my might I try to pull myself from the prison that is my mind. Water soaks my skin and my scars tingle. I feel the ropes, feel the skin, feel the wood. I feel everything including the fear and panic. Water drips into my eyes. I can't figure real from hallucinations.

My limbs relax as my heart thuds in my chest. I wipe the water from my eyes and search the ground. Something small metal. Yes. A hairpin lays on the floor and I work. I bite the pin into a straight line and place the pin in the cuff lock with shaky hands. The metal burns into my skin and my heart speeds again before the cuff snaps open.

If the dregs don't kill Kaz Brekker, I will.