hoax | kaz brekker

eight. sleepless night

"The alarm trigger is set." Jesper huffed into a seat at the table, looking to Kaz and Malakai. "Horses are ready and I've stashed the rest of our gear."

Inej silently took a seat too. "I just settled our tab with the last of our coin. That room set us back."

Jesper looked to Malakai who sipped at her water. "Where did you get that coin anyway? What unlucky duke did you steal it from?"

The Shadow Summoner laughed, kissing her teeth. "Actually... Good old grandma gave it to me when we left the Little Palace."

"Hmm."

"But she warned me... Kirigan knows I exist. He knows I'm here with you guys."

"I know it's not the most ideal of situations but, don't you want to meet your father?"

"He lied. About the Sun Summoner. About the Fold."

"What do you mean?"

"He's not going to tear down the Fold. He's going to expand it, use it as a weapon. And if he finds me..."

She looks around at her friends. Her family.

"He's going to take me." She said quietly.

Kaz sat up, looking around. "I won't let that happen."

"And if it comes down to life or death?" Malakai raised her eyebrows.

"Then death himself will have to beg me for mercy."

Malakai clutched her chest as she felt her heart tighten. Everything around her muffled, the Crows' voices sounded miles away. She shakily turned her head to the door of the tavern.

"Malakai?" Kaz reached across the table to the girl who remained transfixed on something in the distance, lightly tapping the ring on her finger.

Malakai swallowed the lump forming in her throat, looking through the front window into the night. "He's here."

Then an explosion sounded, everyone in the tavern scrambling out of their seats. Jesper's voice wavered. "Our alarm."

The Crows quickly stood from their seats, adjusting themselves. Jesper flipped his pistols in his hands carelessly. Malakai trembled as she pulled her makeshift hood back over her head, checking her knife was still in its sheath.

"Split up, much easier to a Grisha one-on-one than a whole squad of them. Rendezvous at the fountain." Kaz ordered the crew. "No mourners."

"No funerals."

They all hastily headed to the door. But Kaz's hand stopped Malakai. He carefully draped his black coat over her shoulders, helping her slip her arms in. "Stay in the shadows, Kai."

As soon as they stepped out of the tavern, they were met by the seething faces of the grisha donned in their coloured keftas. They all turned, splitting off into different directions. Malakai pulled herself onto the roof, silently moving from building to building. Her breath became laboured as she kept running. But a familiar voice halted her in her spot, she skidded to a stop at the edge of a building. Crouching against the roof, she peered down into the cobbled alley. Supressing a gasp as she saw Kirigan staring Kaz down.