REAPER ─ kaz brekker

sixteen; brick by brick

Onyx pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. For years, she'd felt caught in between two pieces, two versions, two facets of her being-- the part of her that wanted to fall into the power she'd harnessed when summoning lightning, and the stronger part that had honed an amoral, deadly killing artistry. And even now, she felt caught between those two pieces of her person; torn between the safety she'd killed four in order to keep her secret, and the brazen, arrogant persona she'd grown into that would ensure no one would attempt to take her down because she was a Squaller. 

"I'd like to know how we're making Van Eck suffer as well," Onyx amended with herself. She crossed her arms loosely. "I have a few ideas stored up as a result of lonesome captivity. But getting the Grisha out of Ketterdam would also be a nice, added bonus." 

"There are bigger issues here," Matthias said. 

"Not for me," Jesper responded. "I have two days to get right with my father."

Onyx raised an eyebrow. That was new information. "Your father?" 

"Yup. Family reunion in Ketterdam. Everyone's invited." 

Inej twisted a loose strand of Onyx's hair between her fingers. "It's a loan." 

"Oh, interesting." Her head tilted to the side ever or slightly. "So there's more debt than just gambling debts, I'll take it." 

Jesper rested his hands over his revolvers, much in the same way Onyx habitually felt for the taut string of her bow across her chest. "Yeah. So I'd really like to know just how we intend to settle this score." 

Kaz adjusted his grip on his cane. "Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?" 

"Wait, wait, wait." Onyx's boots slid off the table with a loud thud, echoing around the tomb. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her blood ran with a terrifying cold chill. "I don't believe I just heard you correctly. You went to Pekka Rollins for a loan? Are you actually as dense as I think you are right now?" 

"I would never go into debt with Rollins," Kaz retorted. "I sold him my shares in Fifth Harbor and the Crow Club." 

Anger, a deep, disbelieving anger, ran through her. She stood abruptly from her chair. "You stupid son of--"

"Calm down." 

No longer were his eyes the light shade of brown she'd admired and praised only hours before, sitting perched atop bolts of cloth, wondering why the hell she'd become enraptured with someone like him. They were dark, and dangerous. The kind of dangerous Onyx knew well. The kind of dark that matched the bitter coffee she'd offered him aboard the Ferolind. His fiery irritation met her cold, icy anger halfway across the tomb. It reminded her of the way their eyes had met in the Crow Club, when Matthias had just been broken out of Hellgate. She slowly sat. 

He leaned into his cane. "Where do you think the money went?" Kaz repeated.

"Guns?" Jesper suggested. 

"Ships?" asked Inej. 

"Bombs?" Wylan inquired. 

"A hit on Van Eck?" Onyx murmured hopefully. 

"Political bribes?" Nina offered. They all looked to Matthias. "This is where you tell us how awful we are," she whispered. 

He shrugged. "They all seem like practical choices."

"Sugar," Kaz spoke. Jesper leaned forward and nudged the sugar bowl at the center of the table towards him. He rolled his eyes. "Not for my coffee, you podge. I used the money to buy up sugar shares and placed them in private accounts for all of us-- under aliases, of course."