The Water's Rising.

Chapter 4-Inej

She saw Kaz go pale immediately. Was Lara touching him, skin to skin? She couldn't see. She saw him try to pull his wrist free. Heard Lara ask if he was alright. Her vision seemed to narrow so it was only her and the panicking boy in front of her. She called his name around a lump in her throat. Said it again. It had never been this bad before. But she supposed his past was a little closer to the surface now. She saw Kaz draw a fist back to punch Lara, and was about to shout to him to stop, that it was alright, when he dropped. 

Her blood ran cold.

Inej sprinted to his side, only glancing at Lara to snap, "Did you touch him, skin to skin?"

"Yes...I...I'm so sorry...I...is he dead?" Her bottom lip wobbled.

The Suli girl softened. "No, he'll be OK."

But even as she said it, she questioned it. 

Because the boy had started to toss and turn, to mutter under his breath.

"We'll get someone to look at your fingers once Kaz is awake." Inej said to Lara, still staring at Kaz anxiously.

"My fingers? But they're not broken..." She trailed off, the blood draining from her face. Her once slender fingers were swollen and bent at horrific angles. It seemed the adrenaline was now wearing off and the pain was beginning to register.

"Lara, look at me. My friends can get you a healer, you'll be fine, I promise. Just keep talking to me."

Inej silently apologised to Kaz as she gently took his shoulders and dragged him as quickly as she could out of the gap between Lara's feet and the desk and into another office next door. She found a box of old blankets the owner had left behind and draped one over the boy as Lara said, trying her best to sound bright and upbeat to distract herself from the pain, "It's odd that Mr Brekker and my cousin have the same name. They look about the same age, too..." Her eyes widened as she made the connection. "But...the surnames...why?"

"I'd rather he told you himself." said Inej, settling herself down beside him. Kaz started to mutter louder, and for his privacy, she pulled the blinds down over the windows that separated the two offices, and then she saw Lara, pale with pain and fear. She really wasn't that old. A lost girl, like Inej herself. But she couldn't leave Kaz.

"Lara, look." She said as she unlocked the girl's chains. "There's an honest stadwatch a few streets over. Turn right when you get out of the warehouse, then right again as soon as you can. Then take a left. He should just be getting to the opposite end of the street. Say you're lost, injured, and ask him to arrange to transport to get you to the Van Eck Mansion on Geldstraat. Try and convince him to take you himself. This should help." Inej handed Lara a hefty coin purse. She was going to use it to buy Jes and Wy waffles, but this was more important. "When you get there, ask for Wylan Van Eck and Jesper Fahey. Say Inej Ghafa sent you. Tell the boys what happened and they'll get you a healer and give you a comfy room for the night. I'll be there in the morning."

The young girl nodded, took the coin purse and fled, leaving The Wraith to return to Dirtyhands' side. He was struggling against some unseen foe, and then he began to shout. "JORDIE! JORDIE STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" His voice got quieter, became pleading, strained. "I'm sorry. I wish you were with me! You shouldn't be dead!"

He gasped, then grasped at his throat. Inej couldn't watch anymore. She had to do something. "Kaz, Kaz." She called. She slapped him hard across the face.

He was still gasping, and then he began to scream. "JORDIE! PLEASE!"

Desperation giving her strength, Inej slapped Kaz again, so hard his head snapped round, and the red marks of her fingers were left on his deathly pale cheek. It only seemed to make it worse. Inej sensed that she needed to try a different tactic. "Kaz," she said gently. "Kaz, listen to me. This isn't real."

"Jordie, stop, please." He begged. "Stop trying to trick me."

"No, it's not Jordie. It's Inej. Yes, Inej. Jordie doesn't know who I am. It can't be him. This is all in your head. I know you feel like you're stuck in a nightmare, like you're drowning in it, but that's all it is. A stupid, stupid nightmare." She began to dissolve into tears. "I hate seeing you like this. For all my saints, Kaz Brekker, I love you, you idiot, and I need you to wake up! Come on!"

He didn't open his eyes. "KAZ!" She screamed. "KAZ!"

And then his eyes snapped open and he sat up. He gasped, shoving her roughly away. Beads of sweat had formed on his forehead and he was panting. "Inej."

"Kaz, thank the saints! It was horrible seeing you like that!"

He was shaking. The slight girl sensed he was still recovering. "I'll leave if you want me to. I'll sit on the other side of the room... I promise I won't touch you..."

"Inej." The rasp of his voice forced her into silence. "Stay, please."

"Of...of course."

After a while, his breathing began to calm, and he seemed more in control.

"If you want to talk...about anything..." Inej began.

"I don't." He said shortly.

"No, of course you don't." She muttered.

"Where's Lara?"

"Hopefully on her way to Jesper and Wylan by now."

Kaz glared at her.

"She's just a child, Kaz." Inej said again.

Kaz was silent for a long time, but then he asked, "Where's my cane?"