Drowning (Kaz Brekker)

v - "Friendships"

"Do you want to beat Van Eck?" Kaz asked them all, now stood. Asra frowned as she realised she was sat in his chair. Then her eyes widened.

Kaz had caught her.

Nina sighed, exasperated. "Of course."

Kaz eyed each of them. "Do you? Do you want your money? The money we fought, and bled, and nearly drowned for? Or do you want Van Eck to be glad he picked a bunch of nobodies in the Barrel to scam? Because no one else is going to get him for us. No one is going to care that he cheated us or that we risked our lives for nothing. No one else is going to make this right. So I'm asking, do you want to beat Van Eck?"

"Yes." Inej said.

"Soundly." Nina nodded.

"Around the ears with Wylan's flute." Jesper chirped.

"I wanna cave his head in with your cane." Asra said flatly into her coffee.

The rest simply nodded.

"The stakes have changed." Kaz went on. "Based on Van Eck's little demonstration today wanted posters with our faces on them are probably already going up all over Ketterdam, and I suspect he'll be offering a handsome reward. He's trading on his credibility, and the sooner we destroy it the better. We're going to take his money, his reputation, and his freedom all in one night. But that means we don't stop. Angry as he is, tonight Van Eck is going to eat a fine dinner and fall off into a fitful sleep in his soft merch bed. Those stadwatch grunts will rest their weary heads until they get to the next shift, wondering if maybe they'll earn a little overtime. But we don't stop. We rest when we're rich. Agreed?"

Another round of nods.

"Nina, there are guards who walk the perimeter of the silos. You'll be the distraction, a distressed Ravkan new to the city, looking for work in the wearhouse district. You need to keep them occupied long enough for the rest of us to get inside and for Inej to scale the first silo. Then -"

"One condition." Nina folded her arms.

"This isn't a negotiation."

"Everything's a negotiation with you, Brekker. You probably bartered your way out of the womb." Nina rolled her eyes. "If I'm going to do this, I want us to get the rest of the Grisha out of the city."

"Forget it." Kaz said. "I'm not running a charity for refugees."

"Then I'm out."

"Fine, you're out. You'll still get your share of the money for your work on the Ice Court job, but I don't need you on this crew."

"No." Inej said quietly. "But you need me."

Kaz rested his cane across his legs. "It seems everyone is forming aliances."

"They're called friendships, Kaz." Inej said.

He turned to Nina. "I don't like being held hostage."

"And I don't like shoes that pinch my shoes, but we must all suffer. Think of it as a challenge for your monstrous brain."

Kaz thought for a minute. "How many people are we talking about?"

"There are less than thirty Grisha in the city that I know of, other than the Council of Tides." Nina said.

"And how would you like to corral them? Hand out pamphlets directing them to a giant raft?"

"There's a tavern near the Ravkan embassy. We use it to leave messages and exchange information. I can get the word out from there, then we just need a ship. Van Eck can't watch all the harbors."