(THE GIF I USED ISN'T MINE, CREDIT TO THE MAKER!)
~~~
It had been half an hour since they had arrived at Black Veil.
Jesper and Wylan had checked the cemetery. Sabo was nowhere to be found.
With no results, they walked back toward their meeting point.
'We can't find her.' Jesper announced as they entered the room.
Nina was bandaging Inej's wounds in the other room, Jesper looked toward her before quickly looking away. He did not like to see her getting stitched up.
'Was she supposed to be back by now?' Inej asked feeling a pang of fear.
'Yes, she was.' Kaz said, using a controlled tone as his muscles tensed. 'Turns out that there was another bounty on her head.' he turned toward her. 'Care to explain?'
Inej swallowed, the guilt was lying heavily on her stomach. 'She asked me not to tell any of you.'
'Tell us what?' Wylan asked, not understanding.
'When we arrived. We were arrested for the murder of Tante Heleen. I managed to get away in time and found out that there was a bounty on all of our heads, but there was another one on Sabo's.'
'Why didn't she want us to know?' Jesper asked.
'She thought that it was nothing, some friends of Billy who wanted to teach her a lesson.'
'Well, was she telling the truth?' Jesper asked.
Kaz felt a sudden jolt. What did Jesper know?
'I think so.' Inej replied. Nina narrowed her eyes at her, knowing she was lying.
'Kaz I-' Inej tried but he interrupted her.
'Who was looking for her?'
'Five Fjerdans, drüskelle.' Inej replied. 'That's all the girls knew.'
Nina didn't need to be a Heartrender to see the vein throbbing in Kaz's neck.
'What do we do now?' Jesper asked him.
While Jesper and Wylan had been outside, Kaz had been looking through Pekka's papers.
'We continue.' Kaz said as he handed Jesper one of the papers.
Jesper took in from him, throwing him an angry look before glimpsing at the paper.
'Appelbroek?'
'Pekka has a glass factory there, but there are no sandpits in Appelbroek. Cartage fees would kill all of his profits. Find out what he's really up to.'
Jesper clenched his fists, the paper crumbling.
'You know Inej took some serious damage, the novice nearly lost his head, the Heartrender took a bullet, and Sabo is being hunted by drüskelle. Drüskelle, Kaz.' Jesper said while gesturing wildly.
Sabo had known that Jesper was Grisha and from the look on Jesper's face, it was clear that he knew something.
'-but no worries. As long as you're on top of Pekka's corporate holdings.'
'You don't take down a lion by cutting off his tail.' Kaz said after he drew in a steadying breath.
'I'm sorry, you've been on safari when? We're putting our lives on the line.'
'I thought you preferred it that way.' Kaz said calmly before looking back at Pekka's papers.
Nina didn't know who he was trying to fool, but it was certainly not working on her.
Jesper looked away from Kaz, trying to control his anger. He looked toward Inej.
'Are you going to be okay?' he asked her. Inej nodded toward him.
'I wouldn't call myself the most proficient Healer but you won't be a permanent resident here.' Nina smiled.
'Not yet anyway.' Jesper replied.
'Technically, no one gets buried here anymore. When the firepox plague hit years ago so many people died that the crematoriums all got backed up, so they had to float all the dead bodies in the harbor.'
His team had been ambushed, Jesper was questioning his motives, Inej had gotten hurt, Wylan nearly lost his head, Nina had been shot, Sabo was nowhere near them, and Jordie was back to hunt him.
'That's enough!' Kaz shouted as he turned back to Wylan, a brutal look on his face. 'If you want to help, instead of spurting useless historical facts, go with Jesper.'
'We'll look for Sabo first.' Wylan replied, his voice steady. Jesper smirked, clearly impressed.
'You two go to Appelbroek, we'll go back and find her.'
Jesper considered his words before nodding. 'You better find her, Kaz.' Jesper cautioned before he and Wylan walked out.
----
Inej had already left as Kaz was about to take off but Nina stopped him.
'Not that you asked, but you should consider grounding your Wraith for now. I always wanted to be a Healer, but that doesn't mean I'm any good.' Kaz ignored her as he put on his coat.
'If I need you again, I'll let you know.' he said.
Nina folded her arms across her chest, clearly waiting for something.
'All the guards who work the fights at Hellgate are loyal to Pekka and on his payroll, all but one.'
'"The fights"?'
'Hellshow. It's exactly as you'd imagine. Find a guard names Hiemstra. He has a port-wine stain across his brow. He'll get a message to your Fjerdan.'
'Can we trust him?' Nina asked him.
'Can we trust him?' Sabo had asked Kaz right before she left.
'Paul is innocuous.' he had replied.
Kaz looked back to Pekka his papers. 'We can trust he doesn't want Pekka to know what I have on him.' Kaz replied.
Nina walked away from him.
'What you did tonight made you a Crow. Keep a low profile. You'll be in Pekka's sights now.'
-------
Their voices were faint, but she could recognize their language.
'What's the plan?' one of the younger-sounding men asked.
'Another lesson, young one.' an older voice replied. 'Never discuss the plan with the drüsje present.'
'Cut him some slack, she's not even awake yet.' another person replied in Fjerdan.
'Yes, she is.' the older man laughed.
Her head whipped back as a man punched her on her cheekbone. Her eyes started to water.
'You do know how to wake a girl up, don't you?' she coughed. Still speaking Kerch.
She opened her eyes, slowly looking at each of the men in the room. There were four of them, all separated by age.
Her hands were chained to the ceiling, she could barely stand on her feet.
She recognized the building they were in. She was still in Ketterdam, that must've been a good sign.
Sabo gave a small tug on the chains, the chains they had used on her were not for Grisha.
Weird, she thought.
'Don't play with us, drüsje.' the older man said, his grey mustache hanging over his lips. 'We know you can understand us, we know who you are.'
'I don't speak Fjerdan.' she replied lightly before looking at the younger drüskelle. The other two Fjerdans were standing next to the door.
Were they expecting someone? She wondered.
'We're here to make a deal with you.' the younger one said.
Would'nt be the first time they tried that technique on her.
'I don't understand Fjerdan.' she said again.
The men were drüskelle, but something was off. Something was telling her that they weren't acting on behave of the Fjerdan state.
'We could do this the easy way or the hard way.' the man said.
'I don't understand Fjerdan.' she said again.
'The hard way it is.' the man replied. 'Sjafik.' he called, one of the men that had been standing by the door walked over.
Sabo raised her eyebrow as she saw him take something out of his pocket.
She already knew what was coming.
'Eja böte wejsa ülph' the man said. Every boat washes up.
It was a Fjerdan saying.
If a boat had sunk, the boat did not completely disappear off the face of the earth. Djel would find a way to bring the truth to those who sought it.
The second she saw the blue powder, Verdom, fall into his hand, she knew what he meant. Every secret comes out eventually.
Sabo knew it could be over if she didn't play her cards right.
Verdom was the one thing she couldn't handle on her skin. She could burn down buildings while standing in them, but the small amount of powder on her skin could bring her to her knees, it burned her.
The second Kaz had given her Redder she wondered what was in it.
Verdom was a powder that could turn orange flames into blue ones. Redder was the opposite, a powder that turned blue flames into orange ones. Redder hurt her, but the pain was manageable.
'You still don't speak Fjerdan?' the man asked. A disgusting smirk on his face.
----
It hadn't been long before Kaz Brekker had found Paul. Inej had been tracking him, observing where he was going when he finally sat down at the cafe that was across the Goedemeidbridge.
The cafe became loud as people greeted him, happy to see him back.
'Did you find anything?' he asked Inej, knowing she was there.
'Just this.' Inej answered while stepping out of the shadows, her voice soft. She handed Kaz the knife he had given Sabo.
'In the Barrel and the work that you engage in, there comes a time when you need it.' he had told her.
Sabo had been running around Ketterdam for over a year without any weapons. Kaz had been relieved when she took the knife from him. But she hadn't needed it, not even while fighting the darkling.
'The knife was thrown at the only light source of the street.' Inej said as she watched Kaz turning the knife over in his hand. 'She probably wanted to buy some time, maybe she's hiding somewhere.'
She wasn't, Kaz knew. Or she would've sent him a message. She couldn't use her abilities which could only mean one thing; they captured her.
'Send him a message.' Kaz told Inej, his voice deepened.
Kaz didn't want Inej around him, not while searching for Sabo. He didn't want her cover blown. Kaz needed to find her location before anyone else could.
Inej looked toward Paul.'What message?'
Kaz held up a small piece of paper while shifting toward the cafe.
Inej took it from him.
'Paul has been celebrating since the second he walked into that club.' he said while glaring at the cafe. The cafe was small, Paul was chatting with a friend. Kaz could see them through the front window. 'Maybe it's time to give him a visit.'
Inej went toward the cafe.
It didn't take long before Paul walked out of the café again. He looked around him before putting his collar up.
'Go back to Black Veil and get some rest.' Kaz said to Inej.
Inej frowned at him. 'Not while Sabo's still gone.'
'We won't know if she has gotten back now do we?' he said, still not looking at her. 'She may already be waiting for us, not knowing that anyone else got ambushed.'
It turned silent before Inej spoke again.
'Alright, but if she's not there, I'll come back.'
'Save your strength, Wraith.' he said while his eyes were still on Paul as he walked toward the harbor. 'We may be needing it later.'
Inej disappeared back into the shadows as Kaz followed Paul.
The sun was rising, he needed to be careful.
----
'What do you want?' Sabo asked the drüskelle.
The man stepped toward her, small pecks of Verdom falling onto her white blouse.
'I want the letters.' the man replied.
The letters.
When her father had a one-night stand with the Queen of Ravka, a child was the result. After the queen had given birth, she sent her father a letter. A letter that proved that Nikolai Lantsov was his child.
The drüskelle had been searching for it, but only a limited amount of them knew of the letters. They wanted to make sure that Ravka would lose the war and wanted the letters as proof.
Sabo could've just given them a photograph of her brother, their resemblance was uncanny.
Sabo had burned the letters long ago. She could make the letters appear again if she wasn't chained. A precaution, so she would never do anything for the drüskelle again while she was in chains.
'Who are we waiting for?' she asked the older man in Kerch, his face fell.
The Verdom that was smeared on his hand was still dangerously close to her neck. 'We're not waiting for anyone.' he lied, suddenly speaking Kerch.
'Yes, we are.' she replied. 'You just spoke Kerch and your henchmen are waiting next to the doors as the younger one is fidgeting nervously.' She smirked at him. 'Your boss's boss doesn't know you're in Ketterdam, do they?'
'Someone is looking for you.' the older drüskelle replied.
'Who?' she asked. 'And how much are you drüskelle getting for it?'
'Give us the letters and we'll make sure you're still around to see it.'
General Kirigan would've never hired Fjerdans let alone drüskelle to hunt her down. His hate for the Grisha hunters was almost as big as hers.
The man the drüskelle was talking about was probably the same man that General Bergkvist had been speaking about before his death.
'Why did you come here?'
'To show you that if I can find you, he can too.'
'We don't have time for this.' one of the men said before walking toward her. He grabbed her by her chin, making her look up at him.
She took in a small breath as he took some of the powder and put it into the palm of her right hand, slowly tracing over her wrist and down the inside of her arm.
She forced herself to keep looking at him. His other hand was still holding her chin, trying to see her break.
Because of the smoke that was rising from her arms, it had no use keeping her performance up. The pain was setting in as her facade fell.
'There she is.' the man sneered. 'Arabella Opjer.'
She prepared herself for what she was about to do.
This was going to hurt like a bitch.
She threw her head forward, hitting his. The drüskelle screamed as he fell onto the ground.
The pain of the Verdom was slowly spreading through her body, but she could still use her abilities.
She burned off her chains, the iron liquid dripping onto her skin.
'Missed me?' she replied to the drüskelle in Fjerdan.
Something was off, why would they know who she was but still use the standard chains?
She made a ring of blue fire appear around their necks, just a few inches away from their skin.
'Move and you'll burn yourselves.' she threatened. Sabo felt a rush of adrenaline as she saw the men still.
'Who is coming?' she asked them. The men didn't answer. She tightened the fire around the younger drüskelle his neck, he looked at her sharply.
'Speak.' she ordered. She drew in a slow breath, trying to calm the panic she was feeling as the Verdom was taking its effect.
'We don't know who he is.' the older man said. The other drüskelle looked at him disapprovingly.
The older man was the weak link, she thought. She had expected it to be the younger one.
'Don't speak to that demjin.' the one with the bloody nose hissed. She tightened the fire around his neck. He grunted.
'He may be saving your lives.' she said nodding to the older man. 'If the information is to my liking.'
'He- he's been looking for you for a long time.' the man cried.
The men may have been the weakest drüskelle she had ever met. Were these four men really the strongest he could've hired?
'How did he find me?'
'The death of General Bergkvist lured him to Ketterdam. We don't know who he is. He has sent multiple crews into the city, trying to look for any signs of you. We're just the ones who found you first.'
'Quite disappointing, really.' she voiced, flicking the melted iron off of her already ruined blouse. 'That you four were the first in a long time to do so.'
'He supplied us with materials.' the man said again.
Someone sent multiple crews to capture her without the right materials to catch her.
She needed to get out of there without leaving any witnesses.
The younger drüskelle stood behind the drüskelle that she had headbutted towards the floor, he was still clutching his nose.
He was holding his gun, and even as Sabo was heating it, he was still clutching onto it like the gun was his lifeline. She could smell his burning flesh.
'Lower your weapon.' she commanded in Fjerdan as her eyes burned bright blue.
'Not to monsters like you.' he responded.
'Don't hurt him.' the older man said. 'He's just a boy.'
'And I was just a girl when your people captured me.' she replied.
'You burned down a village, girl.' the man breathed.
She laughed at that, it was an unhinged smile.
'Don't tell us you're innocent. We all know the boy to who you confessed your sins.'
To save him, she thought. But she might've given him a worse faith.
'You know nothing.' she replied.
'We're here to visit him, you know?'
Matthias was in Ketterdam?
'The second we tell him about-'
Her eyes lit up again. She raised her hands toward the older man to warn him. Her ears rang as a shot was fired.
She was hit just above her collarbone, she looked at her blouse before looking toward the younger drüskelle. The fire around their necks was gone as they grabbed their weapons again.
She could feel her blood soaking her through her blouse.
One of them grabbed the box she had gotten from Paul and opened one of the bottles. The drüskelle ignited it and threw it toward her. She ducked behind an old barrel as the lit bottle landed near her.
A large explosion erupted beside her as she tried to catch her breath. The explosion had been so powerful that half of the building had blown up. She didn't want to know who could've heard it.
She dug out the bullet before she placed her hand on the wound and burned it shut.
Multiple bottles were thrown toward her as gunshots followed. Sabo pushed down the panic she felt before getting up again. She shielded herself with her fire blocking the bullets that were shot at her. She burned the younger drüskelle's gun so there was no chance he could fire at her again.
She glanced at the fire next to her, she summoned the flames and threw them to the drüskelle.
There was no time for screams, not as the now blue flames burned them in a flash. So much for leaving no witnesses, she thought.
As the flames around her continued, she walked toward the box. A few bottles remained untouched. She grabbed the small container and walked out of the small part of the building that still remained.
Black Veil it is.