PETTY. He'd called her petty. Asra had been called a lot of things in her life, most of them bad, but petty was new.
He should've brought her. No matter the job, Asra would've been useful. It was just what she was. Useful, convenient, made to serve and happy to do it. But no. "You're too trigger happy." He'd said.
"And Jesper isn't?"
"Jesper isn't like you. He'll have other things to worry about."
"I'm sure that will make sense when you tell me the plan."
"You'll see." He'd simply said. Then he noticed her frown. "Don't be petty, Asra dear. It takes years off you, and we're too young for that." Then he was gone. Asra had been so stunned she'd just stared as he walked off. Petty. She wasn't petty. She was a killer, dangerous, wild, utterly terrifying and brilliant in everything she did. She wasn't petty.
Now here they were. Kaz, Jesper, and Big Bolliger were getting ready for parley while the rest of them shuffled about trying to keep warm in the cold night. But Asra didn't mind the cold. She just folded her arms and watched from the outskirts of their small group, listening. Old habits, she told herself. You'll grow out of it. Or maybe they were all just insufferable idiots she didn't like talking to. Who knows?
Jesper was going on about the latest stunt from Shu Han. Three ships, filled with gold, enough to pay off the whole country's debt and then some. Asra wished she wasn't interested, but her mind was already whirling with ideas as to explanations and, this was worst of all, business implications. She reminded herself that wasn't her problem anymore, but the tattoo on her left wrist argued. Her scars stung, and the hairs on her neck stood straight. Though, the latter could be put down to Inej, who solidified out of shadow and stood beside Asra without a word.
"Don't the Merchant Council want the Shu paying their debts?" Bolliger asked.
Asra shrugged. "Debts are leverage."
Kaz nodded. "They makes for friendlier negotiations."
"Maybe the Shu are done being friendly." Jesper said. "They didn't have to send all that treasure at once. You think they stuck that trade ambassador?"
That trade ambassador had been the pillar of Zemeni-Kerch trade. The man had been assassinated in the Stadhall bathroom, a knife found in his back as he lay face down on the floor. There were no windows, no entrance beside the one Stadwatch had to break down afterwards, no vents, no nothing. It was a mystery, an impossible feat.
Kaz was obsessed with it. He'd brought Asra and Inej into his room and simply demanded they explained it. The three came up with dozens of theories and stories and reasons, but none satisfied any of them. Asra kept her most likely theory to herself. A serpant, perhaps. A Tidemaker one. But that didn't explain the blade. Even Asra was stumped, and she was certain she had the answer. Until two nights ago, of course. She hadn't told Kaz about that either, only the bare minimum. Damned merchant had nearly ruined everything. She should've killed him.
She was snapped from her thoughts by the sound of guns being drawn and chains rattling. She tensed instinctively, then cursed herself for it. Jesper and Big Bolliger were removing themselves of weapons. Bolliger dropped his chain, hatchet and switchblade into Rotty's hands. Jesper made a very big display of handing Dirix his custom pistols.
"Take good care of my babies. If I see a single scratch or nick on those I'll spell forgive me on your chest in bullet holes." He said.
"You wouldn't waste the ammo." Dirix said.
"He would." Asra told him.
"He'd be dead half way through forgive." Bolliger told Jesper.
He rolled his eyes. "It's about sending a message. What's the point of a dead guy with forg written on his chest? You get it, Asra?"
"Of course." She said. "Though it is a bit of a waste."
"Yes," Kaz said. "Compromise. I'm sorry does the trick and uses fewer bullets."
Dirix laughed, but Asra heard the subtle fear. She saw he handled the guns very carefully.
"What about that?" Jesper guestured to Kaz's cane.
"Who'd deny a poor cripple his cane?"
Asra laughed.
"If the cripple is you, then any man with sense." Jesper said, laughing with her.
"Then it's a good thing we're meeting Geels." Kaz checked his watch. "It's almost midnight."
Geels was the leader of a rival gang, the Black Tips. They'd been trespassing on Fifth Harbour, Dregs' territory. Per Haskell ordered they deal with it via parley, a method older than the man himself. They'd meet on neutral ground, flanked by two unarmed gaurds, and no one would shed blood.
Everyone knew it was bullshit.
Everyone except Per Haskell. Asra couldn't wait to watch that old man's old ways get him killed. Part of her hoped she'd be the one to kill him. Part of her hoped it would be Kaz.
The Exchange was their chosen meeting place. It was the so-called heart of Ketterdam. A simple courtyard surrounded by warehouses and shipping offices and small shops, all shuttered and dark this time of night. But by day, that place came alive with shouts of trade and offers and prices.
The Dregs were stood at the Eastern entrance. The Black Tips would probably be huddled in the Western. The space was called neutral territory, but it had all the makings off a trap. Two Stadwatch patroled the roofs one specially made walkways, easily bribed to ignore the two gangs, easier bribed to shoot one dead.
"This is a trap." Inej said, startling a good few Dregs. Asra willed herself not to laugh. "Geels is up to something."
"Of course he is." Kaz said.
"Then why come here tonight?"
"Because this is the way Per Haskell wants it."
"Per Haskell's an old idiot. He's gonna get us all killed one day with his traditions." Asra said, glaring at nothing in particular.
Jesper stretched his arms above his head, grinning. "Statistically, he'll probably only get some of us killed."
"That's not something to joke about." Inej said.
"Jesper isn't making a joke, Inej. He's figuring the odds." Kaz said.
Big Bolliger cracked his knuckles. "Well I've got lager and a skillet of eggs waiting for me at the Kooperom, so I can't be the one to die tonight."
"We'll be sure to tell Geels that when he pulls out a gun." Asra said flatly.
"Care to place a wager?" Jesper asked.
"I'm not going to bet on my own death." Bolliger said.
Kaz put his hat on, running his fingers over the brim. "Why not, Bolliger? We do it every day."
"I will." Asra said. "Ten kruge Kaz redefines the parley policy on cripples and canes."
"I will gladly take that." Jesper said, grinning.
The Church of Barter's bells chimed midnight. Kaz struck his cane against the cobblestone street.
"Geels isn't smart, but he's just bright enough to be trouble. No matter what you hear, you don't join the fray unless I give the command. Stay sharp," he glanced towards Inej. "And stay hidden."
Jesper tossed his rifle to Rotty. "No mourners."
"No funerals." Asra answered with the rest of them.
Inej went to leave. Kaz followed, tapping her arm with his cane. Asra didn't hear what he muttered to her, but she could guess. He turned to her, that look on his face when he was trying to figure something out. Asra just gave him a wink and slipped out of sight, listening to Kaz's cane get further and further away.
When she felt his gaze leave her, Asra broke into a run. Now, she was no Wraith. She couldn't scale oil slicked walls or melt into shadow at noon, silence her every move on habit or call on Saints for help. But what Asra could do was piss everyone off. She was very good at that, and she actually rather enjoyed it.
Kaz wanted her to sit this one out? Fine. She'd sit it out atop one of the warehouses of the Exchange, maybe with a knife to a Stadwatch's throat or gun aimed at Geels' head.
The walls were slicked with oil, but Asra happened to know what a door was. A qucik jimy (and kick) of the lock and it swung open. Asra headed inside, quickly making her way up and up. When she reached the top floor of the warehouse, she clambered into the rafters and out through a small window that's lock snapped against her knife. Then she was on the roof, watching.
Kaz and Geels stood with about a foot between them. Geels was flanked by Elzinger, seven feet of pure muscle, and Oomen, a misshapen man who apparently could crush a man's skull with his bare hands. A small knife lay on the floor; pat downs were over and the business talk had begun. Asra shuffled closer to the edge, knees hugged to her chest, straining her ears to hear.
"Let's be fair, ja?" Geels said. "All we want is a bit more scrub. It's not fair for you to cull every spend-happy tourist stepping off a pleasure boat in Fifth Harbour."
"Fifth Harbour is ours, Geels. The Dregs get first crack at the pigeons who come looking for a little fun." Kaz said.
Geels shook his head. "You're a young one, Brekker. Maybe you don't understand how these things work. The harbours belong to the city and we have as much right to them as anyone. We've all got a living to make."
"Fifth Harbour is ours. It isn't up for negotiation." Kaz said. "You're cutting into our traffic from the docks and you interrupted a shipment of jurda that should have docked two nights ago."
"Don't know what you're talking about." Geels shrugged.
"I know it comes easy Geels, but try not to play dumb with me."
Geels stepped forward. Jesper and Bolliger tensed. Geels stopped.
"Quit flexing, boy. We all know the old man doesn't have the stomach for a real brawl." He said.
Kaz laughed dryly. "But I'm the one at your table, Geels, and I'm not here for a taste. You want war, I'll make sure you eat your fill."
"And what if you're not around, Brekker?" Geels said. "Everyone knows you're the spine of Haskell's operation. Snap it and the Dregs collapse."
Jesper snorted. "Stomach, spine, what's next, spleen?"
"Shut it." Oomen snarled. Jesper dramatically pantomimed zipping his lips shut in response, tossing the key away at the end.
"I'm fairly sure you're threatening me, Geels, but I want to be sure before I decide what to do about it." Kaz said.
"Sure if yourself, aren't you Brekker?"
"Myself and nothing else."
Geels laughed. "Listen to this cocky little piece of crap. Brekker you don't own these streets. Kids like you are fleas, a new crop of you turns up every few years to annoy your betters until a big dog decides to scratch. And let me tell you, I'm getting tried to the itch."
Here it is. Asra squinted down at them, watching for anything, anything that gave it away. Neither gaurd moved. Geels had that ease of a man about to have others do his dirty work for him. No one was lingering around the edges of the Exchange, no ambush. So that just left-
She heard the sound of a gun being shouldered. It was close, beside her. Stadwatch. He'd bribed the Stadwatch. Of course.
Asra stood, keeping low, one hand resting on the roof. She peered about the dark roofs. The smallest ripple of darkness must've been Inej, a reverse trick of the light. She was the other side of the Exchange, and this gun was here.
"What if I told you there are two guards with city-issued rifles pointed at you and your boys right now?" Geel said.
Asra moved quietly, quickly making her way onto the next roof over, where a Stadwatch was stood on the walkway. His rifle was shouldered, aimed. She came up behind him silently and hoped onto the railings off the walkway, perching beside him. He jumped, and Asra pressed a finger to her lips. She made sure he caught sight of her Dregs tattoo.
Kaz glanced at the roof, towards Asra and the Stadwatch. Did he know? Probably, she thought dryly.
"Hiring city guards to do you killing? I'd say that's an expensive proposition for a gang like the Black Tips. I'm not sure your coffers could support it."
Asra leaned closer to the Stadwatch, who jumped again.
"By all means, carry on. I'm not meant to interfere tonight. I'm just curious what boss has planned." Asra muttered to him.
The Stadwatch hesitantly took aim again, keeping one eye on her. Asra peered over his shoulder, following his aim to Big Bolliger. He looked... not as nervous as she'd expected. Interesting.
"Took some doing." Geels said. "We're a small operation right now and the city guards don't come cheap. But it'll be worth it for the prize."
"That being me?" Kaz said.
"That being you."
"I'm flattered."
"The Dregs won't last a week without you." Geels sneered.
"I'd give them a month on sheer momentum."
Geels laughed. "Smug little slum rat. I can't wait to wipe that look of your face."
"So do it."
Asra's lips twisted into a smile. She knew that tone.
"Should I have them put a bullet in your good leg, Brekker?" He went on.
"Stop talking, Geels. Tell them to shoot."
"Kaz-" Jesper began nervously.
Kaz ignored him."Go on. Find your balls and give the order."
Geels took a breath, drew himself up. "Fire!" He shouted.
The Stadwatch beside Asra shot. A nervous sweat beaded his brow and made him shake, but his bullet still found its way to Big Bolliger's stomach.
He collapsed with a cry. Jesper dropped beside him and pressed a hand to the bleeding wound. "Damn it!" He turned to Geels. "You useless podge! You just violated neutral territory."
"Nothing to say you didn't shoot first." Geels shrugged. "And who's going to know? None of you are walking out of here."
He was trying, but Asra could hear the subtle fear in his voice. It was too high, his bluster and bravado had vanished. Asra's smile grew, while Kaz remained unfazed as ever.
"You don't look well, Geels." He said.
"I'm just fine." Geels lied. He was shaky, pale, eyes darting about every which way.
"Are you? Things aren't going quite as planned, are they?" Kaz said.
"Kaz," Jesper said. "Bolliger's bleeding bad-"
"Good."
"Kaz he needs a medik!"
Kaz spared them a harsh glance. "What he needs to do is stop his bellyaching and be glad I didn't have Holst take him down with a headshot."
Geels flinched. Asra smiled friendily at the Stadwatch beside her.
"Holst, eh? Pleasure to meet you." She offered a hand. He didn't take it.
"That's the guards name, isn't it?" Kaz said. "Willem Holst and Bert Van Daal, the two city guards on duty tonight. The ones you emptied the Black Tips' coffers to bribe."
Geels was quiet.
Kaz lifted his voice to the roofs. "Willem Holst, likes to gamble almost as much as Jesper does, so your money had a lot of appeal. But Holst had bigger problems, let's call them urges. I won't go into detail. A secret's not like a coin, it doesn't keep its value in the spending. You'll just have to trust me when I say this one would turn even your stomach. Isn't that right, Holst?"
Holst shot the stone at Geels' feet. He leapt back with a yelp. Asra laughed.
"Ghezen, what does he have on you?" She asked, looking the Stadwatch up and down. He was glaring at her, a secretive fear replacing his gaze. Asra's grin widened.
"Just shoot him Holst!" Geels yelled. "Shoot him in the head!"
Kaz snorted. "Do you really think that secret dies with me? Go on Holst, put a bullet in my skull. There will be messengers sprinting to your wife and your watch captain's door before I hit the ground."
Holst was still, eyes locked on the blade now held in Asra's hand. "Persuasive bugger, ain't he?"
"How?" Geels said. "How did you even know who would be on duty tonight? I had to pay through the gills to get that roster. You couldn't have outbid me."
"Let's say my currency carries more sway."
"Money is money."
"I trade in information, Geels. The things men do when they think no one is looking. Shame holds more value than coin ever can." Kaz said. "Are you worrying about the second gaurd? Good old Bert Van Daal? Maybe he's up there right now, wondering what he should do? Shoot me? Shoot Holst? Or maybe I got him too, and he's getting ready to blow a hole in your chest Geels. Why not give Van Daal the order and find out?"
Geels steeled himself. "Van Daal!"
Nothing came.
"Van Daal!"
Nothing but the gulls screaming back at the harbours.
Geels was red with rage. "Always one step ahead, aren't you?" He spat at Kaz.
"Geels when it comes to you, I'd say I have a running start."
Geels just smiled. A victor's smile, Asra realsied. She shuffled on her perch, closing her hand tightly around her blade.
"The race isn't over yet." Geels said, then drew a pistol from his lime green jacket.
"Finally." Kaz's voice was board. "The big reveal. Now Jesper can stop keening over Bolliger like a wet-eyed woman."
Jesper's eyes were blazing. "Bolliger searched him. He... oh, Big Bol, you idiot."
I see. Asra was still smiling. Bolliger had betrayed them to the Black Tips. Kaz was using this as an example to other gangs and traitors. And she couldn't be there because she would've killed every last one of them long ago.
Too trigger happy, and wouldn't have been fussed over a bleeding bouncer she barely knew. She hated how well Kaz knew her.
Geels, still with a gun to Kaz's chest, smirked. "Kaz Brekker, the great escape artist. How are you going to wriggle your way out of this one?"
"Going out the same way I came in." Kaz shrugged, then turned his back to Geels and hovered over Big Bolliger. "Do you know what your problem is, Bolliger?"
He stuck his cane into Bolliger's bleeding stomach. "That wasn't a rhetorical question. Do you know what your biggest problem is?"
"No," he groaned. Pathetic.
"Give me a guess." Kaz hissed.
Bolliger just whimpered again. Kaz sighed.
"Alright, I'll tell you. You're lazy. I know it. Everyone knows it. So I had to ask myself why my laziest bouncer was getting up early twice a week to walk two extra miles to Cilla's Fry for breakfast, especially when the eggs are so much better at the Kooperom. Big Bol becomes an early riser, the Black Tips start throwing their weight around Fifth Harbour and then intercept our biggest shipment of jurda. It wasn't a tough connection to make."
He turned back to Geels. "This is what happens when stupid people start making big plans, ja?"
"Doesn't matter much now, does it?" Geels said. "This gets ugly, I'm shooting from close range. Maybe your guards get me or my guys, but no way you're going to dodge a bullet."
Kaz stepped closer till the gun dug into his chest. "No way at all, Geels."
"You think I won't do it?"
"Oh, I think you'd do it gladly with a song in your black heart. But you won't. Not tonight."
His finger twitched near the trigger.
"Kaz," Jesper said again. "This whole shoot me thing is starting to concern me."
Everyone ignored him. Geels was building up to it, Asra could see. Kaz's face was impassive, waiting. For what? Then she heard it; a siren.
"Nineteen Burstraat."
Geels went very still.
Kaz went on. "That's your girl's address, isn't it Geels?"
He swallowed. "Don't have a girl."
"Oh, yes you do. She's pretty too. Well, pretty enough for a fink like you. Seems sweet. You love her, don't you? Of course you do. No one that fine should ever look twice at Barrel scum like you, but she's different. She finds you charming. Sure sign of madness if you ask me, but love is strange that way. Does she like to rest her pretty head on your shoulder? Listen to you talk about your day?"
Geels was coated in sweat. Kaz had faded away, leaving a dead-eyed thing in his place. It wore his face, used his voice. Though the humour was gone, the arrogance. No, this was dangerous. This was Dirtyhands.
"She lives at Nineteen Burstraat, three floors up, geraniums in the window boxes. There are two Dregs waiting outside her door right now, and if I don't walk out of here whole and feeling righteous, they will set that place alight from floor to rooftop. It will go up in seconds, burning from both ends with poor Elise trapped in the middle. Her blonde hair will catch first, like the wick of a candle."
"You're bluffing." Geels said, hand shaking.
Kaz leaned his head and inhaled deeply, a look of pleasure on his face that made Asra smirk. "Getting late now. You heard the siren. I smell the harbour on the wind, sea and salt and maybe- is that smoke I smell too?"
Geels trigger finger twitched.
"I know, Geels. I know." Kaz said slowly. "All that planning and scheming and bribing for nothing. That's what you're thinking right now. Had bad it will feel to walk home knowing what you've lost, how angry your boss is going to be when you show up empty-handed and that much poorer for it, how satisfying it would be to put a bullet in my heart. You can do it. Pull the trigger. We can all go down together. They can take our bodies out to the Reaper's Barge for burning like all the paupers go. Or you can take the blow to your pride, go back to Burstraat, lay your head in your girl's lap, fall asleep still breathing and dream of revenge. It's up to you Geels. Do we go home tonight?"
Geels stared at Kaz awhile. Then his shoulders sagged. "You'll get what's coming to you come day, Brekker."
"I will if there's any justice in the world. And we all know likely that is."
Geels' arm dropped. The pistol hung by his side.
Kaz stepped back and dusted off his shirt. "Go and tell your general to keep the Black Tips out of Fifth Harbour and that we expect him to make ammends for the shipment of jurda we lost, plus five per cent for drawing steel on neutral grounds and five per cent more for being such a spectacular bunch of asses."
Kaz swung his cane and shattered the bones in Geels' wrist. He screamed, dropped the gun and craddled his hand. "I stood down! I stood down!"
"You draw on me again, I'll break both your wrists, and you'll have to hire someone to help you take a piss. Or maybe you can get the lovely Elise to do it for you."
Kaz tipped his hat, then crouched beside Bolliger. "Look at me. Assuming you don't bleed to death tonight, you have until sunset tomorrow to get out of Ketterdam. I hear you're anywhere near the city limits and they'll find you stuffed in a keg at Cilla's Fry." He turned again to Geels. "You help Bolliger or I find out he's running with the Black Tips, don't think I won't come after you."
"Please, Kaz," Bolliger whined.
"You had a home and you put a wrecking ball through the front door, Bolliger. Don't look for sympathy from me."
Kaz stood and checked his watch. "I didn't expect this to go on so long. I best be on my way or poor Elise will be getting a trifle warm."
Geels shook his head. "There's something wrong with you, Brekker. I don't know what you are, but you're not made right."
Kaz's head cocked to the side. "You're from the suburbs, aren't you Geels? Came to the city to try your luck? Well, I'm the kind of bastard they only manufacture in the Barrel."
Then he was gone. Jesper followed, sparing Big Bolliger one last frown, and Geels went the other way. Bolliger begged to no avail, and started to drag himself away. On the roof, Asra stood and hopped off the railings of the walkway.
"Pleasure meeting you, Holst. I suspect I'll see you again, one time things don't exist with Kaz." She turned to leave. She knew he was debating shooting her. But before he could decide, Asra vaulted from off the railings and slid down the roof. Her fingers caught the gutter as she fell over the edge and she swung onto the balcony beneath her. Asra dusted off her hands, headed through the office block to meet the Dregs, and found Kaz in all his sullen glory stood about the cheering Dregs.
She slinked to his side with a grin. "Not bad, Dirtyhands."
Kaz glanced down at her. "Enjoy the show, Asra?"
"Very much so." Her grin was sharp like a knife. Kaz didn't return it. Boring bastard. What Asra would give to see Kaz enjoy himself.
Jesper was there, an absent arm around Asra's shoulders and furious whisper at Kaz. He wanted to know about Big Bolliger, to have been given a warning. Kaz didn't care. He turned away abruptly and strode down Nemstraat alone.
Elise. The thought struck Asra. Then she realised, he lied. She wasn't sure which dampened her mood, but soon Jesper was squeezing her in his gangly hold and they were all heading to the Crow Club for drinks and cards. Asra made herself smile and jostle along them. She'd have her fun, it was all she'd done in Ketterdam. But her mind went to Kaz. He was alone, it was dark, the exact situation she'd been in when Van Eck came to her. Asra could feel a job coming on, and already the rush of it all was tingling within her. This would be big, she knew. This will be fun.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Author's note:
Six of Crows here we come