Brekker's Barrel

9-INEJ

Inej was sitting in the sill of a large, ornate window overlooking the garden. She watched as the sun rose and people travelled up and down the canal on their way to work. 

She sighed.

Sitting around in a mansion while an entire fleet, maybe more, was after her and the others felt anything but right.

She could say she was guarding the house for Wylan, but in all honesty, she had no where else to go.  She couldn't run off to sea without proper planning. She refused to return to the Slat. As soon as her indenture was paid, she vowed to never stay a night at the Slat again.

She tapped her fingers on the glass, feeling stuck.

Just as she became lost in thought, a sharp clank brought her back to reality.

A small pebble had hit the glass. Inej sat up, searching the garden for its source. Her eyes scanned the shrubbery for a moment before landing on a familiar, overdressed man with an interesting choice for a haircut.

A feeling of relief washed over her at the sight of him. Kaz had been on her mind since they left the harbor. Trying to hide her joy, she opened a pane of the window to lean out and speak to him.

"Kaz Brekker. Throwing pebbles at my window." She pretended to swoon.

Kaz's lip quirked up into a smile for a split second.

"I have some intelligence on our new friends, though I'd rather not shout it." He motioned for Inej to meet him on the ground.

Without a second thought she bounded out of the window, sliding and climbing down the stone wall with ease. She hopped off the base of the wall and landed right in front of him.

He held up the enemy pin so that it shone in the sunlight. Inej inspected it once more, trying to decipher its meaning.

"They call themselves the Misleads. Just a bunch of slavers, but I feel someone else is behind this." He paused for a moment. "I need your help. Again."

"We need to find them again? They could be anywhere now."

"No, we need to find their employer." He paused. "Rollins."

Inej was taken aback. "How do we know it's Rollins?"

"I just know. Who else would it be? Why else would there be Dime Lions surrounding us at every job?"

Inej couldn't help but notice the fury in his eyes. Kaz had this anger for no other rival. He wanted vengeance.

One day I'll discover why. She thought, looking into Kaz's eyes.

One day I'll have him without this armor.

Inej nodded to him. "Where do we start?"

~

As Inej readied the ship, she wondered where Kaz had gone. She hadn't seen him in hours. They were set to leave at eight bells, and right now it was seven.

She was securing food for the journey when a man with his arms and legs tied was kicked into the hull. Kaz was right behind him, silently brandishing a knife.

"Where is he?" Kaz growled at the man. Inej was almost surprised to hear his tone, despite him being a gang leader and notorious criminal.

He kicked the man onto his side, revealing his Dime Lions tattoo. The man winced in pain.

"Where's Pekka Rollins, you little shit?!" Kaz's knife dug in to the Lion's side. Inej knew it wasn't enough to kill him, but it would get information out nonetheless.

The man broke sooner than they expected, screaming an answer.

"He's on Kellem! The island of Kellem! Off the coast of Novyi Zem!" The man broke into sobs.

Kaz huffed and picked up the smaller man with ease, throwing him onto the dock without untying him.

"Let's go." He gave Inej a soft smile, as if there was not blood covering his gloves.

She spared a glance at the sobbing man on the dock.

"His companions will find him soon enough. Which is why we have to go now."

Inej nodded and ran to the deck. It would just be the two of them and Specht this time, so she had to be on top of it all. She wound up the anchor and released the sails, sending them on their way.

Now that they had a location, Pekka Rollins was as good as dead.

Short one I know! Needed this chapter to set up some bigger stuff.