TROUBLE , kaz brekker

ii. we're criminals, not animals.

CHAPTER TWO

ECHO CADDEL WAS PENANCE for wicked men.

She blossomed in the light of crowded taverns, she bloomed in the sharp taunts that came before a bar side brawl. Her domain was the space between drunken sailors as they divulged their secrets to a bottle of whiskey. Knowledge was her sword and oh did she know how to wield it.

She craved the undiluted taste of erudition. Even before she'd washed up on the corrupted shores of Ketterdam, the stench of secrets enticed her, begging to be unmasked. Echo was happy to comply.

But, as she soon learnt, the rules of this foreign island were nothing like the ones of Ravka. It was a land desolated - not by magic - but by men. The Black Tips. The Dregs. The Dime Lions. Different names did nothing to hide the obvious- they were all just drunk on power, pretending they were gods.

And those who thought they were gods did not take kindly to the deviances of a small foreign girl with a silver tongue and honey words. Gods like the elusive Kaz Brekker, who proved hard to steal from and even harder to get alone.

He sat in perfect serenity, studying her like she was a piece of fine art. And with the blossoming hues of purple, blue and yellow that tainted the canvas of her pale skin, she might have been.

But art was beautiful, and Echo was not. Perhaps in another lifetime, one where the Saints fashioned her for love rather than hatred.

In this lifetime, she had this man's attention, undivided, pure and she knew it. Kaz Brekker might be a god amongst mortals but not even he could deny the allure of a worthy opponent. She'd marked herself from the moment she first outsmarted his odds and now - well now, the real game had begun. He finally spoke, his words carefully crafted, a trademark of the world wary.

"You have my kruge thief, my attention is all but guaranteed."

Echo smiled and dug her hand deep into the mountain of coins lying forgotten on the table. She plucked on from the depths and turned it over and over in her palm, teasing him. She flipped it once, twice, thrice, still veiled by silence until the boy spoke again, his tone laced with a harsher edge.

"I assume you didn't hand yourself over because you were bored."

"I've done much more for less." Echo smiled, before discarding the coin carelessly. It fell with a dull thud before she spoke again.

"You're a business man, aren't you Mr Brekker."

Echo tried not to revel in the irritation that morphed his features the moment his name passed her lips once more. She couldn't help but admire his mastery of his emotions, they were almost unnoticeable. Almost. "How do you know my name?"

"I have an interest in knowing things."

"And I have an interest in business. What a fine coincidence."

Echo smiled. "I'll tell you how I took your money and how to make sure nobody ever does it again."

"And in return?" Kaz leant forward and shifted his weight onto the thick black cane that had gone unused in the moments prior. Echo had almost let it go unobserved if it wasn't for the intricately crafted head that seemed the ideal size and weight to crush her skull like sugar-paper. "You don't seem like the giving type."

"I want protection."

The boy laughed. It was menacing, a laugh that seemed too empty, too emotionless, too hollow to be mistaken for anything genuine. "You steal from me and demand my help? To protect you? My dear, if you weren't so amusing you'd be dead."