the shadows ballad ° kaz brekker

chapter 1

chapter 1:
one of a kind.
Nyx

"Here's what I don't get."

"We're gonna be here all night."

Just before I was about to doze off, Inej told me that Kaz needed us all downstairs about a job worth a million kruge. I had this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, as if something was going to go wrong, and I know my gut feelings are never wrong. Yet, I said nothing as Kaz stared off with his brows furrowed.

"Rude. Why haven't they tried going under? Just dig a tunnel," Jesper questioned.

"Tried that. More than a century ago. Something. . .heard them digging," Kaz said.

"It was made hundreds of years ago by that crazy Grisha-"

"-The Black Heretic," Inej corrected.

"The one who controls Shadow. They've got one in their army now, don't they? General Kirigan?"

The very mention of his name sent shivers down my spine, and Inej glanced at me as I shuffled in my seat.

"Your point?"

"If his kind made it, can't he unmake it?" Jesper turned to me, "no offense."

"Have you ever put out fire by adding more fire?" Inej retorted.

That much darkness should've taken his powers away. . .

Taking it all in again would just. . .change him even more.

Change me.

"Then what's the opposite?"

"A Sun Summoner."

"Right, then, one of those-"

"Doesn't exist," Kaz interrupted, his faith in them being nonexistent since the day I met him.

"Doesn't exist yet," Inej, however, had a strong faith about them and the Saints. I envied how much hope she had, and decided to keep her faith by shielding her from my past.

"If one existed, he'd definitely know," I mumbled.

"Dreesen comes into town, doesn't waste a minute. Sends out for a crew to steal something but doesn't specify what. Is it heavy, is it large, is it worth more than a million on the black market? Maybe he doesn't know," I glanced at Kaz, seeing his distress about this. One million kruge is enough to change lives, and it shows how much he cares because it's not just his life he wants to change.

"We can let this one go, Kaz," Inej assured him.

"A job like this comes once in a lifetime. We can't risk letting it go," I reminded them.

"Sounds like a trap, anyway," Jesper dismissed.

"A trap would sound easy. This is something else. Nyx is right, letting it go would mean someone else gets this and I will not let that happen," Kaz explained before footsteps approached us fast, heavy against the wooden stairs.

This is a job that I can do.

One I'm certainly needed for.

"Boss, boss! We intercepted a note from Dreesen."

Kaz straightened himself, "Did you, now?"

"It's for the owner of The Orchid. Says they require the services of a Heartrender. Tonight," He explained.

"A Heartrender? Why?"

"Doesn't say. Just they need it before midnight," He summed up.

"Perhaps an investigation? Whomever they took must not be talking," I concluded.

Kaz gave a slight nod, "You don't need a Heartrender unless you need an answer out of someone who isn't willing to talk."

"That's how we get this job before anyone else. Bring Dreesen a Heartrender," Kaz rose out of his seat.

"And the women at The Orchid trust me," I added, so it shouldn't be hard to do.

"Boss, just one problem. Pekka Rollins knows," My fists clenched at the very mention of that man. He tried to enlist me to spy on Kaz, but I refused. Just when the bastard thought he could get me, my shadows wrapped around his ankles and yanked him backwards. His jaw had hit the floor, but it was then I had realized I made a grave mistake.

He now knew I was a Shadow Summoner.

It was only a rumor amongst the Crow Club what I was, and I suspect that Pekka Rollins will use this knowledge as leverage.

Because who would allow a Shadow Summoner to be apart of The Dregs?

"I can take care of the Heartrender, her name is Milana-"

"You won't be joining us on this, Nyx."

What?

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Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! How do you think Nyx knows General Kirigan? And do you think she's as strong as him?