𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 ↦ Kaz Brekker

v. threats and knives

CHAPTER FIVE ── ❛ threats and knives ❜

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𝕬s sleep tugged and kept a firm grip on Stasiaj Yahontov's consciousness, the teenager dreamed of all the ways that she was going to kill Kaz Brekker, most of which involved using his cane as bludgeon and beating him to death with it.

But her mind had other plans, dragging her away from her happy thoughts of murder to the dark recess of her mind where her untouched memories sat; memories of boats and ocean swells that rose up to meet them, crashing over a hard deck, coupled with shouts of panic, flames licking at the wood and then the cold water and tight ropes, as her body was flung about in the surf.

She shivered in repulsion, clawing her way back up to the surface as her eyes fluttered open once more.

"Now we just need Snake," Stasiaj kept her eyes closed, feeling ropes around her wrist and a gag around her mouth. Panic swelled within her. "Nina, wake her up."

"She's already awake," Kaz Brekker's dark eyes met Stasiaj's as she watched him slowly, annoyed that the gag in her mouth kept her from spitting insults and hurling obscenities and curses in his direction.

"I'm going to untie you, Snake. Don't do anything stupid," The bindings were making Stasiaj's skin crawl, her breath sharp as she waited for Inej to cut through the ropes. It took a moment, but Inej took the gag off and placed the rope down as Stasiaj spat to the side and wiped her lips to get rid of the excess spit. "We need to..."

He didn't finish the sentence, as Stasiaj grabbed him by the coat collar, slamming him into the wall as she pressed one of her knives to his throat, her eyes dark.

"Stasiaj!" A gun cocked behind her ear, but Stasiaj didn't care, snatching Kaz's cane from his hand as she held him in place.

"I warned you, Bastard. I told you what would happen if you tried me," The woman growled, her hands shaking. "All I wanted was a night out and to get my money, but you had to go and ruin it."

"Snake..." Kaz warned, moving his head as far back as possible to avoid her touch. It was Stasiaj's turn to play dirty now, because if Kaz wanted to throw all of the rules out of the window she would to.

Stasiaj knew about his brother, Jordie. She knew the story about the river and floating, and she knew all about Kaz's aversion to human contact. Now, if Stasiaj was in a good mood, she chose to respect Kaz's boundaries and not go near him, or touch him, lest it was for shaking on business deals but as soon as he chose to make her unconscious and put her in a vulnerable position, she could not care less for respect.

"I am going to walk out of this godforsaken gambling den unharmed," She narrowed her eyes at Jesper and Inej, who were both standing unsure of what to do. Nina hovered at the back, licking her lips nervously but Kaz didn't make a move. "Then the next time I see you, you will have my money, my information and extra otherwise I am going to break you. I will destroy your club, your reputation, your gang, your life and I'll do it for my own pleasure."

"Fine," Kaz hissed, his breathing harsh, as Stasiaj glared once more, and pushed herself away from him. She took off out of the door, hurrying down the stairs and back into her own territory as fast as possible.

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Stasiaj sat in the bath, the water growing cold around her as she tried to scrub the brine and the feeling of ropes off of her skin. But it was of little use, whatever she did, she felt the gag around her mouth, tight enough to stop her talking and it brought back bad memories.

"Damn it!" She gave up, running her hand through her hair and tugging on the strands. "Damn him! Damn everything to hell and back!"

Stasiaj let out another pained groan, before finally un-latching her fingers from her hair and smoothing it all out again, taking yet another deep breath.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, it's all okay," She mumbled, getting out of the bath slowly, her legs trembling. "I'm here. I'm the Snake of the Barrel, they can not get me. I'm fine."

In some ways, Stasiaj Yahontov was a hypocrite. She was fine and happy when revealing someone else's secrets to the reminder of the population, but when it came to her own, Stasiaj guarded them like a dragon with it's hoard. She never wished for them to see the light of day.

In fact the woman tried her best to further hide her secrets, painting her lips and dressing up, because men in the Barrel could often not see behind a pretty face and clothes. It was only when she was alone and the war paint came off that Stasiaj finally saw her true self in the mirror, and she shivered in repulsion.

"Stasiaj..." The girl's eyes narrowed, looking over her shoulder to see Kaz Brekker in the doorway, recovered after his own ordeal.

"Get out," He didn't move, and Stasiaj grabbed two knives from the bottom draw of her dressing table. "Get out or so help me, Bastard, I will kill you."

"You wouldn't," He didn't flinch as a knife embedded itself in the door frame beside him.

"I'm not as good a shot as your wraith, but your fat head is a big enough target for me to throw at and not miss, Rietvald," Kaz's eyes narrowed. "Get out."

"Tonight didn't go the way that either of us thought it would, I admit," Stasiaj's glare grew darker. "But you ran out before you could hear my proposition."

"Get out!"

"Come with us..." Stasiaj fell silent, drawing herself to her full height as she watched Kaz. "Come with us to the Ice Palace and you can get all of the information you want from there, I will not hinder you."

The offer was annoyingly tempting for her.

"I will pay you a full share, and you can have an extra five hundred thousand kruge from my own share," Kaz replied, stepping cautiously away from the door and towards her. "Snake, we need you on the team."

"Then beg," Stasiaj replied, her eyes cold and cruel. "If you need me so badly, Bastard, then beg."

Kaz froze, his jaws tightening as he watched her but Stasiaj remained unwavering in her stance.

"Sna..."

"I will not say it again, Bastard," Stasiaj replied. "When we first met, we had two rules that we swore to keep. I would respect your boundaries and you would never knock me unconscious or tie me up. Those were our rules, Brekker, and you broke them, so now, you beg and maybe I'll consider coming with you."

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Hiya,

Stasiaj is supreme and poor manipulative baby has a bad past. Also, her and Kaz constantly trying to out annoy one another brings me life and Stasiaj needs a hug.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx