Talons⛥Kaz Brekker

⛥𝔖𝔦𝔵⛥

Kaz dragged me behind an ice sculpture, he let go of my hand and insisted that I didn't look. I knew what he was doing. He was regurgitating the packets of Wylan's root bombs he'd swallowed before we ambushed the prison wagon. Along with a pouch of chloropellets and an extra set of lockpicks.

Once Kaz was done, we went to check the treasury perimeter, the roof, the entry, but eventually there was nothing left to do but keep hidden, stay alert and worry about all of the things that might be going wrong. Our hands never lost touch once he grabbed mine again when we left the sculpture.

We were hidden in the shadows of the western colonnade when the bells of the Black Protocol had begun to ring, the chimes of the Elder lock booming over the island, shaking the air. Lights from the guard towers came on in a bright flood. The druskelle around the ash left off their rituals and began shouting orders, and a wave of guards descended from the towers to spread out over the the island. We waited, counting the minutes, but there was still no sign of Nina or Matthias.

"They're is trouble," Kaz squeezed my hand as he spoke. "Have faith Kaz," I looked up at his face from the side."Look,"I pointed at three people running from the treasury. It was Nina, Matthias and someone else I assumed to be Bo Yul-Bayur. I went to call out to them but an explosion hit; and everything went to hell. "They blew up the lab," Kaz said as debris rained down around us. "I definitely did not tell them to blow up the lab."

The rest was all pure improvisation, it left little time for explanation. From what I rememberd, Kaz had only told Matthais to meet him by the Ash when Black Protocol began to ring. We thought we'd have time to tell them to deploy the baleen before we were falling through the dark. We just had to hope that we wouldn't panic and that luck was waiting somewhere below.

The fall seemed impossibly long. I hope the shu boy Kaz was holding onto was a surprisingly young Bo Yul-Bayur and not some hapless prisoner Nina and Matthias had decided to liberate. Kaz let me shove the disc into the boy's mouth, as we went over, snapping it with my own fingers. I gave the whip a flick, releasing all the cables, and heard the others scream as the strands retracted. At least they wouldn't go into the water bound. Me and Kaz waited as long as we dared to bite into our baleens. Why we struck the icy water, I feared my heart would stop.

I wasn't sure what I expected but I don't think it was this, the force of the river was terrifying, flowing fast and hard as an avalanche. The noise was deafening even beneath the water, but for me with fear came past. I searched for Kaz through the water but I couldn't see him, I used all my might to push my head to the surface for a brief second at least. He was to the left of me a little further down the river. I swam with the currents in his direction, I gripped his forearm. He was tensed up until his eyes saw me. He relaxed slightly knowing I was okay. My grip on his wet clothes was becoming weak. I started to drift away from him, not even I could fight going back to him. I kept my arm extended to the left, his direction, and soon his hand grabbed my wrist. I twisted my hand slightly so I could have hold of his, this way the current couldn't break us apart.

If my brain didn't deceive me, Djel would spit us out into the gorge. Assuming we wouldn't drown first. It was a possibility. Baleen only provided enough air for ten minutes maybe twelve. If we could keep calm that is, but I doubted we would. My heart was hammering and my lungs already felt tight my body was numb and aching, the darkness was impenetrable. I refused to let go of Kaz, I didn't want to be separated from him during this. There was nothing but the dull thundering of the water and the sickening sense of tumbling.

What would be waiting when we fished up in the gorge? Who would be waiting? Jesper and Wylan had managed to engage black protocol, but had they managed to do the rest? Survive. Survive. Survive. You're the great 'immortal' vampress. Survive for saints sake. We tumbled through the dark, even I felt the cold of the water. It burned. I thought of my hand on Kaz's cheek. I thought of us dancing in the ballroom. I thought of his arms wrapped around me in a tight hug. My mind went jagged at the sensation a riot of confusion but in all of that clamer was desire, hope that he would touch me in that way again. We were strong, stronger together. We were going to get out of this alive. Somehow.