Kaz Brekker didn't need a reason. Those were the words whispered on the streets of Ketterdam - but that didn't mean that he never had one.
The Shu Serpent rears her head and slithers from the shadows when a high paying job catches her prying eyes a...
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The group of Crows sat at a secluded booth in a corner of the club, one that was far away from the prying eyes and the usual bustle and chatter to ensure no one could listen in on their conversation. (Not many would dare, but precautions were precautions.)
Inej was slowly twirling one of her many knifes against the table, the handle between her forefinger and middle, the point making a tiny groove in the wood. Her hair and face was no longer covered and she sat reclined back like Jesper who had his arm resting along the back of the booth.
Zhen had been playing with her gold hair pin, flipping it idly in her hand and digging the sharp point into the edge of the table so she could watch splinters lift and prise chunks off. (Kaz had told her to stop it but she'd ignored him and since then, they'd all been too deep in thought to mention it again.)
Kaz sat to her right in a chair pulled slightly further out from the table as everyone else's, spinning his cane in his hand and watching the silver crows head rotate to stare out across the club.
Zhen wasn't sure why but she found herself watching him flex his fingers before placing his gloved hands over the handle, gaze settling on where she was digging away at the tables edge.
His gaze flickered up to meet hers for a brief moment and she stared back at him, defiantly flicking a tiny chipped strand of wood in his direction with her fingernail.
He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and languidly brushed it onto the floor.
They had searched the cobbled streets for the last hour or so, trying to find any lead they could on how to cross the Fold.
They'd first met with one of the managers of the many brothels around town, an older woman counting money and barely raising her eyes to them as they asked her questions, more focussed on her business that outsiders. Inej and Zhen had been uncomfortable the whole time, fixated on her fingers flicking through the wad of cash, not a care in the world how she got her income in the first place. It was dirty money. The woman had been no help and Zhen was the first to leave, not being able to stand a moment longer in a place like that as it brought back bad memories. Inej was right behind her.
Then a loud mouthed local who frequented the pub, and he had only been lying through his teeth to get money from naive tourists from his tall tales.
Again, no help.
Lastly they'd found a boxer - they had managed to catch him in between a fight, re-wrapping his bruised and bloody knuckles and bouncing on the heels of his feet. They all had to strain to hear him over the crowd and by then Kaz's leg was playing up from how fast they'd been making it around town. It seemed Kaz and Zhen were the keenest to get back to the club, him to rest his leg (though he would never admit it out loud,) and Zhen because of her growing headache from all the ruckus in that ring.
Loud noise never did sit well with the girl.
Because it was Zhen and she had a habit of checking in on the boy next to her when he didn't want her to (which was always), she slyly looked over at him to see his hand press against the side of his leg just beneath the table. No one else was in view to notice and if they were alone she would have scolded him for pushing himself so much within a single hour.
