" Miss me, Van Doren? "
- K.B
THE PANICKED CHORUS OF THE ELDERCLOCK pealed piercingly in Natasha Van Doren's ears.
Nina Zenic and Alessia Ivanov were nowhere to be found. Kaz Brekker and Matthias Helvar following a plan of their own. Natasha presumed that Inej was in the ballroom with Nikolai. However, there was no mistake in what she saw.
"Another?" Tante Heleen's obnoxious voice bellowed. Turquoise silks modelled over her long face, masking the objectionable and snarling expression of a wolf looking to snap the neck of a bunny. "First Van Doren, and know you,"
Heleen's talons gouged into the flesh of Inej's forearm. The Wraith suspended, eyes brighter than ice - lips quivering. But then, Ghafa looked up; the Wraith took flight.
Inej Ghafa pounced upon Heleen's wrists, twisting the bone grimly. The guards surged forward, but Natasha had taken care of it all. A mass of shadows exploded around the Frejdans, playing easily to the hum of music that only her creator could hear.
"Lovely to see you again," Natasha breathed - before punching Heleen straight in the mouth.
The woman staggered, knees buckling against the ground. Behind her, the exasperated yells of the Frejdans were no louder than the murmur of the wind. Natasha followed through with her promises planting another punch to Tante Heleen's nose and jaw.
A cardinal stain blossomed from several points of Heleen's skin, inundating the gorgeous silks with a metallic scent. What a waste of good clothes. Natasha stepped forward a final time, sinking to her knees with rhythm. She sat cross-legged on the cold floor, toying with the hem of Heleen's clothes.
"I should kill you," Natasha whispered.
Heleen chuckled acidulously through her pain. "But killing you wouldn't be enough," Natasha pulled the switchblade from its sheath, tracing down the length of Heleen's arm. A dribble of blood slid down the pasty skin like carmine beads.
"Because what you deserve is an eternity of agony and despair," Natasha delicately placed the tip of her blade on Heleen's skin. "But that's not my sin to requite,"
Natasha rose to her feet, kicking the woman in the stomach for good measure. "Your demons will find you one day, Heleen Van Houden, and when they do, I hope they fucking destroy you,"
Natasha turned to Inej with a heated smile. "What," Natasha said sharply. The pair walked alongside each other, Natasha looping back every so often to facilitate the shadows. "Is red not my colour?"
A grin twitched on Inej's lips. "It would look much pleasanter in the form of clothing," she said, furrowing her black brows. Inej looked back at Heleen's contorted figure, trembling on the floor. "Besides, black is much better on you,"
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𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 | 𝐒𝐨𝐂
FanfictionNatasha Van Doren is a shadow summoner. She bides her time and resides in darkness, feared and esteemed by Ketterdam's civilians, a ghost . She cons Kaz Brekker into joining a heist he can't refuse and with thirty million kruge on the line, the crow...