Heartbeats In Shadow - Kaz Brekker

carriage

I began to move towards the seats, trying to get the weight off my leg. Kaz looked at me with worry in his eyes and sat down opposite me. I stretched out my leg, trying to see how extensive the damage was. I rolled up my pants, ribs aching from bending over. I was met with my calf going in a strange direction, and purple and yellow bruising surrounding it.

"Right, Kaz," He met my eyes, he was looking at my leg with disbelief before. "I need to put the bone back in place before I can heal it."

"What can I do?" He asked.

"I need you to set it, and hold the bone there while I heal it." He looked at me with fear in his eyes, and I noticed he wasn't wearing his gloves. He would have to touch the skin of my leg. He took a deep breath, and moved closer to me, ready to help.

"OK, ready?" He nodded slightly, looking pale.

"3, 2," I took a deep breath, readying myself. "1".

I screamed in pain, it was unlike anything I had ever felt. There were a thousand tiny swords stabbing every single nerve in my leg, and it was extremely difficult for me to maintain enough focus to begin healing. Breathing heavily, I focused on the image of my bones mending, and after a few more agonizing seconds, I felt the pain begin to lift.

As soon as I leaned back in my seat, Kaz jumped away from me. I glanced at his face, and he looked like he was about to hurl the contents of his stomach.

"Are you ok?" I asked him, genuinely concerned. He began to laugh like a maniac, leaving me even more confused.

"I should be the one asking you that question." He said darkly, with no hit of amusement in his voice. I didn't reply, only staring at him, waiting for an explanation.

"I told you my story Kaz, I have a right to know yours."

"Alright." He paused, refusing to look me in the eye. "Once I tell you, promise not to look at me any different." I nodded, a little disoriented by the question.

"You know I've lived in Ketterdam for quite some time. No doubt, you've tried to look me up in the archives." I looked down in shame, his accusations being accurate.

"The reason you couldn't find me is because I use a different name now. I wasn't born as Kaz Brekker. I was born as Kaz Reitveld, at a small farm in Lij, and I had a brother named Jordie." His voice faltered when speaking the name of his brother, and I had a feeling what happened to him.

"We came to Ketterdam after our father died. I was nine. We didn't know how to handle money at that point, we were kids. I was watching a magician perform, and he came up to us when he was done. He led us to a man named Jakob Hertzoon, who convinced us to put all of our money in stocks. He conned us into thinking he was a reliable and trustworthy man. We went back a week later to ask a question, and he was gone with all our money. We were forced to live on the streets, with nothing but what we had on us at that moment. I later learned Jakob Hertzoon was Pekka Rollins tailored. " He paused, and I looked at him with pity. I had never known absolute poverty like what he was describing, but I imagined it must be horrid.

"That summer, the Queen's Plague was rampant. We both got it, and we didn't have the money to pay for treatment. We laid on the streets, so exhausted we couldn't move. Jordie didn't make it." I moved to sit next to him and put an arm around his shoulders to comfort him. I was ignoring the pain still coming from my ribs.

"A few days later, men came to clean the streets of all the bodies. They threw Jordie on a cart with the dead and began to pick me up too. I couldn't move to let them know I was still alive, and they thought I was still dead. They took us to the docks and threw us in the water. I was able to hang on to Jordie's body lone enough for me to regain some of my strength, and I used the bodies to push myself back to the docks." I was covering my mouth and tearing up at the tragic story, and I moved my arm off him. I understood now, and I felt terrible for making him touch my leg.

"I vowed to kill Pekka Rollins for what he did to my brother, and I still haven't fulfilled that promise."

"You'll kill him as soon as you get the chance Kaz, I'll help. What kind of a monster does that to kids?" He shook his head and wiped his eyes.

"I'm sorry for making you touch my leg," I said

"That's the thing, Vik. Your touch doesn't bother me, and I can't figure out why. The leg thing  only bothered me because it was broken and it reminded me of mine." I looked up and noticed he was staring at my face, with a look I had never seen. I could feel my cheeks heat up, only just then realizing how close we were sitting. His eyes flitted between my own and my lips. He leaned in, and warm, soft lips met my own. His hand moved to cup my cheek, and mine moved to the nape of his neck to lightly tug his hair. I moved closer to straddle him, ignoring the persistent pain coming from my ribs. We deepened the kiss, and immediately pulled apart when the carriage doors opened with a bang. I hadn't noticed we stopped moving. Jesper stood with a smirk, looking between us both.

"Inej, you owe me five kruge!" He shouted.

"You bet on us?" I asked in disbelief. That boy would do anything for a bit of kruge.

"Of course, dear Vik! And I'm assuming you haven't finished healing yourself yet?"

"No," I muttered, moving to take off my shirt and kefta to better access my ribs.

"Hang on now, Vik. I think Kaz might need to leave so we don't have a repeat of last time." I almost murdered Jesper as he said these words, wondering how much more he could annoy me.

"Jesper," Kaz said darkly, moving to close the doors.

"Fine, fine. Hurry, will you?" He began to walk towards the back, where I'm sure his and guns were.

Kaz looked at me and began to laugh, not believing the situation we were just in.