Talons⛥Kaz Brekker

⛥𝔈𝔩𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫⛥

I spent a sleepless night in the dark. When my stomach started to growl, I suspected it was morning, but no one arrived to remove my blindfold or offer me a tray. It seemed Van Eck didn’t feel the need to coddle me anymore. He’d seen the fear in me clearly enough. That would be his leverage now, not Bajan’s Shu eyes and attempts at kindness.

When my shivering had passed, I had struggled over to the vent, only to find that it had been bolted firmly shut. It had to have been done while I was in the theater. I wasn’t surprised. I suspected Van Eck had left it unsecured just to give me hope and then snatch it away. Eventually, my mind had begun to clear, and as I’d lain in the silence, I’d made a plan.

I would talk. There were plenty of safe houses and hideouts that the Dregs had ceased to use because they’d been compromised or simply stopped being convenient. I’d start there. Then there were the supposedly secure places that belonged to some of the other Barrel gangs. I knew of a converted shipping container in Third Harbor that the Liddies occasionally used. The Razorgulls liked to hole up in a dingy hotel only a fewstreets over from the Slat. They called it Jam Tart House because of its faded raspberry color and the white eaves that looked like they were decorated in icing.

It should take Van Eck the better part of a night to search all the rooms. I would stall. I’d lead Van Eck and his men all over Ketterdam looking
for Kaz. I wasn't bad at being an actress. When Bajan finally appeared and removed my blindfold, he had six armed guards with him. 

I wasn’t sure how much time had
 passed I'd suspected the entire day had gone. Bajan’s face looked sallow and he had trouble meeting my eyes. I hoped he'd lain awake all night, the weight of my words heavy on his chest. He cut my ankles free but replaced the ropes with shackles. They clanked heavily as the guards led me down the hall. This time they took me through the back door of the theater, past flats of scenery and discarded props covered in dust, to the stage. The moth-eatengreen  curtains had been lowered so that the  cavernous seating area and balconies were no longer visible. Closed off from the rest of the theater, warmed by the heat radiating from the stage lights, the set had a curious feeling of intimacy. It seemed less like a stage than a real surgeon’s operating room.

My gaze touched the wrecked corner of the table where I’d lain the previous night and then quickly darted away. Van Eck was waiting  with the blade-nosed guard. I made a  silent promise. Even if my plan failed, even if he smashed my hands to pulp, even if I never fought again, I’d find a way to pay him back in kind. I didn't know how, but I’d manage it. I’d survived too much to let Jan Van Eck destroy me.

“Are you afraid, Miss Dawn?” he asked.

“No. But here's a thought, maybe if you did a little more torturing maybe throw in some more threats, that would be more interesting.” I told Van Eck

“Such honesty and I may even take that into account. And are you prepared to tell me what you know?”

I took a deep breath and hung my head in what I  hoped was a convincing display of reluctance. “Yes,” I whispered.

“Go on.”

“How do I know you won’t take the information and hurt me anyway?”I asked carefully.

“If the information is good, you have nothing to fear from me, Miss Dawn. I am not a brute. I’ve employed the methods you are most accustomed to—threats, violence. The Barrel has trained you to expect such treatment.” 

“I have your word, then?” I asked. It was absurd. Van Eck had made
clear exactly what his word was worth when he’d broken their arrangement on Vellgeluk and tried to have us all killed. But he nodded solemnly. “You do,” he said.