Talons⛥Kaz Brekker

⛥𝔉𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔢𝔫⛥

I had watched them leave in the boat. I moved from where the water pushed against my boots to sit by a tree, I couldn't stay here any longer. I needed to go out, get some action. When I'd walked out of the tomb the prior night, I went exploring. I found a picture hanging up on a crumpled wall, it was hardly hanging and it's glass was dirty. It's frame wasn't too better. Inside was a picture of a large family; a dad, mum and five children. Three girls and two boys. It was identical to my family.

I played with my necklace as I looked out on the water, Jesper had mentioned what hotel his father was in and I presumed my father was there too. They had travelled together after all. I rose to my feet and looked around, there was another boat by the dock. It was really stupid of them to leave it there after what I'd said before, I always keep my promises and I'd promised I wouldn't be here by the time they got back. I slipped inside the gondel and picked up the oars. My arms only ached a little as the boat drifted along the canal.

I steered the gondel into Zovercanal at the eastern edge of the Barrel. I kept sharp, relaxing only slightly when the boat slid past the boundaries of the Barrel and into the quieter waters that bordered the financial district. Here the streets were nearly empty and the stadwatch presence was thinner. I stopped the boat under Ledbridge and got out and headed up along the edge of Beurscanal, past the Exchange and to the grand facade of the Geldrenner Hotel.

I spotted a couple officers coming down the street, I quickly looked around and saw a couple of bins side by side along the path. Without a second thought, I tucked and rolled towards them and hid behind the bins. I looked through the cracks to know when they'd walked past, I waited until the coast was clear before I stepped back out onto the road.

I completely forgot my dad hated me until I reached his room, my hand hovered over the doorknob for a second. I took a deep breath and walked in. Dad was sitting at the table looking out the window, he quickly stood up as the door opened. He was a little taller than me, his black hair was combed back with white streaks in it and his eyes were grey like mine.

"Ambrosia," Da said, I couldn't tell if his tone was mad or relieved. Most probably mad.

"Da, what are you doing up?" I asked.

"That's none of your concern," Da snapped back, "so are you going to tell me why you're not in college? Why you're running around on the streets with a murderous gang? Actually I'm not surprised, I also wouldn't be surprised if you're in charge of the gang."

"Calm down," I said, "sit down and we can talk about this." He stubbornly did and I sat in the chair across from him, we sat there silently for a long time. Probably around twenty minutes but it felt like eternity. That was until he spoke with a voice of sandpaper, "take your gloves off."

"What?" I asked, unsure on whether I'd heard him properly.

"Take your gloves off," he ordered again, "I want to see what killed them."

I was hesitant but one by one I pulled at the fingers and slipped my hands out, I put them in my coat pocket and put my hands on the table. I heard a small gasp as he looked at the length of them, the sharpness of my bones and how the pale blue and red veins showed clearly through my skin.

"Why do it?" He asked, his voice was laced with fury.

I let out a breath, "I don't know."

"Why do it!" He yelled.

"I don't know!" I shouted back, the truth was that I didn't know why. It just happened.

"That's no excuse Ambrosia! You're a monster!"

"You walked out!"

He pointed a furious finger at me, "don't pin this on me! You're the one who killed them all, not me!"