Dirtyhands {Kaz Brekker X OC}

XI

*One of my personal favorite chapters in this book*

If the whole world was watching
I'd still dance with you
-Niall Horan-

-Jae-

It was the day of the heist.

I hadn't seen or spoken to Kaz for the past couple of days. I wasn't avoiding him...he was just never around. We left off the other day in a place that neither of us wanted to visit any time soon. That whole day was a roller coaster of emotions. I had never felt so close and yet so far from him at the same time.

I had seen Dirtyhands' not so dirty hands. 

He'd shown me them out of his free will. That alone felt like I had somehow gained his trust enough. But then he called me an investment. Which technically I was, he paid for my services...

But I couldn't deny... it hurt when he said it aloud.

I had to push those thoughts aside. Yes, I was an investment. And being that, I had a job to do. In the Barrel, we all worked for one master: Kruge. I couldn't let petty words affect me much. And definitely not let them affect my work.

Inej had tracked down the painting in the morning. It was headed for the vault in the center of the Financial District. Once located, we all had to wait until it was time for the celebration that would be taking place in order to honor the painting. Unlike the previous heist, we were all going to leave at the same time... but take different routes. Jesper would walk, Kaz and I would ride in a carriage, and Inej would travel via her preferred form of transportation: rooftop. 

An hour before we had to leave, I finally started to get ready. I took the time to put on my dress and hide all of my weapons within my clothing. I put my hair up into a ponytail and started to leave when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to see Inej.

"You're not going looking like that." She said, walking past me and into my room.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking down at my dress.

"What's wrong? Everything! Your hair, your makeup, no jewelry?" She went over to my cupboard and started pulling things out.

"Remember, I have to take out guards in this whole get up. It's got to be comfortable." I reminded her.

"Sit." She ignored my protests. I walked over, taking a seat. She unraveled my hair and combed through it. She put it up again in a ponytail but also added little braids. She applied a light gloss over my lips. Then, she took black kohl and put it over my eyelids.

"I didn't even put this much makeup when I worked at the Menagerie." I noted. She was about to brush some blush over my cheeks, but I stopped her.

"I think that's enough." I said. She looked at me for a moment.

"Yeah, you don't really need this, you're probably going to blush plenty looking at Kaz." She joked.

"Don't go there." I whispered dangerously, not wanting to hear anything about him right now. I got up off my seat. I walked past the mirror, and I couldn't deny, Inej had done a wonderful job.

"You're welcome." She said as she saw me looking at myself in the mirror.

"Thanks." I muttered, now guilty for being so harsh on her. "Sorry, I'm not in my right mind." I apologized. I was unusually tense. 

"It's fine." She assured me, packing up all the things and putting them back in the cupboard. I made my way towards the door with her following behind. I walked downstairs, trying not to trip over my feet in the voluminous dress that draped over me.