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—𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 flooded through the window, creating shadows among the walls. They cascaded around the room, creating intricate designs. The Crows had gathered all of their supplies, waltzing out of their room and into the streets. Anya and Inej climbed up one of the buildings, hanging out on the balcony. Kaz and Jesper hid in the shadows, waiting for their targets to walk by.
Anya nodded her head at Inej, allowing her to blow a dart at one of them men's neck. The man grunts, walking into the alley — the same one where the boys are hiding. Anya watches as Kaz and Jesper knock out the two. She jumps down from the building, walking up next to her boy. She tucks herself into his side, watching as Jesper leans down and stands back up again.
"Are you gonna help?" Jesper asks Kaz. Kaz simply holds up his cane. "Oh. Well, isn't that convenient for you?"
Jesper shakes his head, grumbling under his breath as he steals the clothes off the Zemeni guard. Gathering up the clothes, Jesper walks off, meeting Inej. Kaz and Anya follow closely behind. Getting back to the room, Anya zones out, waiting for Jesper to finish getting dressed. Zoning back in, she looks up and sees Jesper admiring himself in the mirror. Anya shakes her head at the boy, wondering how he was so confident.
"You look fine." Jesper laughs.
"Oh, I look more than fine." Jesper picks up his coat.
"I made some edits to their papers." Kaz says, handing them to Inej and Anya to look over. "Should be enough to get us through the checkpoint and onto the skiff."
Jesper looks at the document. "Huh? No one is ever going to believe I'm that old." Jesper snaps on his hat. Inej and Anya send him looks.
"You tell yourself that." Jesper looks between the two girls, clearing his throat, and he tears the paper from Kaz's hands. Kaz shares a smirk with Anya, who chuckles and kisses his cheek. Anya finishes getting ready, sharing a look with Kaz, the two wait until Jesper and Inej have left the room. Kaz walks over to Anya placing his hands on her waist. "What's wrong?"
"I'm nervous."
"Why's that, love?"
"Well for starters, the general has already tried to kill you once. I can't have you dead." Kaz presses a kiss to her lips, savoring her.
"I'm not going to die. I promise you that." Anya hums, pressing one more kiss to his lips. She touches his forehead into his, taking a deep breath. "You ready?" Anya nods and the two walk out the door.
🃑🃑🃑
The group walked into the streets, heading towards the skiff. They get into line, Jesper in front, heading towards the checkpoint. Jesper unfolds his paper and hands them to the man. The man looks them over, looking back up at Jesper.
"I know. I look amazing for my age."
"Well, I thought you looked older." Jesper lets out a pained laugh. Anya suppresses a chuckles, Kaz nods at the man before continuing on. The crowd goes silent and they turn around. Alina walks out of the tent, her body covered in a black cloak. It fell to the ground, covering her from the feet up, wrapping around her neck, hiding the stags antlers, pressed into her skin.
