𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 | 𝐒𝐨𝐂

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍.

xvii: home sweet home

"We're here,"

Natasha Van Doren turned, sweat glistening on her brow. Her torso was wrapped in silks, from a shirt fashioned from one of Kaz Brekker's black waistcoats. She only ever wore black now - it made Kaz sick to his stomach.

But now they were here - mounting dry land, Natasha's clammy palm draped over Alessia's shoulder as they staggered down the gangplank. An astronomical canvas glid across the spectral sky - stars wreathed in animal constellations.

Inej walked wordlessly beside Kaz as Jesper and Wylen raced down the meandering streets, their feet drumming against the familiar ground. "How are you?" The Wraith asked, furrowing a single black brow. In her hand was his cane. Inej handed it over gingerly.

She wasn't necessitating an answer, not proposing the kickstart of an uncomfortable conversation. Kaz Brekker burned to ignore the shadowed presence beside himself. "We're home," Inej murmured, she hadn't moved, yet her voice violated the personal space encompassing him.

His thoughts were cataclysmic, rampaging, draining in his mind - Kaz couldn't make sense of any of it. "I can see that," Kaz Brekker said coolly, buttoning up his long wool coat and thrusting his hands into the deep pockets.

When he was a kid, Kaz wished he was invisible. First, it was to slip away from thieves, quandaries and assassination endeavours. Now he didn't care where he went or why. He just wanted to be alone. However, trouble never seemed to shake itself away from the Crows.

"I need you to pass through the menagerie, Wraith," Kaz Brekker spoke naturally. "Information transaction, you can turn our acquaintance of maturing Ravkan weaponry - Kerch and Zemeni ambassadors will eat that out of your hand. If anyone asks where we were, I have an alibi in Noyvi Zem. I had Jesper gamble for several Jurda packs. It'll fund the Crow club for a good month."

For the first time, Kaz Brekker could hear Inej Ghafa's steps beside him - feather-light - yet, in his ears, it still reverberated like mourners' bells. "I'm here, Kaz," Inej said, placing her fingertips on the sleeve of his jacket. "Alessia can dispense with the financial affairs. Jesper and Wylen will be back soon too. You don't have to agonise about this now,"

But he did, to stop himself from crashing down into a pile of bones with Ketterdam as his spectator. Dirtyhands did not rest. He saw through the rough work. "Move Van Doren to the safe house on East Stave - she'll be comfortable there. I had it rehabilitated before I left with the funds from the Ice court heist,"

Inej nodded, her footfalls silent again. She sprinted forward, using her momentum as purchase to surmount a trench pipe, shifting through the rooftops. However, it was as if she was still there, policing him from every angle. Tonight it didn't bring succour. It made Kaz's skin crawl.

"Brekker," Alessia called. Kaz unsheathed two pistols, striding forward with cobblestones crunching beneath the rubber soles of his combat boots. He kept a secure grip on the arch of his weighted cane, the beak of a crow boring into the centre of his gloved palm.

Ivanov rolled her eyes, and Kaz shoved his weapons back into the hidden pockets of his coat. It was similar to a Grisha kefta - bulletproof and riddled with openings and tricks Kaz was yet to obsess over - not ornamented with elaborate illustrations and delicate pearls. It was thick black wool - a handsome homage to his already monochrome aesthetic.

"Put those things away, and open the door," Her shoulder sagged beneath the dead weight of a scarcely alive Natasha Van Doren. She was taller than Ivanov, the side of her head resting against the top of her hair. "My knees are about to collapse,"

He undid his coat, extracting a key laced on a twist of silver weathered ribbons from around his neck. Kaz tucked it back unceremoniously, tossing the gold key into Alessia's open palm. "You're to stay with her for every breathing moment. I don't care if the hells open or the providences begin to chant hymns, you stay - is that clear?"

Alessia nodded before rotating the key hard in the lock, the door inaudibly grating open. Kaz entered several paces behind them, guarding the door to make sure it bolted behind them both.

The room was dim-lit, electrical lamps and candelabras accumulated on the mantle. Two black couches crowded into the corner, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. They were all impulsive buys, down to the red rug and assortment of unperishable preserved food on the coffee table.

"There's a toilet and shower through that door," Kaz rasped, pointing down the corridor. Using his cane, he rapped against a professedly continuous wall, a metal staircase plunging from the ceiling - propelling up dust. "Only for emergencies. It leads to the roof. The Wraith will come by tonight, directing you through the evacuation process,"

Ivanov nodded approvingly as she eased a blanket across Natasha. "Thank you, Kaz," Alessia said decisively, keeping her hands behind her back. Dirtyhands looked over at the inanimate figure dreaming on his sofa, her head propped up with crocheted pillows. "Thank you for bringing her home,"

"She'd have found her way back here," Kaz shrugged. For once, Natasha looked at peace, eyes shut and lashes fluttering. "Ketterdam has a way of doing that, claiming what she believes is hers,"

Alessia grinned, sweeping the hair out of her eyes. Kaz remarked how distressed she looked. Even tailoring couldn't hide the weary lines on her face. "Queen of fucking Ravka," Alessia mumbled, smiling softly in Natasha's direction. "I knew she'd do it one day. Nikolai could never keep his eyes off her,"

Kaz Brekker's smile grew bitter.

"What matters is that she's here now," Alessia said composedly. A concerned look rose on her face as she shifted back to him. "Genya told me the likelihood of Natasha getting her memories back is near impossible,"

"When has impossible ever stopped us?" Kaz suggested, bidding goodbye and twisting back into the welcoming embrace of Ketterdam's arms.

A/N 

- the crows are finally home! Through the rest of the fic there will be minor heists, none of which I believe are in Six of Crows or Crooked Kingdom. The plot will twist through tension and romance. If you enjoyed please vote and comment! Also go check out my new Tom Riddle fic - His Persephone 

- rosa <33