Shedding The Armour | A Kanej Fanfiction

chapter five - promised

Inej heard the bells chime. Kaz should be arriving at any point now. Whilst lounging in her mother's embrace, she frowned, staring at the door, willing Kaz to walk through that door with that beautiful smirk of his.

~

It was an agonisingly slow walk. The Slat was well out of his way so, although Inej was all he had on his mind, he needed to stop at Wylan's mansion for a change of clothes and to talk to him and Jesper.

Ever since Wylan had inherited the house, he had been sleeping there some nights to spend time with them. He missed them all when he was at the Slat; not that he'd ever let them know, otherwise he'd be teased till his deathbed. It was better to use that cold exterior persona of his to avoid talking about how he felt about all of them, including Matthias. They were his family.

But each step he took slowed and slowed until he was walking at a snail's pace. He was losing blood fast and it was staring to show through one of his favourite blazers. His hands were covered in congealing blood, he needed to scrub that off while he was at Wylan's.

Soon, Wylan's mansion was in sight. It brought him a renewed sense of strength to carry on. He began to walk faster and faster, leaning heavily on his cane. The gates swung open in familiarity for him and he walked through the beautiful gardens. He walked straight up to the door and opened it, knowing that Wylan's door was never locked.

He quietly shut the door behind him and he saw Jesper kissing Wylan passionately against the wall in the entrance way, completely oblivious to the fact that Kaz had just walked in. Jesper's hand was tangled in Wylan's curls at the nape of his neck. Kaz waited for a few moments before he found himself saying, "Seems like I caught you both in quite a hard position." He just couldn't resist taunting them both a bit.

It had an immediate effect. They suddenly broke apart: Jesper smiling a crooked smile, looking completely calm as if Kaz had found him in this situation before (which he had). Whereas Wylan looked completely flushed, pink painting the tips of his ears and his shirt buttons undone at the top.

Kaz suppressed a grin and instead let the corner of his mouth curl up a bit.

"Kaz, what are you--" Wylan squeaked.

Before he could finish his high-pitched sentence,. Kaz slumped to the floor against the door.

~

Inej was pacing in the hotel room, anxious about Kaz's whereabouts. This worry was spreading like a parasite in her body. Starting as a pinprick ache in her heart, it spread to her hands as they began to tremble against her will. Her parents looked at her in concern, not fully grasping why she needed to know Kaz was safe at least.

An idea struck; she told her parents that she would be back shortly and walked to the reception counter in the hotel, asking for a messenger to take a note for her. Then began to write.

~

He drifted in and out of consciousness several times, faintly aware of Wylan and Jesper bent over him, distressed at his state. After a while, he awoke fully, the light a sharp contrast to the dark dreams that had haunted him in his unconscious state.

He rubbed his eyes and sat up slowly.

Jesper immediately said to him, "Kaz, I swear to God, tell me what happened to you. Otherwise I'll, I'll--"

"You'll what?"

"I'll," Jesper suddenly smirked as if being enlightened by a great idea. "I won't let you see Inej for a week. You'll have to live without her."

Kaz started. He rasped "Inej."

Jesper rolled his eyes. "Yes we all know. You love Inej. You can't live without her."

Kaz stuttered. "I-- I don't--- I don't love her."

Wylan smiled stood behind Jesper while Jesper merely raised an eyebrow at Kaz.

Kaz promptly shut up. He wasn't going to waste his energy arguing with those two. He wasn't in love with her, he couldnt be, could he? Of course not.

Instead he just continued speaking, "Inej. Inej was taken by Luca Romanoff and his men. They've got her." He added quietly, "They've got my Inej." Kaz felt his heart ache and shatter into pieces at the thought of Inej bound and at the mercy of them.

Jesper looked bewildered. "No. They can't have her."

"What do you mean."

"Well Noddy just brought a note while you were unconscious from Inej asking where you where because she was worried when you didn't come on time. I mean you're always punctual so I'd be worried too if I hadn't known that you were passed out on our sofa in the main living room. She also asked how me and Wylan were doing."

"I know I shouldn't have believed what Luca was saying. I was just so worried for her, especially after what she was like after Van Eck kidnapped her."

"I know Kaz, I know." Wylan sat on the end of the sofa; Jesper followed suit and placed his hand on Kaz's shoulder, ensuring that his hand didn't come into contact with Kaz's skin.

They all sat in silence for a few moments. Until Kaz suddenly said, "Wylan can I go upstairs just to change into a new set of clothes and freshen up. I'm meeting Inej's parents for the first time after all."

Wylan smiled at Kaz. "Of course. You know that this is your home too." Jesper got up so that Kaz could swing himself off.

He trudged up the dark wood stairs and walked into the common bathroom. He washed his face with a scented soap and scrubbed at his hands to get rid of the dried blood stuck in every crevice of his palm. Once he had finished cleaning up, he walked to his so-called bedroom - a room more familiar and homely to him than anything he'd ever known before. He made his way to the huge wardrobe that stood against one of the walls. And although the clothes didn't even fill up most of the space, it was a little known fact about him that he loved deciding what to wear. Even if the majority of what he wore was dark suits, he still subtly paired small details together.

Finally settling on an option, he changed his blood stained clothes into a luxuriously black velvet suit and wore a gold watch to match the thin gold threads in the blazer.

Looking in the mirror, he combed his hair in his usual style and decided that he looked presentable enough to be introduced to Inej's parents.

He traipsed back down, enjoying the smooth feel of the dark stair railing.

Saying goodbye to the two, he walked briskly out of the house towards the hotel where Inej and her parents were.

Quickly, he reached the tall and opulent building. He supposed there was no reason they couldn't spend the money if they had it. Taking a few deep breaths before entering, he started towards the entrance and soon found himself climbing up the stairs. Inej had said they were staying in room 501 so Kaz had to drag his leg up behind him for the latter part of the stairs. A soft lift shone from that room as he neared closer. A quiet voice and Kaz recognised the soft sound of footsteps coming closer to the door and then waking away again as Inej's pacing.

He almost slumped against the door in relief. He had believed Jesper and Wylan in them saying that she was safe they'd never lie for Inej's safety. But he had needed to see for himself, he had needed to be 100% certain that she was there with her parents, he had needed that for the distress in him to dissipate.

Inej's voice lilted in question as if she couldn't really believe he was there. "Kaz?"

Kaz almost smiled; she always knew when he was there.

He didn't go in, not yet but he found himself whispering, "I promised Inej. I promised. I never break my promises. I'll always find you."

Thanks for reading this chapter. Aaaaahhhhh! I can't believe that I've now got more than 100 reads. Tysm!!! I love you all! If you liked the chapter please vote, it would help my story get seen more. If you have any ideas that I can try to incorporate into the storyline or any characters you want to appear in the coming chapters, please comment. I would welcome any suggestions.

~saachiherondalexx