Katerina Petrova was on the run and had to hide her past. But among thieves and murderers, did that really matter? All that mattered to Kaz Brekker was whether or not his prized grisha was up for the job. He didn't ask questions and that's what made...
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━━kaz did not complain as katerina petrova dragged him like a rag doll. he could only watch as her nostrils flared and her breathing became uneven. she looked almost beautiful.
when they arrived at their shared room — more like an office with a bed rather than a room — he went to his makeshift desk and looked for something. she released her grip on him and he moved towards the table. "i've got a job for you," he said as he flipped through the previous day's figures. each sheet would go into his memory with barely a glance. "what would you say to four million kruge?"
katerina didn't answer and kaz looked up, wondering why she wasn't asking what kind of job it was or when can they get started, but he regretted it easily. she leaned against the door, staring directly at him, her arms folded on top of her chest. her dress.
she loved her dresses more than she loved anything, really. it was a black dress — all of her dresses were black — that was far too short for someone that lived in the barrel. her hair was damp, bringing out the curls katerina often tried hiding. black hair. black eyes. black dress.
"money like that is more curse than gift," katerina eventually relented. the way she spoke, the way her shoulders tensed and relaxed, made kaz think she knew what it was like. to have that kind of money. but then he reminded himself, why would she leave that kind of life to live in ketterdam?
"my little idealist. all you need is a full belly and an open road?" he said, the mockery clear in his voice. he looked back down at his desk, pretending he was looking for something. because if he was not looking at his desk, pretending to be busy, kaz would be looking at her.
no response came from katerina and kaz rolled his eyes. how hard is it to have a conversation with this woman? he thought as he looked up and noticed she was heading towards the bedroom. kaz was about to voice his annoyance when his breath hitched when she took off her dress.
"and an easy heart, kaz," katerina spoke as though she did not just strip. as though if she were not wearing undergarments kaz would see her bare. "believe it or not, i do have a heart."
he attempted to laugh, he wasn't sure if it came out as he had hoped. kaz kept his eyes averted, shuffling a stack of papers into a pile on the desk as katerina stripped out of her bra, her back to him. "no hopes of that. i'd rather have the cash. do you want the money or not?"
katerina entered the office, wearing a new dress. it looked far more comfortable that the latter. it almost looked like a large shirt on top of her. jesper had given it to her a year before, kaz remembered. he rolled his eyes before standing up, it was now his turn to change. "you're not in the business of giving gifts. what's the job? and what are the odds?"
"an impossible job, near certain death, terrible odds, but should we scrape it..." he paused, fingers on the buttons of his waistcoat, his look distant, almost dreamy. it was rare that katerina heard such excitement in his raspy voice.
"should we scrape it?" she prompted.
he grinned at her, his smile sudden and jarring as a thunderclap, his eyes the near-black of bitter coffee. "we'll be kings and queens, katerina. kings and queens."
"hmm," she said noncommittally, pretending to examine the room, determined to ignore that grin. kaz looked up and saw her expression, it was the words 'king' and 'queen' that threw off guard like that. and if he wasn't watching her the way he was, he would have missed her muttering, "being king and queen isn't all it's made to be."
━━katerina was always says things like that. "money isn't all it's made to be," she said once, when the two of them were staring at the ceiling as they lay on their bed, about a feet apart.
kaz had laughed, thinking she was joking, but when katerina said nothing in return, he scoffed. "how would you know? have you ever had enough money to just carelessly throw it away? to not even care how much something is before buying it?"
"have you ever bought something in your life?" katerina teased and kaz rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at her. but he noticed how swiftly she dodged the question. how would you know?
━━"how long will we be gone?" katerina asked, darting a glance at him through the open doorway. their eyes met for a brief moment before kaz shucked off his leather gloves and dipped a cloth in the wash basin.
"a few weeks, maybe a month," he said as he ran the wet cloth under his arms and the hard planes of his chest, water trickling down his torso. it was petty but he wanted payback for her just stripping out of her dress out of nowhere.
kaz often wondered if he had the same effect on her as she has on him. he stole a glance at her, cheeks tainted and eyes on anything but him, and he held back a laugh.
"a month?" she said. "are you sure you should be leaving with the black tips so riled up?"
he didn't even wonder how she knew about the black tips, kaz was willing to bet that inej told her. inej always told her. "this is the right gamble. speaking of which, round up inej, jesper, and muzzen. i want them here by dawn. and i'll need wylan waiting at the crow club tomorrow night."
katerina's eyebrows furrowed. "wylan? if you're thinking of using him as—"
"just do it. this isn't an assignment, katerina. it's a job for you to take or leave as you see fit." take the job. i don't know how i'll do this without you.
he finished with his buttons, pulled on a charcoal waistcoat, and tossed her something. it flashed in the air, and she caught it with one hand. when she opened her fist, she saw a massive ruby tie pin circled by golden laurel leaves.
"ask inej to fence it," kaz said.
"whose is it?"
"ours now."
"whose was it?"
kaz stayed quiet. he picked up his coat, using a brush to clean the dried mud from it. "someone who should have thought better before he had me jumped."
"van eck jumped you?"
he looked up and tilted his eyes. what was the point of asking me who owns it if you knew? he wanted to ask. i don't get you, kaz wanted to say. not anymore. he used to think he could read her just like everyone else, but for the past few weeks something changed. "you heard me."
"maybe if you let me come with you, they wouldn't have even thought about going near you." or you could have gotten hurt too.
he looked at her and nodded once. "it won't happen again," kaz promised. kaz pulled on a clean pair of gloves, snapped up his walking stick, and headed out the door. "we're going to visit a certain heartrender. ask inej to move the dekappel we lifted from van eck's house to the vault. i think it's rolled up under my bed. oh, and put in an order for a new hat."
katerina rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "please."
he heaved a sigh as she already started walking down the stairs, to tell inej's room. "please, my darling katerina, treasure of my heart, won't you do me the honour of doing everything i asked?
his response was her middle finger and the sound of inej's door creaking.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ D SPEAKS !
im so sorry this is short but nina is in the next chapter yall !!!
edit: i just realized the chapter title used to be "katerina" rather than kaz whoops
