The Love of a Crow - Wesper/Crows Fanfiction/AU

29. Inej

A/N: Hello, fellow Grishaverse addicts. I will be honest with you, this chapter may be slightly boring, but it gets tense after this, so hold onto your books and chocolate and let's go! 

  "Well, well, it seems none of you understand the meaning of the phrase 'Be downstairs in five minutes', but please, enlighten me on how I can make myself clearer!" Kaz snapped as all five of them entered the Crow Room.

Kaz had been in a bad mood ever since Inej had first seen him at 4 bells in the morning (their usual meeting time), and Inej could only guess why. She had been relieved of her Wraith jobs for the night so she could have a rare dose of sleep, and she assumed that was when Kaz slept as well, but by the looks of his harsh purple bags that stuck out more than usual then maybe that was not the case. Either way, his mood seemed to be lost on the other four, who all looked guilty of something.

As they all settled down on the various sofas and armchairs littering the room, Nina pulled Inej aside.

"You will never guess what a night it's been!" Nina squealed excitedly.

"Nina, as much as I love hearing about you and Matthias's love life, that might be taking it a bit too far-"

"No, not me!"

"Then..."

Nina's smile was that of a wolf's. "Well, let's just say that Wylan's bed was quite empty this morning!" She whispered.

Inej cast a glance at Wylan. He was sitting upright on a sofa, fidgeting with his hands and failing to hide a blush that was not going away. And next to him, looking as relaxed as ever, though a little bit tired, was none other than Jesper.

"No. Way." She exclaimed. "You think they actually did It?!"

"Apparently not, but Matthias and I literally saw them leaving the same room. Either way, they seem to be as thick as thieves now. Isn't it brilliant?!"

Wylan and Jes. It was brilliant. Two of her Crows, her inner circle, were growing into something more, and it should have been something to celebrate at that moment... if there wasn't a seed of darkness in Inej's mind. The murky-green colour of jealousy.

All Saints, she should have been over the moon that Jesper had found someone to be with that didn't reside at a bar table, but it still didn't dispute the fact that they had gotten there first. How long had they known each other; two, maybe three months? Inej had known Kaz for years and still-

Wraith, stop thinking before your words become poison!

Wait. The voice in her head was right. What was she thinking? How could she even dare fantasise the idea of being in a relationship with Kaz when neither even had the guts to call the other more than a friend. Besides, it wasn't the right time, and maybe it never would be. So for now she would enjoy Wylan and Jesper's inevitable happiness as they relished in the thing Inej could never have.

"Are you two fish-wives done gossiping over there or do I need to send you down to the docks?" Kaz awoke her from her trance.

Nina rolled her eyes. "Ok, ok, important meeting, top secret, blah, blah blah. Honestly Brekker, come up with something original for once!" She said as she flopped down next to Matthias, whilst Inej perched next to Kaz, not daring to meet his gaze. He didn't try either.

"So what's this about?" Matthias asked.

Kaz took a deep breath that only Inej could hear. "We have a lead on Scale's next appearance."

"Already?" Wylan exclaimed. "Isn't that... I dunno, don't you think he's rushing into things?"

"He has no choice. Scales is only a second away from losing the investments from Van Eck, and if anything, no matter how big or small, goes wrong then Van Eck will have no choice but to pull out. I figured we could kill two birds with one stone."

"And how would we do that?" Nina said.

Kaz smirked. "We kill Scales right in front of Van Eck's eyes."

The plan was simple, really. When broken down into tiny, tiny pieces.

From the information Inej had picked up around the Barrel, Scales was having a meet-up with some of his main sponsors, and though none of the gossipers knew Van Eck was properly involved, they all suspected a Merchant was buying in somehow. It didn't matter the investor; secrets like these all came at the same price, and that was a high one.

From what Kaz had told them about Van Eck's behaviour (and a few quiet and reluctant hints from Wylan), Van Eck didn't like to act too drastically. Well, at least in person. So he wouldn't dare show up to the meeting at the Exchange, which was once again open for the business of shadow-trading and life-ending. Scales would have bought the place dry, meaning guards would be at all of the exits.

That was when the Crows came in. Scales would arrive first, and as Van Eck's men arrived Inej would kill his snipers and his guards at the South and West exits. Nina, Kaz and Matthias would wait by the North and East exits for Van Eck's men to arrive, and once they were in they would seal off the entrances and kill Van Eck's guards.

"But doesn't that ruin the whole point of the mission?" Jesper said confusedly. "I thought we wanted to keep Van Eck's men alive so they could watch Scales die!"

"Patience, Jesper," Kaz snapped.

Jesper was, in fact, correct. The main representative and his guards that were meeting Scales in the middle of the Exchange would be kept alive to watch Scales be sniped. Once the South and West exits were clear Jesper would climb up the wall and wait for the signal to fire, which would be a small, relatively silent flash bomb set of by Wylan when he saw from his post that the coast was clear.

It was a good plan. As risky as a tightrope net and about as sturdy as the tightrope itself, but it was genius, though Inej would never say that to Kaz out loud. It required focus; one wrong move could trigger a whole chain of events that could end up with their covers blown, and it was essential Van Eck never found out the Crows were involved, or he would be on their backs more than he already was.

"Alright, that's about everything," Kaz finished, casting an unseen glance at Inej to check he hadn't missed out anything. She responded with a small shake of her head. That pleased him. "Any more questions?"

Nobody moved until one Heartrender hand shot up.

"Yes, Zenik?" Kaz said impatiently.

"Exactly why did you need to tell us this at the brink of dawn?" Nina questioned.

"It wouldn't matter what time I did it, you'd still be in bed either way!" Kaz snarled. "Be ready in a couple of bells time, we leave before sunset."

Kaz walked out and Inej slipped out as well, grabbing his arm, trying to ignore the slight bristle against her touch.

"How confident are you that this will work?"

"Confident enough that I hope to have a snake's head mounted on my wall, not confident enough that I haven't made space for the mount yet." He shrugged.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to send Wylan out there? Scales may be out of the game but Van Eck certainly isn't, and if one of his men recognizes him-"

"That won't happen." Kaz interrupted firmly. "I won't let that happen."

They stared into each other's dark eyes and Inej found herself believing him, though the odds seemed to always be out of their favour.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Kaz. For all our sakes." She whispered.

"So do I, Inej. So do I." 

A/N: Ayyyyeee, they have a plan (and some conveniently-placed Kanej angst). I hope you enjoyed, have a good day/night! :)