Calloused Hearts

Chapter - 2

By the time you'd gotten back to the Slat, you were sure you were going to faint. Kaz must've noticed too, because he muttered "Wait here," before shoving through the crowd of the Slat with cold fury emanating from his eyes. The drinkers and gamblers made way to give a wide berth to him; no one messed with the Bastard when he's mad.

You couldn't fight the fear you felt as everyone stared at you. Anyone that wanted to pick a fight, could easily do so. Just as you started regretting following Kaz, he re-emerged with a rather confused looking Inej.

"Get her to Nina," Kaz ordered.

Inej just stared at him, mouth slightly agape. "What?" It was clear she didn't know who you were, and for some reason, the revelation hurt you more than the bullet wound in your side.

"Get her to Nina" Kaz hissed through gritted teeth, looking over his shoulder for eavesdroppers, "Now. Before there's another bleeding idiot on the floor." He was glaring at Inej, jaw set, expression as cold as ever. You almost smiled, something about the way Kaz ordered her made you feel like things might go back to normal. But who were you kidding? You'd done more than enough damage to Kaz. It would be devilish of you to expect something of that sort.

Inej gave Kaz one last look before she was at your side, one hand slipped around your waist as the other pulled your arm over her shoulders. She looked back to Kaz "You have a lot of explaining to do," she said, before she carefully guided you upstairs. With having no reason to stay awake anymore, your eyes fluttered shut.

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Kaz couldn't sit, or stay still, his mind was racing a hundred miles per hour and he wanted to kill someone from the frustration of not being able to control his thoughts. It wasn't until he felt Inej's presence behind him, and people barging their way through his door that he stopped pacing. He whipped around pointing a finger at the 3 boys behind him.

"I didn't give any of you permission," Kaz seethed. There was no point in getting mad at Inej, she'd do the same thing again.

"He's mad," whispered Wylan.

"And you," Kaz pointed to Inej, "You told them?" he nearly yelled.

"Very clearly," whispered Matthias in response to the younger boy's earlier question.

"I had to Kaz! Everyone saw you bring her in!" Inej stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"And bringing in someone who no one else knows, that none of us know "Jesper pointed to the 4 of them, "is not very," he paused, his face scrunched up in thought, "...Kaz-y" he said finally with a satisfied smirk.

Kaz glared. He was not in the mood to deal with them right now. "It's none of your business. Send her up here once Nina heals her," he said to no one in particular. He walked over to his desk, taking off his coat and slinging it over the back of his chair. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, before sitting down. He sent one last glare towards his Crows, enough to send the boys running, but Inej stood her ground, unfazed by Kaz's moods.

"You care about her don't you?" Inej said. Her tone caught Kaz off guard; it was soft. Kaz froze. He didn't know. Did he? He didn't want to....right?

He huffed, unable to form a sentence before finally "Get out," fell from his lips. His voice cracked. He hated this. Inej sighed, before she slipped out of his room. Kaz leaned back in his chair. This was going to be harder than he thought.

They'd stolen an entire box of toffees, sprinting down alleyway after alleyway, Kaz keeping up at remarkable speed as he started getting used to his cane. They ducked into a dilapidated building, hoping it would confuse the shopkeeper and throw him off their scent. No child hid in an old run-down building, right?