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CHAPTER ONE: WELCOME TO HELLSHOW
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"I DON'T LIKE THIS."
"Please, Savni darling, tell me something I don't already know."
Savni had spent a grand total of thirty days as an official member of the Crows. She even had their crow and cup tattoo on her inner forearm, much to the bemusement of her boss when she sought him out for it a week in. She had spent thirty days under the thumb of Kaz Brekker, clashing with Death, one of the newest friends she'd made, more times than she cared for as she patched up the wounds He inflicted on the others. Her friends of the living kind, as she called them. The way Savni saw it, if she was going to hit rock bottom, she was going to make the most of it. Nevertheless, she was no fool, despite what Kaz believed. Breaking into Hellgate was a wound that even Savni wasn't sure she could heal if it came down to it. And if there was one thing that ran true, it was the knowledge that Savni was tired of surrendering control.
"Kaz dearest, you don't understand," she said, the vaguest hint of panic creeping into her voice as Muzzen guided the rowboat further away from the harbour and closer to the island of Terrenjel, where Hellgate and the most wicked resided. "I really don't like this."
Kaz frowned. Or maybe he glared at her. With only the dim light of Hellgate's lanterns glowing in the distance, it was hard for Savni to differentiate between the usual expressions of distrust and distaste he reserved just for her. Savni darling and Kaz dearest were polar opposites. It seemed Kaz dearest was already running out of patience.
"I told you to stay back at the Slat," he grumbled, keenly aware that they weren't alone. "Did you listen to me?"
"When do I ever listen to you?" she rolled her eyes. "And it's not wrong for me to change my mind!"
"No," Kaz agreed. "Just infuriating."
Opposite them, Nina sat with her head in her hands, neither disappointed nor surprised to hear them arguing again. In the thirty wretched days Savni had spent alongside them, Kaz had seemingly decided it was his mission to remind her just what she'd signed up for. By all means, he had no problem with the deal they'd struck. Rare were the occasions where Dirtyhands regretted his decisions, as it wasn't an entirely stupid idea to have a Healer on hand with what laid in wait for them. But something about it being Savni Brennan, with time, seemed to grate on his nerves.
"Lower your veils, would you?" he directed at both her and Nina, who was doing her best to keep her silk blue veil of the Lost Bride costume from flying away with the midnight breeze. In truth, Savni wasn't sure why Kaz had given them the costumes of the Komedie Brute to wear. She just knew the mesh ribbon that looped around the base of her neck was starting to irritate her skin, and Kaz was about to pay the price for it. "That means you too, Brennan."
She huffed, yanking the veil over her head with more force than necessary, but it got the point across. "Sir, yes, sir."
Kaz rolled his eyes and glared again. In other words, his expression stayed the same.
