The Shadow Crow (A Shadow and Bone: Season 2 Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: Breakout

'The bribe she paid you to keep quiet about her next move,' the privateer said, 'in exchange for her next move. I like it. Still, there is the mess of having to fence royal jewels.' He pulled out a stack of kruge.

'Kaz,' Jesper whispered, but Kaz's eyes were on the money alone, occasionally flickering up to meet the eyes of the blonde-haired privateer.

'You both stepped off the Edam tonight. Was she with you then?' Sturmhond asked. 'Is she in town somewhere?' Kaz looked down, then spoke.

'She stayed on the ship to Novyi Zem.' Sturmhond smirked, then turned, dumping the money on the table and grabbing his hat.

'Good luck. Gentlemen. Come, Shadow Summoner.' He turned and walked out the door.

'My name is Adela,' I ground out, casting one last glance at Kaz, before I slipped out the door with the privateer. Kaz stood, hurrying over to the table where the money had been dumped.

'Any help with these?' Jesper quipped blankly, Kaz only casting so much as a glance at him. Then, suddenly, Kaz threw something, which Jesper caught in his hand, looking at the silver coin. 'What am I supposed to do with this?' Kaz only replied with a look. Just then, the door opened, and I stepped through again.

'You two need to get out of here, before the stadwatch comes back.'

'I thought you were going with the privateer,' Kaz replied, his attention still on the contents on the table.

'No. I wasn't. I played the long game. Been here in Ketterdam half the time, waiting for you guys to show up. I only met Sturmhond yesterday.'

'Are you supposed to be with him?' Kaz asked, giving me a pointed look.

'We'll talk about this later,' I snapped, slightly dimming the lights with my shadows.

'You knew,' I heard Jesper say.

'About you being a Durast?' Kaz replied, turning to look at him. 'Your gun misfired in Arken's train. You fixed it without moving. You repaired my cane with no tools.' He limped up to Jesper. 'And when you shoot, you never miss. Of course, I knew.' Jesper stood, unfurling his hand to reveal a key inside of it.

'Let's leave it at that, yeah?' Jesper asked. Kaz simply nodded.

'I've no interest in letting others in on your secret.' He passed Jesper the sack.

'But it's so easy to spill the beans on Alina,' Jesper replied.

'He'd already deduced it,' Kaz said, looking down. 'He knew the name of the ship that we were coming in on. Best we could do is get our money back.'

'And Alina?' Jesper asked.

'What about her?' I shot back. He looked between Kaz and me for a moment.

'She's half a day ahead and he's a pirate. We should warn her. Adela, can't you warn her?'

'No. Alina Starkov is too far gone for me to reach now. I don't have that kind of power. I'm a fugitive just like you guys, remember?'

'How?' Kaz snapped. 'And where do you intend to post a warning? She could be anywhere by now. Adela has a point.'

'First time we're on first name basis, Brekker,' I shot back. 'You finally warming up to me?'

'Not quite,' he said. 'We have enough on our plate here.' Just then the doorknob rattled. Kaz had placed a chair under the doorknob. 'Speaking of - shouldn't you be concentrating?' Jesper turned to work on his handcuffs while Kaz and I hurried to the other side of the room. The shadows began to flicker and swarm around the room. Jesper finally got his cuffs open just as the stadwatch broke into the room. The window was open, and there was no sign of them.