Crows of a Feather

Lying Lions

Kaz

Stressed. That's what he was, stressed. Kaz racked his mind for any hint of a plan on getting through the fold. With only hours to spare he needed to focus, and Inej wasn't helping. " what was that? Hmm? You want to tell me?" The suli girl said as she stood in front of him, she kept her voice low, not wanting to wake Erine who had curled up in one of the desk chairs taking a much-needed nap. Kaz had to admit that there were times when he was perhaps too reckless when it came to enlisting Erine, he constantly had to remind himself that no matter how capable she was, she was still a child. She wasn't like him, able to go days without sleeping driven by pure spite, even with her horrid background she wasn't like him. Not exactly. And Kaz wasn't sure if he liked that or not.

" you have to be more specific" he responded in an even quieter tone, not bothering to look up from his paper of contacts, still searching for his desired answer. " it was one thing when we had a week to find a way across the Fold. but sunrise? We have to say no" . 'never' he thought, Kaz Brekker was never a man to say no to a job, that wasn't how you got anywhere in the Barrel, didn't she know that? Did she think he got the name Dirtyhands from saying no?"No" " No to the job?" Inej asked hopefully, she didn't get it. No one seems to. " No to saying No" "We can't go!" Inej yelled, the wraith never yelled, it was unlike her. Always composed, always put together, that was the Wraith he knew. But Inej, Inej was an enigma to Kaz, like a magic trick he hadn't yet mastered. Inej was someone who kept him up at night trying to figure her out, and every time he thought he found her trick, she would show him a new one.

Kaz briefly glanced at the chair that held Erine, silently hoping she would stay asleep long enough for him to figure out a plan without any more distractions, but after Inej's outburst, he wasn't sure. If she was awake she hid it well. " can't we?" he snapped back, testing her the only way he knew how. Inej shrugged her sleeve and held her wrist to his face. There, in the same spot as the numbers on Erine's wrist, was the luxurious peacock feather of the Menagerie. That feather is what bound the girl in front of him to a life worse than the barrel, one that bound her to a monster, Tante Heleen. " I can't go" Her voice had lost its volume, it mixed with despair and revenge. Which one was stronger, Kaz wasn't sure, but he hated the sound of it. " you will. I have a plan" Oh how he lied, he would lie over and over again to her. And he hated that.

" No you don't," the wraith said dropping her arm. " Inej!" " I know you enough to know when you're still figuring things out. And you don't know how to pull off this job" she cut him off. Anger that's what he felt, at her, he didn't think so. Anger towards what little faith she seemed to have in him, doubtful. But maybe at the fact that he had slipped enough to let one more person through his labyrinth of walls. He already let Erine in too much, he wasn't going to risk Inej as well. He stared at her with his harsh signature glare, one that turned grown men into little boys, but she didn't falter. " I still have six hours, and right now, you aren't helping." she matched his tone "Maybe you crack a way across, but that doesn't solve this problem does it!" flinging her wrist. Once again Kaz was mocked by the feather, for what he wasn't yet able to do.

That was it, that was all it took for the Bastard to fully snap at his Wraith " If I can't crack this, no one's going." " If you do?" He shot his head towards her " Then maybe you stay here!" he all but screamed. They both stared at each other, breaths battling the other for air. The silence was unbearable. It was the wraith who spoke first " Maybe I won't be here when you get back" she said as she hastily walked towards the window, not bothering to bid farewell to Erine. That when Dirtyhands knew he messed up, he needed her by his side if he was going to pull off this job. " Inej! Inej!" he limped after her towards the window, but she was already gone.

Focusing on the job at hand the boy returned to his desk, softly patting the sleeping girl on the head once, a thing he found himself doing more and more often. But he couldn't think about that.