The crow and the beast - Kaz brekker

chapter 23 - when 2 stubborn people bump heads

"Kaz this is to dangerous, we cannot do this job" Cara was standing on the opposite side of his desk glaring at him.

everybody had quickly left after kaz had agreed on taking the job without saying anything but Cara knew. She knew this was suicide.

When he did not lift his head up from his paperwork Cara continued.

"kaz, you are insane. there are at least 10 shifters and from the looks of it all the same animal you know what that means right? Right?!"

still no answer.

"Kaz, let me give you a lesson on shifters right here and now! Both parents need to be shifters before they can produce children that can shift, the children can have either animal of the parents. We have been hunted to near extinction so please tell me you can put the pieces together kaz."

Kaz still did not look up from his papers.

"Kaz that means they are one of the crazy families! They reproduce trough incest! These people are absolutely crazy! This is way to dangerous! They cannot be reasoned with and you cannot predict them! are you even listening to me?!"

finally kaz lifted his head from his desk and stood op. he was angry.

"that's enough! You are one of my crows, and you know what?! I am the boss of those crows so you will do as I say! This deal was way to good to pass up on! Do you know what 20 million kruge could mean to us?!"

Cara wasn't backing down. "so its all about the kruge?! You are risking everybody's life for money?! Is that all we are worth to you?! Are we nothing more than your investments?! I do not agree with this kaz!"

Kaz glared at her. "we will dot his with or without you."

That's it Cara had enough. She stormed behind him and packed some clothes in a bag.

"and where do you think you are going?" kaz said suddenly very aware of the situation.

"my old room, I need some time alone to think" she left everything else here knowing she couldn't stay mad at him for long but right now she did not want to be in his presence.

She could see the hurt on his face when she left but he did not say anything else. She locked her own door behind her and hoped he did not have a spare key. She sat on her bed. this job was going to get them all killed.

There was to much adrenaline running through her system to get some sleep now she decided to go for a run instead. She opened her window and climbed out. The streets of ketterdam were filled with people.

she shifted to her small wolf and took a walk among them. she did not have a destination so instead she wandered around the city.

some dregs recognized her and greeted her by nodding their head and she always politely nodded back.

In the distance she saw a small child drop his dog toy while following his parents through the streets. The little child did not notice he dropped it until they were way further down the street but started crying when he did notice.

Cara quickly picked up the little toy and trotted towards the family, nudging the mother with her nose to get attention and putting the dog's toy on the ground. The little boy immediately took its toy. "thank you doggy" The mother smiled at her.

Cara turned around and started her walk again, thinking back to kaz. he could be such a stubborn person. She shook her head, trying to get him out of her head as she walked on.

She saw jesper and wylan in the distance. She trotted up tot hem but did not shift back. When she got close she walked towards them. "look jesper, what a pretty dog you are." Wylan walked up to Cara and pet her on her head.

Jesper of course immediately knew that she was not just a dog and he burst out laughing. Cara sat down curling her tail around her paws. Wylan was still petting her on the head so she let out a low growl so he would stop, which he immediately did.

"oh you are not such a nice dog" Wylan said as he pulled back his hand which made jesper laugh even more. when he regained himself a bit he spoke. "wylan that's Cara" Wylan immediately put his hand in front of his mouth.

"are you taking a walk to Cara?" she nodded at jesper. "so I guess kaz is taking the job anyway right?" of course jesper knew she had tried to talk some sense into the bastard of the barrel. They had exchanged looks in the meeting that said more than words could at that moment.

Cara nodded her head again. Both jesper and wylan let out a sign. Cara motioned them to follow her and they walked to a dark alley where Cara shifted back to human.

"wylan, do you have anything that can produce a high frequency?" Wylan thought for a moment and then nodded. "bring it, it will disorient the shifters." Jesper tilted his head. "won't that affect you to?"

Cara nodded. "yes but I can take it, jesper when you shoot them shoot for kill. Straight for the heart. We cannot leave them alive. And please tell nina that her powers won't do much to them once they have shifted, tell her to try and immobilize some of them while they are still human"

Jesper and wylan both nodded, understanding the assignment. Cara hugged them both before shifting back into a wolf and running off. She walked back to the slat and jumped on top of the room to get back into her room. It was passed midnight by now so she took a comfortable shirt and sweatpants out of her bag and changed into them before heading to bed. The bed felt empty but there was no way she was giving in because of an empty bed.

the next morning she was awakened by yelling downstairs. She did not even need to think who it was. She changed into an outfit and walked downstairs as if kaz was not yelling at every dreg who has ever done something he did not agree with.

She walked straight by him, he stopped yelling once he saw her, she made herself a coffee and drank it up quickly. She knew fully well that kaz was staring at her the whole time, trying to get her attention. She was not falling for it and when she finished her coffee she turned her back to him and walked out.

she could hear him start yelling again before she was at the end of the street.

She went straight to the forest clearing, greeting her horses when they came to her. she was grateful that her little herd could fend for themselves, eating grass all day long and drinking water from the small stream at the edge of the clearing.

Elvis seemed a little sad that kaz was not with her, she knew that kaz was his favorite person. She sat down in the middle of the clearing, enjoying the sun that had peeked above the trees. She looked around the clearing, it was so nice and quiet.

if she were to ever live outside of ketterdam this would be the place, she could imagine a house at the edge of the clearing, a stable at the other end. Maybe a kennel with some guard dogs for the property. yea that could be a nice future the said to herself.

It was already dark outside when she went back to the slat, kaz was not downstairs so Cara guessed he was already up in his room. She got herself something to eat and then went to her room where she changed into something comfortable. She took a book she was reading about herbs and their properties while she sat in her bed.

She did not know how much time has passed when she first started hearing the voice but she had fallen asleep with the book on her face and immediately jumped upright. She looked around but there was nobody in her room.

She listened closely. "no, don't please" she could hear it softly. It was kaz. she was still angry at the man but she couldn't get it over her heart to just go back to sleep. So she got out of bed and took the spare key he had given her to his room.

She quietly made her way towards his room and opened it. "leave her alone" she quickly made her way towards his bed. Kaz was sweating hard, fighting his own blankets.

"kaz, wake up." she whispered. But he was fast asleep. "kaz wake up, you are having a nightmare." She tried again but still the man did not wake. "screw it." She got on the bed to reach him and touched his shoulder.

"kaz wake up." he shot upright with a gasp almost headbutting her in the process but she was fast enough to pull her head out of the way.

he looked around and looked frightened. "you're okay, you just had a nightmare. You were talking in your sleep." Cara said to him. his eyes landed on her and for a moment she saw relief in his eyes.

then his eyes got hard again and Cara knew it was a mistake coming here. She got off the bed and was halfway out of his room before she heard him again. "Stay" she turned back to the bed and saw he had moved so he was sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I'm sorry" Cara was taken aback. The kaz brekker had just apologized to her. instead of opening the door to leave she locked it again with the key and made her way back towards him.

"you are not an investment, I did not mean ... its just .." Cara sat on the bed next to him. "I understand, I should not have screamed at you either." He looked at her.

"what was the nightmare about?" kaz looked at his lap. He said it so softly she barely heard it. "I lost you and there was nothing I could do about it." Cara held out her hand with the palm up inviting him to place his hand in it if he felt okay with it.

His hand trembled but he placed it in hers anyway. "I am here" she said.

"so what is the plan for tomorrow" kaz let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He did not know if Cara would even still help them with the job but was to stubborn to tell her that without her it really was suicide.

He took his cane and walked over to his desk where he had a map. Cara followed him and stood next to him. "we will get 2 caravans from the town. Normally they would be empty but wylan said he is making a device that we can put inside of them to help us. He and jesper will be inside the caravans ready to turn those on. Nina and Matthias will be driving the rear caravan. Inej will be on a horse behind them, she will try to outrun them and throw knives. I was hoping you would be with me in the drivers seat of the first caravan but I wasn't sure.."

Cara took his hand again. "I will be right there next to you"

AN: i felt like i had a little more in me today, i would like to thank everybody that has been following the story, there are definetly some reoccurring names in my notifications. i know kaz might be a little out of character, he is fighting his trauma hard for Cara. as a writer it is hard to write what is going on inside his head because wel .. its kaz.. i would like to clarify that he still had his bad days but he is fighting to be a better man for her.