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CHAPTERFOUR; ace was dead
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a/n: i don't normally put this up here, but just wanted to say, the chapter changed a bit because i decided to remember the crucial detail that ace has chains welded to her.
KAZ NEVER THOUGHT THE DAY would come when he allowed a six-year-old boy to order him around—yet here he was. The little person had tried to grab his hand and had promptly backed up when Kaz narrowed his eyes at him, but not before making a face of utter disbelief.
"You're rude, Mister Bastard," he told Kaz, "My mum says being polite brings good things."
Resisting the urge to smash his own head against the wall, having to deal with six children already in a graveyard for days, Kaz spoke tightly, "I don't care what your mother might say, I need you to take me to A—Bela."
The boy's eyes widened and he nodded. "Bela is hurt bad, Mister Bastard."
"Then take me to her."
The boy frowned at Kaz but started walking fast out of the alleyway anyway. Kaz put his mask back on his face and followed the boy through the maze of the Fifth Harbor until they reached the end of it, where there were no boats docked in place, and the stone ground of the harbor melted into the sand to meet the ocean.
"Ciara! I got the Bastard!" the boy shouted as he ran forward, and Kaz's eyes fell on a girl, who couldn't be older than thirteen-years-old, sitting on the ground with Ace's head on her lap.
Kaz's steps faltered for a moment, his heart-stopping. Ace's acrobat suit was barely intact, barely keeping her covered; she was drenched from the water of the ocean and blood, she seemed thinner, her skin as pale as he'd ever seen it, a gash on her stomach, its stitches ripped, and chains attached to her hands and ankles; but the worst part was that she wasn't moving. She lay limp in the girl's arms, as Ciara patted her face and called her name, telling her he was there.
Walking hurriedly towards them, and taking off his mask, Kaz dropped to his knees next to Ace, not caring in the slightest about the pang that shot through his leg. He reached for her face, and even through the leather he felt how cold her skin felt—her lips were parted and nearly blue, and her black lashes fanned across her cheeks unmoving. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he shifted her body, laying her head on his lap, ignoring the two kids hovering around him, "Ace?"
His eyes snapped to the cuffs around her wrists for a split second, and his blood boiled at the sight of the welded metal with no lock and the red scratched skin around them—she must've sawm even in her state, otherwise, she could've drowned with the weight of the chains. Kaz brushed her hair out of her face, and spoke again, his voice hoarse, "Misery?"
