The amount of blood I had to wipe off of my face was absurd. I had a nasty cut on my forehead and a black eye was forming. I patched up what I could but none of it was easily fixed. I followed Kaz down the stairs and across the club floor, heading to Jesper, who was seated at the bar.
Kaz was absolutely fuming. His pace was quick, even with his cane broken, and I had a hard time keeping up. We approached Jesper at the bar, who turned to look at us, eyes widening when he noticed Kaz's disheveled appearance.
'You alright, boss?' Kaz slung back Jesper's shot earning a look of exasperation. Jesper turned to me, probably trying to complain, only to suck in a breath when he saw the cuts and bruises on my face. 'Saints, love, are you alright?'
Jesper reached out and gently held my chin in his hand, turning me to face the light to see the injuries better. I grabbed onto his hand and squeezed it.
'I'm always okay, Jesper, it's just a scrape.'
'We've been warned off the job,' Kaz seethed.
Jesper hesitated before questioning. 'By who?'
Kaz turned to Jesper, a grimace on his face. 'Who do you think?'
'Did he remember you?'
Kaz pulled his watch from his pocket, checking the time. 'If he had, I'd be dead. Sunrise is in five hours.'
Jesper tugged me along as we followed Kaz, who had headed for the floor. 'Yeah, but we're off the job now, right?'
Kaz glanced at me for only a second before he said, 'Never make decisions out of fear, Jesper. Only out of spite.'
'Well, greed always worked well for me.'
Kaz looked unimpressed. 'Go guard the door.'
Jesper sighed, and I smiled at him as he left. Kaz ran a gloved hand through his hair as he scanned the room. He suddenly stopped scanning, before motioning to a guard at the door. 'I have to handle this, go keep Jesper company.'
I sigh but nod anyway. 'I love Babysitting Jesper.'
---
Jesper never sat still. It was something I both loved and hated about him. Right now, it was making me want to kill him. He was messing around, slinging his guns around his fingers, doing everything he possibly could to annoy me.
'How are you still alive?'
He turned to me, smirking. 'It's my st—'
'Jesper.' Inej had appeared in front of us, making Jesper jump out of his skin, clutching his chest. I laughed.
'How do you do that?'
Inej didn't look amused. 'I need your help.'
'Of course, love. Doing what?'
Inej stepped closer, a pained look on her face. I stood up and walked toward her and Jesper. 'I need you to kill a man for me.'
Jesper scoffed. 'Ugh, why me? You've got as many knives as I've got teeth.'
Inej only frowned, murmuring quietly, 'You know why.'
'Yeah. But how is getting me to do it any different from you doing it? Besides, we've got the Venom right here, I'm sure she'd be happy to sneak into a guy's house and kill him.'
'He's right,' I say. 'I love killing men. Just tell me who he is, Inej, I'll handle it.'
Before Inej could say anything, Kaz called from down the alley, making Jesper and I turn our heads to him, 'Jesper! Nat! New job.'
