It's Only a Matter of Time

Chapter 4

Jesper turned to Inej and grinned, which he seemed to do a lot. "Welcome to the Crow Club!"--------------------------------------

The Crow Club turned out to be unlike what Inej had imagined. It wasn't like the other one's she'd seen; brightly colored to attract customers. Instead, it was painted black with bits of red. Inej hummed, running her fingers lightly over the colored wood.

From behind her, Jesper whispered loudly. "Kaz owns it. He found it as a ruined shack and spent MONTHS gathering the money to restore it. The city almost didn't let him keep it, seeing as he was still a minor, but then changed their minds. Nobody knows whyyyyyy."

The last part was said in a spooky tone that caused Kaz to elbow Jesper in the ribs.

Inej smiled and took her hand off the Crow Club's wall. "It's beautiful."

Jesper snorted. "Yeah? Well just wait until you see inside."

As they walked through the doors, 

Inej was momentarily distracted by the silver raven which spread it's wings over the doorway. Wait, no. It wasn't a raven. It was a crow.

Nina, walking right behind Inej and also paying close attention to her surroundings, stopped just short of crashing into Inej.

"Move it, Inej! I want to see what's inside!

By Nina's tone, Inej guessed it was more of a 'WHO'S inside'. She dodged, and after letting her friend pass, followed.

Jesper had been right. The serene outside of the Club contrasted sharply with the rowdy crowd inside. They were playing dice, cards, and all sorts of gambling games. Inej noticed with a shock of surprise, that the crowd inside The Crow Club consisted mostly of teenagers. There were a few adults scattered here and there, but even they were still young. Jesper was running about, checking in with the players, advising them on how to win, and glancing longingly toward the card tables.

"Not again," came quietly from behind Inej. She hadn't even noticed Kaz standing there, looking exasperated at the chaos around him.

He walked forward, meeting Inej's eyes for a second, then pulled up his gloves and slammed his cane twice on the floor.

As if by magic, the noise in the club stopped. The youths all raised their heads and put down their hands. Inej heard a flutter of whispers pass by. "Kaz Brekker," they whispered. They said his name like they were afraid of him, and glancing at Kaz now, Inej could see a stark difference between the bored and exasperated boy she'd met in the cafe, and the stern and cold one she was seeing now. Kaz looked much older, all in the span of a few seconds.

"Good. Now please stay quiet. No loud noises. And that means you too, Jesper Fahey."Inej's eyes - along with most others in the room - moved from Kaz to Jesper, who had been using the silence created by Kaz's appearance to try and inch towards the card table. When he noticed he'd been caught, he shrugged nonchalantly, but Inej could see there was irritation in his eyes.

Hm. Wonder what that was about.

Finished talking with the club, Kaz turned to Inej. "Now, Jesper will show you where you'll be working."

"I will?" Came from the other side of the room.

"Yes, you will. Now come over here and show our darling Inej where she will be working from now on."

He didn't seem to notice he'd called Inej 'darling', or maybe Nina was wearing off on him. Speaking of Nina, Inej couldn't seem to be able to find her. But maybe that was for the better. At least one of them was fitting in. 

Author's notes: 

I'm really sorry for the shorter-than-usual chapter!

Will write more when I have the time/inspiration.

As usual, comments are greatly appreciated :)