━━━ ❝ I pity the fool who wants to be a God. ❞
&
━━━ There is enough fire inside you to put
all of Hell to shame, but you are
pretending to be water, for someone
who is too afrai...
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CHAPTER VI. exit wounds (tw: mentions of suicide & self-harm)
Kaz couldn't breathe. In fact, he wasn't sure he could move. All he thought about was the weight of Inej's body and how her blood seeped into the confines of his gloves.
The Bastard of the Barrel wanted to faint. So when Matthias came barging in the lower decks yelling for Nina, Kaz considered throwing the giant Fjerdan over the boat right then. It'd be easy with Matthias' back to him. Yes, strategies, that was what he was excelled in. The intricacy of a pin lock, and how every minuscule movement must be precise. He'd calm himself down thinking about it.
The blood drained out of Nina's face upon the sight of Matthias. Whatever this was, he didn't care. He just needed to find Leia.
"Demjin, you need to stay," Matthias said with too much command in his voice.
Kaz gritted his teeth, "Who cares, go be at each other's throats." He started to limp his way to the upperdecks when Matthias finally turned to face him.
And Kaz thought his blood soaked attire was horrible. Matthias was practically dripping in blood holding the unconscious woman in his arms.
It took everything not to panic. Strategies, Kaz. At least you can get moving, go tell Specht. Still, Kaz stood planted.
Something about her serenity felt extremely wrong to Kaz. No longer could he see the eyes that bared so much retribution in them, only her blood-crusted eyelashes. His eyes travelled down to her unnaturally twisted left ankle was twisted in and her shackled wrists. He didn't catch the blood that pooled around her stomach, nor would he know what to make of it.
Matthias looked at him expectingly, and Kaz was at a loss—he cursed at himself. He couldn't handle the touch of another body. But every thought of his gravitated towards ripping Leia out from Matthias grips and into the safety of his.
Safe. His inner demons wrestled. What a joke.
Matthias finally scoffed with distaste and shouted for Jesper, who appeared with a wet cloth and a bucket in hand—and laid her on the floor. Jesper, however stunned he was, started to wipe the blood off her serene face while Matthias lifted Leia's shirt high enough to see a deep puncture wound.
"Her heartbeat is shallow... But Inej's–" Nina panicked, darting between the two injured women, each worse than the other. Kaz silently stood in the corner, unsure of everything else but the fact that he should have secured Elias for the heist too.
"Fix Inej first," Kaz rasped, his baritone raspier as he stared at Leia. He bent a knee, noticing her face effulgent with Grisha power. His gloved fingers nudged Jesper's cloth away, though the white rug that now turned scarlet-red disturbed him.
