#~everywhere you look~ *kaz shatters someone’s leg with his cane and then waves to the viewer*

[pizzabookbuying]

why are tv shows afraid of intros?? I get cutting the length—especially for shows that are still airing, but for shows exclusive to streaming services??? WHERE are my lengthy intros??? WHERE is the theme song I will FOREVER associate with this story??? You are doing me a DISSERVICE!!!!

[laurore-stormwitch]

of almost failed heists and romantic advice

For the @grishaversebigbang mini bang! First time writing the crows, it’s been a challenge. I had the incredible and emotional honor to see some beautiful art made for this fic by @streckenweise-okay [here] , @j-wirth [here], @davonysus [here]. You are all talented and amazing <3  Summary: an easy undercover job becomes not only a chance to revisit some old friendships with Nina back in town, but also the perfect occasion for a romantic intervention and some dating advice for our favorite Bastard of the Barrel.

ao3 link

Kaz Brekker, the Bastard of the Barrel, a forgotten Rietveld. His figure hid itself in the many names he had been called, in the many tales of sorrow he had inflicted. He did not need a reason, nor to rob or brake, nor to wreak havoc on the filthy streets of Ketterdam. Swift as the sky-splitting dive of a crow on his prey. You would feel him coming, in the tense silence shattered by the rhythmic beating of a raptor-headed cane on bricks. Kaz Brekker, who did not need a reason, or concealed the ones who mattered. The same Kaz Brekker, however, who did not have a valid reason for choosing to bring the three biggest headaches of his life along with him on this wretched job. A sharpshooter with an absurd taste in fashion, a Grisha witch as annoying as his broken leg and a wayward merchant’s son he had spent way too much time babysitting. 

A strike of genius on his part. On top of that, he had chosen an undercover job, like they had the slightest ability not be noticed. Except for Nina; that girl blended everywhere like whisky. She was now strolling back to them with an excited gleam in her eyes, sipping on a glass of wine. She giggled happily. “Relax, Kaz. It’s a party.” 

He cut her a glare from the corner in which he was standing, stiff and broody. 

“Where the hell are the two lovebirds?” 

“At the buffet. Do you know they have a chocolate fountain?”

“If it doesn’t drop gold”, Nina arched a brow at him, “I am fairly sure I don’t care for it.”

They were interrupted by the brilliant flash of color of Jesper’s suit and his brazen laugh. He had an arm thrown around Wylan’s shoulder; the merchling’s  cheeks were flushed and his hair ruffled. He seemed slightly uncomfortable or about to throw up. For all the kruges, how much had Jesper let him drink? At least they did not have a particularly difficult role to play. Nina planted a kiss on Wylan’s cheek.

“This is so fun!”, she exclaimed, delighted by the situation. Kaz glared at her again.

“A job it’s not supposed to be fun.”

“Take your brooding mood out the window, Brekker”, Nina waved a dismissive hand at him. “What would a job be without fun?”

“Terribly dull”, Jesper winked.

“Annoyingly painful”, offered Wylan with a hiccup. They turned to Kaz. 

“Adequately profitable.”

His friends cast their eyes heavenward. Jesper snatched other glasses , pretending not to see Kaz’s threatening look. The party was grand, held in the home of a Council’s member from whom they were supposed to steal some documents held in a safe in his study. The job was easy to say the least, so when they had learned that Nina was in town, she had tagged along. Kaz wanted to wack himself on the head with his cane for this wretched idea; apparently, they had taken this as an excuse to party and reminisce old times more than an occasion to actually help Kaz make some money. Nina surveyed the room. 

“I wish Inej was here”, she whined. Kaz had never been one to pray, so it was not surprised when the Saints ignored his pledge to make Nina drop the argument. Instad, she turned to him with a smug smirk. 

“How is it going between the two of you?”

Kaz tapped his cane on the floor, avoiding the heartrender’s eyes. Maybe she would shut up if he ignored her. Was he not radiating a general air of murderousness and danger, enough to convince his nosy friend to leave him be? Well, not enough. It just made her do something even worse and refer to the other two headaches.

“Kaz is a hopeless cause.”

“He’s not asked her out yet? Not even a romantic snack in between threatening people and skewering them with knives?”

Jesper shrugged his shoulder, nudging Wylan closer. “We offered to do it for him”, he noted.

“You did”, Wylan peered at thim. “I want to keep my head on my neck.”

“Why hasn’t he?”, asked Nina, considering Kaz, still ignoring them.

“I don’t think he’s familiar with the concept of asking someone out. Or even asking someone for anything, mainly bossing people around.”

Kaz adjusted his tie. “I’m standing right beside you.”

“It’s not hard, Kaz. Just buy some flowers and smile.”

Jesper laughed at Nina’s idiotic advice. Were they actually trying to get assassinated right now? Another thought paved the way in his mind. Was it an idiotic advice, though? He could admit that anything not involving schemes or robbery was not an area of expertise for him. And he had been meaning to do something...nice?

“You’re asking Dirtyhands to smile?”, asked Jesper. Nina huffed.

“Can it be that hard?”

“You’ll see. Kaz, smile at me.” 

Kaz had two roads in front of him: for some reason, he chose the insane one and indulged Jesper, curling his lips upward. An uncomfortable silence dawned over them. 

“All the Saints and their suffering”, Nina exclaimed.

“Is he about to murder someone?”, Wylan asked. Nina burst out laughing.

“That is your i-am-asking-you-out smile?”

“It’s terrifying”, considered the merchling.

“Positively daunting”, his boyfriend confirmed.

“For the love of Inej’s Saints drop the smile. Stick with the flowers.” She eyed him from upside down, critical. “And fix that dreadful hair.”

Now the choice laid between leaving them all here or trying to find a way to finish this wretched job. Since the second option included a mouthful reward, he went with it. He eyed the owner descending the stairs with his guards. That was their cue. 

“You all know what to do.”

To their credit, they all snapped to attention when he called them. Nina strode behind the owner, fluffing her hair, while the three of them disappeared silently toward the upper floor. Silently. As silently as they could, Wylan being half drunk and Jesper being...well, Jesper. What one does for some kruge, thought sourly Kaz. He did glance at his reflection in the mirror, trying a half smile as they ascended the stairs. But no one needed to know that. 

***

The safe had scarcely even been fun to crack. Kaz slipped the document in his jacket, scanning the study. Who knows what one could find that people left unguarded. Jesper and Wylan were outside, keeping control on the stairs. The situation seemed under control, so he did have some spare time to search for something precious. He approached a drawer, flicked a pin in the keylock and - 

BOOM

A loud explosion resonated on the floor, rattling the walls. Definitely not a good sign. And definitely a sign that his henchmen raised some hell. Kaz sprinted out, only to find an absolute mayhem had been unleashed, and at the centre of this chaos, sure enough, stood his two royally idiotic friends, covered in dirt and pieces of furniture, gazing at each other with utter shock on their faces like they hadn’t just made a smoke bomb explode. The one that was supposed to be an emergency to cover their escape and was now invading the house. 

“What the hell did you do?!”

Screams rose below them; Jesper scratched some dust from his jacket and rolled his revolvers out, grinning in Wylan’s direction, apparently unfazed by how much they had just screwed up. 

“Wylan got carried away”, he shrugged his shoulders. Wylan flushed violently, jaw dropped in his boyfriend’s direction.

“You pushed me against a wall! I told you I had the smoke bomb in my pocket!”

“Were they making out again on the job?”, Nina rushed in their direction, her gorgeous face lit up with amusement as she struck down one of the guards running up the stairs with a flick of her wrist, a dart bone flying out of her cuff. 

“It’s Jesper’s fault! He’s always trying to...to…”, Jesper arched a brow at Wylan. 

“Yes?”

“Entice me!”

Kaz blew out an exasperated grunt, pushing them toward the background door. “Move!”, he seethed, running to work the lock. Dirtyhands getting killed on a saints forsaken robbery, perfect irony. With a quick look, he realized the damn lock had been reinforced with Fabrikator’s craft. He signaled Jesper, who practically squealed with amusement. 

“Do I get to use my powers?” The hard glare he earned from Kaz seemed to be enough for him to get on with his work. Nina turned, shooting other dart bones toward the stairs. Quick steps and screams were echoing through the buildings, and smoke was clearing. “You might wanna hurry up, Jes!”, she shouted over her shoulder. 

“We might have a problem”, the sharpshooter mumbled, as the lock literally melted on itself, effectively sealing the door closed. “I’m still getting the hold on - “

He was interrupted by another deafening explosion, as Wylan threw another device which detonated on the wooden stairs shredding them into pieces. 

“Do you all have to keep destroying our ways out?!”

“I’m sorry!”, screamed Wylan over the echoing thrum of the bomb, his gaze shifting to a window that opened up to the roof. 

“Do not even think about it”, Kaz pointed his cane at him. 

“Either we take a page from Inej’s book or we get arrested, what do you choose?”, Nina asked grudgingly, starting to climb on a cupboard. Saints, he was going to kill them all. Jesper and Wylan followed suit, making their way out on the roof and helping Kaz up. He shot a murderous look at Nina, who was eyeing him as he not at all gracefully moved up and shut the window closed behind him, swearing to every known Saints in Kerch.

“Since you are so bad at this, you should try to compliment Inej about it and maybe she’ll teach you something.” 

“Start fleeing before I catch you, Zenik.”

Shots began firing from below them, grazing Kaz’s arm. Nina erupted in a grin. 

“Time to run, Brekker.”

And so they did. Extremely far from how Inej would have done it. Loudly, stumbling throughout Ketterdam’s rooftops, helping each other - as much as he hated to admit it, mostly Kaz - on the slippery tiles and the narrow eaves. Ketterdam buildings left little space to breathe, being conveniently close that they could jump from one to the other. Kaz lost track of time, though his bad leg felt like they’ve been running for hours. Jesper stopped abruptly as they neared the docks, crunching on his knees and howling a breathless laugh. 

“That was fun.”

Nina giggled, slouching on the rooftop they had stopped on. “Ease up boys, we lost them ages ago”, she exhaled, closing her eyes toward the moonlight and leaning back. Kaz tentatively seated himself behind her, stretching his leg. 

“If this easy job ends up with me not being able to walk, vengeance will be coming.” 

Wylan and Jesper slumped down on his side, ignoring his dreadful look. Wylan peered at Kaz with a sly smile. 

“Jesper has stolen something fit to celebrate a successful heist.” 

The sharpshooter grinned, pulling out a bottle of cherry wine from nowhere and uncorking it with a whistle of joy. He passed it around as their cheerful chatter filled the night’s quiet. They were crazy. Crazy, reckless, and still idiots. Yet, Kaz couldn’t help but feel a little proud of his ragtag band of misfits. So he did not protest when Jesper handed him the wine, and he even threw a crooked half smile at him. The night began to wear off with every sip.

“So”, started Jesper at some point, snatching the bottle from him, “about our advice?”

It had to be the wine for Kaz to answer this. “I guess I can try it.”

Wylan huffed and gave him a knowing look.  “Just be yourself, Kaz. Inej likes you like that.”

“Ever the romantic”, Jesper winked at him, making him flush. Again. 

“Aside from that”, Nina propped herself up, turning to him, her lips quirked and her face lit up with happiness, cheeks red from the wine. “I still suggest the flowers. You know her favourites. And you might want to get ahead with those, Brekker'', she added, pointing her finger toward the horizon; over Ketterdam’s rooftops, the moonlight shone on the silent streets, reflecting on the waves that hit the docks. There, against the sky lit up by stars, stood the profile of a sharp ship, a flag Kaz knew by heart flying over the mast, its edges turning his stomach upside down as it entered the harbour. 

“Our Wraith is coming home.”

[emmaannaelisabeth]

okay friends, this starts sad but turns into a crackhead comedy, so please continue reading. (tw: death) and for some reason, inej has spiderman's powers (kinda) which gives us a spider wraith, you're very welcome, yes. it's a marvel crossover-ish with ghosts.

and she dropped kaz, so he disappeared-ish and dirtyhands took over him or something - winter soldier feeling here y'all. and well, i don't know why pekka shows up, but he does. and this is crazy but oh god i wrote it so please read it anyway

~ 3,5k words of PAIN and CROW CRACKHEAD ENERGY

it's been a year now since she failed him, since she couldn’t catch him, since she saw him fall, and she knows she should stop looking for him in the street, that she should tell her heart to stop hoping, she should give up. kaz is dead.

he fell, he got shoved off the bridge and her webs couldn’t reach him. he disappeared in the waves.

and that's when she sees him, when she’s just about to give up all hope that he might have made it somehow. she sees him walking on the street, cane in hand, hat on his head. "kaz!" she gasps, throws a web and swings down next to him.

he turns around slowly, and looks at her. she can barely see him through the tears in her eyes. "I thought I lost you", she says and throws her arms around him, buries her head in his jacket, being selfish, not caring that he might not want her close.

"you're okay", she sobs, lets her fingers spread over his back, just to feel that he is really there.

kaz frowns and shrugs her off him. "who the hell are you?"

"kaz, it's me", inej says and puts a hand on his arm. coldly, he looks at it, before grabbing her wrist tightly and tilting his head to the side. "what do you want?"

"kaz, kaz, what's going on? you were, you were gone and i-"

"i've never seen you before", he snorts and raises his eyebrows, gives the smallest shake of his head. he lets go of her hand and goes, leaves her, disappears.

***

inej rushes home, tells jesper and wylan. "he's alive, I'm telling you, I saw him!"

they tell her she's seeing things, "you're not making any sense", jesper says, turns his gun in his hand. "kaz is dead, you saw him fall." he meets her gaze; they all know what he’s not saying. you dropped him. but then his face softens, concern glitters in his eyes. "don't fall with him."

***

so inej goes to nina, tries to explain. nina looks at her with sad eyes. "inej, I-" if anyone knows how it feels like to lose the one they love, it's nina. "I know it's hard, but at some point, we all need to move on."

“but nina, I saw him, it was him”, inej says, throws her arms out to the sides.

“if you say so…” she pauses, knows inej isn’t dumb, isn’t lying. “I’ll help you find him.”

***

they go back to wylan and jesper - if they are going to find kaz, make him remember, they need them too. as they enter, nina stops dead in her tracks. “wait”, she breathes. “no…” she gasps, rushes up the stairs.

“nina, what?”

nina hears it beat, slower and slower, fading.

badum, badum, ba...dum..ba..

nononono.

then it stops. ….dum… and it’s quiet. and she almost falls, it’s suddenly so empty.

nonono. NO.

she walks into the living room and feels the tears well up in her eyes. red hair, wet red hair. even redder with the blood in it. no.

she hears jesper sob, he’s sitting with wylan in his arms, his hand on wylan’s cheek, his thumb moving up and down the curve of his cheekbone. right where he always used to kiss him.

“jesper, what-” she breathes, hears inej whelp as she enters the room.

jesper looks up, distraught, and then he shoots a glare at someone across the room.

nina looks up, and her breath catches. it’s him, it’s kaz.

***

“kaz”, inej whispers. “kaz, what happened?” tears prick in her eyes.

he looks at her, rolls his eyes, oh not you again, raises his eyebrows, nods to wylan’s lifeless body.

“i earned my living”, he says, way too casually. “there’s five hundred thousand kruge right there.”

“murderer”, jesper hisses, his eyes burn behind the glittering tears, he almost glows with hate. he holds wylan’s body close to his, as if the act alone could bring him back, blow life into his heart.

kaz offers him a half smile. “i like the sound of that.”

jesper looks like he could explode… or shatter. inej can’t decide which fits better.

“kaz-”

“who the hell is kaz?” he says, spins around to face her. inej straightens her back, how is he so tall, all of a sudden?

her gaze wanders down to his blood stained hands, his ungloved hands. something is wrong. he didn’t flinch when she touched him, and he doesn’t wear gloves, and he doesn’t seem to remember any of them.

and he fucking killed wylan.

inej swallows. “he’s our friend”, she says. “he helped us all, he saved me.”

kaz snorts. “waste of time.”

inej feels his words like a stab to the guts, but she continues talking. “please, kaz, i know you’re still there.”

within the blink of an eye, kaz has closed his hand around her throat and slammed her into the closest wall. she gasps and looks into his eyes. she can see something glitter behind the coldness, she can see brekker in there, somewhere.

“you know me”, she gasps. kaz clenches his jaw, smiles - it’s more of a baring of teeth than a smile. he shakes his head.

“no, darling”, he squeezes harder. “i don’t.”

“kaz!” nina says, holds up her hands. “don’t.” she shakes her head. but kaz just smiles.

quick as lightning, he flips up the gun from behind his coat and pulls the trigger. nina falls to the ground, clutching her stomach.

jesper whimpers, sits on the floor, unable to move - his body is too heavy, to heavy by grief and pain. he isn’t strong enough to leave wylan’s side.

inej throws a look at nina, and then she snaps. she jumps, kicks kaz in the stomach with her knee, pushes him off her, hits him, makes him fall, presses her knee to his chest, pinning him down.

“spider”, he hisses, but inej doesn’t listen, she puts her dagger right to his throat and leans over him, fury burning in her chest.

“what did you do?” she snarls. “do you know what you did!?”

kaz raises an eyebrow, talks through gritted teeth. “i don’t care.”

then, he pushes her off him, and inej falls down on the floor. he kicks the dagger out of her hand and raises the gun at her. and inej looks around quickly, shoots a web at the table and pulls it towards her, pushing him, making him fall on his back, hit his head. the bullet buries deep into the ceiling.

“nina”, inej whispers, looks over at her.

“I’m fine”, she pants, still working on closing the wound.

inej makes her way over to kaz, another of her saints now in her hand. this time, she lets the tip cut his skin, just so he feels it, just so he wakes up.

“you almost killed her”, she hisses, almost spits in his face.

kaz looks at her. his eyes glitter with something new, and he almost looks… scared.

“who the hell is kaz?” he asks calmly, confusion staining his brow.

inej feels herself weaken, she takes away her knife. instead, she puts her hand on his cheek. kaz stares at her in confusion. “he’s… he’s the treasurer of my heart.”

kaz blinks slowly, looks away. “that line”, he says. “have I heard it before?”

inej nods, tears in her eyes. come back, come back, come back to me.

“who are you?” he squints his eyes.

“I’m the one who helped you.”

“I don’t even know you.”

“don’t you remember kaz? please, try for me, try”, she begs, strokes his cheek with her hand, just like she wished she could’ve done before.

then, kaz’s jaw drops. his gaze freezes at something behind inej, and she turns to look at it too, but all she can see is empty space.

“jordie”, he whispers. he shudders, tilts his face away from her hand.

I can help you, a young woman says in his head, and then there’s purple everywhere. a young boy with dark skin gambles before his inner gaze. a girl who loved waffles… when did he eat waffles last?

papers in his hand, a cane, a crow, he can hear his own voice in his head, asking someone to buy him a new hat. kaz lifts his hand to inej’s cheek, looks at her, confused, was that you?, and then, he rips his hand away, gasping, feeling sick. what the hell?

and then, a redheaded boy.

CRACK-

kaz’s eyes widen, and he sits up, shoves inej out of the way. “wylan”, he whispers, stumbles to his legs and feels his soul shatter as he lays eyes on the boy in jesper’s arms.

“I- I-” kaz stutters, feels the tears burn in his eyes, he feels tired, he wants to sit down. it's probably the grief. “jesper, I- I didn’t-” he takes a step forward, attempting to kneel beside them.

“don’t”, jesper hisses. “don’t you dare even look at him.”

“jesper, I never wanted-”

“you fucking killed him.”

“jesper”, inej says. “he wasn’t him, it wasn’t kaz!”

jesper doesn’t listen, he carefully lays down wylan on the floor and stands up. kaz doesn’t even have time to blink before jesper has thrown himself at him and pinned him against the wall, his forearm crossed over kaz’s throat.

kaz closes his eyes, shudders at having jesper this close; tears roll down his cheeks. “I swear I would never-”

“he’s dead”, jesper whimpers. “you shot him.” he blinks the tears away and reassures his grip on kaz. “I should kill you.”

“jesper-” kaz stops talking. his face screws up with pain and he bows his bows his head, accidentally leans onto jesper’s arm. his knees buckle and he slides down against the wall, panting.

“jesper!” inej shouts.

jesper lets go of kaz, almost as if he’d been burned. “I didn’t do anything”, he says, voice high pitched.

inej goes down on her knee beside kaz, checking him up and down, desperately. her gaze freezes at his waist. behind the dark coat, there’s a big tear in the vest, a gaping hole in his skin, red blossoming like a flower in summer.

no… no, no, no.

she looks down at her knee, at her blades. her world grows cold, she did this, when she pushed him off of her.

“nina”, she says, voice high, strangled.

nina says something, but inej can only hear the words that are passing kaz’s lips. “matthias?”

he can see the fjerdan boy behind jesper, kaz can see his strong build and his golden hair. “it wasn’t nina’s time yet, but maybe it’s yours, brother.”

brother? how could the person who called him demon, call him brother.

“what’s happening?”, kaz asks.

“you’re going to be fine”, inej says, somewhere above him.

matthias looks calm, he smiles softly. “I wanna show you something”, he says.

“you know you’re starting to look like Da, right?” a familiar voice says, and as matthias steps to the side, kaz’s weak heart jumps.

“jordie?”

jordie smiles brightly and walks up to him. “saints, you’re so old”, he says and reaches out a hand to correct kaz’s tie. kaz can’t believe this, what is this, what is happening?

he can hear inej… somewhere, and he can feel hands on him, he can see jesper’s blurred out outline.

“do I have to leave?” he asks.

“I’m afraid so”, matthias says, nods.

“I- no, please”, kaz turns his head, tries to look at inej, but all he can see is black dark hair, blurring together.

“you’ll be able to keep her safe, i promise.”

“we can play tricks with her”, jordie laughs and pushes on kaz’s shoulder. kaz raises one eyebrow.

“I’m not haunting her.”

jordie laughs again, and matthias chuckles softly. then, kaz’s eyes fall on someone in the background.

“i know you didn’t mean it, kaz”, he says, dries the tears off his face with the back of his hand. the redhead is suddenly standing right there, meeting kaz’s gaze. wylan bites his quivering lip and looks at his body on the floor, then at the blurred out jesper.

“but did you really have to?” wylan’s words utterly shatters kaz’s heart. “I was… happy”, the boy says. “I love him.”

“Wy”, kaz whispers. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am, and I don’t expect you to forgive me for what I did-”

“I do, kaz”, wylan says, sniffles, tries to smile. “but I do, i actually do, i can. I know it wasn’t you.”

“I know you loved him and I wish I could-”

“huh”, wylan chuckles. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“say what?”

“ask for forgiveness.”

kaz swallows. “do you forgive me?”

wylan huffs, breathes in slowly. “always.”

kaz smiles and then the world unblurs for a moment, and he sees inej right in front of him. “kaz, kaz, kaz come on”, she mumbles, claps his cheek. he knows he should pull away, feel sick by her touch, but… he doesn’t.

there are tears on her face. he frowns weakly. “don’t cry for me”, he whispers and lifts his bloodied hand to her cheek, dries off a tear.

and then he can hear her shout his name, and the world goes black for a moment, for a beat. jordie takes his hand, and then the world is clear, and he’s standing there, looking down at himself.

“see, wasn’t that hard”, jordie smirks, elbows kaz lightly in the side. kaz feels numb. I really look like Da. (especially with the blood)

inej cries and pulls kaz’s body into her arms, sobs into his clothes, buries her face in his neck. jesper turns away, wraps his arms around himself, and nina sits on the floor, on her knees, bloodied hands in her lap, head bent back, tears on her cheeks.

matthias sighs and walks up to her, puts a hand on his shoulder. and, almost as if she could feel him there, she leans her head against his arm.

“inej”, nina then says, reaches out and puts a hand on inej’s shoulder. “i can’t tell you how, I just know, I just know they’re okay. they’re safe with matthias.”

matthias smirks at kaz, as he walks up to them. he ruffles jordie’s hair and pulls wylan in for a hug. “wylan”, he says. “why don’t you teach jordie how to play the flute?”

jordie’s mouth falls open, he looks at wylan with big eyes. “you can do that?”

wylan smiles smugly, looks up at kaz with a raised eyebrow. “I sure can.”

kaz gives the smallest, most panicked shake of his head, wylan has ever seen anyone do. do NOT teach him that. I swear, wylan, if you… but jordie is sold. and kaz sighs deeply.

“I thought you wouldn’t even associate with my ghost, helvar”, he says.

“I will if jordie plays the flute.”

“saints”, kaz mutters and rolls his eyes.

***

but then, matthias tenses and his gaze snaps back to the door. wylan frowns. “matthias what…”

“run”, matthias simply says. “nina, run.”

nina’s head flies up and she looks around. inej is still holding kaz, and jesper just stands there, staring at wylan.

“inej, jesper, we need to go”, she says. “now.”

but neither of them will leave their hearts on the floor like this, held only by the arms of their own blood, comforted by their own coldness spreading within.

inej shivers, her head flies up, her body almost tingles, as her spider sense rings the alarm bells in her mind. but she shakes her head. “I can’t just leave him…”

“we’ll come back for them”, nina says, not knowing if they actually will.

“I’m not leaving wylan”, jesper whispers, his voice empty.

***

matthias sighs, paces around the room. “what’s wrong?” wylan asks.

“someone’s coming”, jordie says, stares at the door. “and they need to get out of here, now.”

jordie turns around looks his brother in the eyes, he teaches him how to make inej hear his whispers, just the way jordie whispered to kaz.

and kaz tells her to go, and at first she’s terrified, but as kaz talks again, she begins to understand.

and then wylan learns to whisper in jespers mind. jesper starts crying. nina smiles sadly, looks into thin air, right where matthias is standing.

***

inej can’t take both nina and jesper with her through the window at the same time - she’ll have to come back for nina. nina tells them it’s fine, she’ll manage.

and then, there’s a person in the door. “saints”, she mumbles.

“who do we- oh”, the man in the door says.

pekka rollins walks into the room and lets his gaze fall upon kaz’s bloodied form on the floor, and then on wylan’s crimson chest.

“you?” he looks at nina. she straightens her back, blinks slowly, tilts her head to the side.

“yes.” she smiles softly, looks at kaz’s body. “a shame”, she sighs, frowns and looks bakc at pekka. “a shame on such a pretty thing, don’t you think?”

pekka smiles. kaz snorts, raises his eyebrows. oh really??

“and van eck’s son?” pekka nods towards wylan’s still figure.

“oh”, nina looks over her shoulder. “yes, five hundred thousand for the boy and a million for the scoundrel.”

wylan crosses his arms. “five hundred? I’m worth more than that.”

kaz looks at him, raises an eyebrow. “he offered me a hundred, I wanted a million, I got five hundred.”

wylan shoots him a glare. “rude.”

“shut up”, matthias hisses and give them both an angry gaze, sharp as steel.

pekka nods slowly, tilts his head to the side. “well, miss, how would you like to work for with the dime lions, and not for van eck?”

nina feels her stomach turn, but she smiles. “and what exactly would that engagement look like?”

“what the hell, nina”, matthias mutters, and he rolls his eyes as she smirks at pekka.

“I can offer you more than money and protection.”

kaz stares. “for once, we agree, helvar”, he snorts. “what the hell nina, say no.”

“I know”, nina says, takes a step back. “that’s why I say no", she tells pekka.

kaz draws in a sharp breath. “she was on thin fucking ice.” matthias kicks him in the side with his elbow.

“I said no, you ass”, nina says in her mind, and kaz freezes. what the-

matthias just laughs. “she’s special”, he says. "be careful with what you say", he whispers.

"heard you, helvar", nina thinks.

kaz smirks back at matthias, for some reason he doesn’t look that bothered by having pekka in front of him.

but jordie, jordie looks like he could explode anytime, as if he was just about to burst into flames.

kaz bends down next to his brother. “don’t worry about him, nina will take care of rollins.”

“I’m not killing him, I’ve seen enough dead bodies today”, nina thinks.

“excuse me”, wylan says. “have respect for the dead.”

“you’re the one to talk”, nina thinks.

"you're the one alive."

matthias laughs, it's a deep warm murmur.

“he made me leave”, jordie mumbles, curls his fists.

“jordie”, kaz begins. “it’s-”

“remember how you saw me sometimes?” jordie frowns and tilts his head to the side, looks at kaz.

kaz nods. “didn’t amuse me much at the time.”

jordie smirks, rolls his shoulders. since he’s been dead the longest, he knows the tricks.

with the small twitch of a hand he makes himself visible, like a grey see-through shadow. pekka lays eyes on him and takes a step back.

“you took everything from me”, jordie hisses, voice ancient, chilly like frosty night air. pekka shivers.

nina turns, lays eyes on the boy but pretends that she didn’t see him.

“I don’t even know who you are”, pekka says, fear glistens in his eyes.but he does, jordie knows he does.

“who are you talking to?” nina asks.

pekka stares at her, points at jordie. “him?”

“who?” she looks around. “oh.” she laughs. “you mean the boy?" she huffs. "he's my little friend, you see."

pekka grits his teeth. “devil”, he growls.

“almost”, nina grins. “would you like to dance with me?”

“excuse me”, matthias cuts in. “jordie how did you do that?”

“witch”, pekka breathes and backs out of the room. jordie and nina follow slowly. “go away, go away!”

pekka stumbles backwards and hits the reeling of the stairs, falls over it, crashes on the floor, far below.

“whoops”, nina says and looks down.

kaz huffs, ruffles jordie’s hair when he comes back. “feeling better now, aye?”

“definitely”, jordie chuckles.

wylan nods slowly, lips pressed together. “he had it coming.”

matthias stares at them all. “you’re all horrible.” he looks jordie up and down. “you’re thirteen. you should be playing and laughing and having fu-”

jordie sighs. “i’m older than him.” he points at kaz without looking at his brother.

matthias looks at kaz, sighs, as if he'd given up all hope. “it’s in the blood, isn’t it?” he rolls his eyes. “demons.”

***

kaz whispers to her to come back, and within a minute, inej is there with jesper. jesper, who looks like he’s thrown up at least twice when swinging with her.

“okay, so you do it just like this”, jordie says and shows them how to turn visible.

matthias is first, and inej’s jaw drops. “what- matthias?” she sniffles.

he smiles softly at her and walks up to nina. “long time, no see”, he says to them both.

jordie comes after. “hello sister”, he says and walks up to inej, a beaming smile on his lips. inej covers her mouth with her hands.

“he thinks your nose is cute”, jordie whispers with his hand lifted up to his mouth, so that kaz won’t hear.

“hey”, kaz says and hits jordie on the shoulder. when he does, the world pops, and kaz realises that shit I just turned visible.

“hi”, he says, frowns and smiles awkwardly, his cheeks grow hotter than fire.

inej almost loses her balance. “kaz?” she whispers. he nods.

“i want to kill you”, she says, a smile on her lips, tears in her eyes.

“you did”, he smirks and corrects a strand of hair behind her ear. “my spider.”

inej turns to matthias. “is it really you?” she asks.

matthias nods. “not in the flesh, but in spirit.”

she laughs, kaz’s stomach flutters at the sound. “has djel treated you well?” she asks, looks at matthias.

“actually, i never met him”, he answeres, shrugs.

jesper stares at them all, his jaw unlocked from the rest of his head, hanging low, open. “what the-”

and then wylan stumbles into view. “yes!” he exclaims. “yes, I did it, I did…” his gaze lands on jesper.

a wide smile forms on wylan’s lips and he leaps forward, right into jesper’s arms. jesper sinks to the floor, eyes wide and chest not moving. nina huffs. “first time?”

wylan goes down on his knees beside jesper, buries his face in jesper’s short hair, kisses his temple, his forehead, his cheek. he cradles jesper’s head in his arms, presses it against his chest.

jesper sobs and hugs him back, as tightly as he can, despite wylan being half see-through and not really that physical as a real person.

“what-" jordie pauses, leans towards kaz, a confused frown on his face. “-are they doing?”

kaz huffs. “they’re being path-”

“they love-” inej lingers on the word, glares at kaz, who tries to hide his smirk. “-each other”, she explains to jordie.

“disgusting.” jordie shudders.

“no, it’s-”, inej stops when she sees kaz tap jordie on the shoulder, and she screws her gaze right through him. kaz mouths a “what?” and tries to hide his grin.

“you’re hopeless”, she huffs, shakes her head. and i love you for it, she thinks.

“I know”, he says, and winks at her.