tear you apart, kaz brekker (discon.)

xii. the power and the glory

The longer he began to think, the worse he felt. Kaz Brekker was never one to feel guilty for doing anything, but something inside of him coiled when he thought about what he'd done.

More specifically what he'd done to her. And she hadn't a clue about any of it.

"The palace will be crawling with the Second Army." Arken's complaints pulled Kaz out of his thoughts.

"We're in luck." He spoke up. "There's a good chance we can crack on. Now that we're three days' travel from the capital, the next play is finding a way inside the Little Palace. It turns out Kribirsk archives house the Little Palace blueprints. But... they're kept under lock and key. Far from the prying eyes of the masses."

"Yes!" Jesper cheered.

Katarina cared. She cared about saving Alina, getting in to the Little Palace and all of that, but could you blame her for being so distracted when Kaz Brekker looked like that?

For a moment she pondered on what it was that made him look so different before she came to a conclusion. His hair had fallen from its usually sleeked back look, and saints, was he smiling? Now that, was attractive.

"What does that mean?" Arken asked Jesper.

"Time for a heist."

    "Well that sounds fun." Katarina choked out, hoping her tone didn't give away the way she really felt.

Kaz let out a noise that resembled a scoff.

    "Consider this a crows only, type of excursion." He said, shrugging nonchalantly as he sat down. "Jesper, get rid of that damn goat."

    "No— just wait a minute." Katarina snapped. "What are you trying to say? You dragged me all the way to Ravka to baby-me?"

    "Baby-you?" Kaz repeated, laughing as the words left his lips.

    "Yes, baby-me, did I stutter?"

    "Alright, surely we can get the job done even quicker with Kat's help." Jesper added, nudging Katarina with his shoulder.

    "Yeah," Annika piped up once more. "She doesn't fuck about."

    "That's not what it's about." Kaz sighed, throwing back his drink, who drank shots this early in the day?

    "Then what is it about?" She wanted to scream, slap him, push him; anything. She had not traveled through the fold and risked her life for him to put her in time out.

    "I can't afford you burning down the archives and us paying the price for it, okay? We've got enough on our plate right now, and a visit from everybody favourite general puts a slight wedge in the plan."

She stared at him, mouth agape with shock.

"Kaz," Jesper said sternly. "You don't mean that."

"Of course I do," He didn't even look at her. Maybe it was his own way of coping, to keep her hating him so that if she did find out what he had done and left, it wouldn't hurt him as much. "That's why I said it."

"Careful, Kaz," She spat with a venomous tongue. She never called him Kaz. "It'd be a shame if something happened to your other leg now, wouldn't it?"

Katarina slammed her glass back on to the bar and her chair screeched as it was pushed back.

"Kat," Jesper called out, but he was far too late. She had already snatched up her coat and walked out of the bar, leaving them behind. "Saints, Kaz."

"What? You wanna join her?" He snapped suddenly.

Jesper frowned.

"Maybe I will." He replied, downing the last of his drink before he grabbed his coat and followed her out.

AUTHORS NOTE!
i'm so sorry this fic is taking me so long, i've got a lot going on right now but i'm gonna try and update as much as possible bc i love miss kat so much :,)