𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅 || 𝐊𝐚𝐳 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

Ghosts

A gunshot echoes across the cathedral and Kuwei falls. The world seems to move in slow motion. Kuwei leans back and Kaz immediately is by his side on the ground. I fall to my knees and search as blood pours onto the floor. Kuwei's body is limp and cold. My hands graze his face, shock taking over my body.

"Medic!" Kaz yells.

I see a fuzzy image of a syringe being jabbed into Kuwei's arm. I gasp and Inej and Jesper rush up. Inej says something and Kaz dismisses it eagerly. They share a conversation before stadwatch lift Kuweis's body from the ground. I back away and Kaz helps me to my feet. No sale money now. I think.

Kaz tugs me through the cathedral, and I turn my head. I find VanEcks eyes. You will see me once more and only once. I said to him on the bridge. I grin and give him a small bow before walking out with Kaz at my side.

We rush through the church. The doors are locked. Pekka Rollins leans against the door with four of his dime lions with him. He gives us a sly grin.

"Right on time," Kaz says.

"I suppose you predicted this too, you tricksy bastard?" Rollins says.

"I knew you wouldn't let me walk away this time."

"No," Rollins concedes. "When you came to me looking for money, I should have gutted you and your friends and saved myself a lot of hassle. That was foolish of me." Rollins began to shrug off his jacket. "I can admit I didn't show you the proper respect, lad, but now you've got it. Congratulations. You're worth the time it's going to take me to beat you to death with that stick of yours." I draw my knives. "No, no, little girls," Rollins says warningly. "This is between me and this skivstain upstart."

Kaz looks back at Inej and I and nods once. "He's right, we're long overdue for a little chat."

"The time for talk is over, lad. You're young, but I've been brawling since long before you were born." Rollins takes off his coat, leaving him in a button-up and dance trousers with suspenders.

Kaz stands still as stone, his hands resting over his cane. "I don't need to fight you, Rollins. I'm going to offer you a trade."

"Ah, a fair exchange in the Church of Barter. You cost me a lot of money and earned me a lot of trouble with your scheming. I don't see what you could possibly have to offer that would satisfy me as much as killing you with my bare hands."

"It's about the Kaelish Prince."

"Three stories of paradise, the finest gambling den on East Stave. You plant a bomb there or something?"

"No, I mean the little Kaelish prince." Rollins stills. "Fond of sweets, red hair like his father. Doesn't take very good care of his toys."

Kas pulls a crochet lion from his pocket and dangles it from his fingers. The toy is faded and covered in grime. Its yarn mane is a tangled mess and quite literally falling from the toy. Kaz drops it to the floor.

"What is that?" Rollins's voice is hardly a whisper. "What is that?" He yells now.

"You know what it is, Rollins. And weren't you the one who told me how much alike you and Van Eck are? Men of industry, building something to leave behind. Both of you are so concerned with your legacy. What good is all that if there's no one to leave it to? So I found myself asking, just who is the building for?" Kaz says, his cheek lifting in a devilish grin.

"I will kill you, Brekker. I will kill everything you love."

Now Kaz laughs. "The trick is not to love anything, Rollins. You can threaten me all you like. You can gut me where I stand. But there's no way you'll find your son in time to save him. Shall I have him sent to your door with his throat cut and dressed in his best suit?" My gut falls, a child of Rollins blood.