𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅 || 𝐊𝐚𝐳 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

Mourners

My hand wraps around Kaz's as we walk the streets of Ketterdam. Jesper, Wylan, and Alys with her maid in tow. Kaz and I stick to the back with our silence.

"Long night?" Kaz asks.

"No, not at all. I had a really nice dinner and went singing over the River." He smiles and numbs my shoulder.

"So it was relaxing, then."

"I did what I love tonight." I smile up at him.

"Threatening VanEck?"

"Yes, and working a heist with my friends."

"Is that what we are, friends?"

"Well, we could be friends with benefits." I offer.

"No."

"We could be business partners?"

"Not enough." I smile.

"Husband and wife?"

"Too much."

"Together?"

"In what way?"

"Whatever way you want," I say with a grin.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I'm not sure." I sigh and his hand tightens around mine.

"What about together as in we do this together?"

"Knives drawn and guns ablaze?" I smile.

"As always, my dear."

"As always, darling." I feel a shift in his mood and he goes from playful to tense. I give his hand a soft squeeze as we near the VanEck mansion.

The building is beautiful. I release Kaz's hands and bound up the stairs. My heart leaps, this is ours. Well, Wylan's but ours nonetheless. I ignore the others and find a suitable bedroom. I find a nice one next to Alys and smile as it has a balcony.

A large four-poster bed sits on the left wall and a desk on the right. On the wall is a large bookshelf. I mindlessly thumb through the books and smile as it has most of my favorites. I find a sketch pad and fancy pencils and I squeal. The room has a light feel with cream walls and golden accents. I wonder if Wylan will let me bunk here. I bound out the double glass doors and smile as the longboat comes to a halt at the rivers edge.

I fling myself over the railing and land almost soundlessly in front of the stairs. I grin behind me at an excited Wylan and a happy Jesper and a relieved Kaz. I rush through the garden. I bound towards the longboat and stop as I see tears in Nina and Inej's eyes.

"What—" I begin. Then I see Matthias's cold body and my heart drops. "Oh, Nina."

Rotty helps Kuwei from the boat as the others tear through the garden doors. Inej and Colm exit the boat and Nina lays her head on Matthias's stiff chest. Dread tugs my heart as I move to help Nina from the boat.

"How?" Kaz quietly asks.

"We still don't know," Inej reports.

I help Rotty and Jesper free Matthias's body from the boat and lay him on a blanket. Nina kneels beside him and clutches his hand. I remove my cloak and wrap it around her shivering shoulders. Inej and I kneel beside her and rub comforting circles on her back.

For a while, we sit in mourning. Nina sobs quietly as we stand around her. Matthias lays unmoving with his skin pale and his eyes closed. I wait to see some sort of life from him. A breath, a criticizing remark. Him to tell us how horrid we are. Nothing comes and Kas signals to us.