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˚ ₊ ♡ ❰ DEADLY GHOSTS ❱
*✧ ─── ❝ ❪ GHOST ASSOCIATES! ❫ ❞
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˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ACT ONE  ── no mourners 🪶 ⁺⑅

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SIX OF CROWS ⋆ 🪦.
♯ ❝ STOP GLARING AT ME ❞
CHAPTER SEVEN ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
˚ ₊ ♡ book one ─── age 17
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WILLEM HOFF HAD MANY REGRETS IN HIS LIFE. LITTLE ONES, SMALL ONES, BUT THERE WAS ONLY ONE THAT HAD HAUNTED HIM, DWELLED IN THE CREVICES OF HIS MIND LIKE AN THIEF IN THE NIGHT. HIS GHOST was Nico Dara, and Miriam with her russet eyes was there to make sure he would never forget it. When he re-emerged from the shadows after she'd left him standing, Willem found himself in the company she had kept after him. Matthias Helvar, for a man of his grandiose stature did not possess any sea legs as he hung over the railing retching like a dying man, and poor Wylan van Eck had grown concernedly more pale—but then again, the brutal mutilation and murder of Oomen could be the cause of that too.

It was Brekker who gestured Matthias over to where he, Jesper, and Wylan had gathered on the forecastle deck to examine plans of the Ice Court away from the eyes and ears of the crew. And the Fjerdan shuffled closer with a look of utter displeasure on his face, clearly not too fond of Kaz' demands.

Willem flanked his side, appearing like a phantom passing through the mist that had clung to their ship and he felt immense pleasure at the small flinch that flashed through Matthias body when his raven's wings fluttered somewhere above them. His smile grew, large and smug as he made his way towards the others, eyeing the group with careful distrust, before he let his eye drift towards the laid out plans on one of the crates. The wall, the gates and guards had been disclosed by Wylan, but there were no names.

"Why aren't there names on anything?" Brekker asked, gesturing at the plans, a lilt of displeasure in his voice.

"I don't know Fjerdan, and we need the details right," Wylan shrugged. "Helvar should do it." He drew back when he saw Matthias' expression. "I'm just doing my job. Stop glaring at me."

"No," Matthias growled, a deep rumble from the pit of his stomach.

Willem knocked him forward with his shoulder.

"Here," Kaz ignored the tall boy, tossing him a tiny, clear disk that winked in the sun from where he stood propping himself on barrel leaning against the mast. His bad leg elevated on a coil of rope, the crow head walking stick glinted in the barely there light as it rested on Kaz' lap.

"What is it?" Willem asked, fingers gliding over the unknown material as he plucked it from Mathias fingers.

"One of Raske's new inventions."

Wylan's head popped up. "I thought he did demo work."

"He does everything," said Jesper smugly.

"Wedge it between your back teeth," Kaz said as he handed the disks to the others. "But don't bite dow—"

Wylan started to sputter and cough, clawing at his mouth and Willem laughed, patting the lanky boy on the back. A transparent film had spread over his lips; it bulged like a frog's gullet as he tried to breathe, eyes darting left and right in panic.

Kaz just shook his head. "I told you not to bite down, Wylan. Breathe through your nose." The boy took deep inhales, nostrils flaring.

"Easy," said Jesper.

"You're going to make yourself pass out."

"What is this?" asked Matthias, still holding the tiny disk in his palm.

Kaz pushed his deep into his mouth, wiggling it between his teeth. "Baleen. I'd planned to save these, but after that ambush, I don't know what kind of trouble we may run into on the open sea. If you go over and can't come up for air, wiggle it free and bite down. It will buy you ten minutes of breathing time. Less if you panic," he said with a meaningful look at Wylan. He gave the boy another piece of baleen. "Be careful with that one." Then he tapped the Ice Court plans. "Names, Helvar. All of them."

Willem watched as Matthias reluctantly picked up the pen and ink Wylan had laid out and began to scratch in the names of the buildings and surrounding roads.

"You're holding back," Brekker said, his dark eyes trained on Matthias.

"I'm telling you what I know."

"Your conscience is interfering with your memory. Remember the terms of our deal, Helvar." Kaz' voice was calm, but even Willem could detect the threat lingering on his tongue.

"All right," Matthias said, his anger rising. "You want my expertise? Your plan won't work."

"You don't even know my plan."

"In through the prison, out through the embassy?"

"As a start."

"It can't be done. The prison sector is completely isolated from the rest of the Ice Court. It isn't connected to the embassy. There's no way to reach it from there."

"It has a roof, doesn't it?"

"You can't get to the roof," Matthias said with satisfaction. "The drüskelle spend three months working with Grisha prisoners and guards as part of our training. I've been in the prison, and there's no access to the roof for exactly that reason – if someone manages to get out of his cell, we don't want him running around the Ice Court. The prison is totally sealed off from the other two sectors in the outer circle. Once you're in, you're in."

"There's always a way out." Kaz pulled the prison plan from the stack. "Five floors, right? Processing area, and four levels of cells. So what's here? In the basement?"

"Nothing. A laundry and the incinerator."

"The incinerator."

"Yes, where they burn the convicts' clothes when they arrive. It's a plague precaution but--sweet Djel, you want us to climb six storeys up an incinerator shaft?"

"When does the incinerator run?"

"If I remember right, early morning, but even without the heat, we—"

"He doesn't mean for us to climb it," said Nina, emerging from belowdecks. Kaz sat up straighter. "Who's watching Inej?"

"Miriam," she said and Willem perked up. "I'll go back in a minute. I just needed some air. And don't feign concern for Inej when you're planning to send her climbing up six storeys of chimney with only a rope and a prayer."

"The Wraith can manage it."

"The Wraith is a sixteen-year-old girl currently lying unconscious on a table. She may not even survive the night." Willem scoffed.

"She will," said Kaz, and something savage flashed in his eyes.

Jesper picked up his rifle, running a soft cloth over it. "Why are we talking about scaling chimneys when we've got a bigger problem?"

"And what's that?" Kaz asked, though Willem had the distinct impression he knew, it had seemed Kaz Brekker knew everything. Did he know about his past with Miriam? Did he know who Miriam truly was? It worried him, knowing that with one slip up, Miriam Dara would disappear and never return again. "We have no business going after Bo Yul-Bayur if Pekka Rollins is involved."

"Who is Pekka Rollins?" Matthias asked.

Wylan shuddered, pulling at the gummy substance on his lips. "Only the biggest, baddest operator in all of Ketterdam. He has money we don't have, connections we don't have, and probably a head start."

"He doesn't have someone like me." Willem flashed a wolfish grin at the boy and he grimaced.

Jesper nodded. "For once, Wylan is making sense. If by some miracle we do manage to spring Bo Yul-Bayur before Rollins does, once he finds out we're the ones who beat him to it, we're all dead men."

"Pekka Rollins is a Barrel boss," Kaz denied curtly. "No more, no less. Stop making him out to be some kind of immortal."

Willem recognised that look in Kaz' eyes, the fire the flames. The unsated thirst for vengeance. Miriam had carried it, held and nurtured it like for years. Whatever wrongs Rollins had done to Kaz Brekker, would without a doubt bring hellfire upon him.

"You think Per Haskell is going to back you when he finds out you crossed Pekka Rollins? You think the old man wants that war?" Kaz shook his head. "Pekka Rollins didn't come into this world dressed in velvet and rolling in kruge. You're still thinking small. The way Per Haskell does, the way men like Rollins want you to. We pull off this job and divvy up that haul, we'll be the legends of the Barrel. We'll be the crew that beat Pekka Rollins."

"Maybe we should forget approaching from the north," said Wylan after a beat of silence "If Pekka's crew has a head start, we should head straight to Djerholm."

"The harbour will be crawling with security," Kaz said. "Not to mention all the usual customs agents and lawmen."

"The south? Through Ravka?" Willem tensed, concerned eyes flickering towards the stairs, and back up before anyone else could see.

"That border is locked down tight," Nina shook her head.

"It's a big border," said Matthias.

"But there's no way to know where it's most vulnerable," she replied. "Unless you have some magical knowledge about which watchtowers and outposts are active. Besides, if we enter from Ravka, we have to contend with Ravkans and Fjerdans." Never had Willem been more happy to here such words.

"We enter from the north as planned," Kaz said and a small spurt of relief passed through Willem.

Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. "Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I'm going to get Wylan's ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost."

Brekker's lips quirked. "I'll just hire Matthias' ghost to kick your ghost's ass."

"My ghost won't associate with your ghost," Matthias said primly.

"You all don't even have a soul to make a ghost out of." Willem scoffed.

⋆⋅ ━━━━ ‧ ༻✩༺ ‧ ━━━━ ⋅⋆

THE SCHOONER ROCKED, SWAYING IN THE WATER AS THE WAVES RUSTLED OUTSIDE THE HULL OF THE SHIP. CLASHING AN ATTACK THEY COULD NOT WIN AND MIRIAM LET THE MOVEMENT LULL her back and forth in the tiny surgeon cabin. Three days had passed and Inej, much to her relief had gained back a bit of her colour, cheeks more flushed and the deep furrow of her brow had slacked slightly. Nina had returned not long ago, the fresh salt air doing her some good as she returned with a bit more vigour.

She tended to the Wraith with careful precision, but the Heartrender had her limits when it came to the small science of healing. A bit helpless they had sat side by side, shoulders pressed together on the small wooden bench bolted to the wall.

"Willem Hoff." The name rolled of Nina's tongue like a secret not meant to be mentioned and Miriam tensed under her questioning gaze. "He did something to you."

The words are spoken like a statement, a correct one—but Miriam does not want to give her the satisfaction. "What make you say that Nina." She replied dully, instead focusing on picking the dirt from beneath her nails with the sharp tip of her new dagger.

"Your eyes." The way the words are spoken so honest, so genuine made inhale sharply.

"He took something from me." She shrugged, trying to play it off.

"You can't get it back?" Nina wondered.

Miriam smiled at her but Nina saw the strain of it, the dullness in her eyes. "No. I can't." 

"Nina,"

Both Miriam and Nina snapped their heads sideways, comically in sync as they noted Inej with her eyes open.

"You're awake." Nina sat up straighter. "Oh, Saints, you're awake!" And then Nina burst out crying. Inej tried to sit up, but could barely lift her head.

"No, no," Miriam lectured.

"Don't try to move, just rest." Nina managed to speak through her tears of relief.

"Are you okay?" sweet Injej, Miriam thought.

Nina started to laugh through her tears. "I'm fine. You're the one who got stabbed. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's just so much easier to kill people than take care of them."

Miriam blinked, head tilting to look between a stunned Inej and an exhausted-looking Nina before the three girls started laughing.

"Owwww," groaned Inej. "Don't make me laugh. That feels awful."

Miriam frowned, pushing herself from the bench, stiff limps protesting but she ignored it as she crouched down next to Inej' head, pushing away the strands of hair clinging to her sweaty forehead. "Saints." She whispered under her breath, "I'm glad you're still alive Ghafa, I don't think we'd even make it to Fjerda without you to keep Kaz sane."

Inej chuckled, but frowned as another flash of pain spread through her like wildfire.

Nina winced. "How do you feel?"

"Sore, but not terrible. Thirsty."

Nina offered her a tin cup full of cold water. "It's fresh. We had rain yesterday"

Inej sipped carefully, letting Miriam hold her head up. "How long was I out?"

"Three days, almost four. Jesper is driving us all crazy. I don't think I've seen him sit still for more than two minutes together. And Miriam barely leaves this room." Nina gushed out.

Miriam glared at the Heartrender.

Nina stood up abruptly. "I need to tell Kaz you're awake! We thought—"

"Wait," Inej said, grabbing for Nina's hand. "Just ... can we not tell him right away?"

Nina sat back down, her face puzzled, looking unsurely at Miriam who just slouched back in her own seat. "Sure, but—"

"Just for tonight." She paused. "Is it night?"

If she was honest, Miriam didn't really know either. Nina was not wrong. She barely left the surgeon's cabin. Of course to keep an eye on Inej, but mostly because she could not stand to face Willem, without a way to leave, and the Ferolind did not have a lot of hiding places.

"Yes. Just past midnight, actually."

"Do we know who came after us at the harbour?"

"Pekka Rollins. He hired the Black Tips and the Razorgulls to keep us from getting out of Fifth Harbour."

"How did he know where we were leaving from?"

"We're not sure yet."

"I saw Oomen—"

"Oomen's dead. Kaz killed him." Miriam cut in.

"He did?"

"Kaz killed a lot of people. Rotty saw him go after the Black Tips who had you up on the crates. I believe his exact words were, 'There was enough blood to paint a barn red.'" Nina continued.

Inej closed her eyes. "So much death." They were surrounded by it in the Barrel.

"He was afraid for you." Nina stated genuinely

"Kaz isn't afraid of anything." Inej shook her head.

"You should have seen his face when he brought you to me."

"I'm a very valuable investment."

Nina's jaw dropped. "Tell me he didn't say that."

Miriam raised an eyebrow, "Nina, It's kaz."

"Of course he did. Well, not the valuable part."

"Idiot."

"How's Matthias?" '

"Also an idiot. Do you think you can eat?"

Inej shook her head.

"Try," urged Nina. "There wasn't much of you to begin with."

"I just want to rest for now."

"Of course," Nina sighed.  "I'll turn down the lantern."

Inej reached for her again. "Don't. I don't want to go back to sleep yet." There was almost a tremor of fear in her voice, something she did not believe she had ever witnessed before.

"I could read to you if I had anything to read." Nina rambled, "There's a Heartrender at the Little Palace who can recite epic poetry for hours. Then you'd wish you had died."

Inej laughed then winced. "Just stay." She looked between them, "both of you."

"All right," said Nina.

"We got you Wraith."