chapter nineteen,     dear enough

     THE SAFE PLACE was on Black Veil Island. It was completely deserted and it was mostly used for the tombs of the dead ones. Most of the buildings were all out of white marble – eerie and terrifying, but it was a place no one really dared to step one foot in. Some believed that the plague still resides there or they were just afraid of ghosts.

    It wasn't a very pleasant place to be in, but it was safe. Specht was already sailing back, the rest of them were residing in one of the tombs. There were essentials there – some basic furniture. Clearly, someone has been residing here before. Their things were already stuffed on the ground out of the schooner and Lavender found a little bit of solace in wearing her red heels again.

    Her walking was a little bit wobbly at first, but the confidence overtook her quickly and it was her second skin, just like always. The red ribbon was tied around her hand – she found it tied around her heels, but as she remembers she only tied it around one, but maybe her memory was slightly off after such a heist.

    All four of them were worrying – anything could've happened. Something horrible happened if Kaz didn't manage to communicate with them for two hours.

Aleksej helped her to find a little table from the other tombs and set it in the corner of the ones they were inside. She placed her medik stuff on it, and laid it out by a system, preparing to receive someone hurt. She didn't want anyone to be hurt, but the voice inside of her was preparing for it.

     Aleksej was busy asking Nina about her well-being. He was the only one in here who experienced the horrors of jurda parem and actually survived, so he was their best chance to know how to help Nina. It seemed that Nina was doing far better than she was supposed to, even if her sunken cheeks were telling a different story – she wanted more jurda parem, but she wasn't driven off the edge enough to beg for it. Yet.

    Kuwei was all in his notebook, writing. He kept giving her weird looks and she wanted to snap at him, but she didn't know Shu and he didn't really understand Kerch. Clearly, he was confused about her being a Grisha and how she wasn't affected by jurda parem. Truth be told, she doesn't remember much about how they got out of the Ice Court and doesn't want to remember. It didn't matter that she was a Grisha – she won't do anything about it. It ruined her life.

    The ripple of water outside alerted her and she sprinted outside, to see a longboat arriving here, inside a few dark figures residing. The closer it got, the more nervous she felt, but she soon noticed the lanky stance of her brother and she managed to breathe out with some relief. However, it didn't reach the shore and he was already waving for her to come closer.

     Someone got hurt.

     She sprinted forwards, watching the way her brother was carrying someone out of the boat, only to recognise the petite body of Inej. Horror painted her face and she directed her brother into the tomb.

     "On the table," Lavender ordered and the petite woman was placed on it, slightly wailing out of the pain.

     "Saints! Inej!" Nina gasped, standing up and getting closer before he turned to Jesper. "What the hell happened?"

    Lavender wasn't happy that her intuition was right about someone getting hurt, but it gave her the advantage to start treating someone faster. Inej was conscious, covered in sweat and she was moving to her left side, pushing the dark cloak off her stomach, showing the nasty wound.

    It was a knife wound—it wasn't deep, but it was wide. It almost seemed like someone held a knife there to scare her and when she tried to run away, the blade slashed her skin open.

    The red-haired reacted immediately. She turned around, taking a cloth, alcohol and a needle with a thread. She started to clean the wound, apologizing for the stinging pain. Soon, Kaz and Wylan, who looked like the exact copy of Kuwei and Matthias joined them all.

   "Speak," Lavender demanded as she was throwing the bloody cloth further from them all.

   "Council didn't know about this. Van Eck just wanted the formula of the parem," Kaz replied, his voice groggy.

    So they just wanted to get Bo Yul-Bayur and get rid of a gang at the same time. It was expected, but it made them all feel like complete morons after the things they had to go through.

    "Let me guess, they weren't content with the fact that Wylan looks like Kuwei?" Nina asked.

    Inej was taking the pain like a champion and Lavender was proud of her even if all of this was happening in pure chaos. She was raging that the money didn't even exist and it was a suicide mission one way or another, but the relief of seeing them all safe was overthrowing the anger.

    "They tried to take me, but I managed to get out," the silent tones of Inej's voice reached them all. "Me for Kuwei."

    "Does that mean the whole Council is against us?" Lavender asked.

    "Yes," Kaz replied.

    There was a moment of silence.

    They weren't safe and the whole city will beam with people trying to murder them all. The Council was powerful, it could bribe the gangs to do dirty work for them. Ketterdam wasn't safe.

    "What are we going to do?" Nina asked the question all of them had in their minds.

    "We are going to get the money," Kaz stated.

    "My father doesn't have that kind of money and the council won't give it to us," Wylan replied, making Lavender look dumbfounded watching him speak as he looked like Kuwei, but Kuwei was sitting in the corner.

    "Then they will have to find it," Kaz stated as if it was the most obvious thing.

    Lavender's mind was going too fast with the thoughts entering and leaving it. She only managed to put her direction to Inej, pressing the cloth to her wound in order to stop the bleeding. Raising her head to look at Kaz, she was thinking about what is going to happen now.

    The whole plan failed because it didn't even exist. They were tricked. There was no money and now the whole Council will be cheering for their deaths. Judging by the expression on Kaz's face, he was intensely thinking, which only meant that he won't give up. Even if it meant a bloodbath in the streets of Ketterdam.

    "Van Eck tried to get Inej as leverage to get Kuwei, right? He is not going to stop – we need to get out of here," Lavender pointed out.

    "I am not giving up," Brekker disagreed.

    "Well, maybe you should. They know who you are and they will try to get you," she pointed out.

    "Many gangs want to have the Wraith. Van Eck knows she is valuable," Jesper sided with his sister. "It's dangerous for her."

    "It's dangerous for all of you! If he won't get Inej, he will try to get a guy good with revolvers... Or-or a Heartrender and then his own son," Lavender slightly shook her head.

    "All we need to do is get someone very dear to Van Eck as well," Kaz turned his head to Wylan.

    "Alys."

    "Who?" Nina asked.

    "His wife. She is pregnant." Wylan reported.

    "So, what? You plan to kidnap a pregnant woman?" Matthias disapprovingly grunted in the background.

    "We need to strike him where it hurts," Kaz pointed out.

    "Getting his wife is not the most painful part," Lavender shook her head. "The council is afraid to lose their status. If we can put their attention on something else – we can do a lot worse to them right under the nose."

    "Get their most sellable stuff," Brekker nodded.

    "Without it – the gangs will overtake them themselves," Jesper agreed.

    "The gangs listen to Pekka Rollins – he is easily bought and I am sure Jan Van Eck will get him first," Inej propped up herself on her elbows, trying to ignore the stinging pain.

    Lavender hummed, trying to push the idea into the frame, "And what if we make the gangs turn against the Council?"

    "That's not possible," Wylan immediately disagreed.

    "The kid is right," Jesper nodded, "Laws don't work for them since they are the law. No matter how dirty their lives are."

    "Not if they lose most of their income. If we can take the legal income away of them, they will have to depend on the dirty money that they earn and they will be vulnerable. Then, the auction of Kuwei would attract the diplomats from everywhere and once their secrets would be exposed, they would have nowhere to go but to write their own eulogies," Kaz stated, slightly tapping the head of the carved crow.

    "Alright, yeah, that sounds good. But it is only a theory, how are we going to do it if in a few days the whole city will try to kill us on spot?" Jesper extended his hands, moving them in frustration.

    "Just as Lavender said – we need a good distraction."

    "Not just a good distraction, Brekker," Lavender shook her head. "Someone valuable to you."

    "Vi, what are you on about?" Jesper asked, furrowing his eyebrows and placing his hands on his waist, not liking where this was going.

    "Nothing is more valuable to him than a huge stack of kruge," Nina shrugged.

    "That's true," Jesper shared an amusing look with the Heartrender.

    Rolling her eyes, Lavender turned her attention to Kaz, "Are you good at forging documents?"

    "Depends on what kind."

    "Marriage certificate."

    There was a weird silence after those words. Nina seemed to be the first one to get her attention back on track, so she stood up and extended her hands in a dramatic motion: "Hold on!" she shook her head. "You want to find Brekker a wife!?"

    "What would Van Eck do if he would find out Kaz Brekker is married?" Lavender hypothetically asked. "He would get his wife and not Inej or Jesper, or any of you. The wife is a distraction for us to get the money right under the Council's nose."

    "Everyone in Ketterdam knows that Brekker is not the type to go on romantic dates," Nina pointed out, receiving a glare from Kaz.

    Oddly enough, Kaz didn't like being in the spotlight like that, especially when they were discussing his non-existent love life. But somehow, the things Lavender was saying, made sense.

    "It's not about romantic dates. It's about the attention off you - on the marriage. Plus, if you are reacting this way, don't you think that the whole Barrel will stop functioning for a few days? Everyone will try to find his wife so they could use her against him, while it will give plenty of time and distraction for Kaz to get money. It's a mere illusion." Lavender said.

    "Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Jesper squinted his eyes, looking at his sister, and receiving a nod from her. "Absolutely not."

    Lavender felt desperate. This plan was bound to work, in order to protect the ones who are valuable to this team. "There is no other way! If one of you gets taken – it's gonna be a bloodbath. You're all valuable!" She felt somehow saying these words louder than she should be saying. "All of you have certain qualities in order to protect each other. One of you gets taken, and the rest will be disoriented. While I— I probably can't even shoot straight, because I'm fucking blind in one eye!"

     There was a deafening silence after this and a few pitying looks.

    "Your plan is putting yourself in danger, Vi. I'm not gonna let you do this," Jesper broke the silence, walking closer.

    Lavender pushed the bloody cloth away, giving them all a look before she averted her eyes on Kaz, who had been looking at her all this time. "Well?"

   Kaz placed his hands on the top of the cane, breathing out as he clearly didn't want to do this. He didn't want Lavender to be in danger—hell, she will be a spotlight in this bloody city. So much for his efforts to get her out of here, only for her to put her in danger. But he could also understand her point of view—even if he disagreed with her. She was valuable as well, but Lavender was the only one that was unknown in this city. It would give them an advantage.

    "No," he finally croaked out. It was too dangerous— she was the only person from his past and he could not allow this to proceed. The plan was decent, but not with her.

    "No?" her voice slightly raised. "Got any better ideas?"

    "Getting Van Eck's pregnant wife sounds like a start." His dark gaze reached her.

     Lavender scoffed, shaking her head, "What I suggested makes sense—the Barrel would explode hearing about someone valuable to you."

    "Do you not see the danger of that? What if they would get to you, hm?" He took a step closer to the table where Inej was laying, his head tilting. "Do you think they wouldn't break you?"

Lavender felt the way blood rushed down from her face, her fingers, which were pressing the cloth to Inej's wound, were shaking. "Is that what you are worried about? Breaking me?" She scoffed.

"If they will want to hurt me— trust me, they want to do nothing more than that. They will get everything out of you. Your plan can work," he admitted, "But with someone else because you—"

He seemed to stop himself at the right moment.

"Because what?" She raised her eyebrows, regretting her decision to do so. "Tell them, Kaz, tell them all loud and clear."

His eyes dangerously glistened. "Lavender."

"No— Kaz! What would I be able to tell about you to them, huh? That you were a child?" Her voice raised and she couldn't control herself anymore. "Guess what? We all were children once and no one in Ketterdam is going to be surprised by what I know about you. I know nothing. The past we shared is put aside. It's irrelevant!"

And now the cat was out of the bag. But it wasn't surprising to the others as most of them knew or suspected. But did it feel good to finally say it out loud in front of everyone? Totally.

"That's already valuable in the Barrel, Lavender. Anything that has to do with me— you... Don't be a fool."

"Did you forget what happened at the Ice Court? Is my—" she pointed at her bandaged eye with her free hand, "not enough of a reminder that I didn't squeeze out a word about you or else we wouldn't have been here?"

"Everyone has a limit."

     "Kaz," she said his name through her gritted teeth, trying to calm herself down from the boiling anger in her chest. "You better think twice before accusing me of breaking your trust. I'm offering you the grandest scheme of your life - not only to gain back your right to be in Ketterdam, your money but also your life! I will not sit here and watch the way an innocent pregnant woman is used for our own good when we can think of something different."

     Kaz despised this situation as he was torn into two. Worst of all, her plan made so much sense and it was killing him from apart. Should he proceed with it and ignore the chances of her getting killed or should he hold his ground?

     "I won't be able to protect you if you make yourself known," he admitted, voice low.

     Lavender shook her head, pushing her hand to press the cloth on Inej's wound tighter. "I'm not asking for your protection, Kaz. I'm asking for an ounce of your trust."

     You have it all, Lavender, you have it fucking all, he kept chanting inside of him as he was gazing at her, feeling the way he was loosening up. "Fine." He said it to all now. "Putting Lavender on the spot will give us the upper hand for a limited period of time. We must think this through - carefully."

    That's when an unheard voice appeared in the room full of chaos as the curly-head guy snapped: "You want to marry him?" Aleksej pointed with his hand at the guy with the cane.

    "Do you have something you wish to say?" Kaz inquired, his voice laced with venom as he gave the annoying guy a piercing look as he was reminded of his presence once again.

    "First of all, the marriage certificate was just an example," Lavender quickly pointed out. She didn't want to look like she was trying to marry him for no reason.

    Aleksej batted his eyelids at Kaz for a few moments before he walked closer to Lavender: "He's not a good guy. Why would you do this to yourself?"

     "All of us in here have done terrible things, Aleksej. If we want to get out of here alive - I'd say it's our best shot. Besides, I don't mind being in the spotlight," Lavender explained, trying to loosen the tension up, her expression softening when she was speaking with the curly-haired guy.

     Kaz noticed that. And he didn't particularly enjoy that.

     "Perhaps I could do something— I am not known in Ketterdam. I can stroll the streets and not be visible," Aleksej shook his head.

     "Clearly you haven't been to Ketterdam," Kaz admitted, his gloved hands dropped on the cane comfortably. "Others would devour you like gryphons - you are not a spy. You are a mere meal for them."

     Aleksej scoffed, chuckling as he turned his attention to Kaz, "And I am supposed to take your word? Your word when you told us about the plan which wasn't the actual plan?"

     "My word is the best you have if you want to stay alive," the gravel voice surrounded them all and none of the others dared to interrupt. Were they drawn into the suspense of where this was going?

     Aleksej shook his head, turning his attention to Lavender. "You are putting a target right on your back and for what?" Aleksej shook his head, flustered.

     Kaz only chuckled, dipping his head slightly down. It almost seemed like a smirk from afar.

     "It's my idea, Alex," she gently said, placing her free hand on his shoulder. "It's gonna be fine."

     And now Kaz Brekker knew which shoulder he will dislocate first.

     "Don't you have something to say?" Aleksej looked at Jesper.

     "I agree with Aleksej," Jesper shrugged. "Not that my sister doesn't know what she is doing— but, Kaz Brekker and a wife just don't belong in the same sentence."

   "I agree!" Nina nodded. "No one is going to believe that the Dirtyhands has a wife. Those two things just don't work together."

    "It's not about them trying to believe that Brekker has a love story or not. It's about giving him a past. Isn't that what everyone wants in Ketterdam?" Lavender pointed out, turning around as she took one glass jar and took out some leaves and gave them to Inej to chew on so it wouldn't hurt as much when she will stitch her up.

    "I think it would work, but Lavender," Inej croaked out holding those leaves in her hand, "you're putting yourself in danger."

    "I know," she whispered, but there was no other way. Then, she looked at Kaz, "There should be land, under my name as well. It would give me a reason to be away from Ketterdam and it would look as if you tried to protect me, by keeping me not too far. Marriage certificate or not - make it seem like I'm dear to you enough to have me around."

Dear enough? He almost scoffed but didn't say a word. She was everything he had and desperately clung to. "I'll get it done."

    "Now, everyone, give me the space – I need to stitch Inej up."

author's note:

I'm sorry for the slow updates! I'm stuffed with midterms, but I promise to update at least once a month! xx