⌜ chapter two ⌟

"I really appreciate new business." The Heartrender says as she walks behind Kaz. "But you've only paid for an hour of my time, and then I have to be back at the Orchid."

"The Orchid isn't safe tonight." He tells her. "Your life's in danger with this job. Make yourself scarce for a few days afterwards."

"Mr. Brekker, are you threatening me? Really?" She questions. "Even if I'm nice, my boss will call the stadwatch on you."

"It's not me you're in danger with." Kaz says as he turns around and looks at her. "It's Pekka Rollins."

"My boss would call the stadwatch on him as well."

"Not if he's dead." Arya mutters as her gaze turns up to the night sky, and Kaz looks at her for a moment before turning around starting for the gate at the end of the woods.

"Who are you lot?" A male voice asks.

"We're here to see Dreesen." Kaz tells him.

"You're not with Pekka's crew."

"And you're not in Pekka's pocket anymore if you don't owe him." He tosses him a small bag filled with coins, and it sails straight through the bars of the gate.

The man lets them onto the grounds, and the other four follow Kaz toward the front door. Arya glances around the property as she stays in step with Inej, a few paces behind the Heartrender.

Jesper speeds up to walk beside Kaz. "Hey, where'd you get that coin?" He asks him.

"Hey!" The man who let them into the gate yells from behind them. "One of these has a hole in it."

"Saints." He chuckles.

"Inside. Inside." Kaz rushes the girls along.

"Naughty, naughty boy." Arya chuckles as she passes him, following the others into the large house.

A different man escorts them through the house before opening a set of double doors. Their group is led by Kaz, with Inej and the Heartrender right behind him, and Arya and Jesper behind them.

"One look and I can tell. Criminals." Dreesen says as he looks at them. Jesper moves to the other side of Inej, and Arya walks up beside the Heartrender. "I'm not meeting anyone 'til midnight."

"We heard you needed a Heartrender." Kaz says as he looks at him.

"Hmm." He gets to his feet as his gaze turns to her. "Alright, she stays, the rest of you, out."

She takes a step forward, but Kaz raises his cane, stopping her from leaving them. Arya makes a tsk noise as she looks at the Heartrender, who shoots her a dirty look.

"She stays...and we have an exclusive on this job." Kaz says.

"Mr. Brekker." Dreesen starts out from behind his desk. "No businessman worth his salt hires his first applicant." He says as he then leans against the front of it.

"No. No, I understand." He agrees. "Of course, I will have to report you to the guild...for kidnapping and harboring a prisoner without chain of title." He says, and the man to Dreesen's left moves his coat back to reach for his gun.

Arya sees him move and then she sees Jesper reach for his own gun out of the corner of her eye, and her jaw tightens. Her head turns the slightest bit to her left so she can see the man standing at her side, and she sees his hand on his gun as well. It shouldn't be too hard for her to disarm him, the problem is not getting shot by one of the others first.

"You wouldn't." Dreesen says, his eyes still on Kaz.

"No businessman worth his salt bargains for what he can take." He tells him, and then Dreesen moves closer to him.

Arya's eyes scan the room, and she hears Dreesen take a deep breath as he stops directly in front of Kaz. And then the Heartrender raises her hand.

"I have to be back in an hour." She tells him, and Inej and Arya both look at her incredulously.

"Alright, come on." Dreesen concedes, then starts past them.

Kaz turns and looks at the Heartrender, then his gaze lands on Arya. He sees the anger in her eyes before the tightness of her jaw registers, but he doesn't care why she's angry.

Kaz, Inej, and the Heartrender follow after Dreesen, and Arya looks over at Jesper. He's still watching the one who was ready to draw on them after Kaz made his threat. Jesper makes a face at him before turning around and walking out of the room, and Arya chuckles as she follows behind him.

Dreesen leads them all down to a basement, and then he stands beside a person who's hunched over in a chair. There's a sack over their head, concealing their identity.

"Who's this?" Kaz asks.

"So you don't know everything after all. This..." Dreesen pulls the sack to reveal a young man who looks beaten and bloody. "...is Alexei Stepanov. Two weeks ago, young Alexei here crossed through the Fold on foot. Alone."

"How?" Inej asks.

"Well, they're keeping it quiet." He says as he walks over to a table and pours something from a canister into a cup. "But allegedly, he was one of a few witnesses to...an event."

"Water." Alexei barely manages, his voice hoarse.

Arya moves past Kaz and Inej to get to the table that Dreesen's standing at. She grabs the same canister that he used, as well as another cup, and Dreesen looks down at her as she pours some water for his prisoner. Her harsh gaze meets his briefly before she walks past him, heading straight for Alexei.

"What kind of event?" Kaz asks, watching as Arya helps Alexei drink from the cup. He needs the help because his hands are tied behind his back.

"I know an expedition was swarmed by volcra." Dreesen tells him. "Should've been a total loss, but something happened. Some device detonated — obliterated the volcra, lit up the dark like a forest fire. I know it wasn't a fire, or else no one would have survived. This was some invention no one had seen before. He knows." He says as he points at Alexei. "But he doesn't seem to be able to articulate his account of events. Some form of...traumatic lapse."

Arya looks over at Kaz after Alexei finishes the cup of water. She takes a deep breath as her gaze returns to Alexei, looking at the blood covering his face around his right eye and under his lip.

"So..." Dreesen looks at Kaz, who then motions for the Heartrender to go over to the other two.

Arya stands and makes her way back toward Kaz and the others. The brunette stands on his left side as she watches the Heartrender kneel beside Alexei where she had been, and then the woman lightly trails her fingers down the side of his face as she looks up at him.

"You're safe now." The blonde tells him as she runs her fingertips up the palm of his hand, then her eyes meet his again. "Now you can just speak, and I will just listen."

"Alright." Alexei says, his voice stronger now.

"Tell me what happened in the Fold. What saved you?"

"You won't believe me, but..." He starts. "...it was a Sun Summoner."

Inej gasps, and Arya quirks an eyebrow as she looks over at her. Jesper seems more confused by what they heard than anything else, and Kaz doesn't seem to have much of a reaction at all as he looks from Inej to Arya. Her gaze meets his briefly, and then they both look back at Alexei.

Dreesen walks over then and kneels down in front of him. "Who was it?"

"If I tell you, you'll set me free?" Alexei asks as he looks down at him.

"You have my word, I'll set you free." He tells him. "You're in Ketterdam now, Alexei. You can go anywhere in the world from here. Just imagine... Come on."

"Her name is... Alina Starkov."

"Alina Starkov?" Dreesen echoes, and he nods. "Good boy."

"I thought you said there was no such thing as a Sun Summoner." Arya whispers as she looks up at Kaz.

"It's a myth." He says as his gaze meets hers. "A story meant to comfort children who are afraid of the Fold."

"Show me the manifest." Dreesen tells one of his men as he moves past Kaz and Arya. He checks the records as the Heartrender keeps Alexei calm. "Ah, perfect."

"You'll set me free now?" Alexei asks as he looks over at him.

"Of course." He raises a gun, and fires off a single shot, hitting him in the head.

The Heartrender screams, and Inej jumps as Jesper takes a step back and looks away. Kaz quickly raises his cane and places it in front of Arya when she turns to Dreesen, and her fingers curl around the cool wood as she glares at the older man.

She's not trying to take the cane from him, nor is she trying to break it, but Kaz can feel the tension as her grip tightens. He takes a step toward her as he bows his head so his lips are near her ear as he speaks.

"Don't start something you can't finish on your own." He whispers. "We will not risk our lives to protect you."

"Do you have control over your pet?" Dreesen asks.

A half irritated, half amused smile crosses Arya's lips as she looks up at Kaz. Her smile turns sarcastic, and he feels when she releases the cane, letting him place it back on the floor.

"We are now the only people west of the Fold with this information." He says, and they look back at him. "My ship sails for West Ravka at dawn. If you can prove that you have a way through the Fold and back, I'll put you on that ship with an advance. If you don't, I'm giving this job to Pekka Rollins." He tells them as he starts out of the room.

"Give me a day." Kaz tells him. "I'll have a plan."

"You have until sunrise, then your ship will have sailed, Mr. Brekker." He says, having turned back to look at them. "The prize is one million kruge. Now bring me Alina Starov...and keep your pet on a tighter leash."

"Woof." Arya mutters as she turns back and looks at Alexei's body, which is now laying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

"I like you." Jesper says as he walks up in front of Arya, and she smiles as she looks up to meet his gaze.

"Your friend here pisses people off a lot, doesn't he?" The brunette asks, and he nods as he glances at Kaz. "Any chance I can have a gun before the next time? Because I don't want to put my life at risk because you're an insufferable jackass." She says as she turns her gaze to Kaz.

"You could leave." Kaz tells her.

"I tried. You wouldn't let me."

"You don't strike me as the type who does only as other people allow her."

"Yeah, well, I don't know your world. And apparently, I don't get along well with the people in it either. So, unfortunately, you seem to be my ticket home." She reasons. "Plus, I like Jesper. Inej seems great too. The only real problem is you."

"The feeling is mutual." He turns around and walks away from them.

Arya looks back at Jesper then. "He doesn't smile, does he?" The brunette asks, and he shakes his head. "I didn't think so."