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As Inej climbed toward Kaz’s window, she overheard voices coming from his office.
“Why are you always like this?” She recognized the raspy voice as Kaz’s. He sounded mildly annoyed, but more amused than she’d ever seen him.
“You know you love it,” teased the other voice. Was that Jesper?
“I’m not going to dignify that with a response. Get out, I’ll see you tonight.” His words were harsh, but his tone was lighthearted, at least for Kaz.
She heard the door shut, waited for a moment, then climbed through the window. Kaz seemed to start slightly. Strange, he was usually so difficult to phase. He pushed a few papers around on his desk, shoving a few out of sight. Inej glimpsed a sheet with some numbers on it, an illustration of a bomb, and… a heart shape?
“Hello Inej. Anything new to report?” His voice was almost imperceptibly choked up, and was that a hint of pink on his cheeks?
“Nothing that raises immediate concern. Rumors of Pekka Rollins planning to open a new gambling den, though. I’ll let you know if I hear more about it.” She paused for a moment. “What are you planning tonight? I thought I heard you and Jesper—”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Wraith. If you were meant to know I would have told you. Good work on the Rollins information, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on it. Anything else?”
Inej frowned. She was used to Kaz being abrasive and brushing her off, but this seemed strange, even for him. “That’s it, I guess. Kaz, are you alright? You seem… rattled.”
“You are free to go.” He was avoiding the question. Inej decided not to push her luck. She gave a brief nod and left the office, heading downstairs in search of Jesper. She’d grown close with the sharpshooter in the months she’d spent with the Dregs, and she was sure she could get some information out of him.
She caught Jesper on his way out of the Slat, heading toward the Crow Club, and fell in step beside him, taking two steps for each of the tall boy’s long strides. “Mind if I tag along?”
“Always glad to be accompanied by you, ‘Nej. Any particular reason?”
“Not particularly. Just delivered Kaz some intel, but he seemed strange. Stranger than usual, that is.”
“Seemed normal to me when I left. Who knows with him, though. Hey, you know what’s funny? We were actually talking about you a little bit!”
Inej felt a slight heat in her cheeks. “Me? Good or bad things?”
“Well, I don’t think Kaz has ever said anything outright good about someone ever, but I can tell he thinks highly of you,” Jesper said with a wink.
“Glad to hear. Any plans for tonight?”
Jesper smirked. “I’m meeting up with a lover. May be out for a while, don’t wait up.”
“A lover?” Interesting. “Anyone I would know?”
“I’m afraid that’s classified. All I can say is that I’m sure it’ll be explosive.” Jesper wiggled his brows at her. She wasn’t quite sure she got the joke, but she laughed anyway as she filed the information away.
Jesper began telling her a story, something about a recent job he’d been part of, but Inej was barely listening. She was trying to put the pieces together in her head. Jesper meeting with a lover wasn’t unusual, but his caginess with the details was. She’d heard dozens of stories of flirtations and hookups from him, and he’d never been so secretive that he couldn’t even say who. That, combined with Kaz’s strange behavior… could it be? Were Kaz and Jesper seeing each other? She knew she couldn’t jump to conclusions, but the facts fit together. I’ll see you tonight, echoed Kaz’s voice in her head. Maybe she should investigate—
“Inej? You alright?” Jesper’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. “You kinda spaced out there for a bit, did something happen?”
“I’m okay, just thinking,” she responded. They had arrived at the Crow Club without her noticing. “I don’t think I’ll stay for long, just enough to make sure everything is in order. I mostly just needed the walk. I’ll see you later, have fun with your lover.”
“What? Oh, right. My lover. Yeah, it’ll be great. Always a pleasure to catch up with you, I’ll see you soon.” Jesper made a beeline to the bar, scanning the floor of the club for a game to join. Inej did a quick sweep of the room. Everything seemed in order. Big Bolliger was acting as the bouncer, Anika manned the bar, and Rotty and Teapot were walking around and keeping the peace. There was a decent crowd for mid-afternoon on a weekday, but it was far from busy. With a friendly smile towards Anika and a final wave to Jesper, she was on her way back to the Slat. She had her own plans to make for the night.
~~~~~
“Inej, I’m heading out for the night. Jesper too. Make sure things go smoothly at the Crow Club tonight. Dirix and Pim are working, go to them if you need extra hands. Not sure when we’ll be back, but I’ll run by before coming back here.” Kaz paused. He’d stopped by Inej’s room in the Slat to deliver her instructions. He was well dressed, with no obvious signs of carrying a weapon. Inej knew he had at least a few concealed knives on him, though. “Oh, and if anyone asks where I went, you have no idea. Same goes for Jesper.”
“I don’t know where you’re going. Or Jesper, for that matter.”
“Good, just like that,” said Kaz with a smirk. Inej felt her cheeks warm. He could be so infuriating sometimes.
“Well, good luck on your mysterious outing. May the saints protect you.”
Kaz snorted. “No need to get your so-called-saints involved. This job isn’t dangerous, just a bit secretive in nature. Take care of the Crow Club, I’ll see you tonight.” With those final words, he was gone. Now Inej could set her plan in motion.
She walked down the hall to Pim’s room, catching him as he left for his shift. “I need you in charge of the Crow Club for a little while. Shouldn’t be more than an hour. Kaz and Jesper are both out tonight and I have to run an errand. Can I trust you?”
Pim gave her a nod. “Got it. Anything in particular I need to know?”
“Nothing special. I’ll be back soon, I just need a good pair of eyes to keep everything running smoothly.”
Pim began his descent downstairs and Inej headed back to her room. Just in time. She could see Jesper leaving the Slat, turning down a different street than the one she’d seen Kaz go down. He was dressed as garishly as ever, but his clothes were cleaner and less tattered than usual. He would be easy enough to follow. Inej knew Kaz would know if she followed him, but Jesper would never know she was there. She slid the window open and climbed out onto the ledge, making her way behind Jesper on the rooftops. She followed him all the way to a sketchy looking lodging building. She recognized this one as a popular meeting spot for one night stands. Maybe Jesper was meeting a lover, after all. She waited for a moment to see who would appear. To her shock, it was Kaz who seemed to be meeting with Jesper. They exchanged a few words, and Kaz glanced almost imperceptibly in her direction. Then he smiled. Actually smiled. They walked in together, and Inej felt a twinge of something unfamiliar. She hadn’t wanted to assume anything was happening between Kaz and Jesper, but the pieces were all there, weren’t they? She left abruptly. She’d seen enough for the night.
The next day, Inej was exhausted. She’d spent half the night tossing and turning, trying to figure out what to do next. It was obvious that Kaz and Jesper were keeping their relationship secret for a reason, but why? Maybe it was to keep up appearances. Surely, hearing that Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel, was in a relationship would soften his reputation. But there were plenty of gang members and other frightening figures in the Barrel with partners, so maybe that wasn’t it. Perhaps it was to protect Jesper. Kaz would never acknowledge it, but he cared deeply about those close to him and would go to great lengths to protect them. It was one of the things Inej admired about him. If word came out that Jesper was so closely involved with Kaz, he would surely become a target. That was a possibility, but she and Kaz both knew Jesper could hold his own in a fight. Could it be that Kaz was simply embarrassed? Inej could count on one hand how many times she’d seen him show kindness to someone in public. Even in private, he rarely showed any sort of positive emotion. She recalled how flustered he’d been when he realized she might have heard his conversation with Jesper. She resolved to bring it up to him subtly, just to let him know it was okay for him to be comfortable with his relationship. She made her way up to his office.
Right as she raised her arm to knock on the door, it swung open and Jesper walked out. He looked startled, then grinned. “Inej! Perfect timing as always, Kaz just asked me to find you and send you up. He’s waiting for you now.” He walked off, and Inej entered the room.
“Hello Inej,” greeted Kaz. He paused briefly, then spoke bluntly. “I know you followed me last night.”
So he had spotted her. “Technically, I followed Jesper. You just happened to be going to the same place.”
“Technically, you weren’t supposed to follow either of us. I trust you won’t share what you saw with anyone?” He seemed nervous.
“Who would I tell? Other than Nina, you two are the only people I talk to. But Kaz,” she hesitated. No going back now. “You’re allowed to let yourself be vulnerable. Relationships are normal, you don’t have to hide this.”
Kaz stared at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Inej felt almost as confused as he looked. “Your relationship with Jesper? The way you were so flustered after speaking with him yesterday? Your secret meetup at the lodging house?”
To her surprise, Kaz laughed. A genuine, hearty laugh unlike anything she’d ever heard come out of him. “You thought— you thought I was sleeping with Jesper? Jesper?” He caught his breath before continuing. “We were meeting with a potential contact. Does demolition work. New to the Barrel, I’ll need you to dig up information on him. There’s something strange about him. I needed to see if he’d be of use to me, and I brought Jesper because he can get anyone to trust him.”
Inej’s cheeks flushed hot. She felt ridiculous, but also strangely relieved? She had hated the idea of Kaz and Jesper dating, even though she cared about them both. “So there’s nothing going on between the two of you? What about the blushing when you realized I’d heard you speaking?”
“That was Jesper teasing me about… something unimportant. It was false and embarrassing and I didn’t want you to overhear.”
“Oh.” They were both silent for a moment, just looking at each other. The heat in her cheeks hadn’t quite subsided. “So, who’s this demolition expert you need information on?”
“He goes by the name Wylan Hendriks. You saw where he’s staying. He’s currently working at the tannery. His arrival in the barrel coincides with the disappearance of Jan Van Eck’s son, and I can’t help but wonder if there’s a connection there.”
“On it. Sorry about… this.” Inej met Kaz’s eyes apologetically.
“I suppose it’s my fault. I taught you to gather information, and that’s what you did. Maybe we just forget this happened, though.” Kaz looked back at her, his gaze as soft as she’d ever seen it. “I’ll see you later, Wraith.”
Inej left in search of Jesper. She found him in the Slat’s kitchen, in the middle of making a somewhat questionable sandwich. “Jesper!” He turned, startled by her voice. “You and Kaz aren’t dating?”
“If only! I’m not even sure he likes me some days. But also, where in Ghezen’s name did you get that idea?”
“I may or may not have followed you and Kaz last night. You went to the lodging house and I thought— plus, you’re always staring at him, so…”
“Is it really that obvious? Unfortunately we’re not dating, as I’m sure Kaz told you. We were visiting this guy—”
“The demo guy, right? I’m about to go look for information on him. What did you think?”
“He’s weird. Doesn’t look like he’d last a day in the Barrel, but he’s been working here. Easy to annoy. He’s hot though. Wouldn’t mind working with him if it meant seeing that face again.”
Inej smiled. “Who knows, maybe we’ll see him around. So Kaz definitely doesn’t have any secret relationships he’s hiding?”
“You never know with him. But I’m fairly certain he’s not involved in any scandalous love affairs. Why, are you interested?”
“No!” Inej turned red. “Maybe? I don’t know. One one hand, I’m not sure he’s capable of human emotion half the time. But there’s just something about him, do you know what I mean?”
“All too well, I’m afraid. Join the club.” Jesper shook his head. “How does this even happen?”
Inej chuckled. “I have to go stalk your potential demo man, but maybe we can meet for waffles and commiserate later?”
“It’s a date,” Jesper said with a wink.
Inej shook her head as she left. Kaz Brekker. Who would’ve thought?