CHAPTER FOURTY-SEVEN
vol ii — home turf

KAZ HAD WANDERED away from the group, seemingly heading towards the clock tower, which caused the rest of them to follow the boy they called their leader. Smoke, boats, lights. That's exactly what made Dinara love it. The chaos, the hustle, the yelling. That was her home. Well, it was. She didn't know if she was going to be able to go back home. But, Kaz was starting to become a place she felt safe and looked forward to returning to. Honestly, the thoughts in her head only confused her, which made everything a little more difficult. She knew she had to be extremely patient with the boy, but she knew what she wanted and would do anything to ensure she was his.

"They're sealing the harbor. No one in or out."
"Ketterdam won't stand for it. People will riot."
"They don't have the manpower. Even with the stadwatch."
"Don't they? Look again."

They all started to walk over to where Kaz was standing, Dinara choosing to lean across the ledge, not having the ability to comprehend. A stampede of people were making their way through Ketterdam, singing, chanting, and beating their drums as Pekka Rollins Dime Lions leading the way. Her breath was caught in her throat, the unbelievable sight of everyone finding their ability to throw any sort of alliance under the bus. "You cowards!" Dinara yelled, but she knew they wouldn't be able to hear her. The rest of the group didn't even look her way, knowing she was right and the fact she was mad didn't want them to engage.

The only good point in all of this, they wanted them all alive. Every single gang member had been deputized, wearing that ridiculous purple band on their arms, showing it off proudly. The bad thing? They were going to be hunted relentlessly until capture, their bounty being far too high, which paled in comparison to everything they had ever done for those people. Kuwei looked down at the ground and spoke through a small whisper, "Give me to Van Eck." Nina went to interject, having grown fond of the boy, but he held his hand up, stopping her. "You saved me from the Fjerdans. If we do not act, then I will be captured anyway."

"Then all of this was for nothing?" Wylan asked, his eyes growing wide at the though of almost killing themselves multiple times for nothing. The poor boy didn't know that what he had experienced was a daily occurrence for the Crows. "The risks we took? What we accomplished at the Ice Court? Everything Inej and Nina had to suffer through?"

"You should have just killed me at the Ice Court," Kuwei said, throwing his head into his hands, clearly distressed over the fact that he caused this entire mess for no reason. Especially since Jesper had told him that the Barrel was on the hunt and there was nothing that would stop Pekka and Van Eck now. Not with the ability to run Kaz Brekker out of the Barrel and everyone backing them.

"But then Kaz would have killed me, Matthias would have killed Kaz, and Dinara would have killed Matthias and it would have all gotten incredibly messy," Nina said, her hands connecting their names with invisible lines in the air.

"No one would have killed me. Let's be honest there," Dinara said, looking down at the crowd still. She knew that none of them stood a chance against her, not even Kaz Brekker and his rat like moves. She knew him like the back of her hand. He would never be able to outmove her, unless he did something completely and utterly ridiculous like touch her with a bare hand ( which she knew at this rate wasn't going to happen ).

i started reducing the word count on each chapter just because it's easier to read and write for me. we love no adhd meds during the summer. i swear everything is over 600 tho. looks tiny but lots of good stuff. plus i'm publishing as i write them. so enjoy!!!