It took another few hours to hash out what they intended, get through supplies they needed, and message the Cormorant. Wylan and Jesper would ride ahead to gather ground intelligence, then meet them at a bay. It was the easiest place for Zoya to board the Cormorant so that she and her Squallers could guide it into position over the base once Kaz, Nikolai and Anika were inside.

If all went according to plan, there would be no outcry, no alarm. They would be in and out of the base without anyone knowing, and the stockpile of titanium would appear as plentiful as before. Only now, most of it would be aluminium.

"I don't think it's fair that I don't get to ride on the airship," Jesper said as Kaz hustled them out of the dinning room. "Anika should be with Wylan and I should be with you, boss."

Kaz turned to Jesper, "you're the sharpshooter, not her. We need your skills if anything goes south."

Anika was glad that she was tagging along with Kaz and Nikolai, she hadn't seen or been on an airship before and she couldn't wait to be on one.

"The king of Ravka will be grateful for what you're doing and he has plenty of airships." Nikolai winked at Jesper. "And you're welcome at Ravka anytime."

They traveled to the bay by oxcart because they wanted to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible. As soon as they arrived at the cliffs Anika could sense something was off. In the distance, she could see the lights of the naval base twinkling through the fog. But here on the cliff tops, there was an eerie quality to the mist rolling in.

The wind howled over the cliffs, a mournful chorus. These cliffs were supposed to be haunted, she'd heard stories about it. She could only hope that, she'd remain calm and not freak out. She couldn't afford her fears coming to life when they had a mission to complete. Zoya's eyes scanned the surroundings uneasily, maybe, the Grisha senses it too. Anika thought eerily.

Hoofbeats signalled their arrival. "We have a problem," Jesper said, sliding from his horse with ease. "They've locked down the goods. There's some kind of new metal shell they've installed, protects cargo from the elements."

Wylan dismounted slowly, he was less accustomed to the task.

"Titanium doesn't rust," said Kaz. "But there's other cargo on the yard on base, or I guess the military is getting more particular."

"This wasn't part of the intelligence you gathered?" Zoya frowned.

"It must have been installed recently," Kaz said, adjusting his hat "and when you rush a job, you don't complain when the job goes wrong."

"You take your time or you take your chances," said Jesper.

"And I don't take chances," added Kaz.

Zoya muttered. "You're telling me you can't get past a metal roof?"

"Of course I can, but with a bigger crew." Kaz said. "If Jesper and Wylan are handling the watchtowers, I'll need to get inside, locate whatever mechanism opens the shell, and get it to work without anyone noticing. We don't know where the guards are posted or what kind of alarms are rigged up. Assuming we could get inside, we'd need time to suss it out and at least two lookout."

"Surely the greatest thief in Ketterdam can outthink such a problem," said Nikolai.

"I'm not susceptible to flattery, only stacks of cash." Kaz squinted. "If you're willing to take out a few guards or let Wylan blow a hole_"

"No," said Nikolai firmly. "Ravka's relationship with Kerch is stained enough."

"If Lin was here_" Jesper shrugged.

"If she was here, you guys won't be helping us." Nikolai stated the obvious.

"If she was here, we won't be needing you guys." Zoya crossed her arms.

"We all can keep saying that, but she isn't." Kaz gaze was hard as a flint. "The best we can do is wait. I can get two more Dregs here by tomorrow. Pim. Rotty, maybe."

Anika knew that Kaz had avoided Jesper and Wylan for this reason, because every time they meet. These two will bring Aeolian's name up.

A high wail sounded, a shrill cry that might be a human or animal or something else entirely. Anika felt it in her bones. This place isn't meant for them. She took a step closer to Kaz, because if these cliffs are haunted—the ghosts will flee first hand after encountering Dirtyhands.

"Saints!" The Kerch girl gasped. "What was that?"

Another wail followed, long and piercing. The fog seemed to soothe around them, forming shapes that melted into nothing before they could truly make them out.

"These cliffs are supposed to be hunted," Jesper put his hands on his revolvers.

"You don't actually believe that," said Anika as she felt the hair on her neck raise.

Everyone looked alarmed expect for Kaz Brekker, who was leaning on his crow cane like it was any other night. If Aeolian was here, Kaz would be on high alert to protect the Shu princess—instead of acting as if, it was a walk in the park.

"I believe on all kind of things. Ghosts, gnomes, true love." Jesper said.

Now another sound—a low hiss—seemed to crawl up from the sea, rising and falling in undulating waves.

Anika baffled a scream.

Zoya snapped. "Enough!" She lifted her hands and the fog rolled back in a gust—revealing a circle of people around them, some of them in jackal masks, others with dark scarves pulled up to hide their faces. Moonlight glinted off the barrels of their guns.

"Suli." Jesper gasped.

"You're not welcome in this place," said a gruff voice. It was impossible to tell which side of the circle it had come from. That same low, crawling hiss followed.

"We don't mean any harm," Jesper began.

"That's why you snuck up on our camp at the dead of night?" Someone said. "We should let the sea have them."

"My apologies__" Nikolai stepped forward.

Click. Click. Click. Like fingers snapping. The sound of triggers being cocked.

"No," Zoya said, putting a hand out to stop Nikolai. "Don't apologise. That will only make it worse."

"This is why we need Lin," Wylan's voice barely above a whisper. Anika agreed strongly, Aeolian do have a way with words and she knew how to deal with people. If she was here, things wouldn't have been a mess.

Zoya gazed at Wylan for a moment, then turned to the figures and said. "Mati en sheva yelu."

Anika looked at Zoya dumbly, what was the Grisha saying. The others were staring at Zoya as well.

"You speak suli like a tax collector," said a man's voice.

"Hush," said a woman in a jackal mask, stepping forward. "We see you, zheji."

Nikolai asked Zoya beneath his breath. "How do you know those words?"

"Because I'm Suli." Zoya said but the words didn't come easy.

"Your father faded as we all do when we don't live among our own." The woman in the mask waved them forward. "But think how brightly you might have burned if you hadn't always walked in shadow. Come with us."

"Are they going to march us to our death now?" Jesper asked.

"No idea," Kaz shrugged. Then he turned to Nikolai, "it might be worth playing the king card now. Don't you think?"

"What king?" Wylan asked.

"There are no kings we recognise here." The jackals voice carried through the mist.

"I might find that humbling, if I'd any practice with humility." Nikolai said.

They descended a long path down the cliff side. And Zoya looked pretty uncomfortable that they knew the truth about her heritage. Anika didn't know why Zoya was trying to hide her heritage, but everyone had a side they don't like to share.

Halfway down, they passed behind a boulder. There they saw the entrance to a cave, it's yawning black mouth carved into the side of the cliff.

This looks like a trap. Anika thought frantically.

"The tunnel runs under the watchtowers and opens in a basement beneath the Rentveer," the jackal spoke.

"Where did it come from?" Nikolai asked surprised.

But Kaz didn't seem surprised. "The Kerch used Suli labour to build the base."

"We always leave a back door," the woman said. "There are two guards who patrol past the entrance to the basement. The rest is upto you. Daughter, you may use the cliffs to board your ship."

"Why are you helping us?" Zoya asked.

"Can't we just say thank you and be on our way?" Said Jesper impatiently.

"Your heart does not belong to you alone. When all this is over, remember where you came from." The woman told Zoya.

"The king_" Zoya said.

"I speak of queens, not kings tonight." The woman vanished into the shadows and suddenly they were all alone, the Suli were gone.

Zoya whirled on Kaz. "You never planned to go through the fence. You knew the Suli were camped here. You knew they had a way in."

Kaz was already limping into the tunnel, without a care in the world. "I don't walk through a door unless I know theres a window to climb out of. Jesper, Wylan get back to the cliffs and take out the spotlights. We will tackle the metal shell from inside."

"How could you be sure I spoke Suli?" Zoya called after him.

"That was a spin of Makker's Wheel." Kaz said, "lucky for me, my number came up."

"One day your luck will run out, Mister Brekker." She told him.

"Then I'll have to make some more," Kaz looked over his shoulder. "The Suli never forget their own, General Nazyalensky. Just like crows."

Anika watched him fade, like a dark phantom. She'd always witnessed him fade into the shadows, but tonight she could see purpose burning deep within him. Kaz was not working for money, he was working for a device he didn't even need. Anika, had never seen Dirtyhands being so selfless before.

She felt a sudden pang in her heart, she'd been foolish all along to drag her feelings for far too long but how do you move on from someone you see almost every single day? She pushed her thoughts aside as Nikolai gestured her to follow him.

After their journey back from the Shadow Fold, Aeolian had come to this very place to meet the Suli. Kaz had no idea, how the Shu princess had approached them because she wasn't one of them. But Aeolian being Aeolian somehow had been able to talk to them, and when she'd returned she'd brought the jackal mask along with her. Among the suli, the jackal mask was sacred and worn only by true seers. Maybe, the suli fortune tellers had seen in her, what they'd seen in Zoya and they'd called her 'zheji' as well, meaning daughter in suli. And he'd learned from Aeolian that; the Suli never forget their own. And that's why, he'd pulled this trick on Zoya.

Kaz was at the bar of the Crow Club keeping an eye on the pigeons, when Aeolian appeared. Her raven hair was let loose and she had water droplets on her scalp. When she left, her hair was tied in a wrap-around ponytail but probably it got wet, so she'd loosen her hair to let it air dry.

"You followed me to the cliffs," she let out a breath.

He turned to her. "Those cliffs were supposed to be haunted." He didn't actually believe in those nonsense, but he couldn't readily admit that he did follow her, until, she disappeared into the mists and he couldn't go any further.

She narrowed her eyes, "I know what you were upto Kaz Brekker. But no, you can't do that...those people will drown you at first sight."

"How did you get to them?" He asked curiously. "You're not even Suli."

She leaned forward, one step closer and they'd be touching. Kaz steeled himself. "Because I know my history," she said smoothly.

"What history?" He mumbled.

She slowly leaned back. "During winters the Suli often traveled into the warmer territories of Shu Han. In some places they were turned away. But there were some places where the Suli were welcome. Where Suli knowledge was respected, where amusement was wanted."

Kaz arched a brow, is this a story time? He thought.

"One year a Shu man offered the Suli men jobs in his mine, and though the Suli knew many had died in the mine's dark tunnels, they agreed. However, the night before the men were meant to enter the pits, one of the Suli true seers warned them." She explained. "The men had asked her for guidance and after a long time. She finally told them, little Marya must go with them."

Aeolian paused and ordered a drink from the barkeep. Kaz was unknowingly reaching for his handkerchief and offering her. "And?"

She gently took the handkerchief and patted her scalp. "No one liked this idea, and least of all Marya herself. But when the men set out for the mines, she went along with them. The day passed without incident. But when they turned to make their way out of the tunnel, the tunnel ahead of them collapsed, just as the ceiling was about to give way above their heads, Marya, lifted her little hands. The ceiling held. The rock walls of the mine shifted, making an opening so that the Suli might pass. Through the mountain they went, led by Marya, the rock giving way to form a path before them."

The barkeep handed her the drink, she sipped it. "They emerged on the other side and there, at the base of the Sikurzoi, the Suli have always been able to find shelter in the caves that Marya left behind. She is known as the patron saint of those who are far from home."

"So that's the long ass password you used to get into those caves?" Kaz exasperated.

"You didn't get it, did you?" She almost laughed. "The Shu and the Suli do have a history together, some of the Shu people were kind enough to give the Suli's a place work and a place to reside when they'd no where else to go. And the Shu whose mine collapsed on them, didn't kill them...instead, it became a place of shelter to the Suli's at the end of the day."

Kaz was quick but he couldn't quite understand what Aeolian was trying to say here. She grinned as she handed him, her drink. "Sip it and your mind will clear," she pursed her lips. "The Shu's who'd been kind to them, were my people...they'd respected their knowledge and they'd liked their entertainment. The Suli don't turn their backs on their own...the Shu's who'd helped them back then, became a part of them. So if any Shu know their history and the safe word, they're welcome."

"What's the safe word?" Kaz asked sipping the drink, he almost flinched. She was having peach ice tea.

"Bottoms up," she batted her long dark lashes. "Then I'll tell you."

"You!" His jaws ticked.

"The deal is the deal, Kaz Brekker." She tossed her glorious mane behind. Kaz had forgot the taste of peaches, until now. "Good boy," she winked. "You needed some sweetness in your life."

He kept the empty glass down. "Speak..."

She huffed a breath of disbelief, "mati en sheva yelu."

"What does that even mean?" He asked.

"That's your job to find out," she whispered in his ear as she slipped the handkerchief back into his coat pocket and vanished. Mati en sheva yelu in suli meant, this action will have no echo'.

As Kaz walked the long dark tunnel, he could feel Anika and Nikolai trailing behind him in silence. And even though he wasn't alone, he felt empty and alone. Aeolian's absence was immensely felt. Kaz felt ill. She makes him feel hate, desire, anger, lust, and something even more dangerous—love.

March 31. 2022

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🎵🎵🎵

Been sitting eyes wide open behind these four walls, hoping you'd call
It's just a cruel existence like there's no point hoping at all
Baby, baby, I feel crazy
Up all night, all night and every day
Give me something, oh, but you say nothing
What is happening to me?
I don't wanna live forever, 'cause I know I'll be living in vain
And I don't wanna fit wherever
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I'm sitting eyes wide open, and I got one thing stuck in my mind
Wondering if I dodged a bullet or just lost the love of my life, oh
Baby, baby, I feel crazy
Up all night, all night and every day
I gave you something, but you gave me nothing
What is happening to me?
I don't wanna live forever, 'cause I know I'll be living in vain
And I don't wanna fit (fit, baby) wherever (wherever)
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I've been looking sad in all the nicest places
Baby, baby, I feel crazy
I see you around in all these empty faces
Up all night, all night and every day
I've been looking sad in all the nicest places
Give me something, oh, but you say nothing
Now I'm in a cab, I tell 'em where your place is
What is happening to me?
I don't wanna live forever, 'cause I know I'll be living in vain
And I don't wanna fit wherever
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
I just wanna keep calling your name until you come back home
Until you come back home

🎵🎵🎵