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FOUR. THE USE OF THE SERPENT
new monsters   ,   -lantsov
"dirtyhands and his serpent"
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WHEN KAZ BREKKER paid out Vera's indenture, it had been on the agreement that Vera would provide her services as a human lie detector whenever Kaz should require them. After he had paid her last installment, she had joined him on nearly all of his business meetings. Her job was to watch the other person and alert Kaz to any lies with a tap of her fingers. It was a subtle movement, often written off as fidgeting by most clients, but it helped Kaz stay six steps ahead of the competition.

Vera had met Poppy before. She had observed them before, and as she trailed behind Kaz on the way to Poppy's dressing room, all of their tells were coming back to her. The eyes tell a lot about a person when they speak, whether it's the direction they're looking in when trying to remember something or the number of times they blink. While Poppy tended to keep a calm and neutral expression when sprouting lies, their eyes were dead giveaways.

Frankly, anyone could spot a liar. Vera was, in short, very replaceable.

The Emerald Palace was not a delightful place. Well, sure, it was grand and expensive-looking, but it was also enemy territory and reminded Vera of a shitty time in her life. She had been with Kaz a few other times in her life, and she had hated it every time. Upon walking into Poppy's dressing room, Vera took notice of the room's tacky gold detailing that matched the rest of the club. The interior design alone was enough to make Vera want to hurl. Disdainfully, Vera sat herself down on a sofa near the door and leaned back into the plush cushions.

"Boris, would you..."

Poppy trailed off, noticing the duo in their dressing room. Their eyebrows noticeably narrowed, their expression revealing their shock.

"It's been a while, Poppy," Kaz said.

Poppy grabbed the handgun from their vanity and turned off the safety. Vera brushed her coat to the side and gently laid her hand on the gun strapped to her thigh, catching Poppy's attention quickly. Their teeth bit down on their lip and they put their gun back on the vanity. Content with their reaction, Vera brushed her coat back over her thigh.

"So, you're still upset," Kaz noted.

"About you stealing my shares of the Crow Club?" Poppy asked.

"It wasn't stealing. It was just a raw deal," Kaz replied. "Most deals in the Barrel are."

Poppy's eyes strayed over to Vera quickly. "What do you want Dirtyhands?"

Kaz's lip quirked up in smug victory, "I need to find someone. Or at least, learn how to find them. Tonight."

"Looking for a club act, are we?"

"I'm looking for the Conductor." Poppy turned around with a confused look. "So you do know him."

Poppy's look of confusion dropped quickly. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"I should remind you not to lie to me when I have Vera with me," Kaz said as his eyes lingered on Vera's left ring finger, which was slowly tapping her knee.

Poppy lowered their makeup brush with a sigh. "This is about a job, isn't it? One that sends you all the way east, for a million kruge? You'll never make enough to compete with Pekka, you know? He's a king. You're just the Bastard of the Barrel."

Vera glanced over at Kaz, his eyes darting from his eyes to the bottom of his cane where it pushed aside various jewelry laid out on a cloth. Under the tip of his cane laid a slip of paper with the inky symbol that belonged to the Menagerie.

"Tante Heleen wrote you?" Kaz asked.

"Just this evening, yes, you snoop," Poppy replied, now back to their makeup routine as they did their lip liner in the vanity mirror. "She was asking about the Conductor as well. Probably about the same job. So I warned him to steer clear of her."

"You warned him? With a note?" Kaz asked, tone firm.

Poppy nodded.

"She wanted you to do that so she could have the messenger followed," Kaz explained.

Vera looked back at Poppy as they lowered their makeup brush again. A look of genuine concern laid in the eyes covered with powders, and Vera briefly stopped to wonder just what the relationship between Poppy and the Conductor was.

"She wouldn't hurt him, would she?"

"She would if it meant hurting me," Kaz answered, walking straight towards Poppy. "Now if you have any loyalty to him, tell me where he is. Right now."

Poppy nodded quickly. "It's a hotel in the Lid called Geleider Hotel. He's somewhere on the second floor, I'm not sure which room. Don't hurt him, he's a good man."

The finger on Vera's knee was dead still.

Kaz nodded, memorizing the information quickly. "Vera, let's go."

Vera pulled herself off of the couch, nodding at Poppy once before leaving the dressing room after Kaz. The two of them walked back through the noisy club with their eyes trained on the floor to avoid the gaze of any security. Getting caught by one of Rollins's men would run a stake in their plans.

The night air felt extra fresh in Vera's lungs when they emerged back onto the street. Jesper had somehow disappeared, but Kaz didn't seem too bothered by it. Instead, he silently led the way to the Lid without sparing a second glance at the club.

One of Vera's favorite parts of Ketterdam was the Lid. Located in the northern part of the city near the harbors, the Lid was a hub for tourists and sailors alike. The Lid was where Vera had first landed when she moved to Ketterdam, and it had taken her two weeks before she dared to dwell south from it.

The route from the Emerald Palace to the Lid was rather short. Pekka Rollins had built the Emerald Palace in between the Barrel and the Lid, on the northeast side of the East Stave. Kaz had led the duo between the buildings on shortcuts he knew to heart before emerging on the main canal of the Lid. They followed the canal northwest until they found the hotel.

However, Vera had no plans of going further. Before Kaz could enter the large stone hotel, she stated, "I have something to take care of. I'll be back at dawn. Which harbor?"

"Second," Kaz answered, looking at Vera with an unidentifiable emotion held in his eyes. "What are you taking care of?"

"Things," Vera said, successfully failing to give a proper answer. "See you at dawn, Brekker."

"See you at dawn, Merzlota."

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She did indeed meet him at dawn, but she met him with a giant lump of fabric in her arms and more guns than usual hidden on her body. Kaz could see her leaning against a pile of crates near their ship, her eyes cast down at the ground in thought. She clearly hadn't noticed the swiftly approaching Crows yet.

"Vera?" Jesper asked as they reached her, "how long have you been here?"

Vera looked up from the ground, and Kaz could see glitter underneath her eyes. He scanned over her body, noting the silk sheath she was wearing underneath her usual black overcoat. Drops of water clung to her hair and skin, but it wasn't misty enough yet for that to have made sense. Where had she gone?

"Not long," Vera replied. She turned to Inej. "Do you have..."

Inej nodded as the Ravkan girl trailed off. "Yeah, I'll give it to you on the boat."

Jesper and Kaz gave each other confused glances but didn't bring it up to the two girls. Instead, Kaz turned on his heel and headed towards where the captain was. Vera, Jesper, and Inej watched him speak to the captain briefly before walking back to them.

"Journey will take two days," he said. "The Conductor is onboard already. It's time we board as well."

His three Crows nodded and followed him aboard the ship. Vera rolled out her shoulders uncomfortably, a popping noise drawing the attention of a few sailors at the rails. She didn't pay them any attention and continued walking behind Kaz to the center of the ship.

Inej reached out towards Vera, softly grabbing her bicep and nodding her head in the direction of the crew's quarters. Kaz and Jesper watched the two girls head below deck, watching as they whispered about something with fleeting glances at the crew.

"Wonder what they're talking about," Jesper thought aloud. "Maybe catching up on the latest gossip?"

"They'd more likely to discuss different ways to strangle a man before gossiping," Kaz said.

Jesper's lip quirked up in amusement. "Always the pure, they are."

The boys fell into a comfortable silence as they leaned against the rails of the starboard side. Around them, the crew was shouting out orders and preparing their ship for departure, but between Jesper and Kaz there was nothing but a wordless calm.

It was a few minutes after their departure that Inej and Vera returned from the crew's quarters. Vera was still holding the lump of fabric in her arms, but underneath her overcoat, she was back in her usual black pants and tunic adorned with many weapons. The glitter was gone from her eyes, and she looked more awake.

"So, boys, are we excited for the trip?" Vera asked sarcastically.

"Definitely," Jesper said, turning to lean his back against the rail and reaching into his coat to pull out a flask. He caught Vera's eyes and smirked, "there's more where that came from too."

Vera smiled. "Wonderful. This trip should be over in a flash."

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Episode Two : We're All Someone's Monster

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hello! i want to start a discord server for my shadow
and bone friends! this would also include twitter
friends of mine that love the show! it'd be a place
where we could all geek out over our beloved
show and books! if you're interested in joining, let
me know! <3