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CHAPTER TWO
blythe tarasov

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As mad as Celestine Allaire was at Kaz Brekker, no matter the situation, whenever he called, she always seemed to answer.

When the man showed up at the door to her apartment and asked her to tag along to find information on the job for ten million kruge, she couldn't bring herself to slam the door in his face, especially with Inej and Jesper behind him.

So, with a grumble, and muttering "Pathetic, you are absolutely pathetic," to herself continuously, Celestine made them wait whilst she grabbed her coat and ruby-hilted knife, slotting it in the weapon holster on her hip.

They walk the streets and alleyways of Ketterdam, finding no useful information whatsoever from informants, so the last stop is the Serpent Estate which was secure private property, owned by Ketterdam's very own Viper.

"Are you sure she'll give us— like, any information?"  Jesper asked Celestine and the girl only grinned at him before whistling a tune that had two teenage boys scurrying their way, scrambling to open the gates.

"Miss Allaire," The eldest of the two, Aleko, greeted, swinging open the gates, letting the Sparrow and Crows inside, "Miss Tarasov isn't expecting you— neither is Mister Petrov."

"This is a last minute thing, Aleko," She told him, patting his cheek, "Lock up, otherwise Blythe will give a lecture so bad she'll make your ears bleed."

The red-haired boy smiled before nodding, looking over his shoulder at his companion who helped him lock up again.

"Shifts?" Jesper questioned, a breathy laugh following, "There's barely anyone out here."

"That you know of, and that's kind of the point," Celestine told the sharpshooter, hooking her arm through his, "The Viperidae are trained to be stealthy and work in the shadows— they should be neither seen nor heard."

The grand double doors to the Estate open, revealing, a somewhat shocked, Gris Petrov, "Cel... Crows... uhm..."

Celestine rolled her eyes, "Get out of the way, Gris."

The man sidestepped, opening the right door wider to let the group through, "What're you doing here?"

"We need to speak with Blythe," Celestine informed, beckoning the Crows to follow her and Gris down the hall, "Where is she— her office?"

Gris nodded as they entered the dining room, a long mahogany table in the centre with twelve red velvet chairs tucked underneath, "You want someone to go get her?"

"If you don't mind." Celestine answered, just as Gris called one of the Viperidae in.

"Gris?" Astrid pondered, arching an eyebrow with her shoulder leant into the doorframe, "Celestine?"

"Can you get Blythe down here please, Astrid— it's important." Celestine informed and Astrid grinned, pushing herself to stand straight, backing away, "On it."

"So the Viperidae," Jesper started, running a hand over the soft fabric of one of the dining chairs, "They're all children?"

"No," Gris and Celestine chorused, before the Soulbearer continued, "Not all of them— but they are all pretty young, early twenties at most, right?"

"Yeah," He confirmed, shrugging out of his jacket and laying it over the back of one of the chairs, then nudging the brunette beside him with his elbow at the sound of hurried footsteps approaching, "Brace yourself."

Celestine shoved him lightly to the side as Gris grinned widely, watching as Blythe Tarasov waltzed past Kaz and Inej who were just beside the doorway, and straight towards Jesper, Gris and Celestine, pulling out one of the seats, "You have five minutes, Allaire, don't waste my time."

"Charming." Jesper muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Your lucky I haven't considered killing you all, Fahey." Blythe retorted jokingly, a grin on her face.

"Leave him be, Bly," Celestine told her, leaning against the table, "We need any information you may have on how to cross the Fold."

Blythe's interest peaked as she straightened her back, arching an eyebrow, "You after that job Dreesen's put out, Kaz?"

Kaz stepped forward, standing beside Celestine, "Just tell us how to cross the Fold, Tarasov."

"Such a sweetheart, you are, Brekker," Blythe murmured before turning to his Sparrow, "Celestine, you know better than anyone that going through the Fold is like walking into a deathtrap."

"I know," She replied, jutting her head in Kaz's direction, "But he doesn't take 'no' for an answer."

Kaz doesn't comment, he just stood idly by, slender gloved fingers drumming against the crow head on top of his cane, awaiting any answers Ketterdam's Viper was able to give them.

Blythe sighed, running her fingers through her hair, racking her brain for any sort of useful piece of information, "You can go to Fjerda, go through the permafrost—"

"Already suggested," Kaz interrupted, "We were told four to five months, and we don't have that kind of time."

"That's the only way I know of without the risk of imminent death," The Viper shrugged, eyes slowing flitting to the Soulbearer beside her, "Or you."

Celestine shot the idea down almost immediately, "I barely made it through on my own."

"But you're older now, stronger than you were when you were young." The Viper reasoned.

"You're not wrong," Celestine admitted, pushing off of the table, "But even now, there's a ninety percent chance that I make it through on my own, completely unharmed— but four of us? I'd use too much power, and I'd probably pass out halfway there from over-exerting myself, and I'm no good fighting Volcra unconscious."

Blythe let out a heavy exhale, "Well, unfortunately, that's all I have, my dear," The Viper told them, "I don't really dabble into trying to cross into Ravka, but if my Viperidae hear anything, I'll be sure to send Roman to find you."

The Viper stood from her seat, tucking the chair back under the table, brushing out the creases in her skirt then pushing her hairs behind her ears, before looking right at Celestine.

"Gris, show them out, I need to talk to Cel— alone." She instructed and the two stare directly at one another before Celestine tore her gaze away and looked to Kaz who already had his eyes set on the brunette beside him.

Blythe rolled her eyes, "Oh, give over, Brekker— I'm not going to kill her, you'll get your girl back, now get moving."

Kaz doesn't comment on what Blythe's said, nor does he move until Celestine gave him a subtle nod, silently telling him it was okay to leave her at the Estate, so he reciprocated the action, nodding at Inej and Jesper to follow Gris out of the building, trailing behind them.

Once their footsteps and the clicking of Kaz's cane faded into the background, Blythe closed the doors to the dining room, her back pressed against them, "He's got you wrapped around his cane."

"He does not." The Soulbearer denied almost instantly, wincing at how quick she was to defend herself.

"You do spend the a lot of your time with the Bastard of the Barrel and his Crows." Blythe pointed out.

"Well, if not him, I'd be with Pekka Rollins and his Dime Lions— and that's certainly not happening, not by a long shot." Celestine told her, her lips curling in disgust at the mere thought of Pekka Rollins and his pesky gang.

"I guess so," She sighed, "I think you and the Crows are a better fit anyway."

"Are you holding me back to talk about Kaz or something else?" Celestine questioned, arms folded over her chest.

Blythe moved away from the main doors to the dining room and gestured for the brunette to follow her into the kitchen, where she pulled out a bottle of whiskey from one of the cupboards on the wall.

"That paper I gave Roman to give to you," She responded, pouring herself a glass, offering Celestine a glass but she polite declined, "Have you read it?"

The Soulbearer twirled the steel ring on her middle finger, swallowing her nerves, "No, I haven't— not yet, but I will," She gazed to Blythe who downed her entire glass of whiskey in one gulp, "...Did you?"

The Viper let out a breathless laugh, "Saints— I know I collect information for a living, but only a small portion of people's privacy I shall do my best to respect, and you're one of them."

Celestine nodded, "Good to know," She returned her attention back to the ring on her finger, "How bad is it?"

Blythe hesitated for a moment, focusing on the amount of whiskey she refilled her glass with.

"You'll have to read it to find out, won't you?" She told her, making Celestine sigh heavily, "So I'm guessing not good."

Blythe said nothing, sipping her alcohol this time, watching the Sparrow with curious eyes.

"I best get going if this is all you had to say to me," Celestine fixed her jacket, "I'll see you 'round, Tarasov."

Celestine got to the main doors of the dining room before Blythe ran after her, "Allaire, wait."

She paused but kept her hand on the cold metal handle of the door.

"You'll be joining Brekker on his ridiculous trip across the Fold, I'm assuming?"

"Most likely." Celestine answered, staring down to the tips of her boots, keeping her back to Blythe.

"Just— just be careful," The Viper warned, watching the Sparrow slowly open the door, "I know you trust him but... he's trouble, he didn't earn the name Dirtyhands for sitting still and looking pretty."

"Blythe—"

"No, I mean it, Celestine, Kaz Brekker... he's... he's nothing but trouble."

Celestine smiled at that, "He's trouble, yes, I'm not denying that," She turned, just for a brief moment to look over her shoulder, "...but he's not nothing."

Celestine met Kaz, Inej and Jesper at the very back of the Crow Club, taking a seat beside Kaz who sat with his gloved hands clasped atop of his crow-headed cane.

"Are you alright?" Inej questioned, watching the Soulbearer lean back into her chair, waving the Suli girl off, "I'm fine, she just wanted to talk about... something."

"What?" Kaz pressed and the corner of Celestine's lips lifted into a teasing smile, "That's for me to know, now, isn't it?"

Kaz kept his gaze on Celestine, eyes boring into her own, an unimpressed look on his face as the brunette grinned.

"Here's what I don't get—" Jesper started as Celestine's grin faded, tearing her eyes away from Kaz and rolling her eyes, "Saints."

"We're gonna be here all night." Inej commented.

"Rude," The sharpshooter retorted, sitting upwards, leaning onto the table, "Why haven't they tried going under it? Just... dig a tunnel."

"Tried that, more than a century ago," Kaz informed,  "Something... heard them digging."

"So it was made hundreds of years ago by that crazy Grisha—"

"The Black Heretic." Inej corrected, the same time Celestine said, "The Shadow Summoner."

Jesper looked between the two, and Celestine shrugged, "Neither of us are wrong... I just said the more, uh, formal version."

"Right, okay— Anyway, they've got one in their army now, don't they?" He wondered and Celestine nodded, "Yes, they do— General... Kirigan."

Celestine said it with such spite that Kaz wouldn't be surprised if her eyes flashed that warm yellow they did when she used her powers.

"Sounds like you know him." Kaz muttered, his voice low enough for only the brunette beside him to hear.

"I guess you could say that." She hummed, drumming her fingers on the table as Jesper continued, "If one of his kind made it, can't he... unmake it?"

"Have you ever put out fire by adding more fire?" Inej wondered and Jesper turned to her, "Alright, then what's the opposite of this?"

"A Sun Summoner." Inej answered.

"Right, well then one of those—"

"Doesn't exist." Kaz and Celestine finished in unison.

"I don't understand," The Suli girl sighed, placing her knife flat onto the table to focus her attention onto the Soulbearer in front of her, "You say you believe in Saints, so why not a Sun Summoner?"

"I believe in my saint, Sankta Aristeia, because I know she was real." The brunette corrected as Inej rose an eyebrow, "How?"

"I'm assuming you know about the battle of the Grisha? Between the Jorden, Fantomligaen and Soulbearers?"

"For the most part." Inej confirmed.

"During that battle, a book that had been made by Sankta Aristeia and her brother, Taurus, was passed down, and every Soulbearer wrote their name down in that book."

"Was your name in that book?" Jesper wondered and Celestine nodded, "Like I said, every Soulbearer— for generations, wrote down their names in that book, and we never had to worry about filling it since there were so few of us anyway, compared to other Grisha."

"Where's that book now?" He asked, intrigued in the little story Celestine was providing them, "I honestly have no clue, my mother kept it well hidden, but the attack from the Drüskelle... anything's possible, Jesper— they could have it for Saints knows what or they could've burned it at the stake with..." Celestine stopped herself, exhaling heavily, "Who knows?"

The conversation hit a dead end as Celestine looked down to her tips of her scuffed boots, her fingers toying with the crimson jewel hanging from her neck.

That gave Kaz the perfect opportunity to change the subject completely, "Dreesen comes into town, doesn't waste a minute, sends out for a crew to steal something but doesn't specify what," He leaned forward in his seat, glancing around at the three seated at the table, "Well, is it heavy, is it large, worth more than a million on the black market?"

Celestine's nose wrinkled as she turned to Kaz, "Slow down, breathe."

"We can let this one go, Kaz." Inej told him, Jesper agreeing with her, "Sounds like a trap."

"A trap would sound easy," Kaz corrected, "This is something else."

Celestine perked up in her seat at the sound of approaching footsteps, craning her neck sightly to look behind Inej to see Gris and one of Kaz's lackeys, Gris with a grin on his face, "Dearest Celestine... and Crows."

The Soulbearer arched an eyebrow as the lackey spoke, "The Viperidae and Dregs have intercepted a note from Dreesen."

"Did you now?" Kaz straighten his back, Celestine leaning her elbows on the table in front.

"It's with the owner of the Orchid, says they requite the services of a Heartrender— tonight." The lackey informed as the four at the table traded looks.

"What for?" Celestine questioned as Gris shrugged, running a hand through his wind-swept hair, "Doesn't say why, only that they need one before midnight."

The brunette traced the rim of her ring, eyebrows furrowed, "You don't bring in a Heartrender unless you need an answer out of someone who isn't willing to talk."

She shared a look with Kaz who, after a moment of thinking, stood up abruptly, "That's how we get this job before anyone else— bring Dreesen a Heartrender."

"Boss, just one problem," The lackey told him, "Pekka Rollins knows."

Much like when Celestine said General Kirigian's name, Kaz's face stayed blank but his words were laced with hatred and venom as he uttered the name, "Pekka Rollins," before making his way to his office, no doubt to start plotting some expert plan.

AUTHOR'S NOTE!!

just a quick little thing:

the jorden and fantomliagen are
my own creation of grisha!!

i will explain more on who they are
and what they do, but as of right now
they aren't too important.

i will make a little misc book to put in
backstories ( ig idk ) of these grisha, so
who they are, where they come from,
what their abilities are at a later date.

i hope you've enjoyed this chapter!!

...