⌜ chapter four ⌟

"I don't understand. I was not cheating." Arya hears a woman's voice as she makes her way to where Kaz is opening a safe, which he keeps hidden behind a painting.

He pulls out a small stack of cash before closing the safe. "You've been here every night for a week." He says before lowering the framed photo to conceal it again. "You don't play Makker's Wheel or Ratcatcher, only cards. Because you keep track of what's played."

"Well, that is not cheating."

"No, it's smart." Arya says as she sits down in a nearby chair. "That's how I play."

"But surely you can understand how that's bad for business." Kaz looks at Arya, annoyed that she's interrupting.

"So add an extra deck to her table." She says as she looks over at him. "Make it more balanced."

He narrows his eyes for a moment before looking back at the woman that's seated on the other side of his desk; he slams the money he pulled from the safe down in front of her. "An incentive to keep playing." He tells her. "Count it for me."

The woman hesitates for a moment before leaning forward and picking up the small stack. She straightens the bills, and then places them in one of her hands before using her other to fold them over toward her fingers. Kaz uses his cane to stop her after she counts a few bills, and she looks up at him with a furrowed brow.

"Where are you from?" He asks.

"West Ravka." She tells him. "Os Kervo."

"West Ravkans count their money from one hand to the other, but people out east who work in the mines in Sikursk, they count like you do." He argues.

She sets the money back on the desk between them. "I am from West Ravka."

"West Ravkans don't mention the west part." He continues in his argument as he leans over his desk again. "To them, there's just Ravka and the old country. You're lying about where you're from because you've fled. You're hiding."

"My daughter...is Grisha." She reluctantly tells him. "Neither of us wanted her to fight in the war. You can't make us go back."

"No, no, no. I'm not after you." Kaz says. "But you need to tell me how you and your daughter got through the Fold unscathed and unnoticed. Now."

"He just went by a title. The Conductor." She says, clearly not liking that she's giving up this information, but she's afraid for her daughter. "We paid him in advance and he took us across in some...special transport. It was noisy. But he had us wear hoods, so we couldn't share how he does it. I don't know what else to tell you."

"Give me something. A name. An address. A contact, someone he worked with."

"He left us with a stage performer who took us in for a few nights. Poppy." She tells him, and the man who brought her in scoffs as Kaz looks down for a moment.

"Where's Poppy working these days?"

"Emerald Palace, boss." He tells him, and he sighs as he tries to think over what to do from here.

Kaz looks back at the woman that's still across from him. "Go." He tells her, motioning toward the door.

The woman looks between the three of them, and Arya smiles. "He doesn't joke at all. You really are free to go." The brunette tells her, and she then gets to her feet.

Once she's gone, Arya looks up at Kaz and finds that he's already looking at her, and he looks annoyed. "Must you always have some form of commentary?" He asks, and she nods.

"Yeah, kinda. I don't do well with the whole...women should be seen and not heard thing. I like voicing my thoughts." She smiles. "Speaking of, I had one while you were talking to her."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Ignoring that — give me some money, let me play cards at one of your tables, and I'll double what you give me." She tells him.

"And why would I do that?" He questions.

"Because you like money, and I know how to win."

"We're already on a job. One with a time crunch." He tells her. "Now, get up and let's go." He grabs his coat, and she grinds her teeth as she gets to her feet.

» » » « « «

"Jesper!" Kaz calls as he and Arya walk down an alley outside. "New job. Come along." He says as he continues past him.

"He never, ever smiles." Arya says as she links her arm with Jesper's and pulls him along beside her. "He's always so angry and so serious, I think it's giving me frown lines."

He chuckles as he looks down at her. "Perhaps he just doesn't find you funny."

"Well, he doesn't seem to find you funny either." She looks up at him. "And you seem to be the jester of the group."

"That's not funny."

"But it does rhyme." She argues, and his eyes narrow as he looks down at her.

"Are you two finished?" Kaz asks. "We have serious matters at hand here."

"And there's that word again." The brunette mutters. "Jesper, make him lighten up, for the love of... Ideas — make this job just the slightest bit easier."

"I mean it. We need a demo man." He says as he picks up the pace to catch up to his boss.

"You're still on that?" Kaz questions.

"I just brought it up tonight."

"Jesper, you ask for an explosives expert on every job."

"Because I don't want to be the one you point to and say explode something for us." He tells him. "That is not a Jesper talent. That could be an Arya talent." He says as he looks down at her.

Her eyebrows furrow, and she clears her throat as she lets go of his arm. "Explosives are never a good answer." She says as she moves to Kaz's other side so he can't see her face anymore. "What exactly is a Jesper talent anyway?"

"I shoot things with style. And I look good." He smiles, trying to lighten her mood again. "Just play to my strengths, boss." He adds when she doesn't respond.

"Alina Starkov will be kept at the Little Palace." Kaz says. "Entering the Little Palace requires us to be quiet. Blowing something up, we've likely failed."

"Then we should take Inej." Jesper tells him, and he glances back at him. "She's a good investment. More quiet than I'll ever be."

"I second that one." Arya agrees. "And I've only known you guys half a night."

"And she can't stay here, you know that. Whoa, hang on." Jesper reaches out and grabs Kaz's arm, causing Arya to look back at them because they stopped walking. The brunette sees the way that Kaz eyes Jesper's hand on his jacket before looking back up to his face. "Aren't we on Pekka's turf now?"

"I go to Heleen now and ask for her buyout, she knows I need Inej and sets a price I can't pay." Kaz tells him.

"Well, that's evil. How do you know that?"

"It's what I would do."

"Why am I not surprised?" Arya mutters.

"Shut up." Kaz glances at her, and she rolls her eyes. He returns his attention to Jesper. "Besides, Inej refuses to kill. Would you trust her in a matter of life and death?"

"Well, I've trusted her so far, and I'm still alive, so, yeah." Jesper tells him. "Now, you wanna tell me why we're scoping out a rival club?"

"To have a talk with an old business partner."

"I'd rather we just kill Pekka." Arya says, and Kaz looks over at her as she rubs her neck again.

"The bouncers will know you on site, and someone could recognize her as well." Jesper says.

"That's why I brought you." He says as he looks back at him. "Make sure they don't see us."

He sighs as he watches Kaz start away from them. "Handsome decoy is also not a Jesper talent."

"Don't sell yourself so short." Arya looks at him as she reaches up and touches the knuckle of her index finger to his chin. "You're definitely handsome enough to be distracting." She smiles before turning away from him, and a smile spreads across his face as he follows after her.

Kaz and Jesper come up with a plan, and then Jesper goes off on his own while Arya follows behind Kaz. They stay in the shadows as they watch their friend, who shoots one of the two chains that are holding up a sign that's shaped like a boot.

"You!" A male voice pulls the attention of everyone who screamed and started looking for the source of the chaos.

"You heard that too?" Jesper asks as he turns to face the two bouncers who stepped away from the door and are now aiming their guns at him.

"Was that you?"

"No." He shakes his head. "I'm, uh... I'm bouncing for the Clipper."

"I haven't seen you before." He says as Kaz and Arya slip past behind them. "Where's Tombar?"

The two make their way through the club unnoticed, and then head for the back. Kaz seems to have some idea where he's going, so Arya stays close, not wanting to get separated in the workplace of a man who had them attacked only an hour ago. He then pushes a door open, earning the attention of whoever's on the other side.

"Boris, would you..."

"It's been awhile, Poppy." Kaz says, and Arya steps away from him then as he has a gun aimed at him.

"Of course that's the reaction elicited from people when you walk into a room." The brunette says as she looks at him. "How? How did I get stuck with you?"

"Will you stop talking?" He looks at her, and she grinds her teeth as she glares at him, and he returns his attention to Poppy — a drag queen in the middle of putting on her makeup. "I see you're still upset."

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

"I knew you were a jackass." Arya says as she walks past him, and his bright blue eyes trail her as she walks.

"It wasn't stealing." Kaz argues as he looks back at Poppy. "It was just a raw deal. Most deals in the Barrel are."

"This is cute." The brunette says from where she's standing right at Kaz's side, looking at one of the robes hanging on a hook. "It'd go good with your hat."

"Are you trying to be irritating?"

"What? I like your hat." Arya says as she looks up at him, her green eyes meeting his blue ones, and she smiles at his obvious annoyance with her. "You may be a raging jackass, but you do have style. It looks good on you."

"I like your friend." Poppy says, lowering her gun, and Arya returns her attention to the clothes hanging on the wall. "She has exquisite taste."

"She's not my friend." Kaz says.

"Hm. And yet she moved to where she could potentially protect you if I decided to start shooting." She says, and Kaz looks back at Arya, seeing the smirk tug at her lips. "Rather interesting girl. Moves to survey the room, pretending she's looking out for her own well-being, but then places herself at your side, before trying to draw my attention somewhere else."

"You're observant." Arya muses as she looks over at her.

"One has to be in a world like this." Poppy says, and she nods. "Why protect him if he's not your friend? He can't be your boss with the way you talk to him."

"Maybe I'm a sucker for a handsome face." The brunette shrugs, and she chuckles.

"I do like you." She says before looking back at Kaz, and her amusement disappears. "What do you want, Dirtyhands?"

"Dirtyhands?" Arya echoes, looking back at Kaz over her shoulder. "I like it." She muses as she walks away from him, and he smirks.

"I need to find someone." He says, choosing to answer Poppy and not comment on what Arya said. "Or at least learn how to find them. Tonight."

"Looking for a club act, are we?" Poppy asks as she returns to applying her makeup.

"I'm looking for the Conductor." Kaz tells her, and she immediately turns to look at him. "So you do know him."

"This is about a job, isn't it?" She asks, and he looks away from her. "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."

"You say bastard like it's a bad thing." Arya says, still looking around the room, and Poppy looks over at her. "Then again, so do most."

"You sound offended by the word."

"You would be too if you were beaten for years for being the bastard under a proud man's roof. I still have scars." She tells her, and Kaz looks over at her for a moment before returning his attention to what caught it a few moments ago.

"Tante Heleen wrote you?" He asks, and Poppy turns her gaze from Arya to Kaz.

"Just this evening, yes, you snoop." She tells him, looking back into the mirror to apply color to her lips. "She was asking about the Conductor as well. Probably about the same job. So I warned him to steer clear of her. Now you — what are you wearing?" She asks as she gets to her feet and looks over at Arya.

"Something comfortable." The brunette tells her.

"You warned him?" Kaz questions. "With a note?"

"Mhm." She nods as she pulls at the side of Arya's flannel so she can see her waist.

"What are you..." She mutters as Poppy starts looking through her dresses.

"She wanted you to do that so she could have the messenger followed." Kaz tells her, and they both look over at him again.

"She wouldn't hurt him, would she?" Poppy asks as she drops the dress in her hands, letting it fall back toward the wall on its hook.

"She would if it meant hurting me." He says as he moves closer to her. "Now, if you have any loyalty to him, tell me where he is. Right now."

Poppy gives him an address, and Kaz tells Arya to follow him. "You should leave the girl with me."

"No."

"If you get across the Fold, that girl is going to stick out in those clothes even more than here. I have something she can wear, and you don't have time to wait." She reasons.

"You have to trust me at some point." Arya says, and he walks up in front of her.

"You haven't given me a reason to trust you." He argues, staring into her eyes.

"I was almost killed tonight because I wouldn't give you up." She tells him, and his jaw tightens as he looks at her. "I haven't given you any reason not to trust me...but if you really can't, then leave Jesper here. I can't get away from him, not with the way he shoots."

"You know where we're standing?" He asks, his voice low. "Whose territory this is?"

"There are few things in either of our worlds that scare me, and he isn't one of them."

"Fine." He concedes, then moves past her and disappears from the room.

"That wasn't distrust keeping him from leaving you, it was concern." Poppy says as she walks over to Arya with a dark blue top in her hands.

"Yeah, right." The brunette scoffs. "The only person that Kaz Brekker is concerned about is himself."

"Trust me, sweetpea, it's all in the eyes." She passes the top to her, then a skirt to go with it. "And he keeps his eyes on you as often as he can. Now go put that on, and give him something to look at."

"Who says I want him looking at me?"

"The glint of excitement in your eyes."

"He's infuriating."

"With a handsome face." She smirks before shooing her off to go and change into the new outfit.