CHAPTER FOURTY-THREE
vol ii — home turf

THE GROUP CONTINUED to sit at the table, arguing over what would be the safest way to get the Grisha out of the city. Courtesy of Nina, who was unwilling to drop the conversation, and managed to get them to agree. A devious plan indeed, one that would involve Van Eck to secretly be sending letters to the captain, making the man believe he was on a secret mission. At this point, it was like taking candy from a baby, which is something that Kaz would totally do, the man was envious after all. After that was settled, they managed to get onto the topic of how they would sneak into Van Eck's office. Dinara was relishing in the fact that she and Kaz managed to have the man up his security just because they had stolen his prized painting and hung it in Kaz's office, right in the center of the room.

After they hung it, they stood there for hours, just admiring the way it looked in the room. Dinara enjoyed the fact that it brought color to the bleak room, the dark colors contrasting significantly against the lighter shades of the painting. She would tilt her head as she admired it, watching with slight interest as the fold would cross the canvas, separating the world because of some thrill seeking Grisha. She wanted to get her hands on the man that managed to do that and strangle him, hating the way the stupid thing looked and the ugly noises that came from within. She shook with a slight tremor as she remembered what happened last time she was near the fold, actually, last time she was in the fold. Dinara wouldn't wish that on her worst enemy, the place gave her nightmares for weeks on end, nothing being able to comfort her.

Wylan mentioned something about his weevil, the boy being incredibly proud of what he managed to make with such short notice. Her eyebrows shot up as the boy managed to explain what exactly was in the item and how it would get them into the safe. The only issue was that they didn't know if the acid would damage what was inside the safe instead of just causing a hole to burn in it. Who cared, they didn't, seeing as it was the best plan that they could come up with. Dinara and Kaz had stayed up well past midnight, dealing with fine tuning the whole process, especially dealing with the promise he made to Nina. He had leant his head down with a loud sigh, contemplating what the absolute fuck he had just agreed to.

"You okay?" Dinara asked, placing her head in her hand and staring at the boy in front of her, watching as he face twisted in frustration. "You stopped thinking."

"Fine," he huffed out. Kaz didn't move his gaze up to her face, too busy staring at the lines of the wood table. "Just making sure everything is perfect for tomorrow. Don't need anything to go wrong again."

"Everything goes wrong when it comes to us," Dinara said, placing her boots up on the table, leaning back in her chair. "Can't stop it. Doubt all of us are going to make it out."

"I can make certain that you will," Kaz said. Dinara didn't have any words to respond to the statement, nodding her head slowly to make sure he understood that she heard him loud and clear. The two didn't speak after that, sitting in silence as their minds continued to turn. No sleep was needed, too busy worrying about how everything would play out and Kaz's promise that Dinara would be getting out of this ordeal alive. His mind was racing with all the ways he would end up sacrificing himself to make sure that she would be able to live the life she desired. While she wanted nothing more than for both of them to get out alive and grow old together.

( ...⛓... )

THEY HAD GONE to the knuckle, the place where they would be meeting with the old man, standing there, looking out over the crooked passage that went between each and every building. Kaz was rowing the small boat, while Inej and Dinara were hidden in the shadows, watching the brooding male. They watched as Kaz sneered up at Haskell, trying to hide the annoyance at being put through this meeting. Kaz was convincing the man to let him continue to do what he did best, cause chaos, and everything would eventually be brought back to the way it was. Minus the fact that the Crow's were going to be splitting up and he was hoping that he would end up alongside Dinara.

Haskell wanted Inej to stay with him, the man insisting that she was needed for a special job, but she disappeared before he was able to get ahold of her. Dinara went further into the shadows, making sure that Haskell didn't get any ideas by trying to take her away from the task at hand. The last thing she wanted to do was have to deal with the old man and the grueling mission he would send her on, probably something that would end up having her steal. Her heart rate was increasing, the moment getting closer to when she was going to have to deal with crossing between two silos. Kaz picked the lock and the three of them crept into the chamber, Dinara admiring the view of the chapels stuck together.

"Why do gods like to be worshipped from high places?" Kaz asked, looking out over the buildings.

"It's men who seek grandeur. The Saints year prayers wherever they're spoken," Inej snapped. She had such a high belief in the way Saints worked, it was the one thing that would never be stripped from her.

"And answer them according to their moods?"
"That's why no one answers you, Kaz."
"Praying and wishing are not the same."
"We're going to have to get closer."
"I know. Give me half an hour."
"You—"
"When you make it back. I'll have the information."
"You dragged me up here for nothing."
"Your pride dragged you up here."

well it's going down