Kaz Quotes

Rollins held up his watch chain. A turnip was hanging from the fob where his diamond-studded time piece should have been. "That little bastard
" Then a thought came to him. He reached for his wallet. It was gone. So was his tie pin, the Kaelish coin pendant he wore for luck, and the gold buckles on his shoes. Rollins wondered if he should check the fillings in his teeth.
"He picked your pockets?" Doughty asked incredulously.
No one got one over on Pekka Rollins. No one dared. But Brekker had, and Rollins wondered if that was just the beginning. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Thoughts of moonlight and silken hair evaporated in a black bolt of fury. Kaz saw Inej tug on the sleeve of her left forearm, where the Menagerie tattoo had once been. He had the barest inkling of what she'd endured there, but he knew what it was to feel helpless, and Van Eck had managed to make her feel that way again. Kaz was going to have to find a new language of suffering to teach that smug merch son of a bitch. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I understand you're the reason we made it out of the harbor alive."
"I suspect there were a lot of reasons," said Inej.
"I'm a reason," Jesper offered helpfully.
"All the same," said Matthias, ignoring him. "Thank you."
They moved on, and Jesper saw a pleased grin playing over Inej's lips.
"Surprised?" he asked.
"A bit," she admitted. "I spend so much time with Kaz. I guess - "
"It's a novelty to feel appreciated. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I'm going to get my money, Kaz vowed. And I'm going to get my girl. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Matthias examined the posters. "One hundred thousand kruge!" He shot a disbelieving glower at Kaz. "You're hardly worth taht."
The hint of a smile tugged at Kaz's lips. "As the market wills it."
"Tell me about it," said Jesper. "They're only offering thirty thousand for me."
"Your lives are at stake," said Wylan. "How can you act like this is a competition?"
"We're stuck in a tomb, merchling. You take the action where you find it. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Inej nodded. "I gave your letter to the guard at the door, and it did the trick. They brought me directly to two members of the Triumvirate."
"Who did you meet with?" said Kaz.
"Genya Safin and Zoya Nazyalensky."
Wylan sat forward. "The Tailor? She's at the embassy?"
Kaz raised a brow. "What an interesting fact to forget to mention, Nina."
"It wasn't relevant at the time."
"Of course it's relevant!" Wylan said angrily.
Jesper was a little surprised. Wylan hadn't seemed to mind wearing Kuwei's features at first. He'd almost seemed to welcome the distance it gave him from his father. But that had been before they'd gone to Saint Hilde. And before Jesper had kissed Kuwei. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan hadn't realized it then, but Kaz had known his true identity all along. Dirtyhands kept tabs on anyone who took up re
sidence in the Barrel, and he'd placed Wylan under Dregs protection, certain that one day a rich mercher's son would come in handy.
He had no illusions about why Kaz had looked out for him, but he also knew he never would have survived this long without his help. And Kaz didn't care if he could read. Kaz and the others teased him, but they'd given him a chance to prove himself. They valued the things he could do instead of punishing him for the things he couldn't. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Zoya placed her hands on her hips. "Is anyone going to thank me - or Genya, for that matter - for this little miracle?"
"Thank you for nearly killing and then reviving the most valuable hostage in the world so you could use him for your own gain," Kaz said. "Now you need to go. The streets are almost empty, and you need to get to the manufacturing district."
Zoya's beautiful blue eyes slitted. "Show your face in Ravka, Brekker. We'll teach you some manners."
"I'll keep that in mind. When they burn me on the Reaper's Barge, I definitely want to be remembered as polite. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper and Kaz swung around, crashed into the mechanism of the clock, righted themselves. It wasn't a fight, it was a brawl - graceless, a tangle of elbows and fists.
"Ghezen and his works, someone stop them!" Wylan said desperately.
"Jesper hasn't shot him," Nina said.
"Kaz isn't using his cane," said Inej.
"You think they can't kill each other with their bare hands?"
They were both bleeding - Jesper from a cut on his lip and Kaz from somewhere near his brow. Jesper's shirt was halfway over his head and Kaz's sleeve was tearing at the seam. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz can pick the lock, " said Wylan.
"No, " said Kaz, "I can't. "
"I don't think I ever heard those words leave your lips, " said Nina. "Say it again, nice and slow. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Now she remembered. He owed her an apology. "Say you're sorry."
"For what?"
"Just say it."
She didn't hear his reply. The world had grown very dark indeed. ~ Leigh Bardugo

A controlling relationship can start with over-the-top romantic gestures and gifts, and great protestations of you 'being the only one' and their love being a special kind of 'you and me against the world', often disconcertingly early in a relationship. There may be a charm campaign aimed at you and even friends and family, your other potential allies and 'protectors'. Suddenly or gradually there are rules, or flashes of mystifying rage or sulking designed to modify your behaviour to what they want you to do. Then the 'nice' person reappears, and all is well, he's romantic and doting again, before the next flashpoints of anger or rage or sullen tension. This is not a 'return to the good times'. It's the classic cycle of abuse, recognised ~ Kaz Cooke

Pick up the pace," Kaz said, eyeing his watch.
"If I spill a single drop of this, it will burn straight through the floor onto my father's dinner guests."
"Take your time. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Inej knew the moment Kaz entered the Slat. His presence reverberated through the cramped rooms and crooked hallways as every thug, thief, dealer, con man, and steerer came a little more awake. Per Haskell's favored lieutenant was home. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Haskell whisked the pistol from his pocket and flipped open the barrel. It was empty. "You little--" Then Haskell barked a laugh and plucked the bullets from Kaz's hand, shaking his head. "You've got the devil's own blood in you, boy. Go get my money. ~ Leigh Bardugo

There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken. No one knew who he was. No one knew where he came from. He'd become Kaz Brekker, cripple and confidence man, bastard of the Barrel.
The gloves were his one concession to weakness. Since that night among the bodies and the swim from the Reaper's Barge, he had not been able to bear the feeling of skin against skin. It was excruciating to him, revolting. It was the only piece of his past that he could not forge into something dangerous. ~ Leigh Bardugo

There are no good men in Ketterdam, Kaz said. And then he'd simply let go. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What am I supposed to do with Cornelis Smeet after midnight?" Nina asked. "Try to talk him into spending the night with you."
"What?" Matthias had sputtered, red flooding his face all the way up to his ears.
"He won't say yes."
Nina sniffed. "Like hell he won't."
"Nina - " Matthias growled.
"Smeet never cheats at cards or on his wife," Kaz said. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz rolled his eyes. The easiest way to steal a man's wallet is to tell him you're going to steal his watch. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Actuaries are people who wanted to be accountants but didn't have the personality. ~ Kaz Cooke

Wylan - and the obliging Kuwei - will get the weevil working," Kaz continued. "Once we have Inej, we can move on Van Eck's silos."

Nina rolled her eyes. "Good thing this is all about getting our money and not about saving Inej. Definitely not about that."

"If you don't care about money, Nina dear, call it by its other names."

"Kruge? Scrub? Kaz's one true love?"

"Freedom, security, retribution."

"You can't put a price on those things."

"No? I bet Jesper can. It's the price of the lien on his father's farm." The sharpshooter looked at the toes of his boots. "What about you, Wylan? Can you put a price on the chance to walk away from Ketterdam and live your own life? And Nina, I suspect you and your Fjerdan may want something more to subsist on than patriotism and longing glances. Inej might have a number in mind too. It's the price of a future, and it's Van Eck's turn to pay."

Matthias was not fooled. Kaz always spoke logic, but that didn't mean he always told truth. "The Wraith's life is worth more than that," said Matthias. "To all of us."

"We get Inej. We get our money. It's as simple as that."

"Simple as that," said Nina. "Did you know I'm next in line for the Fjerdan throne? They call me Princess Ilse of Engelsberg."

"There is no princess of Engelsberg," said Matthias. "It's a fishing town."

Nina shrugged. "If we're going to lie to ourselves, we might as ~ Leigh Bardugo

It's certainly nice to have my options open." He looked back out at the city. "Can this possibly work, Mister Brekker? Or am I risking the fate of Ravka and the world's Grisha on the honor and abilities of a fast-talking urchin?"
"More than a bit of both," said Kaz. "You're risking a country. We're risking our lives. Seems a fair trade."
The king of Ravka offered his hand. "The deal is the deal?"
"The deal is the deal."
They shook.
"If only treaties could be signed so quickly," he said, his easy privateer's mien sliding back in place like a mask purchased on West Stave. "I'm going to have a drink and a bath. One can take only so much mud and squalor. As the rebel said to the prince, it's bad for the constitution."
He flicked an invisible speck of dust from his lapel and sauntered out of the solarium. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Sugar," said Kaz.
Jesper nudged the sugar bowl down the table to him.
Kaz rolled his eyes. "Not for my coffee, you podge. ~ Leigh Bardugo

We'll be Kings and Queens, Inej. Kings and Queens. ~ Leigh Bardugo

If we don't survive this night, I will die unafraid, Kaz. Can you say the same? ~ Leigh Bardugo

It really does look like the rings of a tree," she said. "No," said Kaz. "It looks like a target. ~ Leigh Bardugo

'Hibakusha' is an animated docu-drama that Choz Belen and I are directing, and it will take you through the earliest memories of a Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor named Kaz Suyeishi. ~ Steve Nguyen

Kaz was the exception- the picture of restraint, his dark vests and trousers simply cut and tailored along severe lines. At first, she'd thought it was a matter of taste, but she'd come to understand that it was a joke he played on the upstanding merchers. He enjoyed looking like one of them, ~ Leigh Bardugo

I guess we need to find a way to the quarry?" Jesper said.
Wylan coughed. "No we don't, just a general store."
"But you told Kaz the mineral - "
"It's present in all kinds of paints and enamels. I wanted to make sure I had a reason to go to Olendaal."
"Wylan Van Eck, you lied to Kaz Brekker." Jesper clutched a hand to his chest. "And you got away with it! Do you give lessons?"
Wylan felt ridiculously pleased - until he thought about Kaz finding out. Then he felt a little like the first time he'd tried brandy and ended up spewing his dinner all over his own shoes. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Matthias nodded to the fisherman and Rotty winked back at him, giving a brief tug on the beard of his disguise. He poled the boat rapidly down the canal.

As they approached Zentsbridge, Matthias caught sight of the huge bottleboat parked beneath it. It was wide enough that the hulls scraped as Rotty tried to pass. The bottle man and Rotty broke into a heated argument, and Nina let loose another wail, long and loud enough that Matthias wondered if she was trying to compete with the plague siren.

"Perhaps some deep breathing?" the medik suggested from the railing.

Matthias gave Nina the barest warning glance. They could fake a pregnancy. They couldn't fake an actual birth. At least he didn't think they could. He wouldn't put anything past Kaz at this point. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kuwei poked his head out of the huge stone tomb as they approached.
"What did I tell you?" Kaz growled, pointing his cane at him.
"My Kerch isn't very good," protested Kuwei.
"Don't run game on me, kid. It's good enough. Stay in the tomb."
Kuwei hung his head. "Stay in the tomb," he repeated glumly. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz had tapped his crow's head cane on the flagstones of the tomb floor. "Do you know what Van Eck's problem is?"
"No honor?" said Matthias.
"Rotten parenting skills?" said Nina.
"Receding hairline?" offered Jesper. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Good," said Kaz, but the answer didn't come as quickly as Matthias might have expected. He fears for her, Matthias thought, and he does not like it. For once, he could sympathize with the demjin. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz rapped his cane on the stone floor. He was standing in the doorway to the tomb. "If everyone is done cuddling, we have a job to do."
"Hold up," said Jesper, arm still slung around Inej. "We're not talking about the job until we figure out what those things were on the Stave."
"What things?" asked Inej.
"Did you miss half the Stave blowing up?"
"We saw the bomb at the White Rose go off," said Inej, "and then we heard another explosion."
"At the Anvil," said Nina.
"After that," Inej said, "we ran."
Jesper nodded sagely. "That was your big mistake. If you'd stuck around, you could have nearly been killed by a Shu guy with wings. ~ Leigh Bardugo

No one got the better of Kaz. He was the toughest, scariest thing walking the alleys of the Barrel. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Van Eck's going to pull something," Kaz had said back on Black Veil, "and it's going to be messy, because he has less than twelve hours to plan it."
"Good," said Jesper.
"Bad," said Kaz. "The more complicated a plan is, the more people he has to involve, the more people talk, the more ways it can go wrong. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What you want and what the world needs are not always in accord, Kaz. Praying and wishing are not the same thing. ~ Leigh Bardugo

There wasn't even a bed in the room, just a narrow settee where Nina curled up every night. When Kaz had asked Nina why, she'd simply said, "I don't want anyone getting ideas." "A man doesn't need a bed to get ideas, Nina. ~ Leigh Bardugo

We told the Grisha to come alone," said Kaz.
"I'm afraid that wasn't possible," said the man. "Though Zoya is, of course, a force to be reckoned with, Genya's extraordinary gifts are ill-suited to physical confrontation. I, on the other hand, am well suited to all forms of confrontation, though I'm particularly fond of the physical."
Kaz's eyes narrowed. "Sturmhond."
"He knows me!" Sturmhond said delightedly. He nudged Genya with an elbow. "I told you I'm famous."
Zoya blew out an exasperated breath. "Thank you. He's going to be twice as insufferable now. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You tell me where he is, Brekker," Rollins roared in his face. "You tell me where my son is!"

"Say my brother's name. Speak it like they do in the magic shows on East Stave - like an incantation. You want your boy? What right does your son have to his precious, coddled life? How is he different from me or my brother? ~ Leigh Bardugo

Drop heavy," Kaz shouted, and Wylan let loose with every rocket, flash bomb, and bit of demo he'd been able to fit into the boat. The sky above the Van Eck house exploded in an array of light, smoke, and sound as the guards dove for cover.
Kaz put his arms to work, feeling the boat slide into the current as they passed into the glittering traffic of Geldcanal.
"In and out without him ever knowing?" said Rotty. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He needed a gang, and not just any gang, but one that needed him. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He nodded to her right forearm, not trusting himself to speak. His gloves lay on the other side of the basin, black against the gold-veined marble. They looked like dead animals. He focused on the shears, cold metal in his hands, nothing like skin. He could not do this if his hands were shaking. I can best this, he told himself. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You're the one getting ready to bolt, Jesper. You just want me to run with you so you don't have to feel so bad about it. For all your love of a fight, you're always the first to talk about running for cover."
"I made a mistake. I let my bad get the best of my good, but for Saints' sake, Kaz, how long are you going to make me pay for a little forgiveness? [...] How many times have I had your back in a fight? How many times have I gotten it right? Doesn't that count for anything?" Jesper threw up his hands. "I can't win with you. No one can. ~ Leigh Bardugo

A Ghafa never performs with a net," Inej said indignantly.
"Does a Ghafa frequently perform twenty stories above cobblestones after being held prisoner for a week?"
"There will be a net," said Kaz. "It's in place behind the silo guardhouse already, under a sack of sandbags."
The silence in the tomb was sudden and complete. Inej couldn't believe what she was hearing. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He's horrible."
"But effective. Being angry at Kaz for being ruthless is like being angry at a stove for being hot. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Everything in him recoiled. The water was cold against his legs. His body had gone numb and yet he could still feel the wet give of his brother's rotting flesh beneath his hands. It's shame that eats men whole. He was drowning in it. Drowning in the Ketterdam harbor. His eyes blurred. "It isn't easy for me either." Her voice, low and steady, the voice that had once led him back from hell. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz," said Nina. "You may not be glad we're alive, but we're glad you're alive. Come here!"
"Leave him be," murmured Inej softly.
"Saints, Wraith," said Jesper. "You're bleeding."
"Should I call a doctor?" asked Jesper's father.
"No!" they all replied in unison.
"Of course not," said Colm. "Should I ring for coffee?"
"Yes, please," said Nina. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Has anyone noticed this whole city is looking for us, mad at us, or wants to kill us?"
"So?" said Kaz.
"Well, usually it's just half the city. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Wylan!" Jesper said, taking in the cuts and rapidly forming bruises. "Saints, is all that real?"
"Anika and Keeg did a number on him."
"I wanted it to be believable," said Wylan.
"I admire your commitment to the craft," said Kaz. "Jesper, stay with Wylan. They're going to want to question him."
"I'm fine," said Wylan, though his lip was so swollen it sounded more like, "I'b fibe. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper jabbed an accusing finger at Kuwei. "You should have said something!"
Kuwei shrugged. "You were very brave on Black Veil. Since we're all probably going to die - "
"Damn it," Jesper cursed, stalking toward the door.
"You're a very good kisser," called Kuwei after him.
Jesper turned. "How good is your Kerch really?"
"Fairly good."
"Okay, then I hope you understand exactly what I mean when I say you are definitely more trouble than you're worth."
Kuwei beamed, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "Kaz seems to think I'm worth a great deal now."
Jesper rolled his eyes skyward. "You fit right in here. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz leaned back. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
"You're all horrible," said Matthias. ~ Leigh Bardugo

She could feel the press of Kaz's fingers against her skin, feel the bird'swing brush of his mouth against her neck, see his dilated eyes. Two of the deadliest people the Barrel had to offer and they could barely touch each other without both of them keeling over. But they'd tried. He'd tried. Maybe they could try again. A foolish wish, the sentimental hope of a girl who hadn't had the firsts of her life stolen, who hadn't ever felt Tante Heleen's lash, who wasn't covered in wounds and wanted by the law. Kaz would have laughed at her optimism. ~ Leigh Bardugo

She vanished over the side of the chapel. Kaz stood there, staring at the place she'd been only seconds before. She'd tricked him. The decent, honest, pious Wraith had outsmarted him. He turned to look back at the long expanse of roof he was going to have to traverse to get back to the boat. "Curse you and all your Saints," he said to no one at all, then realized he was smiling. ~ Leigh Bardugo

To hell with revenge, to hell with his schemes. If Rollins had done something to Inej, Kaz would paint East Stave with his entrails. ~ Leigh Bardugo

There have been a lot of Smedries over the centuries," he said, "and a lot of Talents. Many of them tend to be similar, in the long run. There are four kinds: Talents that affect space, time, knowledge, and the physical world."

"Take my talent, for instance," he continued. "I change things in space. I can get lost, then get found again."

"What about grandpa Smedry?"

"Time," Kas said. "He arrives late to things. Australia, however, has a Talent that can change the physical world--in this case, her own shape. Her Talent is fairly specific, and not as broad as your grandfather's. For instance, there was a Smedry a couple of centuries back who could look ugly any time he wanted, not just when he woke up in the morning. Other have been able to change anyone's appearance, not just their own. Understand?"

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"The closer the Talent gets to its purest form, the more powerful it is," Kaz said. "Your grandfather's Talent is very pure--he can manipulate time in a lot of different circumstances. Your father and I have very similar Talents--I can get lost and Attica can lose things--and both are flexible."

"What about Sing?" I asked.

"Tripping. That's what we call a knowledge Talent--he knows how to do something normal with extraordinary ability. Like Australia, though, his power isn't very flexible."

I nodded slowly. "So...what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, it' ~ Brandon Sanderson

And a variety of more colorful names. Hypothetically." The privateer cast him an assessing glance. "Just how did you know I wasn't who I claimed to be, Mister Brekker?"
Kaz shrugged. "You speak Kerch like a native - a rich native. You don't talk like someone who came up with sailors and street thugs."
The privateer turned slightly, giving Kaz his full attention. His ease was gone, and now he looked like a man who might command armies. "Mister Brekker," he said. "Kaz, if I may? I am in a vulnerable position. I am a king ruling a country with an empty treasury, facing enemies on all sides. There are also forces within my country that might seize any absence as an opportunity to make their own bid for power."
"So you're saying you'd make an excellent hostage."
"I suspect that the ransom for me would be considerably less than the price Kuwei has on his head. Really, it's a bit of a blow to my self-esteem."
"You don't seem to be suffering," said Kaz.
"Sturmhond was a creation of my youth, and his reputation still serves me well. I cannot bid on Kuwei Yul-Bo as the king of Ravka. I hope your plan will play out the way you think it will. But if it doesn't, the loss of such a prize would be seen as a humiliating blunder diplomatically and strategically. I enter that auction as Sturmhond or as no one at all. If that is a problem - "
Kaz settled his hands on his cane. "As long as you don't try to con me, you can enter as the Fairy Queen of Istame ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz's flat black gaze fastened on Kuwei and held. Kuwei squirmed nervously. "Why is he looking at me this way?"
"Kaz is wondering if he should keep you alive," said Jesper. "Terrible for the nerves. I recommend deep breathing. Maybe a tonic. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He didn't take her out of the city," she'd said, cheeks glowing with color for the first time since she'd emerged from her battle with parem . "It's obvious he's keeping her there."
But Kaz had simply gazed into the middle distance with that odd look on his face and said, "Too obvious."
"Kaz - "
"How would you like a hundred kruge ?"
"What's the catch?"
"Exactly. Van Eck's making it too easy. He's treating us like marks. But he isn't Barrel born, and we aren't a bunch of dumb culls ready to jump at the first shiny lure he flashes. Van Eck wants us to think she's on that island. Maybe she is. But he'll have plenty of firepower waiting for us too, maybe even a few Grisha using parem ."
"Always hit where the mark isn't looking," Wylan had murmured.
"Sweet Ghezen," said Jesper. "You've been thoroughly corrupted. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Greed is your god, Kaz."
He almost laughed at that. "No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Go on, Van Eck, threaten me. Tell me all the little things I am. You lay a finger on me and Kaz Brekker will cut the baby from your pretty wife's stomach and hang its body from a balcony at the Exchange. ~ Leigh Bardugo

She took a shaky breath. The words came like a string of gunshots, rapid-fire, as if she resented the very act of speaking them. "I didn't know if you would come."
Kaz couldn't blame Van Eck for that. Kaz had built that doubt in her with every cold word and small cruelty. "We're your crew, Inej. We don't leave our own at the mercy of merch scum."
It wasn't the answer he wanted to give. It wasn't the answer she wanted. ~ Leigh Bardugo

In the space of a breath, Kaz had shoved Wylan against the tomb wall with his forearm, the crow head of his cane wedged beneath Wylan's jaw. "Tell me my business again." Wylan swallowed, parted his lips. "Do it," said Kaz. "And I'll cut the tongue from your head and feed it to the first stray cat I can find. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Van Eck keeps the seal in a safe?" said Jesper with a laugh. "It's almost like hewants us to take it. Kaz is better at making friends with combination locks than with people."

"You've never seen a safe like this," Wylan said. "He had it installed after the DeKappel was stolen. It has a seven-digit combination that he resets every day, and the locks are built with false tumblers to confuse safecrackers."

Kaz shrugged. "Then we go around it. I'll take expediency over finesse."

Wylan shook his head. "The safe walls are made of a unique alloy reinforced with Grisha steel."

"An explosion?" suggested Jesper.

Kaz raised a brow. "I suspect Van Eck will notice that."

"A very small explosion?"

Nina snorted. "You just want to blow something up."

"Actually…" said Wylan. He cocked his head to one side, as if he were listening to a distant song. "Come morning, there would be no hiding we'd been there, but if we can get the refugees out of the harbor before my father discovers the theft … I'm not exactly sure where I can get the materials, but it just might work.…"

"Inej," Jesper whispered.

She leaned forward, peering at Wylan. "Is that scheming face?"

"Possibly."

Wylan seemed to snap back to reality. "It is not. But … but I do think I have an idea. ~ Leigh Bardugo

If this was the plan, what was the point to trying to smuggle in those lockpicks?" Wylan asked.

Kaz folded his arms. "Ever hear about the dying man whose medik told him he'd been miraculously cured? He danced into the street and was trampled to death by a horse. You have to let the mark feel like he's won. Were the guards studying Matthias and wondering if he looked familiar? Were they looking for trouble when Jesper went into the showers with paraffin sloughing off his arms? No, they were too busy congratulating themselves on catching me. They thought they'd neutralized the threat. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Jesper gave his shoulder another little shake. "Well, how about this? Kaz is going to tear your father's damn life apart."
Wylan was about to say that didn't help either, but he hesitated. Kaz Brekker was the most brutal, vengeful creature Wylan had ever encountered--and he'd sworn he was going to destroy Jan Van Eck. The thought felt like cool water cascading over the hot, shameful feeling of helplessness he'd been carrying with him for so long. Nothing could make this right, ever. But Kaz could make his father's life very wrong. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You have no finesse," a gambler at the Silver Garter once said to him. "No technique."
"Sure I do," Kaz had responded. "I practice the art of 'pull his shirt over his head and punch till you see blood. ~ Leigh Bardugo

They all watched as Genya checked his pulse, his breathing. She shook her head.

"Zoya," said Sturmhond. His voice had the ring of command.

Zoya sighed and pushed up her sleeves. "Unbutton his shirt."

"What are you doing?" Kaz asked as Genya undid Kuwei's remaining buttons. His chest was narrow, his ribs visible, all of it spattered with the pig's blood they'd encased in the wax bladder.

"I'm either going to wake up his heart or cook him from the inside out," said Zoya. "Stand back."

They did their best to obey in the cramped space. "What exactly does she mean by that?" Kaz asked Nina.

"I'm not sure," Nina admitted. Zoya had her hands out and her eyes closed. The air felt suddenly cool and moist.

Inej inhaled deeply. "It smells like a storm."

Zoya opened her eyes and brought her hands together as if in prayer, rubbing her palms against each other briskly.

Nina felt the pressure drop, tasted metal on her tongue. "I think … I think she's summoning lightning."

"Is that safe?" asked Inej.

"Not remotely," said Sturmhond.

"Has she at least done it before?" said Kaz.

"For this purpose?" asked Sturmhond. "I've seen her do it twice. It worked splendidly. Once." His voice was oddly familiar, and Nina had the sense they'd met before.

"Ready?" Zoya asked.

Genya shoved a thickly folded piece of fabric between Kuwei's teeth and ~ Leigh Bardugo

Inej turned to go. Kaz seized her hand, keeping it on the railing. He didn't look at her. "Stay," he said, his voice rough stone. "Stay in Ketterdam. Stay with me."
She looked down at his gloved hand clutching hers. Everything in her wanted to say yes, but she would not settle for so little, not after all she'd been through. "What would be the point?"
He took a breath. "I want you to stay. I want you to ... I want you."
"You want me." She turned the words over. Gently, she squeezed his hand. "And how will you have me, Kaz?"
"How will you have me?" she repeated. "Fully clothed, gloves on, your head turned away so our lips can never touch? ~ Leigh Bardugo

Where do you think the money went?" he repeated.
"Guns?" asked Jesper.
"Ships?" queried Inej.
"Bombs?" suggested Wylan.
"Political bribes?" offered Nina. They all looked at Matthias. "This is where you tell us how awful we are," she whispered.
He shrugged. "They all seem like practical choices."
"Sugar," said Kaz.
Jesper nudged the sugar bowl down the table to him.
Kaz rolled his eyes. "Not for my coffee, you podge. I used the money to buy up sugar shares and placed them in private accounts for all of us - under aliases, of course."
"I don't like speculation," said Matthias.
"Of course you don't. You like things you can see. Like piles of snow and benevolent tree gods."
"Oh, there it is!" said Inej, resting her head on Nina's shoulder and beaming at Matthias. "I missed his glower. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Was there another life she was meant to be living? At times she felt a keen certainty that there was ― a phantom life, taunting her from just out of reach. A sense would come over her while she was drawing or walking, and once while she was dancing slow and close with Kaz, that she was supposed to be doing something else with her hands, with her legs, with her body. Something else. Something else. Something else. ~ Laini Taylor

All right," said Kaz. "Let's talk in the solarium. I'd prefer not to sweat through my suit." When the rest of them made to follow, Kaz halted and glanced over his shoulder. "Just me and the privateer."
Zoya tossed her glorious black mane and said, "We are the Triumvirate. We do not take orders from Kerch street rats with dubious haircuts."
"I can phrase it as a question if it will make your feathers lie flat," Kaz said.
"You insolent - "
"Zoya," said Sturmhond smoothly. "Let's not antagonize our new friends before they've even had a chance to cheat us. Lead on, Mister Brekker. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He'd told her they would fight their way out. Knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. She would fight for him, but she could not heal him. She would not waste her life trying. ~ Leigh Bardugo

This isn't … it isn't a trick, is it?" Her voice was smaller than she wanted it to be.

The shadow of something dark moved across Kaz's face. "If it were a trick, I'd promise you safety. I'd offer you happiness. I don't know if that exists in the Barrel, but you'll find none of it with me."

For some reason, those words had comforted her. Better terrible truths than kind lies.

"All right," she said. "How do we begin?"

"Let's start by getting out of here and finding you some proper clothes. Oh, and Inej," he said as he led her out of the salon, "don't ever sneak up on me again. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I need someone who can be invisible, who can become a ghost. Do you think you can do that?"
I'm already a ghost, she thought. I died in the hold of a slaver ship.
"i think so. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz knew death. He could feel its presence on the ship, looming over them, ready to take his Wraith. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too. They don't forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz had been impressed with the sketches. "You think like a lockpick," he'd told Wylan. "I do not." "I mean you can see space along three axes." "I'm not a criminal," Wylan protested. Kaz had cast him an almost pitying look. "No, you're a flautist who fell in with bad company. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz had wriggled out of his coat and managed to yank off his shirt, leaning on the sink in the bathroom.
"For Saints' sake, let us help you," said Nina.
Kaz gripped the end of a bandage in his teeth and tore off a piece. "I don't need your help. Keep working with Colm."
"What is wrong with him?" Nina grumbled as they went back to the sitting room to drill Colm on his cover story.
"Same thing that's always wrong with him," said Jesper. "He's Kaz Brekker. ~ Leigh Bardugo

What will you do with your shares?"
"Find a ship," said Inej. "Put together a crew."
"Help run an empire," said Jesper.
"Try not to run it into the ground," said Wylan.
"And you, Kaz?" Nina asked.
"Build something new," he said with a shrug. "Watch it burn. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He saw her draw closer in the mirror. Her black hair was an ink splash against the white tile walls. She paused behind him. "You protected me, Kaz."
"The fact that you're bleeding through your bandages tells me otherwise."
She glanced down. A red blossom of blood had spread on the bandage tied around her shoulder. She tugged awkwardly at the strip of towel. "I need Nina to fix this one."
He didn't mean to say it. He meant to let her go. "I can help you."
Her gaze snapped to his in the mirror, wary as if gauging an opponent. I can help you. They were the first words she'd spoken to him, standing in the parlor of the Menagerie, draped in purple silk, eyes lined in kohl. She had helped him. And she'd nearly destroyed him. Maybe he should let her finish the job. ~ Leigh Bardugo

No one knew who he was. No one knew where he came from. He'd become Kaz Brekker, cripple and confidence man, bastard of the Barrel. The ~ Leigh Bardugo

He knew exactly what he intended to leave behind when he was gone.

Damage. ~ Leigh Bardugo

You came back for me."
"I protect my investments." Investments.
"I'm glad I'm bleeding all over your shirt. ~ Leigh Bardugo

The berth belongs to you too. It will always be there when - if you want to come back."
Inej could not speak. Her heart felt too full, a dry creek bed ill-prepared for such rain. "I don't know what to say."
His bare hand flexed on the crow's head of his cane. The sight was so strange Inej had trouble tearing her eyes from it. "Say you'll return."
"I'm not done with Ketterdam." She hadn't known she meant it until she said the words.
Kaz cast her a swift glance. "I thought you wanted to hunt slavers."
"I do. And I want your help." Inej licked her lips, tasted the ocean on them. Her life had been a series of impossible moments, so why not ask for something impossible now? "It's not just the slavers. It's the procurers, the customers, the Barrel bosses, the politicians. It's everyone who turns a blind eye to suffering when there's money to be made."
"I'm a Barrel boss."
"You would never sell someone, Kaz. You know better than anyone that you're not just one more boss scraping for the best margin."
"The bosses, the customers, the politicians," he mused. "That could be half the people in Ketterdam - and you want to fight them all."
"Why not?" Inej asked. "One the seas and in the city. One by one."
"Brick by brick," he said. Then he gave a single shake of his head, as if shrugging off the notion. "I wasn't made to be a hero, Wraith. You should have learned that by now. You want me to be a better man, a good man. I - "
Leigh Bardugo

Nina threw herself into a chair at the table and wriggled her feet out of her jewelled slippers, digging her toes into the plush white carpet. "Ahhh," she said contentedly. "So much better." She shoved one of the cakes from the coffee service into her mouth and mumbled, "What do you want, Kaz?" "You have crumbs on your cleavage." "Don't care," she said, taking another bite of cake. "So hungry. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He stood leaning on his cane, hair neatly pushed back from his pale brow, a black glass boy of deadly edges. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz chuckled. "No, it's life. When you depend on others for too much, your happiness, acceptance, or even approval, then you're already guaranteeing yourself unhappiness, rejection, and dissatisfaction from others and yourself. Better to go on seeking those things from yourself, than expecting others to hand them over to you. ~ Bethany-Kris & London Miller

Inej had once offered to teach him how to fall. "The trick is not getting knocked down," he'd told her with a laugh. "No, Kaz," she'd said, "the trick is in getting back up. ~ Leigh Bardugo

He's right, you know. Kaz shouldn't send you to do his dirty work."
"It's all dirty work."
"But we do it just the same," he said with a sigh.
"You look exhausted. Will you sleep at all tonight?"
Jesper just winked. "Not while the cards are hot. Stay and play a bit. Kaz will stake you."
"Really, Jesper?" she'd said, pulling up her hood. "If I want to watch men dig holes to fall into, I'll find myself a cemetery."
"Come on, Inej," he'd called after her as she passed through the big double doors onto the street. "You're good luck!"
Saints, she'd thought, if he believes that, he really must be desperate. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Then tailor him," Kaz said coldly. The challenge in Kaz's eyes was clear. So he knew she'd been struggling. Of course he did. Dirtyhands never missed a trick. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I'm a business man," he'd told her. "No more, no less."
"You're a thief, Kaz."
"Isn't that what I just said? ~ Leigh Bardugo

That's where you're wrong," said Kaz. "I don't hold a grudge. I cradle it. I coddle it. I feed it fine cuts of meat and send it to the best schools. I nurture my grudges, Rollins." "I'm ~ Leigh Bardugo

Brick by brick.

Brick by brick, I will destroy you.

"It was the promise that let him sleep at night, that drove him every day, that kept Jordie's ghost at bay. Because a quick death was too good for Pekka Rollins. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kuwei gave an affronted sniff and lowered himself onto the floor of the sickboat. He folded his arms neatly over his chest.
"No," said Kaz. "No. The bodymen don't bother to arrange them."
Kuwei let his hands flop to his sides. ~ Leigh Bardugo

One of his hands balanced on his cane. The other rested at his side next to her. She'd need only move the smallest amount and they would be touching. He was that close. He was that far from reach. ~ Leigh Bardugo

At last, Sturmhond straightened the lapels of his teal frock coat and said, "Well, Brekker, it's obvious you only deal in half-truths and outright lies, so you're clearly the man for the job."
"There's just one thing," said Kaz, studying the privateer's broken nose and ruddy hair. "Before we join hands and jump off a cliff together, I want to know exactly who I'm running with."
Sturmhond lifted a brow. "We haven't been on a road trip or exchanged clothes, but I think our introductions were civilized enough."
"Who are you really, privateer?"
"Is this an existential question?"
"No proper thief talks the way you do."
"How narrow-minded of you."
"I know the look of a rich man's son, and I don't believe a king would send an ordinary privateer to handle business this sensitive."
"Ordinary," scoffed Sturmhond. "Are you so schooled in politics?"
"I know my way around a deal. Who are you? We get the truth or my crew walks."
"Are you so sure that would be possible, Brekker? I know your plans now. I'm accompanied by two of the world's most legendary Grisha, and I'm not too bad in a fight either."
"And I'm the canal rat who brought Kuwei Yul-Bo out of the Ice Court alive. Let me know how you like your chances." His crew didn't have clothes or titles to rival the Ravkans, but Kaz knew where he'd put his money if he had any left.
Sturmhond clasped his hands behind his back, and Kaz saw the barest shift in his demeanor. ~ Leigh Bardugo

I'm superstitious, not stupid. You can be both, you know, but that's hardly the point. ~ Leigh Bardugo

Kaz heard Wylan retching. He tossed the eyeball overboard and jammed his spit-soaked handkerchief into the socket where Oomen's eye had been. Then he grabbed Oomen's jaw, his gloves leaving red smears on the enforcer's chin. His actions were smooth, precise, as if he were dealing cards at the Crow Club or picking an easy lock, but his rage felt hot and mad and unfamiliar. Something within him had torn loose. ~ Leigh Bardugo