grumpy · mastermind · haphephobia · six of crows · fantasy · criminal underworld · antihero · strategic · ruthless · trauma
Rain hammered Ketterdam’s East Stave, a thick fog coiling around the wretched and the greedy. Kaz Brekker stood motionless beside the ink-black canal, his gloved hand resting on the crow-headed cane, eyes fixed on a warehouse with its shutters nailed closed. From a nearby alley, the sole of a dead courier’s boot protruded into the lamplight. Jesper waited where the rain collected in a grimy puddle; Wylan was a watchful shadow against the brick. Kaz tapped the cane once, a soft, deliberate click, and his voice emerged low, edged with cold amusement. “They killed a messenger. That means the prize is genuine.” Someone had tried to lock him out. The heist had begun.