Sometimes Inej wished Kaz knew how to say no. Maybe then, they would not be yelling at each other in the middle of the Slat.

The day started of normal-ish, except for the singular crow sitting on her window sill, continuously cawing and luck,she thought what I needed to start my day.

She got up, getting changed quickly. It was another cold, miserable, and wet day in Ketterdam, and she could not wait for the day she could leave the wretched city.

She climbed out her window, avoiding going downstairs and risking being stopped by Tante Heleen, the horrible woman who ran the orphanage. Inej had been taken from her family and home and had been living there ever since. Almost two years.

She silently descended down the fire escape. She made her way through the alley, onto the busy streets of the city. She eventually found the Slat, a building Per Haskell, Kaz's adoptive father, owned and where Kaz lived.

She scaled the wall facing the nearest alley. That was where Kaz's room was. The third floor, high enough to see over the neighboring buildings, but it was also the adequate height for Inej to climb to the window. She climbed in, perching on the windowsill. Kaz was sitting at his desk, and without looking up from his homework that he was very much procrastinating, greeted her. "Hello, Inej."

"You're doing your homework fifteen minutes before school." She observed. "Planning?"

He shrugged. "I make real goodkrugeoff planning pranks for the less creative." Inej rolled her eyes. "What information do you have for me today?"

"Jan Van Eck needs someone to plan the senior prank and a crew to pull it off. He asked for you specifically." She reported. "If you ask me, it sounds like a trap."

"Of course it is. How much is he willing to pay?" Kaz stood up, gathering his papers. Inej sighed. She should have known he would want to take the job anyway. She walked over to the desk, fishing a piece of paper from her pocket and handing it to him. He opened it and looked at her, wide-eyed. "Thirty thousand kruge?" He asked. She nodded. The Van Ecks were rich. Royalty-style rich.

"He needs a plan to break into Fjerda Heights. They want to steal the mascot."

"Thirty thousand kruge to break into the most secure school in the world?" He stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket, collecting the rest of his things and shoving them in his school bag. "Talk to Jesper about this."

"Kaz, you can't be serious-" She began to protest.

His head snapped up. "Do you want out of that prison, wraith?" He asked, referring to the orphanage. She nodded. "If we complete this for Van Eck, you could go anywhere you wanted. We'd be kings and queens, Inej. You'd never have to worry about Heleen again." She did not say a word. "Talk to Jesper. And get that Wylan kid in on this too."

"Wylan Van Eck? Jan's brother?" She asked. Kaz nodded. "What do we need him for?"

"Insurance. Besides, the kid isn't bad with pyrotechnics."

"You're crazy." She muttered.

"I'm a genius." He corrected. "And prepared."

"You really think we'll need to blow something up?" He shrugged, and she let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Fine." She climbed onto the windowsill again. "Have a fun walk down." And then, she jumped.

She landed on her feet, quickly scanned the alleyway, then made her way through the crowds and to the front of the Slat. Ten minutes had passed when Kaz finally appeared. "We're late because of you."

He scanned her outfit; her black skirt, teal shirt, black jacket, black tights, and black boots, then looked down at his own outfit; a suit. He shrugged. "At least we'll be fashionably late."

She rolled her eyes, and they started to make their way through the city, towards the big brick building at the end of the street, right before you would hit the outskirts. Ketterdam Academy. Not anywhere as nice as the name makes it sound, with some of the worst people in town and the building creating a large shadow. Perfect place to get jumped or into a fight. It was by far the ugliest and most terrifying building Inej had ever seen. She wanted to go back to the Slat. Hell, she thought, I'd even prefer the orphanage to this place.

Luckily, they did not even make it to the front steps. Not before Van Eck found them. "So, Brekker, did you get my deal, or did your spider fail at her job?" He taunted.

"I did. You see, the thing is, I don't do jobs for anyone who accuses my Wraith of not being able to do her job." Kaz's raspy voice was confident, and she could tell that Dirtyhands had come out to play. "Because by the time we're done with them, there is no job." Inej knew what he was implying, and it seemed to have given Van Eck a moment of pause.

"A little protective of her, huh?" Van Eck wriggled his eyebrows. "Anyways, this is a very important job. And I'm willing to pay a lot of money if it's done properly."

"And what's the deadline?"

"Two days." Inej knew that was impossible for a heist this size. They needed to plan and assemble a crew. They needed surveillance and blueprints and everything needed to be exact and that would take time. A lot more than forty-eight hours. And to her shock and absolute annoyance, Kaz nodded.

"We can do it." She opened her mouth to protest, but he glared at her. The look in his eyes saidnot now. He held out a gloved and to Van Eck, who took it. "The deal is the deal."

"The deal is the deal." He repeated, giving Kaz a crooked-teeth grin. Kaz dropped Van Eck's hand, then grabbed Inej's arm, dragging her through the crowds and back towards the Slat.