Kaz glared at Wylan as the boy led him towards Inej and Jesper, who were watching the people of Ketterdam dance in the square. Jesper immediately smiled at Wylan and took his hand, pulling him into the crowd of dancers.

Kaz sat beside Inej. "Pointless activities."

Inej leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Dance with me?"

"Huh?"

Inej's grin broadened. "Dance with me, Kaz."

Kaz shook his head. "I refuse to participate in such ridiculous wastes of time and money."

Inej was suddenly yanking Kaz into the fray of bodies. He swallowed the fear and discomfort that arose inside of him and focused only on Inej's hand over his gloved one.

When they were near Jesper and Wylan, Inej laughed and started to spin around Kaz, bouncing up and down. He admired her smile; it seemed to brighten the entire world.

Then, Inej grabbed his hands and swung him into the dance. Kaz had watched the peasants of Ketterdam do the dance before, but he had never done it himself. Inej laughed and whipped her hair around.

"Kaz, please dance. Pleeeeaaaase?" Inej blinked up at him, her onyx gaze making him reluctantly give in.

Together, they twirled and spun. Inej, wild and reckless, Kaz, measured and precise. Kaz eventually let himself smile. Just a small smile, though.

Suddenly, Inej was swept away from him by Jesper. Jesper then shoved Wylan towards Kaz. "Have fun!"

Wylan was giddy, his lightly freckled cheeks a light pink. Then, the music changed to a song Kaz didn't know.

"What is this?"

Wylan hesitantly linked elbows with Kaz and then laughed, his blue eyes squinting as his smile broadened.

Then, Wylan was pulling Kaz towards a slowly forming circle of people. Multiple groups were dancing along at the quick pace, their hair whipping in the wind. Wylan began to walk Kaz through the steps of spin, elbows loop, spin together, repeat. Though Kaz would have rathered doing something else, he was kind of enjoying the dance.

He would never admit it to anybody except himself. And probably when the boy laughed, "I've never seen you smile this much!"

Kaz's smile got bigger against his own will. He was glad to see that the young boy was better after the events with Van Eck.

Wylan hooked elbows with Kaz again and they spun. He was almost disappointed when the dance ended and the two boys stumbled out of the crowd and back to Inej and Jesper.

Jesper wrapped an arm around Wylan's shoulders. "I saw the way you smiled at Wy, Kaz. Don't get any ideas."

Kaz rolled his eyes. "I'm not interested in him."

Wylan looked slightly offended, but Jesper was nodding. "Of course you aren't. You're literally like a cruel, murdering father to him."

Inej was shaking her head. "Saints, save you."

Then, Jesper slyly grinned at Kaz. "You can dance."

"What?"

"You're a really good dancer, you demon."

Kaz shook his head. "Jesper, I swear-"

"Everybody! Kaz Brekker, leader of the Dregs, Boss of the Barrel, can tap dance!"

Wylan's face turned bright red, as did Kaz. Inej started laughing as the citizens of Ketterdam pointed and whispered at Kaz. Then, the two boys both ran towards the closest alley while Jesper and Inej doubled over from laughter.

After a while, Wylan nearly collapsed from running. Inej and Jesper had caught up to them and all four of them had just kept running. Kaz leaned against the wall beside the young redhead and took a few deep breaths.

"Wylan Van Eck, you can dance, but not run, it seems."

Wylan shrugged. "My father forced me to various dances with all of the other merchants."

Jesper grinned. "Was your father a good dancer?"

Wylan wrinkled his eyebrows. "It was more like watching a raccoon try to open a door."

Kaz couldn't help but snort at the thought. "Sounds... intriguing."

Wylan shook his head. "Nope. You don't want to see it. Ever."

Jesper laughed. "He isn't better than Kaz?"

Wylan grinned. "We should sell Kaz to the theatre. He would be the shining star of some musical and everybody would love him!"

Kaz frantically waved his arms around. "Absolutely not!"

Inej hooked elbows with him and they all started off down the alley again. "I would love to see that musical. 'New Hit Show: Starring Kaz Brekker.'"

They all laughed with pleased grins on their faces and made their way back to Wylan's mansion.