Kaz Quotes & Sayings

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

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

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

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

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 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 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 (p322) — 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

The silence between them was dark water. He could not cross it. He couldn't walk the line between the decency she deserved and the violence this path demanded. If he tried, it might get them both killed. He could only be who he truly was--a boy who had no comfort to offer. So he would give her what he could. — 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

You know I can do it, Kaz, and you know I'm not going to refuse. So why ask?"
Because I've been looking for an excuse to talk to you for two days.
"I want to make sure you know what you'll be dealing with and that you're studying the plans. — Leigh Bardugo

You don't smell like roses any more," he said, then wanted to kick himself. He shouldn't be noticing her scent. "I probably smell like boat." No, she smelled sweet, perfect like ... "Toffee?" Her eyes slid away guiltily. "Kaz said to pack what we needed for the journey. A girl has to eat." She reached into her pocket and drew out a bag of toffees. "Want one? — Leigh Bardugo

Jesper ran a finger up Wylan's forearm, and Wylan flushed a vibrant pink. Matthias couldn't help but sympathize with the boy. He knew what it was to be out of your depth, and he sometimes suspected they could forgo all of Kaz's planning and simply let Jesper and Nina flirt the entirety of Ketterdam into submission. — Leigh Bardugo

I can hear the change in Kaz's breathing when he looks at you."
"You... you can?"
"It catches every time, like he's never seen you before. — 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

I need to see Jakob Hertzoon."
"Who?"
Kaz felt like he was about to climb out of his skin. He pointed through the window. "Jakob fucking Hertzoon. I want to talk to him. — 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

Saints, Kaz, you actually look happy."
"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped. But there was no mistaking it. Kaz Brekker was grinning like an idiot. — Leigh Bardugo

Sit peacefully in a church and think of church history: witchburning perhaps, or child abuse, genocide, the amassing of disgusting wealth, the repression of women, inquisitions, castrating child choir singers, the denial of Santa Claus and the support of fascists in power. — Kaz Cooke

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

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

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

You can't spend his money if you're dead."
"I'll acquire expensive habits in the afterlife. — Leigh Bardugo

In the end, Kaz Brekker was a just a boy, and she'd let him lead her to this fate. — 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

You must find a way to make peace," said Inej. "At least for a while."
"This is not your concern," Matthias growled.
Kaz stepped forward, his expression dangerous. "It is very much our concern. And watch your tone. — Leigh Bardugo

Jesper swung first. Kaz dodged right and then they were grappling. They slammed into the wall, knocked heads, drew apart in a flurry of punches and grabs. Wylan turned to Inej, expecting her to object, for Matthias to separate them, for someone to do something, but the others just backed up, making room. Only Kuwei showed any kind of distress.
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. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz narrowed his eyes. I'm not some character out of a children's story who plays harmless pranks and steals from the rich to give to the poor. — Leigh Bardugo

Some people see a magic trick and say, "Impossible!" They clap their hands, turn over their money, and forget about it ten minutes later. Other people ask how it worked. They go home, get into bed, toss and turn, wondering how it was done. It takes them a good night's sleep to forget all about it. And then there are the ones who stay awake, running through the trick again and again, looking for that skip in perception, the crack in the illusion that will explain how their eyes got duped; they're the kind who won't rest until they've mastered that little bit of mystery for themselves. I'm that kind. — Leigh Bardugo

You showed mercy, Kaz. You were the better man."
There she went again, seeking decency when there was none to be had. "Inej, I could only kill Pekka's son once." He pushed the door open with his cane. "He can imagine his death a thousand times. — 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

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

There is no safe," Kaz snarled. "Not in the Barrel. Not anywhere." He threw his strength into rowing. No seal. No ship. Their money spent.
"What do we do now?" Wylan said quietly, his voice barely audible above the sound of the water and the other boats on the canal.
"Pick up a pair of oars and make yourself useful," said Kaz. "Or I'll put your pampered ass in the drink and let your father fish you out. — Leigh Bardugo

Inej placed her hands on Nina's shoulders. "We'll see each other again."
"Of course we will. You've saved my life. I've saved yours."
"I think you're ahead on that count."
"No, I don't mean in the big ways." Nina's eyes took them all in. "I mean the little rescues. Laughing at my jokes. Forgiving me when I was foolish. Never trying to make me feel small. It doesn't matter if it's next month, or next year, or ten years from now, those will be the things I remember when I see you again."
Kaz offered his gloved hand to Nina. "Until then, Zenik."
"Count on it, Brekker." They shook. — 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

I suppose you've got your future all figured out?"
"No. I just know I'm going to get my mother out of that place and try to build some kind of life for us." Wylan nodded to the posters on the wall. "Is this really what you want? To be a criminal? To keep bouncing from the next score to the next fight to the next near miss?"
"Honestly?" Jesper knew Wylan probably wasn't going to like what he said next.
"It's time," Kaz said from the doorway.
"Yes, this is what I want," said Jesper. Wylan looped his satchel over his shoulder, and without thinking, Jesper reached out and untwisted the strap. He didn't let go. "But it's not all that I want. — 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

Have any of you wondered what I did with all the cash Pekka Rollins gave us?"
"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. — Leigh Bardugo

We were all supposed to make it," said Wylan softly. Maybe that was naive, the protest of a rich merchant's son who'd only had a taste of Barrel life.
But Jesper realized he'd been thinking the same thing. After all their mad escapes and close calls, he'd started to believe the six of them were somehow charmed, that his guns, Kaz's brains, Nina's wit, Inej's talent, Wylan's ingenuity, and Matthias' strength had made them somehow untouchable. They might suffer. They might take their knocks, but Wylan was right, in the end they were all supposed to stay standing.
"No mourners," said Jesper, surprised by the ache of tears in his throat.
"No funerals," they all replied softly. — Leigh Bardugo

Why the net, Kaz?"
Yes, why the net? Why something that could complicate the assault he'd planned on the silos and leave them twice as open to exposure? I couldn't bear to watch you fall. "I just went to a lot of trouble to get my spider back. I didn't do it so you could crack your skull open the next day. — Leigh Bardugo

I'm pragmatic. If I were cruel, I'd give him an eulogy instead of a conversation. — Leigh Bardugo

Matthias appeared in front of them. "We should go soon. We have little more than an hour before sunrise."
"What exactly are you wearing?" Nina asked, staring at the tufted cap and woolly red vest Matthias had put on over his clothes.
"Kaz procured papers for us in case we're stopped in the Ravkan quarter. We're Sven and Catrine Alfsson. Fjerdan defectors seeking asylum at the Ravkan embassy."
It made sense. If they were stopped, there was no way Matthias could pass himself off as Ravkan, but Nina could easily manage Fjerdan.
"Are we married, Matthias?" she said, batting her lashes.
He consulted the papers and frowned. "I believe we're brother and sister."
Jesper ambled over, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Not creepy at all. — Leigh Bardugo

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

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

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

It was because she was listening so closely that she knew the exact moment when Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, the bastard of the Barrel and deadliest boy in Ketterdam, fainted. — Leigh Bardugo

Did you manage to contact the refugees?" Inej asked, waving Nina over to the table and clearing a place for her to sit.
"Everything went smoothly," said Nina. "Aside from breaking a few windows and nearly getting shot."
Kaz looked up from the table, his interest secured.
"Big trouble in Little Ravka?" asked Jesper.
"Nothing we couldn't handle," Nina said. "Please tell me there's something to eat."
"You're hungry?" said Inej. They all goggled at Nina.
She curtsied. "Yes, yes, Nina Zenik is hungry. Now will someone feed me before I'm forced to cook one of you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," said Jesper. "You don't know how to cook. — Leigh Bardugo

Everything is a negotiation with you, Brekker. You probably bartered your way out of the womb. — Leigh Bardugo

Vile, ruthless, amoral. Isn't that why you hired Kaz in the first place? Because he does the things that no one else dares? Go on, Van Eck. Break my legs and see what happens. Dare him."
Had she really believed a merch could outthink Kaz Brekker? Kaz would get her free and then they'd show this man exactly what whores and canals rats could do. — 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

What doesn't kill me better run. - Kaz — Leigh Bardugo

And what god do you serve, then?"
"Whichever will grant me good fortune."
"I don't think gods work that way."
"I don't think I care. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz was going to kill her. She was going to kill Kaz. — Leigh Bardugo

He'd known even then, though: He'd start as a grunt, but the Dregs would become his army. — 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

You were early, Jesper," Kaz said as he nudged Matthias towards the boat.
"I was on time."
"For you, that's early. Next time you plan to impress me give me some warning."
"The animals are out, and I found you a boat. This is when a thank you would be in order."
"Thank you, Jesper," said Nina.
"You're very welcome, gorgeous. See, Kaz? That's how the civilised folk do. — Leigh Bardugo

Matthias was not fooled. Kaz always spoke logic, but that didn't mean he always told truth. — Leigh Bardugo

I would have come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting. — Leigh Bardugo

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

Pekka Rollins couldn't count the threats he'd heard, the men he'd killed, or the men he'd seen die, but the look in Brekker's eye still sent a chill slithering up his spine. Some wrathful thing in this boy was beginning to get loose, and Rollin's didn't want to be around when it slipped its leash. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz, this whole 'shoot me' thing is starting to concern me. — Leigh Bardugo

He didn't mean to say it. He meant to let her go. "I can help you. — 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

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

At some point, Jesper realized Kaz was gone.
"Not one for goodbyes, is he?" he muttered.
"He doesn't say goodbye," Inej said. She kept her eyes on the lights of the canal. Somewhere in the garden, a night bird began to sing. "He just lets go. — Leigh Bardugo

If you ever cared about me at all, don't follow. — 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

One minute he made her blush and the next he made her want to commit murder. — 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

Jesper: "If Pekka Rollins kills us all, I'm going to get Wylan's ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost."
Kaz: "I'll just hire Matthias' ghost to kick your ghost's ass."
Matthias: "My ghost won't associate with your ghost. — 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

She would have her ship and he would have his city. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz didn't look remotely entertained. "The Ravkan king lets you negotiate for him in matters of state?" he asked skeptically.
"Occasionally," said Sturmhond. "Especially if less than savory personages are involved. You have a reputation, Mister Brekker."
"So do you. — 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

Dad loves his father, but he says he has always been the same. Even when his kids were young, Grandpa John was always negative. If Grandma is a glass half full, Grandpa is a totally empty glass with a desert at the bottom of it. Despite — Kaz Campbell

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

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

When we get our money, you can burn kruge to keep you warm."
"I'm going to pay someone to burn my kruge for me."
"Why don't you pay someone else to pay someone to burn your kruge for you? That's what the big players do. — 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

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

He was a collection of hard lines and tailored edges — 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

He saw that Jesper was staring at his hands. "What were you expecting?" Kaz growled.
"Claws, at least,"Jesper said, shifting his gaze to his own bony feet. "Possibly a spiny thumb. — Leigh Bardugo

What is he doing?" asked Matthias.
"Performing an ancient Zemeni ritual," Kaz said.
"Really?"
"No. — Leigh Bardugo

You'll get what's coming to you some day, Brekker."
"I will," said Kaz, "if there's any justice in the world. And we all know how likely that is. — 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

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. — Leigh Bardugo

When this is all over, when Van Eck has been put in his place, when Rollins goes running, and the money is paid, these will still be my streets. I can't live in a city where I can't hold up my head."
"If you have a head to hold up," said Jesper.
"I've taken knives, bullets, and too many punches to count, all for a little piece of this town," said Kaz. "This is the city I bled for. And if Ketterdam has taught me anything, it's that you can always bleed a little more. — Leigh Bardugo

That, Kuwei, is the sound that death makes when she comes calling. — Leigh Bardugo

Kaz had rescued her from that hopelessness, and their lives had been a series of rescues ever since, a string of debts that they never tallied as they saved each other again and again. Lying in the dark, she realized that for all her doubts, she'd believed he would rescue her once more, that he would put aside his greed and his demons and come for her. Now she wasn't so sure. Because it was not just the sense in the words she'd spoken that had stilled Van Eck's hand but the truth he'd heard in her voice. He'll never trade if you break me. She could not pretend those words had been conjured by strategy or even animal cunning. The magic they'd worked had been born of belief. An ugly enchantment. — Leigh Bardugo

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

You are not your buttocks. — Kaz Cooke

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

I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all. — Leigh Bardugo

They do not comprehend where they are going," Kaz said, whispering his words to the wind.
I knew he didn't mean a particular place. There were no map coordinates to mark the location. He meant that point in time and space where bullet meets bone, where grown men cry rivers of tears; the point you can never return from, even if you live to be ninety. — James R. Benn

You have crumbs on your cleavage." "Don't care," she said, taking another bite of cake. "So hungry." Kaz — 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

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

Kaz tossed the ledger back in the safe. "You're not weak because you can't read. You're weak because you're afraid of people seeing your weakness. You're letting shame decide who you are..." (p283) — Leigh Bardugo

Why do you wear gloves, Mister Brekker?"
Kaz raised a brow. "I'm sure you've heard the stories."
"Each more grotesque than the last."
Kaz had heard them, too. Brekker's hands were stained with blood. Brekker's hands were covered in scars. Brekker had claws and not fingers because he was part demon. Brekker's touch burned like brimstone - a single brush of his bare skin caused your flesh to wither and die.
"Pick one," Kaz said as he vanished into the night, thoughts already turning to thirty million kruge and the crew he'd need to help him get it. "They're all true enough. — Leigh Bardugo

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