Heartbeats In Shadow - Kaz Brekker

security

After a few days of travelling across the True Sea to get to Ravka, we finally arrived. I was cramped between Inej and Kaz in a carriage, with Jesper and the Conductor across from us. We were on our way to the closest city to the fold, Novokribirsk. Kaz was explaining the job to the conductor.

"I didn't hire you simply to get us across the fold. You're with us because you smuggle Grisha out of the Little Palace, and that's the location of our target."
"Sun Summoner," Inej told him. I could tell she was excited to meet a living saint, and I couldn't say I was intrigued myself. Not because of the saint part, I was intrigued to see her power that was rarer than my own.

"Alleged," Kaz interjected.

"Kaz, they wouldn't keep a fraud in the most secure location in all of Ravka," I said quietly. Kaz ignored my comment and moved to another topic.

"You said you have a contact who can get us inside. A heartrender." At the mention of seeing another heartrender after so long, my heart quickened slightly with excitement.

"Mmm-hmm." The conductor responded.

"How do I know we can trust her?" Kaz asked.

"Nina grew up there." He said. My face lit up at the sound of one of my best friends names from Ravka. She was one of the people who helped me get out of the palace. She would never betray my father, but I basically forced her into helping me. There was no way she hadn't already mentioned our arrival to my father, hopefully, she didn't know exactly who we were.

"Nina Zenik?" I asked the conductor.

"Do you know her?" Jesper finally entered the conversation.

"Yeah, she was one of my best friends in the Little Palace. Are you sure we can trust her? The Nina I know would never betray General Kirigan or the throne by helping us."
"You must not have known her for a long time then. Nina is a radical. Thinks Grisha should get to choose if they serve the crown. She despises involuntary service more than she does Fjerdans." While that didn't sound like the Nina I knew, I kept my mouth shut. I hadn't seen her in years.

After several more hours of travelling in silence, we finally reached the destination of Nina's inn. To say I was beyond excited to see my friend after so long would be an understatement. We walked into the inn, and saw a man counting money. He directed us upstairs to Nina's room, and in my excitement, I ran up faster than my friends. I opened the door, expecting to see my friend, but was sorely disappointed. Kaz, Inej, and the conductor (whose name I just learned was Arken), finally came into the room and stood beside me. I walked over to the bed, noticing broken glass and signs of a struggle.

"She knew to expect us." Thank you, Arken for stating the obvious.

"She isn't late," I said, "She's gone." My heart ached for my friend, and I sincerely hoped she was alright.

Jesper noticed my distress and put a hand on my shoulder in support. I smiled lightly at him.

"Yes, but her things are all..." Arken trailed off as Kaz flipped the lid of her half-packed trunk closed with his cane. I walked over to see what Kaz and Arken were looking at and took a sharp breath when I saw a symbol every Grisha knows. The wolf pin of every drüskelle.

"What is it?" Jesper asked. I had tears gathering in my eyes, as I knew if Nina wasn't already dead, she would be very soon. The drüskelle were merciless towards grisha, and she obviously gave herself away in the struggle to escape. Arken looked in my direction, waiting for me to answer Jesper's question, but I was unable to speak.

"Drüskelle, they are ruthless Grisha hunters." Inej looked out the window, trying to make sure the coast was clear.

"Explains the Fjerdan krydda the innkeeper was counting when we arrived. It's likely he ratted her out." I was enraged with this information and quickly stormed out of the room. I ran down the stairs, ignoring the calls for my name coming from behind me. I ran up to the innkeeper, grabbed his coat, and threw him against the wall. I began to use my heartrender abilities to slowly crush his heart with one hand, while still holding him up with the other.

I was in such a fury, I didn't notice the steps approaching me from behind until Kaz lightly put his hand on my back.

"Vik, calm down. If you kill him, it will alert the Little Palace there is a rouge Grisha in Ravka." I knew his words were really hinting at the fact that I was more powerful than most Grisha, and my powers were easily identifiable and traceable. With one more harsh grip on his heart and jostle against the wall, I reluctantly let him go. Kaz kept his hand on my back in an effort to keep me calm and to make sure I didn't go back to the man.

As we were walking out of the building, Inej dropped down from the roof, startling me. Jesper saw me jump and laughed at me.

"This seems like a reasonable juncture to abandon this whole Sun Summoner plan." Arken tried to persuade Kaz.

"Nina wasn't the only Grisha who was willing to help us," Kaz said, gesturing to me.

"As long as she doesn't lose her temper again." Ouch, Kaz. If he understood some of the run-ins I've had with drüskelle, I can guarantee he would have acted even more rash than I did.

"We're in this now," Kaz continued. "And I know what a million Kruge means to me. What does it mean to you?"

"Freedom," Was Inej's reply. Jesper responded next.

"Fun, like at least a few months." I shook my head at his response, knowing it wouldn't even last him that long. Arken went next, after hesitating for a minute to think.

"Retirement." Kaz looked at me, but I didn't know how to truthfully answer his question with three other sets of ears listening to our conversation.

"Safety," was my response. Kaz removed his hand from my back, noticing I was calm enough now to not act rashly. I missed the steady pressure and warmth coming from the gloved appendage as soon as it was gone. Not missing a beat, Kaz continued his version of a pep talk.

"Right, so we press on. You get us across the fold, and I'll figure out the rest on the other side."

"Fine," Arken agreed reluctantly. "To cross, I'll need 20 pounds of alabaster coal, a peck of Majdaloun jurda, not the kind from Kerch, it's too weak." He paused for a moment, looked Jesper up and down, and said, "and a goat." Jesper made a hilarious looking face of confusion, which was enough to finally get me out of my angry mood.

"Now, we meet in the dead of night. There's a wreckage of a skiff northeast, on the edge of town. So who gets what?" Kaz glanced at all of us.

"Inej, jurda. I'll get the goat. And Jesper..." He took a threatening step towards him, holding up the money. "Just the coal. No detours." Jesper smirked, trying to seem like he would never spend Kaz's money on gambling, but we all knew he would.

"Vik, you're with me." I nodded, and we all went our separate ways. 

Hi guys!! I don't normally do authors notes, but I really want to thank all of you for getting me over 1k reads!! I can't believe my book has been up for less than a week and I already have that many.

Also - I have a question. Would you guys rather have 1 chapter every day (don't be mad at me if I miss a few) or 2-3 chapters every other day? I could probably do either :)