Heartbeats In Shadow - Kaz Brekker

rash decisions

After healing my ribs, we exited to see Jesper and Inej standing in front of the chest on the back of the carriage. I had left my kefta inside, as it made me to recognizable. Both of them had their hands on their weapons, which made me wonder what could be in the chest.

"What's in there?" I asked them.

"She is." Jesper replied, smirking in typical Jesper fashion.

"No fucking way. We got her?" I asked quietly, not sure if Alina could hear me.

"Not exactly," Inej started. "She sort of just climbed in the back of our escape route?"

"So all of that was for nothing." I said, in utter disbelief.

"Yep!" Jesper exclaimed happily. While we were risking our asses, he got to sleep with one of the stable boys, and just be ready to get us out of there. He did nothing compared to the rest of us.

A clink came from the chest, and I saw the lock pop out of its place. The lid began to lift, revealing Alina. We all moved into defensive stances, Jesper's hands flying to his guns, Inej's to her knives, Kaz gripped his cane, and I moved my hands into heartrenders attack position. Jesper gestured for her to come out of the carriage, and she did. Her eyes found my own, and she took a startled breath.

"We don't want any trouble," Jesper said, trying to calm her.

"Neither do I, so I'll just be on my way," Alina said, with a tone of finality. I chuckled slightly, and she looked at me once more. She began to walk away, but Kaz cut her off by swinging his cane to the carriage, blocking her path. Jesper kept the conversation going.

"Clearly, you want out of East Ravka. But we can help you!" Her eyes travelled to Inej, who was looking at her admiringly. She nodded slightly, reassuring her we meant no harm. "We have a secure route through the fold."
"I prefer to travel alone." Alina countered.

"Don't be rash. You stick with us, everybody gets what they want," Jesper continued.

"I'm not being anyone's captive ever again. So step aside, and let me pass!" The last part was directed at Kaz, whose cane was still blocking her path.

"I'm afraid we can't let that happen," He said. I lightly put a hand on his arm and stepped forward, moving my hands from their attack position.

"Look, Alina. I know how it feels to be used by my father, he's manipulated me my whole life! That's why I left, and why he's trying to kill me. I can promise you, we mean no harm," I said, trying to reason with her.

"I can't trust the daughter of the darkling," she said coldly. She thrust her arm out, sending a bright sunbeam in the direction of Kaz and Jesper. I had enough warning to cover my eyes, but they did not and were temporarily blinded because of it. Inej covered her eyes as well but moved her hands above her head to indicate that she would not make a move against her. I stepped forward and tried to slow her heart, but she sent more sunbeams in my direction. They burned my hands, forcing me to move them apart. I almost summoned shadows to incapacitate her but stopped when I noticed how many people were around us. I moved my hands to my side.

"We will meet again, Alina. Until then, I wish you the best of luck." As soon as I said these words, she ran off.

After losing Alina, we made our way into a nearby pub. Kaz and I were sitting at a table, waiting for Inej and Jesper to return.

"Are you doing to tell me how the target got away?" He asked me. I took a deep breath, preparing for the wrath of Kaz Brekker.

"Inej and I let her go."

"You were hired to do a job." Kaz's voice was rougher than I had ever heard it, and it was clear he was murderous. Inej approached from behind Kaz, interjecting in the conversation.

"The job was to pick up a fake for an easy million kruge. We found a living saint who can summon the sun!" She said hopefully, her religion causing her to relish the interactions with Alina.

"A good magician is a con artist," Kaz started, holding up a coin. "The trick is to make it look real." As he said this, he made the coin disappear from his hands.

"This is different," Inej argued.

"I agree," I said. "She truly can summon the sun. I don't think she's a saint, but she is an extremely powerful Grisha who is against my father. I couldn't chancer her being against me as well. When we meet again, she could help me kill him." Kaz nodded at my explanation, understanding revenge more than religion.

"I won't betray my faith," Inej said quietly.

"Pious as that may be, we cannot work effectively as a crew if you're making decisions based on religious zeal."

"Kaz!" I said sharply, trying to make him stop.

"Is that a threat to return me to Heleen?" Inej asked with venom in her voice.

"Either we get the target or Heleen gets the Crow Club, and Pekka gets whatever's left." I gasped.

"Kaz, you didn't!" I said, making him look at me. He stood, and walked away from the table and out of the building as fast as he could. Inej and I stayed in the building, waiting for Jesper and Kaz to return.

After several hours, they walked back in and sat next to me, Inej was paying the barman.

"The alarm triggers are set, horses are ready, and I've stashed the rest of our gear," Jesper told us.

"If we don't move soon, your dad will be on top of us," Kaz said, looking at me. "We can't waste any more time looking for a girl."

"I just settled our tab with the last of our coin." She said.

"We're really gonna leave empty-handed, then?" Jesper asked softly, not wanting to anger Kaz.

We heard an explosion come from outside, making the bar erupt in chaos.

"Our alarm," Jesper informed us.

"Split up, much easier to take a Grisha one-on-one than a whole squad of them. Rendezvous at the fountain." Kaz told us. We looked at each other, hoping to stay alive through the night. Kaz gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting the building, leaving me in a slight state of shock from his public display of affection. I followed after a second. We all headed out the door and into the street but were met with four Grisha standing in front of us; an inferni, a squaller, Ivan, and Zoya. Zoya and Ivan both recognized me at once, but it was the inferni's scream that surprised me.

"NO!!!" She yelled, and I had no idea why.

"Move!" Kaz shouted, sending us all into motion. We went in different directions, hoping to split the group up, and began a fight for our lives.