SEVENTH PRAYER /// kaz brekker

CHAPTER 1 - Elliana

CHAPTER 1

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Elliana

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ELLIANA walked into the bright casino, immediately getting blinded by the lights. Her gray eyes scanned the area, fascinated by the sound of dice rolling and cards being dealt. She never understood why her father had always bought gambling companies. Her eyes caught the stacks of kruge in the middle of most of the tables. Before the girl walked completely in, she looked at the sign outside of the door.

'The Crow Club.' she read. Elliana raised her eyebrow before walking down the 2 small stairs to the inside. The rainbow lights from a jackpot wheel lit up her face, displaying the winged liner she was wearing. As she looked around, she noticed a table with an empty seat. The girl walked over to it and pulled out a chair. A dark Zemeni boy looked at her, as well as a man, probably in his 50's, with pulled back hair. The girl raised an eyebrow as she began to talk.

"What?" she questioned, "have you never seen a girl gamble before?"

The Zemeni boy mumbled to himself before dealing out cards. The man next to her scoffed at his hand and placed a bet in the middle. Elliana noticed the pearl crested guns around the dark boy's waist. She looked at her cards, careful to not let any emotion show.

After the girl won, she counted how much money she won. In total, it was 100 kruge exactly. She was about to push her chair back with the others before she took a coin from the stack and examined it. The old man looked at her with a questioning look, with some panic hidden in his eyes.

"The lucky 9 Casino down the block has been struggling with counterfeit coin lately," she started. "Heavy, but brittle."

"Come on now, I've been here for hours!" The man furrowed his eyebrows. "My money is good, no?"

"Zemeni coin can take a bullet, but the knock-off.." Elliana winked, passing the coin to the Zemeni. He knew what to do as soon as he got in. The boy took the coin onto his thumb, flicking it up. He quickly got his gun out of its satchel and shot it. The bullet went straight through and the coin landed on the table with a gaping hole in the middle. Everyone gasped and looked their way at the sound of the gunshot.

"Busted!" The boy said with a smug look on his face.

Elliana looked as the man got pulled away, putting the coins back in the middle. This made the amount of kruge earned only 65, but she was happy enough.

"Who are you?" The boy asked, obviously trying to get to know her just not subtly.

"I'm not one for introductions." Elliana responded, monotone.

"What if I go first?" He asked. The girl only nodded. He got up and walked to the side of the table she was sitting at. She stood quickly and met the teen's eyes.

"I'm Jesper Fahey." He said, giving a dramatic bow. Elliana chuckled at his behavior. She knew not to get too friendly, and definitely to not trust him.

"Elliana Rollins." She responded, wincing at her last name. Jesper widened his eyes at the familiar latter.

"Don't worry, I hate him as much as you do." Elliana said. The Zemeni boy reached his hand out in greeting. The girl shook it hesitantly, making sure that he didn't touch her actual skin. Elliana wore gloves with a lace top and leather underneath. Jesper took note of this internally, waiting to ask her if they got closer.

"Jesper, no loud noises at the table. You'll scare off the pigeons." A boy walked in with a deep rasp. "And didn't I tell you no introductions?" He glanced at Elliana. Her face remained drained of emotion.

"Sorry Kaz-"

"Boss." Kaz interrupted, knocking Jesper in the knee with his cane.

"Sorry boss." Jesper started again. "But I think she could be useful to our job." He finished, his voice going into a slight whisper.

Kaz pulled Jesper aside, glancing back at Elliana who watched them.

"Why is that?" Kaz asked. "How do you know you can trust her?"
"I-I don't but her name is Elliana." Jesper said, letting the sentence fade out of his mouth.

"Elliana, what?" Kaz asked, monotone.

"Rollins." Jesper hesitated.

Kaz's eyes widened but his face went back to normal as quickly as the emotion came. He scoffed and pulled Jesper's sleeve, causing him to lean in. Elliana couldn't hear what was being said but she assumed it wasn't great. Frankly, she could care less about what they say about her. Jesper said something back, causing Kaz to roll his eyes. The pair approached again, the dark-suited boy's cane beating on the floor rhythmically.

Jesper looked embarrassed but smiled at Elliana. The girl merely just glanced at him, showing her acknowledgement. Kaz cleared his throat and started talking.

"I have a job for you." He said.

"What is it?" Elliana asked.

"You'll learn that later."

Elliana understood why he couldn't tell her now. They were in the middle of a club with 20-ish people around them.

"What's the prize?"

"35 million kruge."

She hummed in response, considering it.

"That's 5 million kruge each." Kaz said, trying to convince her further.

"And what's the job?"

Kaz leaned in so only the 3 could hear.

"Breaking into the Ice Court."
"That's a death mission." Elliana said, unimpressed.

"5 million kruge is worth it." He explained.

"You can't spend it in a grave." She argued.

"That's why we aren't going to die!" Jesper said as Kaz and Elliana sighed. The two glared at each other and Jesper just looked between them.

"Fine." Elliana gave in, she needed the money and she wasn't going to get it from her father.

"Good." Kaz responded as they walked up to the bar. Suddenly, a suli girl appeared behind them.

She cleared her throat and asked, "Who's this?"

"Elliana Rollins." She answered for Kaz.

The girl widened her eyes but quickly relaxed as she noticed that Elliana was working with them.

"Inej Ghafa." The suli girl reached out her hand. Elliana shook it and flinched as Inej accidentally touched her skin. Inej gave her a questionable look but Elliana just shook her head, signaling to let it go.

WOAH!!! FIRST CHAPTER
What do we think about the first interactions? I'm working on Chapter 2 now! Peace out :)

-Venus

1025 words