Dark of the Tide [Shadow and Bones]

Chapter 24

Kaz POV

I sat in my office late in the evening, flipping through the old book of Grisha that was the so-called cause of Arabella's freak out.

    "Find anything yet?" Inej asked from the couch across the room.

    "Well, I learned that the Darkling is distantly related to Arabella and Mal. So, that's most likely the reason." I replied, flipping another page.

    "Then what are you looking for if you already found the cause?" She asked, twirling her knife around her hand.

    "This book dates back centuries. Matthias said it was forbidden for all Grisha to practice this or ever read it. I'm just wondering why all this happened. Why all this drama over an old Grisha book." I said, rubbing my gloves hand over my jaw as I flipped to another page.

The door opened and Jesper walked through, shutting the door.

I stood up from my chair instantly, setting the book down. "How is she? Is Bella okay? When can I see her?"

    "One question at a time, Kaz. But she's fine."

    "Good. When can I see her?" I asked, eager to get to her.

    He sighed and paced the room. "Nina says it's best if you don't see her. For the time being."

    I looked at him and drew in a steadying breath, letting it out. "So, I can't see my fiancée? For a month?"

    "That's worst cause scenario, Kaz. Best case is weeks." Jesper replied.

    "Jesper! The wedding is in a month!I can't exactly send an apology letter saying "oh sorry, my fiancée almost blew up half of Ketterdam with a massive tidal wave. Come back next month for the wedding! Have a great day!" I exclaimed, freaking out over this new information.

"Hey, hey," Inej got up and put her hand on my shoulders to calm me down, looking me in the eye. "Calm down. Arabella will get through this. You both will. So, stop freaking out. Because you're freaking out and it's making me freak out. And that's never good. Find an upside."

    I looked at her with a frown. "My fiancée is downstairs in pain and I can't even visit her, the wedding is in a month and she might not even be there to attend! So, no, I don't really see an upside to this, Inej!"

    A light knock came from the door and Nina opened it, looking inside.

    "What is it, Nina?" I asked in frustration, backing away from Inej and running a hand through my hair.

    "Uh, Jesper. Arabella is asking for you again." She replied in a meek voice.

    "For Jesper, or for me?" I asked.

    Nina looked at me, then sighed. "You,"

    I nodded and looked at the three people, then walked towards the door. "I'm going to see her."

    "Kaz, you can't do that." Nina said.

    I turned to her and a muscle twitched in my jaw. "Nina, you really don't want to get in my way right now."

    "I could if I wanted to." She said, her voice strong.

    "But you're not. You're going to let me see Arabella. A minute. That's all I'm asking. Then you can continue to run your tests on her." I said with anger, turning away and storming out of the room.

Arabella POV

I sat up in bed and sighed, picking up a book and reading it. It was boring, to say the least, but it killed time.