The Apple of My Eye -Kaz Brekker (Complete)

Chapter Thirteen

RUN AWAY

Being a Friday morning, the docks were packed with people of all places of Kerch and the world. Zemini people were talking loudly near a Zemini boat where a few older people were coming out of with the help of a few young, strong men. There were a group of Shu and Kerch people talking in a very messy Ravkan near the big containers and laughing amongst themselves and shaking their heads at their absurd jokes. That was the reason Pekka Rollins thought it would be safe for him to come to the docks at rush hour, but – as he had been before – he was wrong.

Pekka felt his whole-body freeze in the moment he recognized the small Suli girl talking calmly to the captain of the ship, which, he noticed, was a red-headed woman that was listening to the other girl with a lot of attention as if they were exchanging stories. The horrible thing was that, if the Wraith was there, that meant that her company couldn't be too far away.

How had Brekker even found out that he was in town? He had done everything right. He used fake names, he had dyed his hair black and his wife was wearing a veil over her red hair as if she was a devotee to some distant god from the Wandering Islands. His son wasn't known enough to be a problem, either, he was just a little boy.

All his plans had to change, he noticed at once.

"Go," he whispered.

His wife stopped.

"Pekka, what are you doing?" she asked once he let go of her hand and gave her the two bags.

"You need to get into the ship and not look back," he said. "There'll be trouble here and they might come for Alby." Taken aback, she looked around, but Pekka held her face to him as if he was romantically saying something; he hoped people would look and see a couple saying their goodbyes. "Don't look or they'll catch on that I know."

"Does that have anything to do to your last job? I told you those two men were a bad investment!" she hissed at him.

His sweet wife, always telling him that he's wrong. His sweet wife, being bloody right from time to time and insisting on rubbing it on his face, throwing salt violently at the bleeding wound. Still, he couldn't help but smile, taking in her face one more time.

They walked into the ship, barely looking at the Suli woman or the captain.

As soon as they were safely inside with two of his men beside them, he started to take discreet steps back, preparing himself to run.

A wooshing sound made him feel a cold tug on his stomach, because he knew that sound. Shu-Han arrows; the Tigress arrows were coming and he had no idea where she was; but he watched as the arrow hit the man right in front of his wife.

The pandemonium started.

There were people screaming, children crying and he was pretty sure he saw a man jumping into the water without hesitation. He noticed as well that Inej Ghafa had disappeared from her spot near the captain and that his wife was holding Alby tight, crying on her knees as she hoped that the small wall around the ship would be enough to protect her and her baby from the crazy person shooting at them. Amongst all the sounds, he heard a gunshot and the other man near his wife fell down, already dead before he hit the ground.

The Wraith. The Tigress. The Sharpshooter.

Brekker had gotten all his best killers to hunt him and Pekka knew he was fucked in the second he saw that no other shots were thrown at his wife or son. They were distraction and Brekker was coming for him.