WICKED GAME [shadow and bone]

light it up

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄:

"you do realize you've caused more trouble than you're worth" 

If Katerina thought that the Barrel was horrible before, now she didn't know what to think.

"We are in the literal bottom of the Barrel."

Katerina glanced at Jesper, who seemed to share her displeasure about being here.

"Stadwatch don't patrol down here. We're safer." Katerina glanced at Kaz.

"Well, I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to step my foot in here too." They were walking for a moment when she heard the silent footsteps again. This time, Katerina wasn't as cautious as she was before.

"Inej, what did you find?"

She watched how Jesper jumped, startled, when the Suli girl suddenly appeared beside him.

"We're accused of murdering Tante Heleen."

They stopped in the middle of the road.

"It means you." Katerina pointed a finger at her three companions. "You are accused of murdering... Uhh, what was her name again?"

Inej glanced at Katerina, and her eyes fell on the redhead's hair. "When you asked me for a place to get a decent haircut, I didn't think you'd go that far." Despite the words, the Suli girl smiled at the redhead. "It suits you."

"Wait, what?" Jesper was still confused by Inej's first announcement. "We didn't do that, though." The Zemeni looked at Kaz as if he wasn't sure himself. Then he turned to Inej, his voice lowering. "Wait, did you do that?"

Inej looked at Jesper as if she were betrayed that he thought of her so low. Katerina looked at the Zemeni disapprovingly.

"You should put more trust in your friends, Jesper, honestly."

"It was Pekka Rollins."

It was only a few hours since Katerina set foot in the Barrel, and she had heard this name twice now. And both times, this man has done something to either harm Kaz and his friends or cause more trouble for them. The redhead felt her rage building inside her, ready to explode like boiling lava. There will come a moment when she'll not be able to hold this in any longer if they'll continue to run into trouble.

After Inej told them everything that she had gathered about the Crow Club that Rollins now owns and the Menagerie too, Kaz turned to Katerina.

"The Sun Saint has a bigger bounty on her head now. This time from Fjerda."

"Saints." Katerina knew that it was a dangerous game Alina was playing. Kirigan will do anything that's in his power to get her. And now that she has a bounty on her head, one bigger than the other, her luck threatened to run out, just like the redhead's.