CHAPTER 2
I Tore Us Apart
"Absolutely not."
Kaz glanced over at Brynn, who stared at the unconscious drΓΌskelle in front of her. "You already said yes. There's no backing out now."
"I said I didn't really have a choice," she corrected. "There's a difference." Brynn pointed at the blond tied up in the chair. "And that might just be one reason for me to back out now."
They were in one of the back gambling parlors in the Crow Club, the red and black theme making Brynn feel very out of place with her green tunic. Kaz and Brynn weren't the only ones in the room with the Fjerdan. Inej and Jesper were there, along with a curly-haired boy named Wylan and the Heartrender Nina. She'd patched up Jesper a fair amount of times, but the encounters with the rest of the group were limited.
"Don't worry, you're not the only one who he hates," assured Nina.
Jesper nodded and grinned. "Yeah, he hates all of us."
"Not helping," muttered Brynn. "Why do we need a Fjerdan convict anyway?"
"We're breaking into the Ice Court," Inej murmured. "There's a man there that we need to break out and bring back here."
"What? That's a stupid idea."
Kaz sighed, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "Brynn, at least try and sound like it could work."
She folded her arms. "Fine. It's a stupid idea that could possibly work."
The Ice Court? There was absolutely no way Brynn was going all the way to the Ice Court, just to have one panic attack and melt it to the ground, completely by accident. She was a ticking time bomb, and there was no way of knowing when she'd explode next. The last time was catastrophic. Who knows what would happen?
Brynn ran a hand through her clean hair in frustration. She'd gotten a bath soon after the flour fiasco, then Kaz brought her straight to the Crow Club and straight into his crazy job plans.
She couldn't believe he found her secret out that easily. Who could even tell that the two rings were made of flint and steel? Kaz freaking Brekker, that's who. And now he was blackmailing her into a job that would most likely be bringing her to her death. Might as well stick her on the pyre now, just to get it over with.
"Four million kruge," Kaz told her. "Take it or leave it. And by leave it, I mean I can go tell Rotty to let out the newsβ"
"You don't have to keep reminding me," interrupted Brynn. "And do you realize the odds of this working anyway? A group of teenagersβ"
"Highly skilled teenagers."
"βbreaking into an unbreakable fortressβ"
"Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it won't be done."
"βsurrounded by deadly witchhunters that will murder at least two of us on sightβ"
"They'll kill all of us on sight if they find out what we're planning on doing."
"βin a barren and freezing cold landβ"
"We'll be fine."
Brynn set her steely glare on Kaz. "You don't know that."
Inej stepped forward, her lithe body practically melting out of the shadows. Brynn had forgotten she was there. "We have faith."
"You have faith, I have the promise of a ton of kruge to get me through," said Jesper.
Nina huffed. "I'm here because Matthias is here."
Wylan merely shrugged. "I don't even know why I agreed to this."
"We know, merchling," Jesper told him with a pat on the back. "We know."
Kaz struck his cane on the ground, promptly shutting them all up. "I don't care why you're all here, just that you are. Jan Van Eck came to me about this job, with the promise of forty million kruge."
Finally, Brynn was getting some answers from Dirtyhands. "And why exactly are we breaking into the Ice Court for a merch?"
"There's a drug called jurda parem. For regular people, it's lethal. But for Grisha..." He trailed off, glancing over at Nina.
She reached into her pocket and held out a sizable lump of gold. "This used to be lead. When given parem, this is what a Fabrikator can do."
Brynn shook her head. "That's impossible."
"You better start believing in the impossible," said Kaz. "The man who created parem, Bo Yul-Bayur, is locked inside the Ice Court. Our job is to break him out."
"And how exactly are we supposed to pull off this job?"
"We're going during Hringkalla and we're going in as criminals. Prisoners, if you will." He nodded to a stack of papers in front of Wylan. "Those are our plans. Helvar and Wylan are going to be working on them every moment they can. Do you know Fjerdan?"
Brynn nodded. "Just a little bit. And some Shu, too. My mother wanted me to be well-rounded."
"If I ever meet her, I'll be sure to thank her." A pang of sadness twinged in her heart, but she didn't let it show. "We'll set sail tomorrow night. Be ready."
They dispersed slowly, but Brynn was the first to walk out of the private gambling parlor. For one, she needed to clear her head. And two, she really didn't want to be around when the drΓΌskelle woke up.
Brynn had grown up in the Wandering Isle with her family, in a small village named Jaerd. None of the kids there were particularly friendly, so Brynn settled for being friends with her sister who was three years younger than her. The entire Adala family had flaming red hair that Ma had always said looked like fire. A younger Brynn was proud of that fact.
When her Grisha abilities started to show, her parents were thrilled. Her mother was a Heartrender and could heal almost any wound. She wasn't bad at tailoring, either. Nina reminded Brynn of her mother. Her easy going nature, the way she flirted with her father every moment she could, how she didn't care that she didn't look anything like the other slim Kaelish women.
Brynn was most scared of the Grisha Examiners whenever they made the trip all the way to her village. She was afraid that every time, they would stare and point at her, shouting "Grisha! Grisha!" then they would drag her away. Away from her home, away from her family, into a whole different part of the world. There was a lot of screaming that happened in those nightmares.
But that never happened. She was tested once, she refused to let the Grisha amplifier get the better of her, and the Examiner moved on. Brynn cried tears of joy with her mother when they left. They were the only two Grisha in the family, but she was the only Inferni she actually knew. It was scary, but better now that she didn't have to leave.
See? her father had told her. No one is ever going to tear us apart.
Standing outside of the Crow Club, Brynn sighed. I'm sorry, Da. I tore us apart.
"I tore us apart," she whispered to herself.
"But you haven't done anything yet."
Brynn whirled around to come face-to-face with Nina Zenik, the Heartrender. She was dressed in a red dress that accentuated her curves, her wavy brown hair shining in the midday sun. Nina smiled at Brynn. "I heard you're a Healer."
"And you're a Heartrender."
She nodded, chuckling. "That I am. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to Kaz like you did back there."
"If you can't stand up to the biggest and baddest of them all, then why stand up to anyone at all?" Brynn shrugged. "That's what I always used to tell my sister. If I can't take my own advice, then what am I even doing?"
It was true that Brynn always told that to Sasha. Whenever she'd come home crying or with a few bruises, Brynn would clean her up and then tell her a story, always ending with the same bit of advice. But Sasha was just naturally sweet-hearted. She couldn't stand up to anyone, much less her bullies, and hated confrontation even more than Brynn herself, if that was even possible.
Nina opened her mouth, then shut it again. But she just had to ask, "What did Kaz mean by 'the news'? Is he blackmailing you into doing this?"
"Would it surprise you that much?"
Nina snorted. "Not even a little bit. But what was he blackmailing you with?"
Brynn considered telling her, then realized why she was keeping her secret in the first place. She shook her head quickly. "It's a blackmail for a reason. I'd like to keep it between as few people as possible."
The Heartrender nodded, looking up into the sky. "I can understand that. But are you sure you're okay with this? Because if not, I can and will make Kaz wet his trousers."
Laughing, Brynn almost thought Nina was her mother. They looked eerily similar, especially when they laughed, it looked like they were about to topple over. "You know, you remind me of my Ma."
"How so?"
"You're just so...happy all the time."
"I don't think you've seen me completely happy before," said Nina with a wink. "Now if you buy me waffles, you might just see me in a pure state of happiness."
Brynn smiled. "I might just have to take you up on that offer."
Nina offered the redhead her hand. "Come on. Kaz wants you back inside. Something about some stuff he wants you to pick up with Inej."
"With Inej?" Brynn frowned. "Inej doesn't usually do stuff with other people."
All Nina offered was a shrug. "If Kaz wants you two to pick up stuff together, you should probably just go pick up stuff together."
a/nβSecond chapter! Let me know what you think!
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