𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃
Brynn and her friends have just pulled off an impossible heist-just to be put back in the middle of a war. And with so many things on the line, there's no guarantee that they'll make it out alive, especially Brynn. But s...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER II
Stupid and Weak
Brynn's entire body protested, groaning and sending jolts of shock through her limbs everytime Matthias moved. Gunfire rung through the air as the Dime Lions opened fire on the three moving figures; Jesper as he shot back, Kuwei as he tried to duck and get out of the way, and Matthias with Brynn slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, his rifle making a loud bang every time he shot back.
Matthias carried Brynn on his back as he crawled through the dirt of the graveyard, meeting up with Jesper and Kuwei at the broken mast of the mausoleum.
"Everyone unhurt?" he asked. Brynn pushed herself off of him, propping her back against a column with her eyes shut.
"I'll let you know," she said.
"Out of breath, but still breathing," said Jesper. "Fantastic plan, by the way. How is being pinned down here better than being pinned down in the tomb?"
"We can't all have Kaz's genius," Brynn said lightheartedly.
"Did you get Wylan's powders?" Matthias asked.
"What was left of them," said Jesper. He emptied his pockets, revealing three packets.
Matthias randomly picked up one of them, rolling it over in his hand absentmindedly. "Can you manipulate those powders?"
Jesper shifted uneasily. "Yes. I guess. I did something similar at the Ice Court. Why?"
Matthias grinned, though it looked more like a baring of teeth. "Black Veil is supposedly haunted, yes? We're going to make some ghosts." He glanced around the edge of the mausoleum. "They're moving in. I need you to follow my orders and stop asking questions. All of you."
"For the record, I haven't asked questions," Brynn pointed out.
"No wonder you and Kaz don't get along," Jesper muttered.
Quickly, Matthias explained his plan, one that Brynn had some faith in. It wasn't nearly as elaborate as one of Kaz's, but it would do.
Why are you comparing him to Kaz? thought Brynn. Stop it.
"Ready?" asked Matthias.
He opened the packet and, as Brynn watched, Jesper raised his hands, the powder rose in a cloud. It hung suspended in the air as if time had slowed. Jesper focused, sweat beading on his forehead, then shoved his hands forward. The cloud thinned and rolled over the heads of the Dime Lions, then caught one of their torches in a burst of green. The men surrounding the torch holder gasped.
"Kuwei," urged Matthias.
The Shu boy lifted his own hands and the flame from the green torch crept along the handle, snaking up the arm of its bearer in a sinuous coil of fire. The man screamed, tossing the torch away, falling to the ground and rolling in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
