RAYA ▸ SHADOW AND BONE

12 | a bittersweet feeling

Raya grabbed some of Callus' essentials before packing them up into a small, discrete bag. With her canine in tow, she snuck through the palace until she spotted Kaz making his way through the halls, towards the White Cathedral with an Inferni stalking quietly behind him.

Waiting until the path was clear of any guests from the fête, Raya led Callus into the cathedral. She saw Kaz stand, clothes ruffled and his hat long forgotten. He turned to her when he caught her figure moving from his periphery, running a hand through his hair. He sighed in relief.

As he did so, Raya's eyes widened, looking over Kaz's shoulder and seeing the Inferni that had been following him also stand, right behind him. He summoned fire and a ball of scorching flame formed just above his palm, ready to be thrown at Kaz.

Raya didn't even have enough time to reach the man or even hold her hand out. Knowing she had to act quickly, she concentrated harder than she ever had before, pushing herself and her boundaries further and further, reaching into the void. She reached until she felt the hints of the bond and focused all her energy on forming it within the second or two it would take the Inferni to hurt Kaz.

"Stop," she commanded loudly, eyes meeting the Etherealki's when she felt the connection fully develop. He stood frozen, muscles tensing and hand unmoving, following Raya's order.

A second later, a dagger lodged itself into the back of his head. In the blink of an eye, his lifeless body had fallen to the ground with a sonorous thud. Both Raya and Kaz gazed up to see where the blade had come from and found Inez standing at a balcony.

She jumped down, making her way over to the Inferni, finding a pool of blood growing under his head.

Raya turned to Kaz, sarcastically asking, "What was that you said earlier about not needing help?"

Kaz tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at her as she passed by him on her way to Inej, who looked absolutely petrified.

"I... I killed him," she mumbled to herself. Raya's playful demeanor disappeared when she noted Inej was in shock; she probably couldn't wrap her head around what she'd just done, the blood that was on her hands now. She went to console her friend when the sound of guards rushing towards the White Cathedral cut through the silence.

"Inej, look at me," Raya spoke softly, forcing the girl's eyes away from the body and up to her face. "You saved Kaz's life."

"You both did," Kaz added, eyeing Raya, who caught his gaze. When the clattering of guards got closer, he mumbled, "We need to go."

"What about Alina?" Raya asked as Kaz ushered her, Inej and Callus out of the cathedral and towards the courtyard, where the carriages were. She was still eager to help Kaz with his mission, though it didn't look too promising now with the sounds of guards behind them.

Kaz pushed Raya and her pup into the nook of the back of a large palace door, squeezing against her and pulling Inej beside them. Raya reached down to hold Callus against her chest, the opposite side of the canine's body being met with Kaz's abdomen. "Well, this is cozy," she mumbled, craning her neck up to see him roll his eyes.

The trio waited silently for a moment, hearing the guards bolt past the door, not bothering to check behind it. When the soldiers were completely out of sight, they slid out from behind the door and made their way out into the courtyard.

"Jesper," Raya squealed quietly, eyes landing upon the first ever friend she'd made in Kerch.

"Raya," he acknowledged, just as enthusiastic, reaching out to quickly hug his friend. "What are you doing? What happened?" He looked between the three.

Inej breathed out, "She's real, Jesper. She made the light sing."

"We lost her," Kaz revealed with a deep-set frown.

Suddenly, Jesper was smirking. "Did we?" he rhetorically asked, making his way over to the carriage he'd stolen, the same one he'd just seen the Sun Summoner sneak up to and hide in its trunk.

"We don't know where she is," Inej added.

"Don't we?"

"We can't just leave without her. We have to go back and get her, right?" Raya asked, turning to Kaz as the three followed Jesper to the carriage.

"No, we don't," Jesper nearly sang. "Just ask."

"Jesper..."

Jesper made his way onto the front seat of the carriage, ready to steer the horses away. "Just ask."

The other three followed suit, Inej standing behind the two boys as they sat on the seats in front of them. When Raya went to step up onto it, Kaz held a hand out, eyeing the canine. "What is this?"

"It's called a pup, Kaz. They have them in Ketterdam, too, you know? His name is Callus."

Kaz frowned. "He's not coming with us."

"Yes, he is. Or I'm not," Raya stated. "Look. You won't even notice he's there, promise."

"Fine," Kaz breathed out, helping Raya up onto the carriage before he turned back to Jesper. "Do we have a fix on where the target is?"

Jesper snickered knowingly, nodding his head as he steadied the pair of horses into a slow gallop, on their way away from the palace.

Raya turned back to see the building she'd spent so much time in. She would've missed the place had most of her memories not turned sour at the thought of the Darkling. Now, the only untouched precious memories she had were of her friends; she would dearly miss them.

It really was a bittersweet feeling.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Jesper simply stated, "In the trunk."

Raya's head snapped over to him, brows furrowed. "What?"

"She's in the trunk. Snuck out here and looked for a hiding place. And just got into the trunk of our carriage."

"Just like that?" Inej asked, making Raya snort.

"Just like that," Jesper confirmed as the four of them rode out of Os Alta, their coveted prize in tow.

Raya, who had been carrying Callus this entire time, set him down on Kaz's lap when her exhaustion finally caught up to her. "What are you doing?" he asked, turning back to her.

With a yawn, Raya rolled her eyes. "Just let him sit; he won't move around. Besides, I'm tired... you know, from saving you," she groaned.

"So much for not noticing he's here."

With a grumble, Kaz did as she asked, letting the canine rest in his lap and watching as he slowly fell asleep. He turned back to Raya after a few minutes, seeing the girl sit down in the carriage and curling up into herself as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Inej," he simply stated, switching places with the girl as he smoke moved Callus as well, trying not to wake him. He settled down beside Raya, with her sleeping pup in his lap. He could felt her shift to rest her head on his shoulder, quickly falling fast asleep.

And that's how they stayed, with her asleep and him looking after her, for the rest of the night.