She was one to be feared. Known to the whole of Ravka as "Se mēre". The one.
Powers that have not been seen before leads The Darkling to her.
Is she the one who will change the future?
Banish the shadow fold?
Or will she just be a pawn to another on...
"Don't be rash," Jesper muttered, his patience running thin. "You stick with us, everybody gets what they want."
Scoffing Alina shook her head, "I'm not being anyone's captive ever again. So step aside and let me pass."
Raina gently passed Cooper to Inej who happily took him before narrowing her eyes at Alina, "You were never anyone's captive to begin with Alina. Sure, the General may have kept you but you never fought back against him and were rather comfortable with him during the winter fête."
Furrowing her eyebrows together, Alina sent a pleading look towards the fiery storm summoner in front of her, "Raina─"
"Before you try to deny anything, I saw it happen so save your excuses. Besides, my friend over here is right, you should come with us where it's much safer." Raina concluded with a fake smile.
Shaking her head, Alina mumbled, "I-I can't, which is why you should let me pass and instead come with me, Raina."
"What's the difference between whether I go with you or not, if you want me to come, you can just follow us," Raina said.
"I don't feel comfortable with a bunch of strangers so if you excuse me, I should get going," Alina stated, staring pointedly at Kaz.
Kaz shook his head, "I'm afraid we can't let that happen."
As soon as Kaz uttered those words, Alina brought her hands up and let out a blast of light, momentarily blinding the four including Cooper who places his paws on top of his eyes, shielding himself by burrowing his head on Inej's shoulder.
Due to the sudden commotion the Sun Summoner had created, Alina slipped away, her figure slowly disappearing itself from sight.
Walking into the General's office, Fedyor announced, "General, I found a lead on her."
"And where is my Storm Summoner?" the General asked as he made his way in front of Fedyor.
Furrowing his eyebrows, Fedyor shook his head regretfully at the mention of his friend, "Oh. Uh... No." The General slowed down his walk as Fedyor continued, "Nina Zenik. You asked..."
Nodding his head, the General hid his disappointment, "Ah yes. Speak."
"The nerve of her," Raina seethed. Hours have passed, the sunlight fading away, inviting darkness to fall upon. Raina and the crows have given up on the search after asking nearly everyone if they had seen anyone resembling Alina.
Groaning, Raina placed her elbows on top of the table, trying to hide her sorrows by banging her forehead repeatedly. Letting out a deep breath, Kaz winced as he reached out and placed his gloved left hand on Raina's forehead, pushing her head back before she decided to bang it once again. Raina stiffened as she felt his trembling palm, knowing how much it took for him to perform that action. Before Raina could comment about it, the sound of footsteps towards their direction was heard causing Kaz to pull back his hand and glance away from Raina to Inej and Jesper who wore matching defeated looks.
Sitting down, Jesper immediately went to coddle Cooper who happily barked as Jesper fed him some treats he found while looking for the Sun Summoner. Sighing, Inej glanced at Raina and Kaz, "No horses missing at the stables, so..."
"So?" Kaz started, giving Inej an unimpressed look.
"What?"
"Are you going to tell me how the target got away?" Kaz continued.
Jesper and Raina looked away from Cooper and back at Inej and Kaz who seemed to have a staredown.
Fixing her headpiece, Inej sighed, "I let her go."
"WHAT?" Jesper shouted before lowering his voice as he earned some looks, "What?"
"Why would you do that Inej after everything you guys have done to get her?" Raina calmly asked. She wasn't as surprised as Kaz had told her previously but she knew that Inej had her beliefs which they should respect although the idea of the Sun Summoner roaming around and out of their grasp irked her.
"You were hired for a job," Kaz added as he sneered.
"The job was to pick up a fake for an easy million kruge. We found a living Saint who can summon the sun." Scoffing, Raina crossed her arms as Inej continued, "We all saw her summon with our own eyes."
Bringing out a coin, Kaz fiddled with it, "A good magician is a good con artist." Covering the coin with his other hand, he quickly showed the coin disappearing as he continued, "The trick... is to make it look real."
"So you think Raina is a con artist?" Inej asked, raising her eyebrow.
Scoffing, Kaz shook his head, "That's different."
"This is different as well, you saw her summon with your own eyes."
As the two continued arguing over the Sun Summoner, Jesper and Raina shared a look before taking a sip of their drink.
It's going to be a long night.
𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞!
not the general saying "my storm summoner" 🤚😩
(even though we're suppose to hate him, we can't deny that those words gave us butterflies)
holy shit, kaz and his cane is super hot *fans myself*
let me know your thoughts
xoxo NS
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