FAIRYTALE - Kaz Brekker

𝐗𝐋𝐕𝐈

the urge to consume the parem kicked in and Zaria tried not to show it but the way her hand twitched seemed to catch Jesper's eyes.

"Rumors, at least. And there were plenty of interested parties at the Ice Court to pick up gossip about Kuwei's…liberation." Kaz turned his gaze to Matthias, "The Fjerdans are here too. They've got a whole contingent of drüskelle with them."

Zaria quickly clenched her hand into a fist, trying to hide the twitch from Jesper's gaze. She knew that she couldn't let the addiction control her again. She had worked hard to overcome it and she wasn't going to let it ruin her progress now.

"Zaria, are you okay?" Jesper asked, concern evident in his voice, Zaria took a deep breath, trying to regain control of her emotions.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, her voice a little shaky, "Just a little on edge."

Kaz looked at her with a sharp gaze, his eyes narrowing, Zaria knew that he could sense something was off, but she didn't want to worry him by revealing her struggles with parem.

"We need to stay focused," Kaz said, breaking the silence, "We have a plan and we need to stick to it. No distractions."

Zaria nodded, grateful for the distraction. She knew that she needed to stay strong and keep her addiction in check. She couldn't risk putting her friends in danger because of her own struggles.

Zaria felt a wave of concern wash over her as Kaz mentioned the Fjerdans and their drüskelle, she knew firsthand how ruthless they could be and she worried for Matthias's safety.

If they see Matthias, her or Nina then they will not hesitate to kill them, shoot them dead right there.

Zaria's hand twitched even more as they made their way through the city, her thoughts consumed by the addictive pull of parem. She couldn't resist the urge any longer and grabbed Kuwei's hand.

"Do you have any parem?" she asked, her voice low and urgent, Kuwei shook his head remembering Kaz's cold and warning voice, ordering him to refuse if one of the grishas ask for the drug, "No, I don't have any parem."

Zaria felt a pang of disappointment, but she knew that she couldn't let her addiction control her. She quickly withdrew her hand from Kuwei's and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Kuwei shot Jesper a warning look mouthing a few words 'Zaria. parem.' his eyes went to his best friend who stared at the ground with a frown, he sighed.

making his way towards Zaria he grabbed her wrist and pulled her along to stand beside him, his hands sliding to hold his best friend's, fingers locking with hers.

Zaria felt a mix of frustration and gratitude as Jesper held onto her hand, refusing to let go. She knew that she needed his support, but she didn't want to show any signs of weakness in front of the others.

Zaria felt her hand twitching uncontrollably, the urge for parem consuming her thoughts. She tried to pull her hand away from Jesper's grasp, but he held on tight, his fingers interlocking with hers.

"Jesper, let go," she warned, death glaring at him.

Jesper did not let go, instead, he looked down at Zaria warningly. "Zaria, stop," he said firmly.