CHAPTER TEN ─── ❛ grisha squallers ❜
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𝕬rguments were something Stasiaj Yahontov was very familiar with. When people met her, they normally adopted an argumentative tone after hearing her name, wanting nothing to do with her. That didn't both Stasiaj, for she threatened them with the information that she had on them and it was all sorted once more. Plus, normally, people forgot to hold their tongues in arguments and let information slip that she didn't already know, which was always good for business.
However, in this particular argument, they were just repeating information that Stasiaj already knew so she found no merit in it continuing. It was a mere lovers spat, and Stasiaj did not want to listen to it any longer. She was hoping that they'd shut up soon.
It seemed that her prayers were answered, just not in the way that Stasiaj wished for them to be, for the grounds beneath them began to rumble.
"Are their fault lines this far north?" Wylan looked at Matthias.
"Not that I..."
"There aren't," Stasiaj replied, trying to stay on her own two feet as the ground rumbled once more, and cracked monoliths of stone and ice shot into the air, forcing the Snake to hurry away from it. She didn't particularly feel like breaking any bones that day.
"What the hell is this?" cried Jesper.
"Some of kind of earthquake!" shouted Inej.
"No," said Nina, pointing to a dark spot that seemed to be floating in the sky, unaffected by the howling wind. "We're under attack."
"That should not be possible," Stasiaj replied, her eyes wide in surprise as she stumbled back to try and find a hiding spot. Grisha should not be this powerful. "Is this what Jurda Parem does?"
"Not the time, Snake!" Kaz called back, both of them slamming to the floor as another large chunk of rock and ice shot from the ground. "Eyes closed!"
"Thanks, Brekker!" Stasiaj shot back, spitting ice from her mouth as the pair hunkered down from the pellets that the Grisha Squaller was shooting in their direction
"I need a distraction!" shouted Jesper from somewhere in the storm.
She heard a tinny plink.
"Get down," cried Wylan. Stasiaj flattened herself to the floor further, pulling her hands over her head as she heard Kaz do the same to her left. A boom sounded overhead, and an explosion lit the sky just to the right of the Squaller. The winds around them dropped as the Squaller was thrown off course and forced to focus on righting himself. It took the briefest second, but it was enough time for Jesper to aim his rifle and fire.
A shot rang out, and the Squaller was hurtling towards the earth.
Another slab of ice slid into place. They were being trapped like animals in a pen, ready for the slaughter. Jesper aimed between the slabs at a distant stand of trees, as Stasiaj pulled Inej to her feet once more, dragging her away from the ice. Before Jesper could get off a shot, he was thrown off his feet by a shaft of earth. He rolled as he fell and fired from the ground.
Someone in the distance cried out and Stasiaj saw a figure drop to one knee, but his arms were still raised, and the ground still rumbled and rocked beneath them. Jesper fired again and missed. Nina lifted her hands, before cursing as Stasiaj looked around.
She saw Inej signal to Kaz. Without a word, he positioned himself against the nearest slab and cupped his hands at his knee. The ground buckled and swayed, but he held steady as she launched herself from the cradle of his fingers in a graceful arc. She vanished over the slab without a sound. A moment later, the ground went still.
"Trust the Wraith," said Jesper, as Stasiaj watched Kaz with a confused expression. He raised an eyebrow at the girl, who shook her head.
The group stood, dazed, the air strangely hushed after the chaos that had come before.
"Wylan," Jesper panted, pushing to his feet. "Get us out of here."
Wylan nodded, pulled a putty-coloured lump from his pack, and gently placed it against the nearest rock. "Everybody down," he instructed.
They crouched together in a cluster as far away as the enclosure would permit. Wylan slapped his hand against the explosive and dove away, careening into Matthias and Jesper as they all covered their ears.
Nothing happened.
"Are you kidding me?" said Jesper.
Boom. The slab exploded. Ice and bits of rock rained down over their heads.
"You spoke way too soon," Stasiaj teased Jesper, pulling pieces of ice out of her hair.
Wylan was covered in dust and wearing a slightly dazed, deliriously happy expression. Nina started to laugh. "Try to look like you knew it would work."
They stumbled out of the corral of slabs.
Kaz gestured to Jesper. "Perimeter. Let's make sure there aren't more surprises." They set off in opposite directions.
Nina and the others found Inej standing over the body of the trembling Grisha. He wore clothes of olive drab, and his eyes were glassy. Blood spilled from the bullet wound in his upper thigh, and a knife jutted from the right side of his chest. Inej must have thrown it when she'd escaped from the enclosure.
Nina kneeled beside him.
"I need a little more," the Grisha mumbled. "Just a little more." He grabbed at Nina's hand, as Stasiaj stepped away. She didn't like watching people die.
Sure, Stasiaj had given multiple orders to have people killed on her behalf and thrown into the river or shallow graves, but she, herself, only threatened to have people killed (or threw knives at them if they were named Kaz Brekker). She had never watched the life leave someone's eyes, not for a long time anyway.
Not since the boat.
"Snake?" Stasiaj looked up, as Kaz came over, panting. "What's going on?"
"The Grisha died," Stasiaj replied. "Your heist is causing more problems than you first thought."
"We knew that was going to happen," Kaz replied. "You've got a cut."
"Where?"
"There," Kaz gestured to her face, and Stasiaj raised her eyebrow at him.
"Thank you, Crow Man," She snarked. "That was so specific. I know exactly what you were talking about."
He scowled at her, hesitating momentarily before touching her cheek with his leather glove, which was cold from ice. Stasiaj shivered.
"There..." Kaz trailed off, seeming to stare through her soul for a moment, before he pushed past and carried on towards the others, who were unaware of the little exchange that was confusing Stasiaj.
"Anything?" asked Matthias.
Jesper nodded. "A party of people heading south."
"He was calling out for the Shu," Nina said.
"We knew the Shu would send a team to retrieve Bo Yul-Bayur," said Kaz.
Jesper looked down at Nestor's motionless body. "But we didn't know they'd send Grisha. How can we be sure they aren't mercenaries?"
Kaz held up a coin emblazoned with a horse on one side and two crossed keys on the other. "This was in the Squaller's pocket," he said, tossing it to Jesper. "It's a Shu wen ye. The Coin of Passage. This is a government mission. Did you know that?"
"I can't really remember," Stasiaj's mind was too muddled to even remember what her own name was at the moment, let alone what the Shu were up to.
She was still unsure of how to react to Kaz. She thought he was just going to point in a more specific area, not touch her. Kaz did not touch people lest it was to shake on business deals. The fact that he touched her face and was now acting so nonchalant about it set a feeling in Stasiaj's stomach that she didn't have a name for.
"How did they find us?" Inej asked.
"Maybe Jesper's gunshots drew them," said Kaz.
Jesper bristled and pointed at Nina and Matthias. "Or maybe they heard these two shouting at each other. They could have been following us for miles."
"I don't understand," said Nina. "If they have Jurda Parem, why go after Bo Yul-Bayur?"
"He has the formula," Stasiaj finally snapped back to her senses, cutting Crow Man off before he could speak. "Control the formula, control the production, control the distribution and thus control the market. They'd be sitting on a lot of money should they get their hands on this drug."
"That's what the Merchant Council seems to think as well," Kaz shot her a look for cutting him off. "Or maybe they just want to make sure Yul-Bayur doesn't give the formula to anyone else."
"Do you think they'll use drugged Grisha to try to break into the Ice Court?" Inej asked.
"If they have more of them," said Kaz. "That's what I would do."
Matthias shook his head. "If they'd had a Heartrender, we'd all be dead."
"It was still a close thing," replied Inej.
Jesper shouldered his rifle. "Wylan earned his keep."
Wylan gave a little jump at the sound of his name. "I did?"
"Well, you made a down payment."
"Let's move," said Kaz.
"We need to bury them," Nina said.
"The ground's too hard, and we don't have the time. The Shu team is still moving towards Djerholm. We don't know how many other Grisha they may have, and Pekka's team could already be inside."
"We can't just leave them for the wolves," Nina replied.
"Do you want to build them a pyre?"
"Go to hell, Brekker."
"Do your job, Zenik," he shot back. "I didn't bring you to Fjerda to perform funeral rites."
She lifted her hands. "How about I crack your skull open like a robin's egg?"
"You don't want a look at what's inside my head, Nina dear."
She took a step forward, but Matthias moved in front of her.
"Stop," he said. "I'll do it. I'll help you dig the grave." Stasiaj raised an eyebrow at the argumentative group. "Head due south from here," he said to the others. "I know the terrain, and I'll make sure we catch up to you by nightfall. We'll move faster on our own."
Kaz looked at him steadily. "Just remember that pardon, Helvar."
"Are we sure it's a good idea to leave them alone?" Wylan asked as they moved down the slope.
"No," replied Inej.
"But we're still doing it?"
"We trust them now or we trust them later," Kaz said.
"Are we going to talk about Matthias' little revelation about Nina's loyalties?" asked Jesper.
"Pretty sure most of us don't have 'stalwart' or 'true' checked off on our résumés." Kaz replied, as he shot a look at Stasiaj. "I don't want to hear about it, Snake. I really don't."
"What? I barely even breathed or made a sound,"
"You're making a sound now," Kaz pointed out, as Stasiaj sidled up to him, a smirk on her face as she thought of her payback for the confusing feeling he gave her earlier.
"Then why don't you shut me up, Brekker," She grinned wider as he flushed red and shot her a horrid glare. "You know you want to."
"Snake, shut up before I get Wylan to blow you up!" He replied.
"Wylan likes me too much,"
"I don't want to be involved in this," The younger boy stuttered, not making eye contact with either of the two intimidating older teenagers.
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Hiya,
I don't make the rules; Stasiaj is chaotically hot and her and Kaz's banter is so much fun. Also, if you want to make graphics; gifs, covers, aesthetics, manips etc. please do, I will love them so much! Finally, thanks for all the really nice comments on the book and about Stasiaj, I'm glad that you guys like her so much.
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx