𝐍𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃
Brynn Adala had lived in fear for so long. Keeping her secret hidden, buried far under the events of her past and the promise of her future. Until the job that might just get her killed brings it all back to...
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CHAPTER 4
Play With Fire
Ma always had a saying. If there's no kindness for you somewhere, they do not deserve your kindness. She had a lot of sayings, but this was the one that stayed with Brynn through her stay in Ketterdam.
Now, she tried to remember that exact saying. But between the ringing in her ears, the sounds of gunshots, and people yelling all over the place, Brynn couldn't exactly do much thinking. All she knew was pain.
The schooner exploded, throwing her forward. Brynn had always been clumsy, so of course she landed in an awkward position that caused more embarrassment than pain. The ground underneath her was hard, it scraped her hands and knees as she stumbled to get up.
They do not deserve your kindness, Brynn.
Her mother's voice brought her out of her stupor. Who was shooting at them? And why? Kaz had warned them that other gangs would be competition for this job, but this was too early. Someone must have talked.
Luckily, the decoy schooner did its job. Brynn was thankful that Kaz actually told her about this one little piece in the puzzle of plans, because she knew she'd be freaking out right about now.
But first, she needed to find Inej.
Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, Brynn saw Jesper and Wylan running down the docks, passing Nina and Matthias. Kaz and Inej were nowhere to be seen.
Brynn checked her rings to make sure they were still secure. She didn't want to use her Grisha abilities right now, but if she had to, she would. The people shooting at them might not deserve her kindness, but the crew did. Her crew did.
A bullet whipped past Brynn at lightning speed and she ducked behind a crate. She had no weapons, nowhere to run, with only one more option left.
If they find out you're Grisha, they'll take you away to Ravka and we'll never see you again, Da's voice reminded her.
The phantom voices of distant red-haired bullies spoke louder than him. Grisha are magical, so they should give their lives for ours! They're dangerous, but that's okay, because we'll be dangerous, too, when we drink their blood.
No weapons. No place to hide. One more option left or die.
Choose, Brynn!
She chose fire.
She had forgotten how easy it was to create a spark with the rings, and once she did, she knew exactly what to do. Create a flame out of the spark, throw the flame at her opponents. It was that easy, and yet Brynn still felt sick to her stomach.
