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EVERYTHING HURT, EVERY BONE FELT LIKE it was breaking, her muscles were tense, and her head felt like it was going to split open. Dinara's thoughts were jumbled, trying to remember what had previously happened. She remembered the fight with oomen and tracing the scar on Kaz's neck while she laid in his arms. She went to roll over, but pain shooting through her body halted her. she let out a groan, turning her head, noticing Nina drowsing on a stool tucked into the corner by the table."Nina," she croaked. Her throat was dry, causing her voice to crack and slightly burn when she talked.
Nina jolted awake. "I'm up!" she blurted, the peered blearily at Dinara. "You're awake." She sat up straighter. "Oh, Saints, you're awake!" Nina then burst out crying. Dinara tried to sit up against her better judgement, wincing in pain as she did so. "No, no," Nina said. "Don't try to move, just rest."
"Are you okay? You're sobbing all over my shirt right now," Dinara said, screwing up her face at the feeling of tears soaking through her shirt.
Nina started to laugh through her tears. "I'm fine. You're the one who got stabbed. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's just so much easier to kill people than taking care of them." Dinara blinked at her burst, then they both burst out laughing.
"Owwwww. Don't make me laugh. That feels awful." "How do you feel?" "Sore, but not terrible. Thirsty." "It's fresh. We had rain yesterday." "How long was I out?"
"Three days, almost four. Jesper is driving us all crazy. I don't think i've seen him sit still for more than two minutes together." She stood up abruptly. "Don't even get me started on how Kaz is. Oh, I need to tell Kaz you're awake! We thought—"
"How is he? Also," Dinara let out a puff of air. "Don't bother him. I don't want to get killed because he was busy plotting."
Nina sat back down, her face puzzled. "When do you plan on telling him then?"
"Is it night?" Nina nodded her head. "Okay, then tell him in the morning. Do we know who came for us at the harbor?"
"Pekka Rollins. He hired the Black Tips and the Razorgulls to keep us from getting out of Fifth Harbor."
"How did he know where we were leaving from?" "We're not sure yet." "I saw oomen—" "Oomen's dead. Kaz killed him." "Thank god. Bastard deserved it."
"Kaz killed a lot of people. Rotty saw him go after the Black Tips who had you up in the crates. I believe his exact words were, 'There was enough blood to paint a barn red.'"
Dinara let a smirk grow in her face. "Good. All of them deserved it." She closed her eyes, picturing all of the destruction the bastard of the barrel did. She had been close to death a few times, but this was the closest. She was dancing on a tightrope, trying to keep her balance so she wouldn't fall off and into the abyss beneath her. She was afraid for once in her life, and that was torture for her. Dinara had to be dependent on someone else to save her — it was scary. trusting her life in someone's hands, but thankfully, it was Kaz.
