As Vladim moved to turn the locks, I heard Genya whisper. "You definitely owe me a kiss after all this, Don't think I won't hold you to it."
I laughed lightly. "We'll see."
"There is no seeing, you will, if I have to be the one to do it then so be...
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WE DIDN'T LEAVE FOR OS ALTA RIGHT AWAY, but spent the next three days transporting shipments of goods across the Fold. We operated out of what was left of the military encampment at Kribirsk.
Most of the troops had been pulled back when the Fold started expanding. A new watch owner had been erected to monitor the black shores of the Unsea, and only a skeleton crew stayed on to operate the dry docks.
Not a single Grisha remained at the encampment. After the Darkling's attempted coup and the destruction of Novokribirsk, a wave of anti-Grisha sentiments had swept through Ravka and the ranks of the First Army.
It wasn't surprising.
An entire town was gone, its people food for monsters. Ravka wouldn't soon forget. Neither could I.
Some Grisha had fled to Os Alta to seek the protection of the King. Others had gone into hiding. Nikolai suspected that most of them had sought out the Darkling and defected to his side. But with the help of Nikolai's rogue Squallers, we managed two trips across the Fold on the first day, three on the second, and four on the last.
Sand skiffs journeyed to West Ravka empty and returned with huge cargos of Zemeni rifles, crates full of ammunition, parts for repeating guns similar to those Nikolai had used aboard the Hummingbird, and a few tons of sugar and jurda— all courtesy of Sturmhond's smuggling.
"Bribes," Mal said as we watched giddy soldiers tear into a shipment being unloaded on the docks, hooting and marveling over the glittering array of weaponry.
"Gifts," Nikolai corrected. "You'll find the bullets work, regardless of my motives." He turned to Alina and me. "I think we can fit in one more trip today. Game?"
I wasn't, but we nodded anyway. He smiled and clapped us on the back. "I'll give the orders."
I could feel Mal watching us as I turned to look into the shifting darkness of the Fold. There hadn't been a recurrence of the incident aboard the Hummingbird. Whatever I'd seen that day— vision, hallucination, I couldn't name it— it hadn't happened again. Still, I spent each moment on the Unsea alert and wary, trying to hide how frightened I really was.
Nikolai wanted to use the crossings to hunt volcra, but I and Alina refused. Alina told him she still felt weak and that she wasn't sure enough about using her power to guarantee our safety.
Our fear was alive, but the rest was a lie. Her power was stronger than ever.
Mal accompanied us on all the crossings, staying close by our side, rifle at the ready. I knew he sensed our anxiousness, but he didn't press us for an explanation. I still didn't know if Alina was being honest with me about what she saw in the Fold that day, had she seen what I saw?
