⌜ chapter fourteen ⌟

"A light show before the light show." Arya mutters after the Inferni members finish throwing around balls of fire.

Kaz scoffs from where he's standing just behind her, to her right. "They're probably the ones who are going to be putting on the show when the supposed Sun Summoner is up there as well." He whispers as Inej walks up behind them.

"You really don't think there's even a possibility that she's real?" She asks as she looks up at him.

"There's never been one before."

"Maybe, but..." She pauses, and he looks down at her. "You do realize that you're talking to someone who's standing in a world that she wasn't born in?" She asks, and his eyes travel her face for a moment.

"You see the chandelier in the center of the room?" He asks, and she looks up to find what he's talking about.

"So?"

"It's reflective glass." He tells her, leaning closer to the brunette as he whispers. "You bounce the light into that, and people won't know whether it's coming or going." He says, and she looks back at him, surprised to find him standing so close again.

Just past him, Arya sees Inej walk away from them, and then her gaze returns to him. "Why do you seem so reluctant to believe she could be real?" She asks as she looks into his bright blue eyes.

"I don't believe what I can't see."

"You haven't seen my world, but you believe me." She reasons. "Don't you?" She asks, but Kaz doesn't answer; he simply continues to look into her eyes.

"Her name is Alina Starkov." A deep voice pulls Arya's attention away from Kaz, and she looks across the room to see a man dressed in all black standing on a small, raised stage. "And she will bring liberation to us all."

He then steps off of the stage, leaving a girl who looks no older than Arya standing up there alone. The man dressed in black raises his arms into the air before clapping his hands together, and then the entire room is enveloped in darkness.

"What the..." Arya mutters as she steps closer to Kaz, watching shadows creep along the walls and take over the entire room.

Kaz looks down at the brunette when her arm brushes against his; he can barely feel her through the sleeve of his uniform until she presses into his side. Light suddenly illuminates her face, and he can see confusion and uncertainty written there, causing him to look up to find the source of the light in the room.

The girl on stage — who's dressed similarly to the man who introduced her — appears to be manipulating a glowing ball of light that's floating above her right hand. And then a second ball manifests over her left hand as well. A line forms between them, and then she pushes them away from her as they change color, now gliding over the audience who's watching the display.

Arya looks up at Kaz again, and his gaze meets hers; they're wearing mirrored expressions of confusion and disbelief. They both squint as the lights erupt, becoming much brighter as it creates a dome in the center of the room. It slowly fades away, and the room's returned to how it was before the man enveloped it in darkness.

People begin the bow as a repeated murmur of Sanka Alina can be heard all around the room.

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"And the lynx flush was to smoke out Arken." Inej says as she, Kaz, and Arya watch Alina talking and laughing with others from the Little Palace.

"Like I said, our futures depend on this." Kaz says as he glances between the two girls in front of him. "We saw two identical dresses in the fitting room. The target is wearing one, and an Inferni about the same height and build was measured for the other. They need the target for the demonstration, but afterwards at the reception, that's when they'll deploy a double for security reasons. So, I sent Arken after the double while we stay on target."

"Arken will get caught."

"Sucks to be him." Arya mutters sarcastically as she glances around the immediate area.

"He chose his fate in Novokribirsk when he met with Zlatan." Kaz tells her, not acknowledging what Arya said.

"What if you're wrong?" Inej questions. "What if we sandbagged him with the lynx flush, and the meeting had nothing to do with this?"

"The only two men in the world who profit off the Fold? Doubtful."

"Not to mention how he tried to turn me against you three every chance he got while we were staying in Kribirsk." Arya adds, and Inej looks at her. "It's why he kept making me so angry. He kept making comments, trying to make it so I wouldn't trust any of you anymore." She explains.

"Now." Kaz says suddenly, and both girls return their attention to him.

"I'll go check on Jesper." The brunette says as she turns away from them.

Arya makes her way through the palace, and she accidentally runs into someone when she rounds a corner. "Oh, uh..." She looks up and sees an attractive man, not much older than her, seemingly being escorted by a guard wearing the same uniform as Kaz. "I'm sorry. I really need to learn to watch where I'm going." She offers him a small smile, using the same fake accent as when she poured the water on Kaz earlier.

"It's alright." He nods, offering a smile as he steps out of her way, motioning for her to walk past them.

"Thank you." She then hurries past, wanting to get away from the guard as quickly as possible without being conspicuous.

Arya continues through the palace, and it's not long before she runs into Kaz. His eyebrows furrow as he looks down at her. "What are you doing?" He whispers.

"I ran into someone with a guard, and then I got confused...and lost." She admits. "This place is huge and- Wait, what's wrong?"

"Inferni."

With no time to waste, he grabs her hand and pulls her with him, and she clings to his glove as they duck into a large space that looks similar to a church. It has a long row of pews in the center of the room, leading from the entrance to the altar; and there are candles lit all over the room.

Kaz pulls her behind a wall that separates a section of the room from the pews, and he has her move so her back's pressed against the wall. She takes a deep breath, almost a gasp, as he stays directly in front of her with only inches between their bodies. He holds a gloved finger up to his lips, silently telling her to stay quiet as he looks into her eyes.

They hear heavy footsteps enter the room, followed soon after by a male voice. "You're not supposed to be here, are you, limping man?" The Inferni asks as he keeps walking, and Kaz sees when he steps up to move across the tops of the pews. "You're like a wounded spider in my house. You know what my sister and I do to spiders?" He then materializes a ball of fire above his palm.

Kaz moves away from Arya, leaving her in their hiding place as he soundlessly picks up a weapon before knocking the Inferni's legs out from under him. He falls as the fire disappears, then he lands on his back on the floor, and Kaz pins his arm down by placing his foot on it.

"Unlike a spider, I only need one good leg. However, you..." He then slams the heavy object down onto his hand, and the man screams out in pain. "...look like you need both hands." He twists it, and Arya hears the sickening crack of his bones breaking.

"Okay." Arya rushes over as Kaz slams the object across the Inferni's face. "That's enough, and completely disgusting. Let's go. Come on." She grabs his arm, but then sees how much trouble he's having as he tries to walk. "Shit. Come here, we have to go."

Her fingers curl around the jacket of his uniform, and he hesitates for a moment before draping his arm over her shoulders so she can help him walk. It seems safe enough; between both of their sleeves and his gloves, there shouldn't be any risk of their skin touching.

"Wrong." The Inferni says, and they both whirl around at the sound of his voice.

Kaz's eyes widen when he sees the flames over the man's uninjured hand, and his grip on Arya tightens. She tries to go for the gun that she has under the skirt of her dress, but Kaz suddenly wraps his other arm around her and quickly turns them so that he's between her and the Inferni.

Arya looks up at him, eyebrows furrowed, and then they hear a thud from behind him. She lets out a shaky breath as she tears her eyes from his, and she looks behind Kaz while he continues to stare down at the brunette in his arms. Kaz is still trying to wrap his mind around what he just did, that his first instinct was to protect and save Arya with no regard for himself.

"Inej." She mutters, pulling him from his thoughts, and he turns with a furrowed brow.

She drops from the balcony then, and Arya carefully pulls Kaz toward the body of the Inferni man laying on the ground. He has a knife sticking out of the back of his head as blood pools on the floor, the handle of the knife matching all the others that Inej always carries on her person.

"This way!" A male voice in the distance pulls Kaz out of his own head, and he gets Arya to walk with him past the body and toward Inej.

"We need to go." He tells the two girls, but Inej doesn't move as the other two stop in front of him.

"I... I killed him." She says, unable to take her eyes off of the body.

"Inej, look at me. Look at me." Kaz leans down, and she forces herself to meet his gaze. "You saved our lives. Now get your Saint, and let's go." He pulls Arya past her, but she still doesn't move.

"In here!" The same voice from before yells, closer now.

"Inej." Arya reaches out and grabs her arm, then the three of them quickly leave a different way than the one they came through.

The three of them make it outside, and they find Jesper standing a few feet away from the carriage for their escape. He turns when he hears the other three coming, seeing his friends making their way toward him.

"What happened? You okay?" He asks when he sees the looks on their faces.

"She's real, Jesper." Inej tells him. "She made the light sing."

"We lost her." Kaz says, and he smirks.

"Did we?" Jesper turns around and starts toward the carriage.

"He makes me hate him sometimes." Arya mutters as she follows after him.

"Well, we don't know where she is." Kaz tells him.

"Don't we?" He chuckles. "Just ask."

"Jesper..."

"Just ask." He says before climbing up into the front of the carriage to control the horse reins.

"I'm gonna hit him." Arya says.

"Is that how you express love, gorgeous?" He smirks as he looks down at her, extending his hand to help her up after Inej climbs in.

"No. It's how I tell people they're irritating me."

"I thought you threatened to stab them."

"That's when they make me want to kill them."

"Hm." He chuckles as she steps up into the carriage. "Just ask, gorgeous."

"Do you know where she is, Jesper?" Arya asks, and he simply smiles as he looks at her before sitting down and grabbing the horse reins. She then looks at Kaz as he climbs into the carriage in front of her. "Can I stab him?"

Kaz smirks as his blue eyes meet her green ones. "Maybe later."