CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
vol i — bloody fjerdans!

THE SHU BOY HELD OUT A HAND TOWARDS Kaz, waiting for his prize. Dinara was like a proud parent — she taught him well. "Pay up, Kaz."

Kaz let out a sigh. "I do hate to lose a wager. You see, Van Eck, Wylan bet me that you would have no qualms about ending his life. Call me sentimental, but I didn't believe a father could be so callous."

Dinara reached over, ruffling Wylan's hair, showing her proudness for the boy. He leaned back, letting his face appear in her view. He gave a small smile, glad that she was showing her appreciation. "Be thankful you haven't met my father," she whispered into the boys ear, making him chuckle. The whole point of their small interaction was to keep Wylan distracted. His father was staring at him with his eyes wide, mouth agape, trying to connect the dots. It was a maze inside the man's mind, unable to find the finish line, always ending up in a dead end. Jesper was no better. He was startled from all of this, hurt that they didn't trust him. He wondered what he had done wrong, unable to come up with an idea as he stared at Wylans' new face.

"It's not possible," Van Eck spluttered out. He was right, Nina was a passable tailor. But with the help of parem she was able to accomplish the impossible.

Dinara could remember the conversation Kaz had with Wylan, the younger boy adamant on proving a point. It was heartbreaking to hear, but the determined look in Wylan's eyes had Dinara backing him every step of the way. She had taken in every bit of his face, wanting to engrave it into her head if he was unable to get it back, stuck in this other identity. Dinara wouldn't admit it, but she missed the red tousled curls that used to sit on his head, wishing that they would come back so she can run her hands through it, trying to braid it. Yet nothing she did could have prepared Wylan for the wraith his father was about to bring down on him. Dinara stepped in front of Wylan when fury crossed his fathers face, willing to put her life on the line for him. "Worthless," he hissed. His voice was laced with poison, wanting to eject it into his son's heart, filling it with self-doubt. "I knew you were a fool, but a traitor as well?"

Wylan stepped out from behind Dinara, a determined look across his face — he wasn't going to let his father bully him this time. "A fool would have been waiting to be smashed to bits on that ship. And as for 'traitor', you've called me worse in the last few minutes alone."

"Just think," Kaz spoke. "What if the real Kuwei Yul-Bo had been on the ship you just turned into a toothpick?" A sly smirk had found its way onto his face, happy that he was able to return the nasty hand at Van Eck. "Let us off this island and I'll tell you where he is."

"You have no way out of this, Brekker. Your little crew is no match for my Grisha," Van Eck spoke. He seemed happy for someone who was in a tough situation.

Kaz let out a careless shrug. "Kill us, and you'll never find Kuwei."

Van Eck considered this, he stepped back, letting his voice echo along the walls. "Guards on me! Kill everyone but Brekker." This next move was Kaz's biggest mistake. His eyes should have never left Van Eck, but he allowed them to move over to Dinara. He shouldn't have been focused on her, should have focused on the fight in front of him, but he didn't. Van Eck saw this and told them to abandon their previous instructions and focus on Dinara instead. Kaz couldn't let that happen, but his instincts were holding him back — forbidding him almost. But he was already turning, sprinting towards her, wanting to do something to save her.

Kaz caught the movements of a Squaller heading towards Dinara. "Jesper!" Jesper shot down the Squaller, as Kaz urged Dinara to stay still.

Dinara was quick enough to pull out her knives, trying to fend for herself. The parem shooting through the Grisha's blood was making it harder for her to fight back, but she was doing her best. Her knives slashed through the air, nicking the skin of her opponents, causing them a sudden delay in their next movements. A squaller grabbed her, spinning her into the air, causing a high level of fight or flight coming in. She sank her knife into the chest of the Squaller, earning a plunging scream from her. Dinara felt the air around her fall before she was falling down onto the ground. Her arms flailing at her side, her body aching as she crashed into the sand. As she turned over, Dinara saw a body fly in front of her — Inej. But Inej was too late, Dinara's  body was hanging in the air, her body receiving a vicious blow to the head, knocking her out cold.

Inej didn't like that her friend — her sister — was down for the count, wanting to take matters into her own hands. She threw her knives at the Squaller, making them lose their concentration, allowing Dinara's body to fall back onto the sand, her head knocking onto the ground with a harsh blow. The Squaller turned their attention on Inej, bringing the same vicious blow they did to Dinara, knocking her out, and bringing her out of reach. The others watched as Inej was brought out of reach — away from the safety of her crew, into the depths of the unknown. It was scary, everything was going out of order, bringing vengeance for Jordie down the drain.

"You have one week to bring me to the real Kuwei," Van Eck shouted. "Or they'll hear that girl's screams all the way back in Fjerda. And if that still doesn't move you, I'll let it be known that you're harboring the most valuable hostage in the world. Every gang, government, smuggler, and spy will be after you and the Dregs. You'll have nowhere to hide."

"Kaz, I can make the shot."
"No. Let them go."

Kaz watched Van Eck and his Grisha wander into the distance, the anger bubbling in his blood, rising even more at the sight of his girl on the ground. Kaz ignored the conversation between Jesper and Wylan, his body moving towards Dinara's on his own. He bent down onto the ground, ignoring the stinging of his knee, brushing the hair out of her face. He eyed the scrapes that littered her face, wishing he could wash them away with a simple kiss, but knew that it was so much harder than that. He ignored all of his brain's warnings, scooping her into his arms and marching back over to the group. He caught the last end of their conversation, his anger rising up, unable to contain it.

"Ask me why, Jesper."
"Why?"

"You were the one who sold us out to Pekka Rollins." His sharp gaze piercing Jesper, making the boy want to crawl into a hole and never leave. "You're the reason we were ambushed when we tried to leave Ketterdam. We almost got us all killed."

"I didn't tell Pekka Rollins anything. I never—"
"You told one of the Dime Lions you were leaving Kerch, but that you'd be coming into big money. Didn't you?"
"I had to. They were leaning on me hard. My fathers farm—"
"I didn't have a choice! You had me locked up in the Crow Club before we left. If you'd let
me—"

Kaz turned on him, the firing growing in his eyes. Matthias had stepped forward, bringing Dinara into his arms, not wanting her to get harmed in the altercation. "Let you what? Play a few bands of Three Man Bramble? Dig yourself deeper in with every boss in the Barrel stupid enough to extend you credit? You told a member of Pekka's gang you are about to be flush."

"I didn't know he'd go to Pekka. Or that Pekka knew about parem. I was just trying to buy myself some time." The plea in Jesper's voice came through, his words cracking.

"Saints, Jesper, you really haven't learned anything in the Dregs, have you? You're still the same dumb farm boy who stepped off the boat."

That sent Jesper over the edge, he lunged for Kaz, wanting to inflict pain. Matthias stepped in between, Dinara still in his arms, pleaded with the two of them to stop, not wanting this to bring more harm to them. They had already lost one team member, and now another was unconscious in his arms, yet these two were fighting like wolves over a bone. Kaz had heard enough, talking Dinara back into his arms and stalking off, trying to clear his head. Kaz knew that he would never fully trust Jesper again and that hurt more than he thought it would. But he didn't care, continuing to walk forward, bring Dinara to safety.