Page 54 of Shadow and Bone (The Grisha 1)
The man holding me kept one thick hand tight around my wrist and fished out the rifle with the other. “Real nice,” he grunted. “And the pack looks like military issue. ” My heart sank.
“So?” asked Longface.
“So Rikov says a soldier from the outpost at Chernast has gone missing. Word is he went south and never came back. Could be we caught ourselves a deserter. ”
Longface studied Mal speculatively, and I knew he was already thinking of the reward that awaited him. He had no idea.
“What do you say, boy? You wouldn’t be on the run, would you?”
“The pack belongs to my brother,” Mal said easily.
“Maybe. And maybe we’ll let the captain at Chernast take a look at it and take a look at you. ”
Mal shrugged. “Good. I’d be happy to let him know you tried to rob us. ”
Lev didn’t seem to like that idea. “Let’s just take the money and go. ”
“Naw,” said Longface, still squinting at Mal. “He’s gone deserter or he took that off some other grunt. Either way, the captain’ll pay good money to hear about it. ”
“What about her?” Lev gave me another shake.
“She can’t be up to anything good if she’s traveling with this lot. Could be she’s done a runner, too. And if not, she’ll be good for a bit of fun. Won’t you, sweet?”
“Don’t touch her,” spat Mal, stepping forward.
With one swift movement, Longface brought the handle of his knife down hard on Mal’s head. Mal stumbled, one knee buckling, blood pouring from his temple.
“No!” I shouted. The man holding me clamped his hand back around my mouth, releasing my arm. That was all I needed. I flicked my wrist and the mirror slid between my fingers.
Longface loomed over Mal, the knife in his hand. “Could be the captain’ll pay whether he’s alive or dead. ”
He lunged. I twisted the mirror, and bright light shot into Longface’s eyes. He hesitated, throwing his hand up to block the glare. Mal seized his chance. He leapt to his feet and grabbed hold of Longface, throwing him hard against the wall.
Lev loosened his grip on me to raise Mal’s rifle, but I whirled on him, bringing the mirror up, blinding him.
“What the—” he grunted, squinting. Before he could recover, I slammed a knee into his groin. As he bent double, I put my hands on the back of his head and brought my knee up hard. There was a disgusting crunch, and I stepped backward as he fell to the ground clutching his nose, blood spurting between his fingers.
“I did it!” I exclaimed. Oh, if only Botkin could see me now.
“Come on!” Mal said, distracting me from my jubilation. I turned and saw Longface lying unconscious in the dirt.
Mal snatched up his pack and ran toward the opposite end of the alley, away from the noise of the parade. Lev was moaning, but he still had a grip on the rifle. I gave him a good hard kick in the gut and sprinted after Mal.
We darted past empty shops and houses and back across the muddy main road, then plunged into the woods and the safety of the trees. Mal set a furious pace, leading us through a little creek and then over a ridge, on and on for what felt like miles. Personally, I didn’t think the thieves were in any condition to come chasing after us, but I was also too out of breath to argue the point. Finally, Mal slowed and stopped, bending double, hands on knees, his breath coming in gasps.
I collapsed to the ground, my heart thudding against my ribs, and flopped onto my back. I lay there with the blood rushing in my ears, drinking in the afternoon light that slanted through the tops of the trees and trying to catch my breath. When I felt like I could talk, I pushed myself up on my elbows and said, “Are you okay?”
Gingerly, Mal touched the wound on his head. It had stopped bleeding, but he winced. “Fine. ”
“Do you think they’ll say anything?”
“Of course. They’ll see if they can get some coin for the information. ”
“Saints,” I swore.
“There’s nothing we can do about it now. ” Then, to my surprise, he cracked a smile. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“Grisha training,” I whispered dramatically. “Ancient secrets of the groin kick. ”
“Whatever works. ”
I laughed. “That’s what Botkin always says. ‘Not showy, just to make pain,’” I said, imitating the mercenary’s heavy accent.
“Smart guy. ”
