Rebel, Brave and Brutal (Winter, White and Wicked #2)


 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright Page
 Dedication
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 Chapter 32
 Chapter 33
 Chapter 34
 Chapter 35
 Chapter 36
 Chapter 37
 Chapter 38
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Rebel Brave and Brutal
 Copyright Page
 Dedication
 Chapter 1
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 
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 For every rebel breaking under the weight of their own heart.
 You were never meant to travel this road alone.
 Find your crew.
 
 
 CHAPTER 1
 Winter Bites.
 Her teeth are jagged, and she’s not shy about using them. Not when she’s being ordered about. Hours of practice commanding Winter, and frostbite crusts my lips. My throat is raw from shouting into the wind, and my legs ache from negotiating the ever-tilting deck of this wretched ship.
 “You’ve stopped listening, Miss Quine.” Mars stands next to me at the railing of the Maree Vale, same as he did yesterday. Ordering me about as I order Winter.
 “But you haven’t stopped talking,” I say. “One of us is going to have to adapt.”
 “My thoughts precisely.” He crosses his arms, nods at the storm I set swirling just far enough off our port side that Winter’s rains can’t touch us. “You’ve done well to establish yourself as Winter’s superior, but you’re still wrestling with the nature of your commands. You’re giving her creative license, letting her choose when and how to comply.”
 I stifle a yawn. “And that’s wrong?”
 “Revelation number four, Miss Quine. You must be specific. She has to obey your commands, but she’s not obliged to assume your intentions. If you leave your orders open to her interpretation, you may cause damage you didn’t intend.”
 “Right. You said that.”
 “I did. And you need to keep it in mind. Your next task is to compel Winter to act against her own interests. Not just to obey when she’d rather not, but to follow your orders even when it diminishes her.”
 “Diminish—What? How?”
 “However you can.”
 “I have no idea how to make her do that.”
 “Think on the wolves, Miss Quine. At High Pass.”
 High Pass. When Mars forced her to attack the Frost Whites, her favorites.
 “There are no wolves at sea,” I muse, “but I suppose I could—”
 He holds up his hand. “You need not be specific with me, but you must be with her. Do you understand?”
 “I understand.”
 But right now, I’d trade all the magic in my blood for some shut-eye.
 The Maree Vale has a lively crew. They’re a lot like the riggers I know, except there’s no relaxing out here on the Kol Sea, and to stay alert, they make bawdy jokes and sing songs that ring out over the deck of this three-hundred-year-old vessel day and night.
 And then there’s the bell at the helm, ringing loud and long at the top of every hour, reminding all those on board, save Mars and me, to swap their twyl chewing gum for a fresh piece. A necessary inconvenience to keep the kol madness at bay, since the black mineral is thick in both the water and the air, but that bell is impossible to