Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (z-lib.org).mobi

“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.”
“Nah,” 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 travelling 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
backwards 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.