A Tale of Two Airships (Take to the Skies Book 2) (16 page)

All the insanity bubbled underneath the surface, and I let out a laugh. We’d been dealt a shit hand, but the lot of us had, time and time again. After awhile, you grew used to the crazy and kept charging forward. The sky, my girl, and my crew were all I needed to stay in the ring. A recipe for chaos, sure, but they’d seen me through the worst of times and never failed me. We had two stops in Shantytown, and then, the damned gypsy clan better cling to their guns and shake in their boots, because we were coming for them.

Chapter Sixteen

After a couple shoddy attempts of sleep, I’d ended up roaming the decks by dawn. The pale air crystallized in the wispy clouds descending onto the planks, creating a rolling mist. Even though the moment our meeting ended all I wanted to do was take Geoff to my bunk and have my way with him, someone had to steer our ship, and he made the best candidate. The moment dawn broke though, I relieved him of duty. He needed sleep, and I could manage to keep my hands on the wheel for a couple hours at least, since we were following Spade’s expert navigation.

The first hour or two passed with barely a blip on the horizon as I gripped the wheel and stared out across the ship. Until a tall figure broke up the monotony as he approached, obscured by the mist. Only one man reached that height aboard this ship though, so I could easily guess who.

“Heyyo, Mordecai,” I called out. 

“Beatrice.” He nodded in acknowledgement as he settled against the navigation bay’s wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “I heard word about those missing.”

“Well, no need for worry. We’ll be getting them back as soon as we return our rental.” I flashed him a wide grin, projecting confidence I didn’t feel. 

“I suppose we’ll be needing to make a call to Morgan Blackwind?” He lifted a brow, unable to hide his smile. The man’s calm presence filtered through the ship like this rolling mist. Jensen had once offered a different sort of confidence to our crew, but Mordecai’s calculated patience proved infinitely more useful than a traitor’s. “Have you given more thought to my suggestion regarding the estate heist?” he asked.

I nodded. “I haven’t brought it up to Isabella though. Not sure what she’d make of the whole thing. Figured we could cross that bridge when we came to it.”

A half smile played on his lips. “Never the planner.”

“Wouldn’t be nearly as fun.” I gave him a wide grin in return.

The wind swept his hair back, long blonde strands tumbling behind him. He had a noble arch to his nose as he stared at the horizon, chin lifted. “You know, I never thought I’d be here this long—three years in one place is a record for me.”

With a nod, I murmured my agreement. Inside, my stomach flopped with unease. When folks started those sorts of statements, they often tended to end with farewells. Instead of jumping in though, I let him continue.

“This has been the first place I can say I’ve never had wanderlust hit. Normally by now, I’d have the itch under my skin to depart, but I have to say—as insane as some of your plans are, you delivered on your promise. Life’s been quite interesting ever since I boarded. You’re the sort of captain who inspires this crew to follow you to the brink—a dedication I’ve rarely seen outside of the military. With no sense of urgency under my feet, I think I’ll be riding this ship out for quite a while to come.”

His words warmed my chest better than a draught of whisky. Though most of the time I fumbled my way ahead through this insanity, knowing my crew believed in me made the difference. Our life wasn’t an easy one, and we made more and more enemies as the years passed, but the lot of us hadn’t signed on for an easy ride. We earned our freedom to fly the skies through hard work and blood, and I didn’t hire any slouches.

“Why Mordecai, all this flattery will go right to my head, and no one needs my ego expanding. Make the phone call to Blackwind—let’s wake him bright and early.”

He let out a rich laugh and made his way to the rails to get some relative privacy. The crew might believe in me now when the sun shone and we’d made it out of the storm, but time would see if that lasted. After all, we had not only Edward and Viola to bail out, but a confrontation against the gypsies promising a bloody resolution. Wind breathed life into me, but also a subtle anxiousness fluttered through my brain. 

Though Geoff had been in his chambers for a short couple hours, he approached from the steps with his hair tousled and still yawning.

“To bed with you, boy-o,” I called out, grabbing his attention. Mordecai shot me a withering glance as he spoke into his headpiece, and I gave a sheepish shrug. Nobody could cure my loud mouth.

“Ach,” Geoff grumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Can’t sleep right now. Not with this lovely date you’ve got planned for us today. You know, some couples go out for dinner, not rescue kidnapped bounty hunters and set up heists. Did you mention said heist to Isabella yet?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re the second person to ask me, and it isn’t even noon. Isabella will find out when she needs to. We’re not looking to make her Queen of the Gypsies or anything idiotic, just break into her family’s estate and steal the medallion. Once we’ve got their trinket in our hands, she can elect someone to lead the clan who’s willing to deal with our sorry asses.”

Geoff snorted. “Well, when you put it like that…”

I stepped away from the wheel, letting him take control. “She’s not going to like it either way. But this is our sole bargaining chip against the gypsies, and if we can find a way to swindle them into releasing their captives and not killing the lot of us, I’ll take it.”

“I wouldn’t like what either way?” an all too familiar voice sounded behind me. Damn the woman and her ninja-like ability to sneak. Isabella sauntered up with raised brows and arms crossed, all the signs she’d been listening longer than she let on. She appeared more refreshed than the lot of us, wearing a ruffled dusky rose skirt, cream blouse, and brown leather cincher.

“Wouldn’t like raiding dear old Grandma’s house.” I shrugged.

“And why would we be doing that?” Her clipped tone gave her away, but I didn’t need those cues to tell she didn’t take kindly to the proposition. See, Isabella had this habit of narrowing her eyes the slightest bit, but the second those lashes dipped, she was pissed.

“Because it’s the smartest move, sweetpea. While I don’t trust Julian, if there’s a chance this map is legitimate and you might have a claim to the gypsy line—if any of what he said had a remote truth to it—we could try to use it and barter a treaty. If not ally, at least no longer enemy. We’ve already been placed on the Brit and Morlock shit list, and our ex-employer, whose name we still don’t know, is after us, yet again.”

Isabella frowned, running a hand through her tangled curls. “You pose good points, Captain dearest. Much more concise than normal.” She shot a glance towards Mordecai. “I’m guessing you weren’t the originator of this plan.”

I sniffed the air. “I’m perfectly capable of complex and well plotted plans.”

Geoff let out a laugh. Traitor. The grin didn’t leave his lips as he chimed in. “Doll, your plans consist of swinging into battle on a rope while screaming at the top of your lungs.”

Isabella cracked a grin, the tension in her stance dissipating as she shook her head. “Well, I suppose the logic of it makes sense. Mordecai’s a talented tactician.”

A tinge of jealousy flooded through me—not like I couldn’t share the glory, but hell. Every move I’d made led us to disaster, and our insistent bad luck made it difficult to believe I did a capable job at captaining the Desire. I had my crew’s confidence, but that traveled short distances when I didn’t have my own. I sucked in a breath and let out my thoughts. I needed a win. We all did, and badly.

“Besides, you needn’t worry about any heist yet,” I jumped in. “If Operation Save Prissy and Pissy fails, we won’t even get that far.”

“Oh come on now, they were lovely folks.” Isabella almost withheld her smile.

Mordecai approached, his boots quaking the timbers with his solid tread. His expression was neutral, not negative, so I assumed our plans for the exchange were still in motion. “He agreed on a meeting place and time. The whole thing was quite civilized.”

“The recipe for a backstabbing.” I scanned the skies. Barely a cloud in sight on this gorgeous day blossoming. “Lucky for us, we’re old vets at the trade of trusting no one.”

***

A good portion of the day had been spent fine tuning our weapons and keeping tabs on the engine as we sailed towards Shantytown. In a short span we’d made it to an all too familiar dock though, and I’d be lying if I trusted a smooth time on shore. The Fireswamp breached the port first, and she glided in with the quality landing of a professional, unsurprising with Spade at the helm. Of course my girl made as fashionable of an entrance, skimming the surface of the sea as we slowed to the shore.

Matilda hung heavy on my side, and though Geoff and Isabella toted their newfound AK-551s, I caught their old familiars strapped on.

As Spade pulled into the dock, I grabbed my comm. “Wait for us to unload first. Don’t want you two accosted the second you try to leave.” At least we had Blackwind’s lack of knowledge to our advantage. He’d encountered us when we were missing the Desire, and only some of us registered on his radar. The Fireswamp would be the ship at most peril of being jumped before the tradeoff. My heart fluttered in my chest at an off beat. So many loose threads dangled out of our reach right now, and I wanted to seize the reins.

The moment the Desire creaked into place, the first bullets pierced the air.

I ducked on instinct at the sound, even though by the time the noise broke it was already too late. However, those guns hadn’t been aimed in our direction. No shots flew overhead, and in an instant I knew. The Fireswamp had been sighted and would be the clear target.

Crouching, I pressed down my comm. “Spade, duck and hang tight. We’ve got you covered.”

“Crew,” I barked, lifting Matilda in a quick sweep. “Looks like our friends want to take back their ship by force. Fire the warning shots, but if possible, capture is better than kill. We want bartering tools.” Good ol’ piracy. With my kind, I could always count on an abundance of mistrust.  We could’ve had a nice, smooth exchange, but no, it was
much
easier for them to shoot until they got what they wanted. No wonder we took their ship over so easily.

Peering over the side of the rails, I scanned the area below. Two of them aboard made me uneasy still. Not as easy to defend a ship when the numbers weren’t on your side. Luckily, they had us. Morgan Blackwind’s people weren’t hanging out in the open—they weren’t idiots—and they’d chosen obscured spots along the far side of the harbormaster’s building, the bastards. Which meant we couldn’t hang at the railings and snipe them from above.

I groaned and booked it to the opposite end of the ship, the straps of my trusty aviator’s cap slapping the sides of my neck. “Geoff, Nathaniel, follow me. Isabella, you lead the ranged assault from here. We’ve got some friends to tap on the shoulder.”

Scaling down this side kept us out of view; however, I didn’t like the peppering of bullets through the air, because it only took one perfect shot for tragedy to strike. With a firm grip on the rope, I bounded down the side of the ship, keeping tabs on my surroundings all the while. After all, more of their rabble might lurk in the corners. Geoff and Nathaniel followed, climbing down above me. My heart jumped in my chest with the bursts of gunfire, and adrenaline filtered through in anticipation.

The second my boots thudded to the ground, I raced along the side of the ship to where the small platform met with the main, straining to catch sight of our attackers. Jack popped up, attempting to return fire, and the threat kept them from dashing out to seize the ship. However, they’d begun to get wary of his approach, and the rifle peeped out from behind the wall—the next time he attempted interference would be his last.

Which meant we’d better introduce ourselves.

Geoff and Nathaniel hit the docks behind me with two thuds.

“Ready to make friendly?” I asked, a grin flashing on my face. We might lose the element of surprise, but it never served me well anyway. Both men grunted in response, and I took the cue. Dashing out past the cover, I lifted my pistol, aimed, and fired. The shot whizzed over the barrel of the rifle, causing it to bob. They hadn’t expected anyone else to join the party.

Several unfamiliar faces peeked out from behind the side of the building, shooting looks our way. Metal glinted under the sunlight as I raced to the building, diving to the opposite wall for cover. With any luck, we could sneak around and approach from behind. Two pronged fronts were much more difficult to defend against. Bullets zipped through the air as I hurled myself towards cover. I tuck-and-rolled, my elbows grazing the ground and dirt imprinting on my pants.

A shout sounded behind me, and my heart seized. I wheeled around, surging to my feet behind the safety of the harbormaster’s office. Geoff barreled towards me, determination flashing in his gaze and his steps long and loping. Nathaniel gripped his arm as he charged forward, a telltale stain of blood on his sleeve. We couldn’t wait around here in case the Fireswamp lot started channeling our ideas.

I gave Nathaniel a second to dart past the wooden frame of the rundown building before I launched in motion again, racing towards the back of the offices. Shots pierced empty air past us, but they’d missed their window. Now we would seize ours, because we were in the market for some hostages.

My boots screeched as I came to a halt behind the Harbormaster’s office. Skidding into the back alley would get me killed. The backside of the building spanned long enough for the run to be a risk, not a quick dash—and anyone spotted on the expanse painted themselves a clear target. The wooden slats of the pier rolled out until they greeted the cement and dirt roads leading out of the port with few infrastructures blocking the way. More was the pity for anyone fool enough to stumble into this standstill.