Badlands (10 page)

He gave his head a slow shake. “You don’t want me for a husband, Henri. I couldn’t settle down into the life you expect.” And he didn’t want to. He wanted the woman who was striding across the dock toward them.

“Then I guess you’ll just have to pay off the rest of what you owe.”

“Is there some sort of problem?” Ever stepped up behind Henri, her gaze shifting to the
Dark Hawk
more than either of them.

Henrietta smiled at Spencer. “No problem at all. It will just be a few months before Spencer has ownership of his precious dirigible. Until then, he answers to me.”

Before Spencer had the chance to respond, Ever said, “Has the ship been cleared to depart?”

“Yes, I took care of it before we left this morning.” Spencer cocked a brow at her, silently asking what she had in mind.

Ever brought her arm up and swung it. The butt of the pistol in her hand hit the base of Henri’s neck and the tiny woman crumpled into Spencer’s arms. He turned wide eyes on Ever. “What did you do?”

“I made it possible for us to both depart now and for you to answer to her later. At the moment though, it would seem imperative we get her on board and leave this place before anything else goes wrong.” She strode away from him, stuffing the gun back into its holster.

He swept Henrietta’s limp form into his arms and followed Ever, wondering if he was making the right decision after all.

Chapter Ten

They’d been in the air with no obvious sign of pursuit for a few hours before Henri’s screams garnered Noah’s attention. “Captain? I hate to be a bother, but Henri’s been howling like a banshee for a while now.”

Spencer’s jaw clenched and the muscles across his back tightened. His crew might not like Henri all that much, but they didn’t need to be party to what he and Ever had done.

Before he could say anything, Ever spoke up. “Yes, I think it is time we spoke to her. Perhaps you could take care of dinner since it does not seem like she has any intention of leaving her quarters?”

Noah shrugged and walked off toward the mess. Ever tipped her head in Spencer’s direction. He swallowed hard, unsure if he really wanted to be part of this discussion. But he’d made his choice and—God forgive him—he had no regrets.

He fell into step with Ever as she strode from the bridge. “Should the princess be present for this?”

Ever’s voice was tight. “She will have her own problems to deal with when we land. If she needs to know anything, I will tell her.” She passed her cabin without so much as a backward glance.

“The two of you have an interesting relationship considering your social status.” He wanted her to open up to him, to stop hiding behind this veil of duty.

“Yes. We do.” She pushed into Henri’s stateroom, and the screams hit them at full volume. While Spencer shut the door and tried to rein in his frustration at her evasive answer, Ever stepped over to where they’d bound Henri and slapped her across the face.

Henri glared at her. “What do you think—”

Ever pulled back and hit her again. Spencer didn’t say a word, and this time Henri was smart enough to follow his lead.

“Better,” Ever said. “We are going to have a little chat.”

“Are you going to let her—”

This time, Ever pulled out a knife and laid it within easy reach. Henri’s mouth snapped shut. “When we landed in Austin, you sent a message.” Eyes wide, Henri nodded. “We need to know what it said.”

Her gaze darted to Spencer. “I contacted my father. I was still angry about
her
coming aboard and upsetting everything.”

Knowing now that Henri had designs on marrying him, he could only imagine what she’d noticed in his interactions with Ever. “What did you tell him?”

When he spoke it seemed to give her strength, and Henri fixed her gaze on Ever, voice tinged once more with malice. “I won’t talk as long as
she’s
here.”

Ever snatched up the blade and pressed the tip to Henri’s cheek. “You so admired my marks before, but I never told you the method we use when there are no artists available to paint us. We carve out slices of skin with our blades. They heal as the most glorious scars. Truly beautiful. Perhaps you would like one.”

Henri trembled and a sob escaped her lips. “I told him we couldn’t land and Spencer rescued some barbarian woman with tattoos all over who didn’t even have the decency to cover herself around the men.”

Ever’s eyes darted to Spencer.

Mason was the only one outside his crew who knew Ever had been aboard his ship. He had the information and the technology in his own lab necessary to have attacked her with the clockworks.

Spencer’s throat constricted and a sour taste filled his mouth. It took every ounce of willpower he had to not strike out at Henri himself, if only because she was the closest he could get to her father at the moment.

No. Regardless of her part in this, the essential theft of the ship, the threat on Ever’s life and the attack on the Badlands were all her father’s responsibility. Henri shouldn’t have to pay for that, but Spencer hoped when the time came to put a bullet in the senator’s brain, he was the one pulling the trigger.

While he might not fully appreciate Ever’s methods, he nodded at her to continue—they needed these answers. And Henri still deserved some punishment for what she’d done.

“And when you met your father earlier, what did you discuss?”

When Henri didn’t respond quickly, Ever pressed on the blade hard enough it bit into her skin. A trickle of blood marred her pale cheek as tears filled her eyes. “He said I could have the ship if I agreed to delay this trip. That’s all I was supposed to do—slow you down.”

Did Mason know about the princess then? If all his information came from Henri, he couldn’t.

Her voice hard, Ever leaned close and hissed in Henri’s ear, “So why does he want to destroy the monarchy? Why did he have our queen killed?”

“He didn’t! He wouldn’t!”

Regardless of the damage Henrietta had done, Spencer knew she believed what she said. To a degree, Henri was a pawn in this game, just as he had been. As Ever pulled her hand back to strike, he stepped in and grabbed her wrist, shaking his head. He wouldn’t argue with her here, but he wouldn’t let this go on either. “Henri, I’m sorry, but you’re confined here until things are set right. You can be quiet, or I can leave Ever to keep you quiet.”

He pulled Ever through the door and shut it tightly before heading back toward the bridge.

Down the corridor, she shoved him against the wall. “Why didn’t you let me kill her? She betrayed you. She’s part of the plot that set this all in motion.”

Ignoring the anger flashing in her brilliant green eyes, Spencer ran a hand along her cheek. “Because she did something stupid and selfish, but she didn’t know.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“The same way I was sure that trusting you was the right thing to do.”

Ever introduced the princess simply as Laurette. She charmed the crew with her stories of university life. By the time they retired for the evening, Mahala and the men adored her.

“You handled that well. You’ll make a wonderful queen.” Ever tugged her boots off.

“It isn’t as if I had much choice in the matter. Someone had to succeed Mother and her other children weren’t exactly fit for the role. I just didn’t expect it to happen this soon.” Laurette took a silver-backed brush from her bag and ran it through her hair. “You look awful, by the way. Did you bring nothing with you when you left?”

Ever shrugged. “I brought what I needed.”

Laurette wrinkled her nose and scoffed, “No clothes, no toiletries. How many weapons?”

Lying back on the edge of the mattress, Ever huffed, “Does it matter? I brought the tools necessary for my job. Besides, when the attack happened, that was all I had time to gather. I was fighting when—” her voice caught, “—when it happened.”

Laurette lay next to her and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. It was insensitive of me to make jokes.”

“How can you be so calm? She is dead.” Ever hadn’t realized how badly she’d needed someone to talk to, someone who would understand.

“Because she suspected something. Travelers from the States requested permission to journey through our lands several years ago. More followed. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

Ever had known but, like the farmers who settled along the borderlands, Queen Lavinia had never made more than a passing mention of the men, simply issued the order that they were to be left alone. “She never said she considered them a threat. Why would she tell you and not me?”

Laurette gave a wan smile. “Because she didn’t know what the threat was, only that something wasn’t right. There were whispers of untapped wealth in our borders but nothing more.” She sighed. “You need an enemy to fight, Everette. Phantom worries don’t fear blades or guns. She told me so I’d be prepared, in case.”

It wasn’t good enough. If nothing else, as a commander in the queen’s army, Ever should have known. Her hands balled into fists, the braced one resisting the motion. She wanted to strike out at someone, specifically the dead queen, but that wasn’t possible, and she didn’t want to take out her anger on Laurette. She pushed up from the bed. “I do not feel the need for sleep tonight. Rest well. I will be nearby.”

“With the captain?”

Ever froze, her hand on the door. “What did you say?”

A small bell-like laugh sounded from the bed. “I’ve seen how you look at him. It’s the first time you’ve favored a man with that particular expression.”

Her muscles clenched tight and she fought back the few delicate memories of the kisses she’d shared with Spencer. “It does not matter. My duty is to you and the Badlands. I will not be with Captain Pierce. Get some rest, Your Highness.” The laughter followed her into the hall.

Outside, she slid down and leaned her head against the wall, wishing for an enemy to fight. As her eyes drifted shut, the visage of Senator Mason taunted her. She killed him a dozen ways while she slept.

As the ship came to life in the morning, Ever woke to find a blanket draped across her shoulders. Spencer squatted on his heels across the corridor, holding out a mug of chicory coffee. “We crossed into the Badlands a few minutes ago. The Mississippi River is behind us.”

Ever wanted to take it as an encouraging sign, but she wouldn’t feel better until Laurette was safely on the ground and she’d organized a group of diplomats to go after Mason. Then Ever could focus on what she did best, protecting the realm. “How long until we reach the fortress?”

Spencer scrubbed wearily at his face, hands brushing over the too-long stubble and framing his shadowed eyes. “We’re fighting the wind going this direction, but we’re light. We should be there sometime tomorrow, early if we’re lucky.”

Ever nodded.

His fingers lifted her chin. “We’ll get her there, Ever. One way or another.”

She met his eyes, and he started at something he saw there. “Laurette is the priority, Spencer. Promise me no matter what else happens, she is the one you will worry about.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to either of you.”

Her fingers grabbed his and squeezed. “Swear if you must choose, you will save her.”

He searched her face before sighing. “I promise.”

“Get some rest, I have a feeling the worst is not behind us.”

He stood and stepped past her into his quarters.

She hated herself for not offering him something more, some comfort he could cling to, but more than before, she had to focus on duty and ignore the voice in her head telling her to go to him.

She was still sitting there, waiting for Laurette to rise for the day, when Zeke almost tripped over her legs. Her head shot up, instantly alert. “What is happening?”

Zeke glanced at Spencer’s door. “It might be nothing.”

“Or it might not.” He nodded and Ever pushed to her feet. “I am going with you.” She needed the activity. Anything was better than sitting around waiting.

He didn’t pause, just continued on to the hatch leading to the gunboat. As he knelt in front of it, he said, “Can you make it down with your arm?”

“If not, I will fall to my death.” She grabbed the ladder with her good arm and slid down. “Contrary to popular belief though, I do not have any desire to die just yet.”

Zeke dropped next to her and fixed his gaze toward the ship’s stern, raising a hand to shield his eyes against the early morning sunlight. “Cuss it all, can’t see any better from here.”

Unsure what he was looking for, Ever fumbled with her belt before dislodging her oculars. She pushed the spring and twisted the lenses out. “Perhaps these will help. What did you see?”

“A speck.”

“Speck?”

“Against the sunlight. A dark speck.” He swept the oculars across the sky, coming to rest at a spot directly behind the ship. “Damn.” Without another word, he thrust the oculars back in her hand and made for the ladder.

“What is it?”

“It’s time to wake the cap’n. The speck is flying, and it ain’t no damn bird.” Zeke pulled himself up the ladder and disappeared.

Ever trained the oculars on the area he’d been watching. It was still quite far, but Zeke was right. Another airship pursued them.

Spencer dropped into the gunboat a few hours later. “I brought you something to eat.”

Ever hadn’t come up after the discovery, and she needed her strength. She tore a hunk of bread with her teeth. “They are faster than us.”

It wouldn’t have mattered if they were slower and they both knew it. Simply crowning the princess wouldn’t solve the Badlands’ problems. They were low on soldiers and had escaped prisoners to round up. The other craft could join the
Dark Hawk
on the ground and kill Princess Laurette as easily as they could from the air. But he knew Ever needed to believe they had a chance. “How long till they’re in firing range?”

“It depends if they have more of those cursed gliders. Those will reach us faster than the guns.”

Unless they learned from her little trick last time. “At worst?”

“With gliders? From what Zeke said, shortly after nightfall. Without, we might make it till sunrise.” Her voice was calm, even, not a hint of nerves at what was to come. “I would advise all the ammunition for these weapons be brought down now.”

He didn’t want to tell her, but there was no way around it. “This is all the ammo.”

She glanced around, and he knew what she saw. Possibly two dozen rounds for each gun, likely less. “It might be enough, but I would ask that you make certain Laurette is safe in case of a forced landing.”

“She’s asking for you.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d asked once, but he hoped it would bring Ever back inside.

“Tell her I know how to do my job.”

By the stern set of her shoulders, he knew there was no changing her mind. He climbed the ladder and set to securing the ship as best he could.

“Cap’n, I got a better look at the other ship. We can’t take ’em. It’s one of the new Class 3s.” Zeke helped him tie down the last of the equipment in the loading bay.

Spencer swallowed hard. With a ship like that, it had to be Mason. No one else would have reason to pursue them. The senator would have his ship outfitted with the best weapons too. They’d destroy the
Dark Hawk
and likely kill everyone in the process. Ever was worth losing the
Hawk
, but not if she didn’t survive.

She wasn’t going to like his plan. Not at all. “Meet me on the bridge in five minutes.” He raced to his quarters and unbound his desk, pulling his charts of the area free before slamming the drawer shut again.