Badlands (4 page)

“Here,” he said, dabbing at her arm with the cloth. “Keep some pressure on it unless you want to pay Henri a return visit. Personally, I don’t much fancy the idea of seeing her again tonight.”

“Nor do I. Thank you for your kindness.” She held the fabric, convinced it was her own fingers that so warmed her skin.

“For now, why don’t we discuss this mission of yours in a bit more detail?” He pulled the chair over from the desk, flipped it around and straddled it, crossing his arms along the back and looking at her.

Ever fought the urge to squirm under his scrutiny. She wasn’t a criminal and this was not an interrogation. So why did his staring make her so uncomfortable? Instead of dwelling, she forced her thoughts to the matter at hand.

“Queen Lavinia is dead. Her daughter, Laurette, is deep within the borders of the United States at university. We must return her to the Badlands with all haste.” When the captain didn’t say anything, she pressed on, “Every day without a ruler, the Badlands will fall more and more into the hands of the prisoners. It will turn into the wild, untamed land the Union always believed it to be, and it will be that much harder for rule to be reestablished.”

The captain’s mouth quirked to the side. “My employer might take issue with the
Dark Hawk
doing this job off the books.”

Her lips pressed tight together. If he wasn’t going to help her, she’d already told him too much. “If you are unwilling to assist me then I will, of course, seek out another vessel at the earliest convenience.” She stood and swept up the clothes from the bed. “My heartfelt appreciation for the medical care and transport to your ship’s berth.” Ever tried to squeeze past him.

He caught her arm in a gentle, but firm, grip. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t help you, only that we need to keep it quiet. I need this shipping route to stay open and active and that won’t happen if your government collapses. But Henrietta’s father owns the
Dark Hawk
until I pay off my contract. He doesn’t want to give up the ship and is waiting for me to give him a reason not to. Which means Henri can’t know what we’re doing until it’s too late for her to cause problems. And it’s best if you don’t discuss it with the crew because not all of them can be trusted to keep their traps shut.”

“None of them?” She forced herself to think of Zeke and ignored the heat burning through her at the captain’s touch.

“It’s probably safer.”

“And what assurance do I have that I can trust you, Captain?”

He tipped his head back and met her gaze, turmoil stirring in the depths of his eyes. “None. I’ve nothing to offer you but my word.”

Chapter Four

The look Ever shot him pierced his heart, pain tinged with fear and sadness. Soon enough she schooled her features back into their normal stern set. “Then forgive me for saying I will only provide you with information when necessary. For now, all you need to know is I require passage to and from the Union.”

Spencer stood, his hand still on her arm, unwilling to lose the contact it offered him. “Ever, I’m not saying you can’t trust me, only that I don’t have something tangible that says I won’t betray you. All I’ve got is my promise that your success means my livelihood.” Standing, their eyes were almost level, he only had to tip his down slightly to meet her gaze. “I don’t need details yet, but I’m not your enemy. If you know some way for me to prove it, I’m more than willing to try.”

Her lips pressed together and pain filled her eyes once more as she shook her head. “I would like to believe the time will come when a test is not needed, but this is too important.” She tore from his grasp and strode into the corridor.

He stared after her retreating form for a long moment then he sank into the chair, head in his hands. Women. Every time he let one onto this ship, things went sour. Though to be fair, Ever had been rescued and he wasn’t given a choice about Henri. Mahala was the only woman he’d invited aboard since Elsbeth.

He raised his head and glanced at the tintype next to his bed. They both looked so serious; they’d been told not to smile. The instant the process was complete they’d burst into gales of laughter, teasing each other about how ship’s officers needed to be able to wear the severe expression far longer than the photographer had expected.

Then they’d left their parents and taken the
Dark Hawk
up for its maiden voyage. She sailed with him for nearly five years. Until the day they’d gone hunting with Zeke after off-loading cargo. While Spencer and Zeke argued about who had brought the elk down, Elsbeth raced ahead to finish it off.

Her scream had made his blood run cold.

Elsbeth wasn’t the only one who had rushed in to claim the kill. A puma stood atop her body. Four bloody gashes stretched from her shoulder across her abdomen. Both men cocked their rifles but the sound didn’t frighten the animal away. It turned toward them, and the far side of its head reflected the sunlight. Metal rivets were driven into the animal’s skull, holding a monocle in position where its eye should have been. The monocle turned, focusing on them.

“Cap’n, we need to go,” Zeke’s voice quivered with something too close to fear for Spencer’s liking. The wind eddied, dirt swirling around them like a vortex.

The smell of blood and animals assaulted his nose. “After we get Elsbeth.”

“She’s dead. That thing’s been let loose. It don’t have a master out here telling it what to do. It’s a killing machine, Spence. We can’t stop it.” The big man’s hand fell on Spencer’s arm, pulling him away from the scene. “You have to let her go, Cap’n.”

Spencer shrugged off his first officer’s grip. “The ship can’t fly if we’re all dead. Go back to the
Dark Hawk
. I’ll either be a few minutes behind you, or I’m not coming.”

As expected, Zeke followed orders. Spencer trained his gun on the puma’s clockwork eye, and it let out a snarl. Without hesitating, he pulled the trigger. The animal twisted, its claws digging into Elsbeth’s exposed skin. As the bullet impacted its side, its body flew backward, claws ripping through flesh and muscle.

Spencer shouldered the weapon and raced forward to scoop his sister up. The mechanical eye of the puma twisted and refocused on his face. He turned from it and carried Elsbeth back to the ship, her blood tracing their path in the dirt. In his guilt over leaving, Zeke volunteered for the transfusion she needed. Elsbeth had died with a scream on her lips that sounded eerily like the puma. The clockwork eye had haunted Spencer’s dreams ever since.

“Something on your mind, Spencer?”

Henri’s voice jerked him from the memory. Eyes still on the tintype, he swallowed hard once, cursing himself for both dwelling on the past and for leaving his door open. He stood and carried the chair back to his desk. “Nothing of a medical nature.” It was the most polite way he could tell her it was none of her business.

She moved closer until her corseted breasts brushed against his arm. “Your mental health is as important to me as your physical well-being.”

He stepped away and waved her into the corridor. After shouldering past her, Spencer eased the door shut. “My head is fine too, Henrietta. What do you need?”

She sniffed. “Our new passenger has claimed a corner of the loading bay as her home. While I appreciate that she has covered herself, this presents yet a new set of problems.” Strands of hair had fallen from her coiffure, a sure sign Henri had already had her own run-in with Ever.

“I’ll take care of it.” He had a ship to manage. He didn’t have time to keep running interference between the two of them.

Packed as it was with goods intended for the fortress, Spencer had to wend his way through the loading bay. He found Ever seated in a far corner, her back against the wall as she combed fingers through the snarls in her damp hair. How Henri discovered her stowed all the way back here, he’d never know. She’d donned the green shirt under her belt, the other hung draped across a nearby crate.

Not wanting to startle her, Spencer cleared his throat.

She didn’t even glance up, just kept tugging fingers through her hair. “Captain.” Her voice was flat, giving nothing away.

He sighed, wishing just once she would meet him halfway. Why did she have to make everything so difficult? “I may have to earn your trust, but as a gesture of good faith, I’d like to offer you a proper bunk.”

The snort that came from the corner was the last thing he expected. “Lying does not exactly inspire my faith in you.” She raised her head and met his eyes at last. “Your little doll already informed me I could not stay here. Like the clothing, I will accept the sleeping arrangements in order to keep your crew happy.” Ever pushed up from the ground and gathered the shirt and her weapons. “But do not pretend it is some noble gesture.”

There was nothing Spencer could say to that. He kicked himself mentally. She was right and he’d managed to shove her further away with the deception. He’d planned on assigning her quarters, but it happened now because Henri pushed and he caved. Just like with the clothes. At what point had he lost control of his ship?

Ever followed the captain back up from the bowels of the ship to the corridor she’d run from earlier. He opened the door directly next to his quarters. She paused a moment. She’d staked out the spot below to be as far from him as possible. The suggested cabin was much too close.

“When Henri came aboard, she claimed our stateroom, said it was her right as the owner’s daughter. I hope crew quarters are acceptable.” His face colored a tiny bit.

Did the woman always get her way? Ever glanced inside. The cabin was similar to his, but without the personal touches: the desk less worn, blanket instead of coverlet, bare walls, and not a tintype to be seen. “I do not require finery. This is more than adequate. Thank you.”

“If you need anything, I’m next door. Mahala’s across the way, and Zeke next to her.”

Ever nodded and moved to the closet, swaying with the gentle motion of the airship. The brass hangers inside were fixed on the rod, and she buttoned the top of the blouse as she hung it up. When she stepped back, Spencer was still standing in the doorway. “Is there something else?”

“Yes. Our conversation earlier interrupted my attempts to rectify your clothing situation—”

“I am passable now, correct?” Ever waved a hand at the shirt.

“Of course, I just thought you might want—”

Zeke popped his head into the room. “There you are, Cap’n. Mahala says we crossed the border several miles back. We should be in Austin by morning.”

“Austin?” Ever knew the people of Texas were wild, like the Badlands, but with men in charge they had little order or stability. South of the Badlands, their territory stretched east to the cursed Mississippi River, west to the ocean and south to Mexico. Her soldiers often traded with Texans during patrols and she’d learned enough about the geography to know the
Dark Hawk
’s destination lay well within its borders. “Why so far south? We need to—”

Spencer held up a hand to silence her and she crossed her arms, glowering at him while she waited. “Thank you, Zeke. Tell Mahala if she sets us a course, I can take over the helm so she can rest.”

Zeke nodded, favored Ever with a smile and disappeared back into the corridor.

Stepping to the door, Captain Pierce eased it shut. “We’re going to Austin because a straight shot to the north puts us over too much Badlands territory. Another air battle isn’t on my list of things to do. Besides, Zeke’s family lives there. We can unload and make better speed. I’m trying to keep your secret, Ever, but if you make a habit of questioning my decisions in front of the crew, it’s going to be hard.” He rubbed a hand across his brow with a weary sigh. “You need to get some rest. We’ll outfit you better in Austin. I have some favors I can call in.”

His words were like a slap in the face. She was doing as much to risk the princess as anyone with the way she hounded him. As the captain laid his hand on the door, Ever stopped him with a word. “Apologies, Captain. I am accustomed to making decisions, not being unaware of them. Please forgive me.”

The nod he gave was the barest of movements. “Get some sleep.” He pushed the door open and left her alone.

She stood, staring at the door for several minutes before she accepted that he wouldn’t return. Her fingers tore at the buckles of her weapons belt and she tossed it onto the bed. The gaslamps burned low, their radiance reflecting off the furniture’s brass fixings. She removed the borrowed shirt and sank onto the bed, intending to simply rest her eyes for a few minutes.

As soon as the mattress enveloped her body though, fatigue overtook her.

Visions haunted her sleep. The queen’s head on a pike, screaming at her to fulfill her role then telling her she had earned a reprieve from duty. Clockwork animals stabbing at her skin, bringing both life and death. Princess Laurette’s murder in a dozen vivid incarnations. The gliders falling from the sky, bodies mangled as they crashed into the rocks below. The faces of the
Dark Hawk
’s crew painted in blood. Zeke. No. Spencer.

Ever flailed on the bed, her limbs tangled in the blankets, a silent scream on her lips. Sweat drenched her body when she finally awoke, breath coming in panicked gasps. Sitting up on the bed, her fingers searched out her weapons but touching them brought little comfort. She knew sleep wouldn’t come easy the rest of the night. After dressing, she made her way to the bridge, intending to sit up with the young pilot. Mahala hadn’t seemed the sort to insist on small talk.

When she stepped onto the bridge, she almost turned around. Captain Pierce still sat at the helm. His shoulders hunched and his head drooped. If he’d fallen asleep, she couldn’t leave him without endangering the ship. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped forward, her hand poised over his shoulder.

“Hello, Ever. Have a seat.” He hadn’t even turned around.

Uncertain if she should, Ever eased into the other chair. “I thought perhaps you were asleep.”

“And that brought you to the bridge in the middle of the night to check?”

“No. I meant I came here and—”

Spencer chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. “I knew what you meant. What are you doing awake?”

“I could ask you the same,” she said, unwilling to divulge the contents of her nightmares or the fact that she’d had them at all, especially the one involving him.

A gentle rise and fall of his shoulders seemed the only answer she would get. Minutes passed before he said, “I’d imagine something similar to what brought you up here on this beautiful night. Memories that won’t die and worries about the hornet’s nest we’re stepping into.”

She shivered at how right he was. “I apologize for dragging you into this mess. I’m certain the princess can arrange for advance payment on your delivery, and once you have safely returned her to the Badlands, I will make sure you are duly compensated.” No matter how steady she kept her voice, Ever knew it wouldn’t be as simple as she’d made it sound. Another tremor rocked her body.

Spencer shrugged off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. “I definitely appreciate that, but I’ll tell you, in my experience, people step into messes of their own accord. You didn’t force me to save you. I just hope we’re the best people for the job you’ve got planned, because I sure don’t know who to point you toward.”

Ever pulled the coat tighter around her shoulders as another chill ran over her spine. She tried to ignore the warmth from his body and the scent of him that clung to the fabric, even as another part of her wanted to wrap herself in it further. She forced her gaze and mind to the window, watching as light seeped into the night sky, bleeding it of color. She tried not to think about who was the best person for the job she had in mind at the moment. The one that had little to do with saving the Badlands. Instead they passed the rest of the night in awkward silence.

Once the
Dark Hawk
was secured to the ground later that morning, Spencer and Zeke went off in search of Zeke’s father. It left Ever on the ship with Noah and the women.

Noah cornered her at the mess table, his clothes and hair still disheveled from sleep. “So how in the blazes did you make it up that mountain in the first place?” He plucked a roll from the bowl in front of them. “And how’d you manage to bring down the other ship? Had to be some crazy shooting out there.” His head inclined toward Ever’s as if she would whisper the answer.

“Nonsense,” Henrietta announced, sweeping into the room. “Ezekial shot down the dirigible. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Noah’s proximity might have made her uncomfortable, but Henri’s words were the first thing to pierce Ever’s barriers. She glared at the other woman, once more in an elaborate costume.