Crimson Sky: A Dark Sky Novel (24 page)

“You can’t!” he shouted at me. His hold was so tight it hurt. “It’ll kill you!”

There was pain and urgency in his voice. I had told him that the Volt would burn a person to cinders if it were touched while open and charged. I put my hands on Sawyer’s chest and pushed him away, balling my fists to hold onto my fear.

“Not if I let out a small charge,” I argued, though I was probably lying. The Volt was my last resort in every sense of the world. It carried the largest form of electricity that I could create. Even a small amount could kill me if I held it too long.

“I’ll keep it in place and release just enough energy to short circuit the fuses,” I said, terrified of what that would do to me. “The Volt will still have enough power to dismantle the
Behemoth
.”

“I don’t care about that!” Sawyer shouted back.

I stood in place, speechless and nearly oblivious to the chaos around me. Sawyer looked wretched, heartbroken even. In this moment, I knew it was for me.

Hellions shrieked again. I swore I heard Davin’s cruel shout. Gemma and Nash screamed for help. The clouds blurred outside of the windows as we continued to fall.

I grabbed Sawyer by the lapels of his coat and shoved him in the direction of his crewmates. “Buy me some time!”

He stumbled out of my reach, torn about leaving me. I didn’t spare him a second glance. I dropped back to the panel and started on the last of the screws, hardly able to see through the tears in my eyes. I ignored everything around me– the shouts and screams from the battle, the changing pressure in the air, the forward tilting of the
Behemoth
. I pulled away the front panel and took a quick look inside. Neatly organized wires surrounded unmoving gears, proving that the lock was in place. Once I set the Volt against it and gave it a surge of electricity, they would start moving again. It was a basic lesson Garnet had taught me once upon a time.

But he also said that doing it with too much power could kill me.

I took the Volt out of its pouch and looked at it. I had made this device with care and dedication, knowing that one day it would get me out of a truly dire situation.

I just didn’t consider that the same situation would likely cause my death.

Pressing my thumb onto the top button and listening to the Volt whir as it began to open, I thought about my sister. How I might never see her again. I had to tell myself that Riley had gotten her and the others to safety, and out of range of the crash.

Shoving my hand into the control panel to find the mechanical base of the helm and feeling the electricity snap against my wrist, I thought about the marauders. How they’d become my unlikely, confusing friends. I had to believe that Sawyer would be able to take control of the
Behemoth
and land it safely enough for them to survive. They’d kept their promise to me about Abby and were fighting for their lives. They had to come out of this intact and breathing. They would find another way to destroy the
Behemoth
when it reached the ground.

I had little hope for me, but if I was going to sacrifice my life, it had to mean something.

I closed my eyes, placed the Volt against the inside of the helm, and pressed the button.

Chapter 15

In a flash of white light and searing pain, I understood what the
Behemoth
’s hull had gone through. Every explosion shattered and tore through its frame, drawing in torrents of ferocious, screeching winds that pummeled everything inside it. The air became a flood that battered anything it touched, searching for destruction and causing catastrophic pain. Just when the
Behemoth
thought it was safe, that the pain was over, another explosion ripped through it, adding to the agony, making it an inescapable nightmare.

There were no thoughts other than pain. I tasted torture in the air, felt agony along my skin, heard suffering ring through my ears. The world was timeless, excruciating torment.

Something hard jerked against my fingertips, tearing another blood curdling scream from my throat. My hand released the Volt and I collapsed onto my back. I didn’t remember where I was, couldn’t see past the stars in my vision, wasn’t able to hear anything but the aggressive buzzing in my ears. I felt raw and exposed, like a nerve being prodded by a knife. Something wet slipped from the corners of my eyes, either tears or blood. My back slid along the floor. The ship was still tilting. We were still going to crash.

I don’t care,
I thought.
If it stops the pain, I don’t care.

“Get her!” someone shouted. He sounded familiar, terrified. I couldn’t place his voice. My brain was scrambled and messy, broken from the torture I’d put it through.

Hands grabbed my legs and held me in place. I screamed from the sudden touch, my body still tender from the Volt’s electrocution. I whimpered and cried as I was pulled against someone, held in small arms while long hair brushed over my face.

“Take cover!” the voice shouted again. He sounded more controlled.

“What about you?!” another, deeper voice called. “You won’t get clear in time!”

“Just do it, Nash!”

The voice left no room for argument. Arms tightened around me. The airship pitched forward and sent us sprawling.

Footsteps stomped toward us. A heavy person dropped to their knees. Larger arms pushed us against a crevice of metal. Plastic wires danced over my head. The larger arms wrapped around me. I felt the airship pick up speed.

There were other noises I couldn’t identify. Angry, terrified screams. The smell of dust and burned flesh was replaced by two warm and trembling bodies.

I had lost my sense of time, but the crash seemed to happen a split second later. Everyone screamed as the
Behemoth
slammed into the ground. I heard glass shattering as I was jolted from the cocoon of arms. Our bodies bounced around their hiding place, banging against the wall and the floor, swamping me with fresh bruises.

The world shuddered like it was breaking apart, metal groaning thunderously against rock as the ship smashed onto the ground. Glass continued to shatter as we tumbled against the metal walls. I didn’t think it would stop. I’d thrown myself into chaos the moment I stepped onto this damned ship, and now I was going to die from it.

But I didn’t.

No sooner had the vile thought passed through my mind, the shaking stopped. My body continued to throb from the bruises and tenderized nerves, but I was alive. I was breathing. I was back on the ground.

A low groan and a whimper of pain sounded around me as I was released from the embrace. The air felt colder now that Gemma and Nash released me.

Remembering their names cut through the fog in my head. I opened my eyes to see what was happening around me.

The two lovers were the first people I saw. Nash sat under the central console, white dust, fresh blood, and angry purple bruises covering his dark skin. He cradled Gemma in his big arms, pressing a long kiss to her temple as she tightened her face in pain. She held her forearm to her chest, breathing heavily. I looked at the lump on it, and knew it was broken. The bone would have to be reset soon if it was going to heal properly.

Crawling out from under the console, I looked at the extensive damage done to the Behemoth.

All of the windows had been blown out, littering the ground as snow and rubble drifted into the cockpit. The equipment was crushed under the weight of the stones, a few random wires spitting out their last sparks. Piles of black ash were smeared into the dust and snow, the remnants of the Hellions that fought their way into the cockpit.

But I couldn’t see Davin, and I couldn’t see Sawyer.

It hurt to move, but I couldn’t sit still and wait for the pain to end. Not when he could be lying broken and hurt somewhere. I stumbled around the cockpit, grabbing anything I could for support regardless of how rough it felt. I felt the cool winter wind blowing against my back from the large window. When I turned around the helm, I found him.

“Sawyer!” I cried in a harsh rasp. My throat turned raw from screaming.

I limped toward where he lay, crumpled under the port console. I collapsed onto my knees, feeling the angry bite of glass digging into my knees. I fisted Sawyer’s coat and dragged him out from the console, wishing I could lift him off the broken glass. I rested his head in my lap and pushed the hair from his eyes. Blood seeped out from a cut above his eyebrow, staining my palms and soaking in his hair. His eyes were shut and he wasn’t breathing.

“Sawyer!” I shouted again, shaking him roughly. He remained limp. “
Sawyer
!”

I shook him fiercely, struggling to breathe past the lump in my throat. It couldn’t end like this for him. He gave us the best landing he could, and he needed to see what he’d done. He needed to know that he saved us.

After the way he looked at me before I unlocked the helm, I couldn’t lose him.

“Damn it, Sawyer, wake up!” I choked out.

He remained motionless. I sobbed and bent down, pushing my lips against his. Sawyer’s skin was still warm, and there was no resistance when I opened his mouth and breathed into him. I pulled back to take in more air, then reached down and gave it to him.

I swore I felt him move, but I couldn’t be sure. I was traumatized and hurt, and wouldn’t have been surprised if my body were playing tricks on my mind. I had to keep breathing for Sawyer until I saw his chest rise and fall on its own–

“Claire?”

I pulled back from Sawyer and looked at Nash. He was standing with Gemma in his arms. He held her tight to him, mindful of her broken arm. He didn’t seem to be willing to let her go. I imagined I looked horrendous, but Nash looked more confused than alarmed.

“What are you doing?”

My voice became lodged in my throat again. I had to swallow before I could speak, and even then I still sounded weak. “He’s not breathing.”

Nash glanced at Sawyer as I held him, then relaxed. “Yes, he is. I can see his chest moving.”

“Thanks for ruining the moment, Nash.”

I whirled around when I heard Sawyer’s voice, warm and seductive and mischievous. The smile he’d held back for so long finally broke across his face. Sawyer opened his eyes, tawny irises shining and alert. I shoved his head off my lap.

Sawyer rolled onto his stomach to avoid hitting the floor, grinning wickedly. “That wasn’t very nice. I was comfortable.”

If he didn’t look so battered, I would have hit him. “You bastard! I thought you were dead!”

He smirked. “And you did an excellent job of nursing me back to health, Firecracker.” The sparkle in his eyes began to die as he took in my sorry state. “Are you all right?”

I nodded slowly so my head wouldn’t hurt so much. “Sore, but fine.”

Sawyer pushed himself up until he was eye level with me, shifting so our knees were touching. He gently moved some of the hair from my eyes, taking my chin in his hands and moving it from side to side. His thumbs stroked my cheeks absently, his touch so soft I could have cried. I closed my eyes and sighed out, forgetting everything around me but Sawyer’s gentle hands. We’d both nearly died to save each other, and I didn’t want to leave this moment. When I did, I would remember that Sawyer didn’t care for me the way I did for him, and that he’d hid a terrible secret from me–

My eyes snapped open, meeting his with fear. “Where’s Davin?”

Sawyer stopped caressing me, drawing his hands away with a weary breath. He roughly shoved his fingers through his hair, and I cringed when I saw the wound on his head. It was so deep it would probably become a scar.

“He’s gone. He dragged me over here before I was knocked out.”

“What do you mean?” Nash asked, slowly walking closer with Gemma. She hadn’t said a word since the crash began, leading me to see how shaken she was. Healing her arm would be difficult, but I knew Nash would move mountains to get care for her.

Sawyer captured my attention again when he stood up, took my hands, and helped me to my feet. I felt steady enough, but his hands lingered on me until I pulled away. He wiped the blood away from his head, trying and failing to act casual.

“After the other Hellions burned up, I got in a lucky strike. I thought I knocked him out, and had to glide the ship in. Just before we touched ground, he grabbed me and pulled me from the helm. He promised me the Vesper would get his revenge, and the Hellions would finish what our families started. Then he kicked me and knocked me out. I don’t know if he lived after that or not.”

But we all agreed on the same thing. If we couldn’t see Davin’s body, then he likely escaped. I was certain we hadn’t seen the last of him. He didn’t seem like the type that was easy to kill. We destroyed the airship he’d likely captained, and he wasn’t going to shrug away this defeat. The only reason he left us alive was because he wanted to torture us to death with his bare hands.

I shuddered and wrapped my arms around myself, instinctively grasping the skeleton key tucked under my shirt. As I turned it over in my fingers, I thought about the warning Davin gave Sawyer. What revenge was he talking about? The Discovery hadn’t exactly been welcomed by the Hellions, but what could the explorers and the marauders have done to make this race of monsters so vengeful?

I stopped turning the key and gripped it tightly, shoving it under my shirt. I could no longer run from the truth like I wanted to. I needed answers, which meant tracking down anything I could from my parents’ old lives and finding out what they had planned to do with the key. If it could close the Breach like Garnet said it could, maybe it would keep the Vesper and the Hellions from continuing their attack. I could only hope that they didn’t have another massive airship like the
Behemoth
waiting in their world. There was no way we could endure a second Storm.

Glancing past Nash and Gemma, I looked through the destroyed window that framed Westraven. We had landed somewhere in the market district, close enough to the underground that they would have definitely heard the crash over their heads.

I walked past the marauders to the window, stepping out of it and feeling the cool, early winter breeze on my face. Dust fluttered to the ground while I stood in the middle of destruction. It was impossible to tell if anyone had been crushed under the
Behemoth
, but I couldn’t let my thoughts linger on that idea. Not when my mind was spinning over what we had accomplished.

I turned and looked up at the
Behemoth.
It still retained most of its shape, but the smoke no longer coughed out of the stern. Its raging engines were silent, and the docking bay and skiffs were crumpled messes under the ship’s weight.

We’d done it. The impossible. We tore the
Behemoth
from the sky.

I lifted my head, sure it was all a painful dream. But all I could see were grey clouds and tiny, falling snowflakes. A huge weight released from my chest.

The
Behemoth
had been destroyed.