Dylan looked at Cammie as if she were speaking Chinese.
Cammie rolled her eyes. “Here, just switch these to Channel two, hold down this button, and you’ll be able to keep in contact from miles away. They were state-of-the-art at one point. Actually, given the condition of today’s world, they probably still count as such. Anyway, try them out.”
Caitlin pushed down the button on the side and a strange hushing sound leaked out. She jumped back. “What was that?”
Cammie laughed. “You have to talk into it.”
Caitlin pressed down the button. “Hello?”
Her voice repeated back from Dylan’s device, a millisecond after her words left her mouth.
They both stared wide-eyed at the devices in their hands.
“Woah!”
“Right?” Cammie beamed. “Family should never have to be separated. Not really. Consider it our way of making the world a little bit smaller while you go on your journey.”
Caitlin and Dylan thanked Cammie, then said their final goodbyes to the Broken City. Izzy hesitated before coming back onto the ship and stuttered when Caitlin asked her why.
“It’s just… I never thought we’d be gone for long. And I definitely didn’t sign up to fly across the country.” Her eyes moved to the floor. “My people are here, Caitlin. I realize that now, and besides—”
Caitlin said it for her. “You feel guilty about Mary-Anne.”
Izzy nodded.
To her surprise, Caitlin walked over and hugged her. She kissed her temple affectionately and whispered. “It’s not your fault. Remember that, won’t you?”
Izzy nodded, pulled back, and then planted a small kiss on Caitlin’s lips.
Caitlin felt the world fall away. For the briefest of moments, she wasn’t Caitlin Harrison, leader of the Revolutionaries, liberator of the Broken City. For the most fleeting second, she was just a girl, and her base urges took her. She took a deep breath, ignoring the stares they gathered from some of the surrounding crowd. When they finally pulled away, her finger unconsciously moved to her lip.
“I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
And then Caitlin, Mary-Anne, Kain, and Jaxon were back on the ship, and it was taking to the air once more. They waved at Dylan, Sully, Izzy, Vex, Belle, Joe, Miriam, and every Were and human they’d encountered along their travels.
This time the city vanished quickly beneath them. It was still dark, with a few hours to go until sunrise, and there was little light below. Now, all Caitlin could see was darkness covering the world around her.
Mary-Anne took a stand beside her. “We’ll see them again. This isn’t the last time you’ll see your family.”
Caitlin nodded stoically. “I know.”
She leaned her head on Mary-Anne’s shoulder and stared at the silvery glow of the clouds, the silence of the night sky punctuated only by the irregular dry heaves of a Werewolf leaning over the side of the deck.
Chapter Eleven
Up in the Air, Ontario
Time slowed down aboard the dirigible, the clouds whisked on by, and the sun rose in a parade of technicolor.
The world was hushed into a quiet, broken only by the occasional orders from Royland to his crew, and the squawking of a bird surprised to see the giant vessel in their territory.
Caitlin spent the majority of her day roaming the ship, exploring the rooms and marveling at the ancient artifacts dotted around. Candlestick holders, sticky with melted wax from years gone by. Oil paintings of various men and women awash on backgrounds of lilies and willows. The sheets and the beds were soft, possibly the most comfortable she’d ever slept on. The whole experience was like finding her little slice of heaven in the…well, heavens.
She kept an eye on Mary-Anne as they soared over towns, cities, fields, and lakes. The landscape unfolded beneath them like a patchwork quilt, designed by a hand too great to ever be seen.
Mary-Anne slept during the day and emerged at night, a little touchy upon waking, but otherwise in control of her emotions.
It seemed the dregs of Stump’s concoction were working their magic. They wouldn’t stop the infection, but they’d at least thicken the blood enough to slow its potency. Every utterance of alarm or slight exclamation had Caitlin on edge, hand on Moxie’s hilt, ready to restrain Mary-Anne if need be.
Cammie and Royland worked as a perfect team, switching places and allowing the other to rest between flight shifts. Caitlin couldn’t help but feel a warmth inside of her at their relationship. Although she hadn’t approached them with the question—figuring it wouldn’t exactly be her business—she wondered what the backstory was between them. How had a Were and a vampire fallen in love?
And then there was Kain and Jaxon. Jaxon spent every spare moment by Kain’s side, guarding him as if he was his own little protector, keeping the pale-faced Were company through his darkest moments.
There were times when the wind would drop and the ship would sail as smoothly as if it were simply stationary on land, and in those moments, Kain would catch his breath, splash water on his face, and retire beneath the deck.
Caitlin had caught Cammie and Kain engaged in conversations several times on her explorations. Cammie had taken to sitting on the edge of his bed and discussing the ways of the Weres and the future of their kind. Caitlin wondered what form she would take if she were to shift, and how many chances she’d have to shift before she was permanently stuck in one form or the other.
Y’know, if she wasn’t already stuck, that was.
It was on the second day of sailing the skies that it happened.
The crew was below deck in the large dining room of the ship. A large table stretched the length of the rooms, and candles lit the sconces on the walls. The room was hazy and warm, filled with the scent of roasted vegetables and dried meats.
For the first time since they had left the Broken City, Royland and Cammie were both at the table, Royland having trusted the steering of the ship to one of his trusted crew members, a tank of a man by the name of Driscall.
Royland raised his glass from the head of the table. “To adventure.”
“To adventure,” the others chorused.
Caitlin lowered her glass and tucked into her food. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten so well. The chef on the ship was a hell of a cook, and the food disappeared in minutes. Flavors erupted on her tongue, and soon her stomach was firm and full.
She reached for her glass, took a sip of her wine, and almost snorted it back through her nose when she saw Kain across the table, shoveling mouthfuls of food as though he were afraid someone might steal it at any second.
Mary-Anne looked down her nose at the Were.
“I thought you were sick?” Caitlin chuckled, her head feeling light and merry.
“Not. Now.” Kain punctuated his words with more scoopfuls of food. Chunks of wet half-chewed food sprayed across the table. “Feeling. Okay. Not sure. When. I’ll hurl. Again. Need. To. Stock up.”
“Well, there’s nothing like re-filling the tank before you let it all loose back on the unsuspecting Mad below,” Mary-Anne replied. She raised a glass filled with a viscous liquid that Caitlin assumed to be blood. She didn’t want to ask, nor did she want to know where Royland and Cammie had procured it from.
Once all the plates were empty, members of the crew poured more wine for the guests. Caitlin couldn’t wipe the grin off her face as her head began to spin and she felt sleepiness coming over her.
“How long until we make it to Chicago?” she mumbled, eyes half-closed.
Royland grinned. “Not long, really. Another half day’s travel, should all be well. We’re almost over Michigan, so it shouldn’t be too long at all.”
All of these words were foreign to Caitlin. Royland could just be making up places, for all she knew.
“How much do you know about the world, Caitlin?” Cammie asked, resting her elbow on the table and looking sophisticated, swirling her drink in h
er hand. “You’re a small-town girl, right?”
“Living in a lonely world!” Kain crooned, before hiccupping.
“Ah, man, I miss music,” Royland commented wistfully. “Decent music, anyway. Now all we have are instruments and shitty players. If we could find a decent stereo system and get that up and running, I’d play those CDs on loop until they crumbled into dust.”
“You an AC/DC fan?” Kain asked.
Cammie rolled her eyes. “Oh, here we go.”
“Does the pope shit in the woods?” Royland replied. He jumped on the table and held an imaginary guitar, making strange sounds with his mouth as he hit off a sick riff and played to the room.
Laughter filled the room. When he was finished, he held up his forefinger and pinky to the sky and shouted, “Thank you, Vegas!”
Kain was in stitches, wiping tears from his eyes. “Man, it’s so nice being around people who remember the good days. Seriously, you run away from your pack, travel the world a bit, and all you find are walled-in colonies who don’t know their Biebers from their Black Sabbaths.”
“I loved Bieber!” Cammie exclaimed.
Royland raised an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong…baby?” She replied, a smug grin on her face before repeating, “Baby, baby, baby, oh…”
Caitlin laughed at the expression on his face as he lowered himself back into his seat. She still couldn’t believe that after all those years of not only believing that vampires and Weres were myths but believing they were the bad guys, that she was now sat in a room with two of each and having the time of her life.
It was as the crew began to bring out deserts—plates with fruit of all different colors and sizes, many of which Caitlin had never seen before—that they felt the first rumble.
“Woah,” Kain said, sitting up in his chair. He gave his drink a strange look. “I think I might have reached my limit.”
Royland chuckled. “Just a bit of turbulence.”
They began to tuck into their food when another rumble came. This time the dirigible leaned at an angle, and several glasses slid to the floor and smashed.
“What’s Driscall doing up there?” Cammie’s eyes narrowed.
“Christopher,” Royland commanded, pointing at a tall man making his way up the stairs. “Find out what’s going on up there, will you?”
Christopher nodded and disappeared, but not before the ship listed again. He held onto the rails for support.
“You know what? Forget it, I’ll deal with this myself.” Royland stood up on wobbly legs and made his way past the chairs. Cammie joined him as he passed, and Caitlin rose as well, far too curious not to see what was going on.
The minute they reached the door to the open deck, she smelled the rain. Large droplets had begun to beat the deck, and the wind had picked up dramatically.
The ship fought against the wind like a boat against the rising waves, and upon entering into the open air, Caitlin could see that, even with his muscular arms, Driscall was struggling against the winds.
“You should have called me,” Royland snapped, wrestling control from Driscall.
“I’m sorry, sir. It came out of nowhere, and I wanted you to have your time with the others.”
Royland grimaced, fighting with the wheel. “We don’t play heroes on this ship. Go and get the crew, prepare people for action stations.”
Dark clouds loomed overhead. They swallowed the skyline and roiled above them. The rain came down in sheets, lashing against the deck and causing their skin to break out in gooseflesh. Within seconds they were soaked to the bone, each member of the crew working their hardest to keep the ship afloat.
Kain and Mary-Anne joined them topside, unsure of how to help. In all of their journey, they hadn’t been shown how the ship worked, so now their lives were really in the hands of these people.
“How you feeling, Pooch?” Mary-Anne shouted to be heard above the wind. “Still feeling sick?”
“I’m feeling something,” Kain replied. “I don’t think it’s seasickness anymore. Maybe just paralyzing fear.”
The ship lurched, and they tumbled sideways. Jaxon’s feet struggled to gain purchase as he slid toward the edge of the ship, only just caught by the guardrail at the side.
“Jax!” Caitlin skidded toward him and caught him. She huddled the dog in her arms. “Don’t worry, Jax. I’ve got you.”
The ship lurched again. Lightning flashed, illuminating the clouds above. To Caitlin, Kain, and Mary-Anne, it looked like a large shifting monster, the lightning reaching like tentacles around them. A booming thunderclap erupted, causing the crew to flinch.
“What’s happening, Royland?” Cammie called, hair soaked and clinging to her face. “What do you need from us?”
Royland’s face was twisted; he was clearly fighting with his thoughts. “We’re going to have to land. There’s no way we can continue while this storm is happening!”
Caitlin noticed that he’d strapped a length of leather around his waist to secure himself to the wheel.
Not a bad idea, she thought.
“Okay,” Cammie called through cupped hands. “Everyone, attention—”
Another violent lurch meant Cammie had to grab for the nearest rail. “Everyone below deck. Emergency procedures! We’re going for the landing!”
She staggered to the doorway leading to below deck and held it open, waving her arms to usher the crew through. She called out to Caitlin and the others who stumbled and fought to remain balanced on the slippery wood as they worked their way to the door.
When Caitlin was under the dry protection of the inside of the ship, Cammie began closing the door behind them.
Caitlin paused. “Wait, what are you doing? Come in!”
“I’m staying out there to help Royland. He needs me.”
“What if something happens to you, too?”
Cammie gave Caitlin an empathetic look. “Don’t worry about us, Kitty-Cat. We’ve both been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you might think.”
And with that, she shut the door.
Caitlin followed the crew below deck to a large room built into the hull. It looked like a storage facility, of sorts, only filled with sheets and cloth for bedding. They huddled together, listening to the storm rage above them, leaning on each other for support as Cammie and Royland took control and began to bring them down.
On several occasions, the ship dipped suddenly, and their stomachs jumped into their mouths. There was no way of knowing how far they had left to go, or indeed where they were. They clustered in the darkness and simply waited out the storm, each preparing themselves for the moment the ship would touch solid ground and they’d be saved.
It seemed like hours, but it might have been minutes later when there came another violent lurch, and this time, their asses lifted off the ground. Caitlin felt the sickening sensation of falling as the ship leaned at a nearly forty-five-degree angle to the side.
It felt like they were spinning, as though they were in a whirlpool sinking to the bottom of the sea. After a minute of this sensation, the ship balanced out, and they could hear the sound of trees whipping against the ship’s underbelly.
“Well, that sounds promising—” Kain started, stopping as the ship crashed to a stop, and the crew tumbled into each other at the far wall, thrown by the sudden impact.
They shifted out from underneath each other and waited in the silence, each person afraid to be the first to speak. After a minute, Caitlin got to her feet, feeling the floor at a familiarly off-angle, which reminded her of the abandoned airship.
“Have we landed?”
“Either that or someone’s just learned to freeze time,” Kain quipped.
They waited a moment longer, listening for any sound above. They could hear the rain like a gentle hushing on the dirigible’s hull. A stark contrast to when they were up in the air. A moment later, footsteps on the stairs.
Cammie opened the door, holding a candle in her hand. She was drenched, a
nd looked like she’d just been dragged backward through the Pacific.
“Ah, man, I missed out on the orgy?”
A ripple of chuckles erupted from her crew as they fought to push apart from each other.
“How is it out there?” Caitlin asked.
Caitlin rocked her hand in a gesture of uncertainty. “I suppose it’s good news, bad news, really.”
Chapter Twelve
Unknown
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over Caitlin as she hopped down from the ship and took a few steps back.
They were in a forest, of sorts. Trees grew high around them, and tall grass cloaked the ground. The underbelly of the ship was on display, like a wounded soldier lying on their side and clutching at a damaged hip. Splintered wood and various containers from the lowest decks left a trail leading back toward the trees which had been felled by the crash landing.
Royland stood beside Caitlin and scratched his head. He looked deflated, every inch of him soaked. “I suppose that’s one way to land a ship.”
Resting on its side among the overgrowth, Caitlin was overwhelmed by a sense of nostalgia and memory. A small part of her, in the far recesses of her mind, half-expected her Revolutionaries to pour out of the ship and gather around the campfire. The soldiers she had trained and fought with to topple the Governor’s regime back at Silver Creek.
“That doesn’t bode well,” Mary-Anne remarked, staring at the hole.
“It’s nothing we shouldn’t be able to repair,” Royland told her. “It’ll take some time, though.”
Cammie hugged Royland from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder. “It’s nothing we’re not prepared for. We have some resources inside the ship to help. This isn’t our first rodeo out on the dirigible. This stuff happens sometimes.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Mary-Anne muttered darkly.
Caitlin gave Mary-Anne a side-glance, studying her eyes for any flashes of unwanted red.
Chasing The Cure: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 5) Page 9