Crimson Sky: A Dark Sky Novel

by Amy Braun

  This new area was cavernous and nearly pitch black, lit by dozens of kerosene lanterns. A generator hummed steadily on the left wall, filling the hangar with meager warmth. Supplies were dumped around the walls. I could see small boxes of clothes, smaller boxes of food, metal basins possibly filled with water, and a long worktable covered with weapons.

  Instinct told me I wasn’t underground. The air was musty, but smelled clean. I looked at Sawyer, whose hand hadn’t left my shoulder. I glared at it until he pulled it back.

  “Where am I?”

  “Hidden. Safe.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I think that’s a relative term, coming from a pirate.”

  Sawyer frowned, but there was a strange sparkle in his tawny eyes. “We took you off the street. Healed your wounds. Gave you water. Will give you food. That doesn’t earn a little bit of gratefulness?”

  “Fine. I’m grateful.” I winced at how rude that sounded, and toned down my attitude. “Really. But why don’t you tell me what you want? Garnet won’t trade anything for me. If you know anything about him, you have to know that.” And I’m not going back. He’ll kill me, and I need to save Abby.

  The hot knife of failure slid into my heart again, and I had to look away from Sawyer so he wouldn’t see my tears. He watched me silently, then said, “Fair enough.”

  Sawyer got to his feet and held out his hand. I stared at it, then got to my feet on my own. Even though he’d just shown me kindness, I didn’t trust him. He kidnapped me and wanted to use me for something. Sawyer frowned, then shook his head and started walking. He didn’t slow down or wait for me to catch up.

  As we walked, I kept looking for ways to escape. This space was huge, but Westraven was a city of foundries and manufacturing plants. I could have been anywhere. When I didn’t see an exit, I turned around and finally saw what he was bringing me toward.

  Gemma and Nash were standing together in a far corner of the expansive room, looking up at a structure I hadn’t seen in my drug-induced haze. A shape I shouldn’t have been able to miss.

  An airship.

  Compared to the Behemoth, this ship wasn’t very big, but the three-masted barque still took up the entire back half of the corner. Constructed of taupe colored iron with bolts holding the siding together and with three thick masts stripped of sails, the ship was easily two hundred feet wide and nearly as tall. The paint was beginning to chip, showing the rusting metal beneath. Pieces of newer scrap metal were bolted to the side, patching up old holes and covering damage. Two rows of cannons were spread along the hull, their barrels likely as dusted as the cabin windows near the stern. Below the cabins was a faded gold script that read Dauntless Wanderer.

  The name struck a chord in my memory. As a child, I remembered that the infamous Robertson Kendric had led the Clan of marauders known as the Wanderers. My heartbeat sped up, and I wondered if Sawyer and his crewmates were connected to the Wanderers.

  But I knew that was impossible. The Wanderers had all died when Kendric did, and there was no way Kendric would have let Sawyer, Nash, and Gemma on his ship as children.

  Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I looked at the damage on the hull.

  Right along the row of starboard guns was a massive puncture, so wide I could see the interior of the ship from where I stood on the ground. A series of cannon shots had likely been what tore through fifteen feet of the ship’s metal side. It wouldn’t have been such a devastating shot, if it hadn’t struck the central power core of the Dauntless. All airships were powered by electricity and generators, very few relied on both electricity and fuel like the Behemoth did. One shot at the right place would take the entire airship out of commission, and cause a devastating crash if the engineer couldn’t fix it in time.

  The Dauntless hadn’t been very lucky.

  Pulling my eyes away from the damage, I looked at the ship again. Even without the gaping hole in the hull, the Dauntless Wanderer was disappointing.

  And yet... There was something about it. A potential. I could look past the grime and dents and tattered sails and see the sleek beauty of the ship. It could be strong and fast again, if the time and effort was put in. If the scrap metal was any indication, there already had been.

  I looked at Sawyer, who was completely fixated on the ship. I was only seeing his profile, but there was no mistaking the love and longing on his face. He must have spent a good portion of his childhood on an airship. Maybe he was the son of a trader or merchant. Was he remembering the wind on his face as he sailed through the clouds? Or the excitement of pursuing or escaping another vessel?

  Whatever Sawyer was thinking, he forgot it when he looked at me again.

  “Suppose you can see the problem.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Let me guess. You’re talking about the clearly visible gash in the middle of your ship? Don’t know how I can miss it.”

  Sawyer glared. “I want you to fix it.”

  If the damage were on the power core, as I suspected it was, making another one wouldn’t be hard. I’d created and repaired hundreds of them, coming up with ways to make them even more efficient. No matter what the damage was, I could create another one in a single day.

  I still said, “No.”

  Sawyer’s expression pinched. I didn’t back down.

  “I’m not doing anything for you unless you help me save my sister.”

  The marauder turned to face me directly, moving closer until he was just inches away from me. I could have backed away, but I wanted him to know I wasn’t afraid of him. Not after everything that had happened.

  “It’s impossible,” he stressed. “No one has ever gotten close to the Behemoth since it took over Westraven. No one has tried. They’re always watching. Waiting. You can’t even get past the barricades.”

  Hearing him say that brought another memory to my head.

  “What about the Forest Brigade?”

  Sawyer groaned and closed his eyes. I took a step closer.

  “They’re Sky Guards who made it past the barricades. They’re living in Sage Grove, probably surviving in the forest–”

  “And you know that how? Did you see them fly over the twenty foot walls? Do you think they managed to survive the raids that were probably sent after them?”

  “Probably,” I pointed out. “We don’t know what happened to the Brigade.”

  “Because nothing happened. They died, and that’s that.”

  “Oh, so you saw it?” I shot.

  A twitch in Sawyer’s jaw. “Doesn’t matter what I saw or didn’t see. This Forest Brigade doesn’t exist, because nothing gets past the Behemoth’s eye. And besides, you’re not talking about getting over the barricades. You’re talking about getting through the Behemoth’s defenses. It’s not the same thing. The hull can’t be breached.”

  “I beg to differ. Every ship has a weakness. The Behemoth got the jump on us when they attacked in The Storm, yes, but it still took a bit of a beating when the Sky Guards fought them. I refuse to believe their exterior is impenetrable. The only reason we believe it now is because there are no ships willing to test its mettle again.”

  Sawyer’s eyes flared with sharp light. He was done with my reasoning. “I’ve been kind to you,” he said in a low, dangerous tone. “Patient. I haven’t hurt you. I’m making you a simple offer. Fix my ship.”

  “And what are you going to do if I don’t? Kill me? Go ahead. Your ship will still be broken.”

  A muscle twitched in his jaw again and he clenched his fists, but he didn’t hit me. Sawyer had one up on Garnet already.

  “I’m not someone you want to push, girl,” he warned.

  “So you’re suggesting you’d torture me into fixing your ship? Let me tell you something, pirate. There is nothing you can threaten me with. Nothing you can do to me that Garnet hasn’t already done.”

  I was too angry to think about what I was doing, so I didn’t hesitate to lift my shirt and show him the ugly bruises on my stomach and ribs. Sawyer looked at them
impassively, but I saw Gemma and Nash wince in the background.

  “That was just for showing me he had control. This,” I awkwardly twisted my hands in the binds to grab the sleeve of my shirt, rolling it up to show him the patchy scar on my right wrist, “was when he stabbed me for talking back to him. Garnet left me pinned to a wall for half a day to set an example to the rest of the colony.” I rolled my sleeve back down. “He’s threatened me and my sister because he knew we couldn’t run. Because he likes it. Even if you were half the monster he is, you think I care about that right now? My eight year old sister is with the Hellions. I don’t know if she’s alive, or hurt, or dead. There is no torture you can put me through that is worse than that.”

  I didn’t realize I’d been shouting until the heavy silence crept into the air. My hands were shaking, my throat felt raw, and my eyes stung with tears. I had never been this devastated before. It was a pain I couldn’t force away, but needed to deal with.

  “So go ahead and make your threats,” I said in an angry whisper. “Imprison me, hurt me, whatever will make you feel like a bigger man. But I am not staying here to fix your stupid ship. I’m going to save my sister.”

  Sawyer’s jaw was tight, his chin and his back straight. Everything about him screamed leader, but his eyes told a different story. They were wide with something that looked like pity. Concern even.

  Two things I didn’t want from him. Things I didn’t have time for.

  Before I could lose my nerve, I turned on my heel and started walking away. I managed to get three steps before Sawyer grabbed my scarred wrist.

  “Wait–”

  Sawyer had bound my wrists so I couldn’t hit him. He’d taken my belt and everything he thought was useful on it. He probably checked my pockets too, but he didn’t take what was in them. He probably assumed it wasn’t anything threatening.

  He should have been smarter, because he had left me with my deadliest weapon.

  I grabbed the device from my pocket and whirled around. It was a little silver disk, no larger than my palm and no wider than my wrist. But that wasn’t what made it devastating. The black button in the middle did. I was terrified of carrying it, knowing what it could do, but so far I’d never had an accident. I intended to keep it that way, but I wasn’t exactly sound at the moment.

  Still crazy from anxiety and anger, I applied pressure onto the button with my thumb, trying not to think about the electricity crackling under my finger. Sawyer stopped where he stood, looking at the disk in my hand. He blinked, trying to figure out what it was. The disk began to whir aggressively.

  “What is that?”

  “Insurance. Something to keep you from trying to stop me. I call it the Volt. Press the button all the way down and the top and bottom will spring up, then release a massive electric-magnetic charge that disrupts any and every mechanical device within a hundred feet. But if I peel off the magnetic strip at the back and stick it to something, like say, you,” I threatened, taking a step closer. Sawyer leaned back, but didn’t flinch, “the Volt will burn you to a pile of cinders in seconds.”

  “Whoa,” Nash said, before grabbing Gemma and pulling her back.

  Sawyer’s eyes were fixed on mine. The Volt whirred steadily, increasing the static in my fingertips and heating them up. The sides began to come apart. I wanted to release the button and let it go, but I had to keep up my ferocity. Backing down now would make me look weak and cowardly, and Sawyer wouldn’t hesitate to take the Volt from me now that he knew what it could do.

  “How long have you had this?” he asked.

  I blinked, surprised at the genuine curiosity in his voice. “A couple years.”

  “And you didn’t use it on Garnet? Why?”

  Because this is the prototype and I don’t know if it will work, I most definitely didn’t say. The Volt required tons of equipment and time to create, not to mention stolen electricity from the substations. I didn’t have a safe place or enough time to test it. I wasn’t even sure how to protect myself if I ever used it. The blast radius would most definitely turn me into a pile of dust if I couldn’t contain it. This was the first time I’d used the Volt as a threat.

  “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, or to let Garnet know that I had it at all.”

  Those were the only truths I could give. I only hoped Sawyer would accept them.

  “Can you make more?” he asked.

  I hesitated. “Probably,” I admitted. But I shouldn’t. “Why?”

  Sawyer nodded at the Volt. “Shut it off and I’ll tell you. I’m not comfortable standing this close to something that can burn me to cinders, and I don’t think you are either.”

  I frowned, hating that he was right. I relaxed my thumb from the button in the middle of the Volt. The sides clicked back together, and the static and heat faded from my fingertips. I gripped the sides of the Volt but didn’t put it away. Gemma had mentioned they were thieves. I didn’t want her picking my pockets and taking my one piece of leverage when I wasn’t paying attention. Besides, I still wasn’t sure if I would need to use it again.

  Sawyer’s tawny eyes held mine for a long time. So long that it sent a flutter through my stomach. I wasn’t sure why. Yes, he was quite attractive, with his warm brown hair, distracting golden eyes, and the playful quirk of his lips. But he was still a man who only wanted to use me. And I was planning to do the same thing to him.

  “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you aren’t a fan of working with Garnet.”

  I tilted my head impatiently, making Sawyer grin. That flutter passed through my stomach again, but I ignored it as Sawyer took half a step closer to me.

  “Work for us instead. We need a good engineer, and if you really did build that Volt–”

  “I did,” I snapped, offended that he wouldn’t believe me, even though I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  “–then you’re more than capable,” he continued. “I guarantee that no one will hurt you, and you’ll be looked after. If you can follow my rules occasionally.”

  The troublemaking spark in his eyes got the hint of a smile from me. His expression softened, and I almost gave in without forgetting the most crucial thing I wanted from this deal.

  “If you help me save my sister, you have a deal.”

  Sawyer’s face darkened. “I told you–”

  “I don’t care what you told me. Those are my terms.”

  “Then change them. The Hellions own the sky. You’ll never get anywhere near her.”

  I knew he was speaking rationally, truthfully. But I still wanted to punch him again.

  “Some pirates you are,” I spat. “Thought you people were supposed to be fearless.”

  Anger flared in Sawyer’s eyes, but it was Gemma who spoke. “Right, and you aren’t. You weren’t hiding underground for who knows how long. Maybe you forgot that they wiped out the Sky Guard with the Behemoth, or that each Hellion has the strength of ten men, insane speed, or that they survive on human blood–”

  I whirled on her. “Shut up!” I screamed. Gemma froze. “I know the concept of family must elude you, but they have my sister. I’m not going to just sit here and hope they gave her a quick death.”

  Gemma stared at me with wide, angry eyes. She was probably changing her mind about liking me. Not caring, I turned to Sawyer. Nothing in his expression changed, but his shoulders seemed tenser than before.

  I held up the Volt, carefully flipping it back and forth. Sawyer watched it tentatively, and I was sure that Nash and Gemma took another step back.

  “How much do you miss the sky?” I asked Sawyer. “What would you do to shoot the Hellions down with your own ship? To see the Behemoth as a smoking heap on the ground?”

  Rage spiraled through his eyes, turning them dark and menacing. Like all of us, he hated the Hellions. It was clear that his hatred ran deep. The look in his eyes told me he would have killed them all if he could.

  I took a deep breath, preparing myself for either the truth, or the worst
lie I ever told. “Get me on the Behemoth. Help me save my sister. And I’ll turn your ship into the deadliest machine in all of Aon.”

  He was tempted. He had to be. No marauder could deny the possibility of adventure. To overcome a superior enemy and take away their control. And if Sawyer had any kind of personal vendetta against the Hellions– the amount of hatred exploding in his eyes told me he did– then this prospect would impossible to ignore.

  His crew, on the other hand, wouldn’t be so easily swayed.

  Gemma’s scoff carried through the building. “Because that will be simple and not the least bit suicidal.”

  “Deal,” Sawyer said, cutting off whatever argument I was about to make with Gemma.