~Freedom. And I won’t give that up.~ He pressed his palms down and out from him on either side. ~Stop. Kesia and I need to get back to the Central Market. High Command will notice our absence if we are away much longer. Now that plans are settled, there’s no other reason to be here.~
Zilpath sighed. ~Go on then, Windkeeper. Act your part and treat that woman well, yes?~
Shance snorted. ~I do nothing else, Zilpath. She might kill me otherwise. And then Nightstalker would kill me again.~
~And that would ruin our efforts to ally with them.~ She studied him thoughtfully. ~All is not lost for you, Shance. Even if you choose not to take the path of the Four Corners, at least look a little harder before you jump into bed with the next woman you see. There are far worthier aspects to seek out in a companion than their breasts and hips.~
~But those are very important.~ He flashed Zilpath a smile. ~Wouldn’t you agree?~
Her fingers flew in a complicated series of curses, then she clapped her hands three times.
All eyes fell on Shance as Zilpath gestured toward him. Even Kesia and Zephryn stopped. Shance’s heart sank. Kesia’s expression was softer and more open than he’d ever seen it. What had she said about heartflames? Bound at the heart, by life and by death. He should have known that was an unbreakable bond as strong as marriage.
The thought made Shance’s stomach churn. No seducing married women. It was one of his few rules.
Although they still had to mimic betrothal. Firestorms.
Shance made a little bow, military-style, then translated the polite essence of Zilpath’s gestures. “I’m afraid that’s our notice. If we linger, the street officers will start searching for us. They watch us more than it seems.”
Kesia nodded and glanced at Zephryn one final time, then stood and joined Shance, falling into pace with him as they walked toward the door. In the corner, the hooded man and woman moved aside to allow them passage. It would have been nice to see their faces, but as usual, Shance had to play by someone else’s rules.
It was really starting to chafe. And Zilpath thought he should sign up for a religion with more rules? No. For all her wisdom, she really was doldrum-brained sometimes.
Kesia’s hand slipped into his as they exited the shop and headed down the street. “That was...good. Thank you for offering to help me with the repairs.”
“If I hadn’t, you would have gone ahead anyway.”
“True.”
Shance chuckled. “Wouldn’t a dragon say that there was no need to thank me?” He kept his voice easy, trying to lighten the serious expression on her face.
“Yes. That’s true. But—” Kesia squeezed his hand. “I know you like hearing that, and I care about you. We’re friends.”
The word twisted in his stomach like soured food, even while it warmed a part of his heart. “Good. Friends are good, Kesia. I’m glad for that.”
She cleared her throat with the barest smell of smoke. “Ah, so this afternoon at the gala, in the room where I was speaking to Zephryn. Before the green smoke. We shared information and then, well, I kissed him.”
“And you decided you needed to try again tonight?”
“Of course.” Kesia gave a sly smile. “There was a chance he had particles of green smoke inside him. It was an effective way of clearing it out.”
“Oh, I see.” Viorstan, the dragon woman learned fast. It sent a shiver through Shance. No. She was off-limits, and she knew it. He needed to know it as well.
For a moment there was only the raucous late-night sounds of the Low Quarter.
“Are you speaking with him right now?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Shance shrugged, his shoulders slouching lower. He’d been a ground-cursed fool to have thought Kesia would consider him when she was bound to another.
“Shance, is something wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing.” He cleared his throat and started walking more briskly. The edge of the Low Quarter was in sight. After that, it was only a four block walk to the Central Market.
“We should figure out who set off that bomb. Whoever it was had access to the Pinnacle and is probably part of the Curious Intrigue.”
Kesia easily fell into step next to him. A woman who could match him in many respects, and she was with someone else?
Shance remembered how she’d thrown him against the shelves of Zilpath’s shop when they’d first met. His heart sank further. No, she outmatched him.
It was just as well. Would’ve made life even more complicated.
“When I was burning away the green smoke, I saw the outline of a shape.”
“Outline of a shape?” Shance steered them around the corner of a building “Outlines usually do have shapes, Kesia. Fiarston, woman, what kind of effect does kissing have on dragons?”
She snorted smoke. “Amusing. It’s difficult to keep track of two conversations all the time. Add in trying to remember things, and it’s enough to make me want to try that special liquid you drink.”
“Ale?” Shance laughed. “That would make it worse. Maybe we can try it another time. It’s been a long evening. We can talk in the morning.”
See her as a friend. They were friends who were pretending they were madly in love, betrothed, and sharing quarters with all benefits. Why had that been a good idea? There had been a reason, but right now, he couldn’t remember it.
Kesia yawned. “That is a good idea. For some reason, I am very tired. I feel worse than I did when I had to face the Pinnacle naked.”
Fiarston, he did not need that mental image! Did she have any idea—no. She didn’t. Shance ran a hand through his hair and breathed slowly, thinking of cold showers and bloody battles, anything to take his mind off Kesia naked. “Another thing you can explain tomorrow.”
“No thanks.” She reached for his hand again. “Shance? Can you carry me, like you did earlier?”
“What?”
“Just kidding.”
“How do you remember that?”
Kesia’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Perhaps I wasn’t entirely unconscious. It seemed like a good idea to feign it and avoid questions.”
“You tricky little minxweir.” Shance laughed as they entered the Central Market. “Where has this dragon woman been before?”
“I’m not sure. Beneath memories, perhaps?” She chuckled. “What’s a minxweir?”
“A minxweir? Furry, four legs, a long, flat tail, round ears, narrow eyes?” Kesia shook her head. “I’ll have to show you one. People sometimes catch them in the jungle and keep them as pets.”
“Not food?”
Shance stopped at the elevator and pressed one of the bronze buttons. “No, they wouldn’t yield much anyway.”
“Fair enough.” She followed him into the elevator.
“So now you’re saying it?”
“Apparently I can adapt after all.” Kesia stared at the wall for a long moment. Shance thought it likely that she was speaking with Zephryn in her mind, but she continued. “Is there another human word for a male-female friendship other than ‘friend’?”
Shanced scratched his head. “Sometimes the bond can get as close as brother and sister.”
“Siblings—those are like clutchmates. I don’t have one.”
“Me neither. My parents wanted more children, but then the war happened. Now they’re hardly ever in the same place, and wartime makes it difficult to raise families.”
“I see.”
The elevator came to a stop. Shance took a deep breath. Putting a new word to their relationship couldn’t hurt.
“How about it? Feel like you could use a brother?”
Kesia smiled faintly. “Yes. I like it.”
“Me too.”
It was better than nothing.
Chapter 20
Kesia liked being a clayborer beetle. Beetles didn’t have complicated situations with their tactical partners that laid the groundwork for future conflicts. Beetles didn’t have traumatic pasts or memor
ies about being tortured by evil uncles. No, all her beetle form was concerned with was flying into the exhaust vent and straight into the engine furnace.
Fortunately, that was just where she needed to go. Kesia lifted off from the pile of tools and darted into the vent. Intolerable heat pressed her from all sides. She couldn’t land on the interior, and she certainly couldn’t indulge her beetle form’s instinctive desire to zip into the flames. Instead, Kesia zoomed around the outside edges, checking the sealant. She’d melded the engine together seven days ago, but ever since, she’d been concerned about its integrity. Her eyes scanned the metal surface, searching for anything out of place.
Nothing. It was a perfect, seamless seal, at least as far as her beetle eyes could detect.
She grinned internally, then winced as a flicker of flame scalded her legs. Time to get out. Steeling her mind against the insectoid attraction to the flames, she flew back out the vent.
She buzzed in front of Shance’s soot-stained face. He nodded. “All done?”
How did he expect her to respond? She zipped around in frustration, landing on his nose. Shance knew exactly what she needed.
“Silly bugs, always gumming up the works.”
Kesia huffed internally and wished clayborer beetles had a way of attacking humans. She circled his head once more and landed on the edge of his goggles.
“Oh fine. I’ll turn around.”
She flew off his goggles. As soon as his back was turned, Kesia shifted into human
form and grabbed her underclothes and coveralls. Never mind if another ship worker saw them, he’d assume they were having an intimate moment; being naked around hot engines was still stupid as poison.
She clasped the voicelator around her neck. “Everything looks good in there.”
“Glad to hear it.” He turned around, then paused. “What’s wrong with your foot?”
“My foot?”
“You’re not letting your heel touch the ground.”
Kesia glanced down at her right leg. It sometimes took time for her human form to catch up with the sensory information from her other forms. She gingerly placed her right heel on the ground. Pain shot up her leg. She winced and sucked in a breath. Injuries carried over. Why did she always forget that?
“What happened?”
“I burned it a little. It’s fine.” Kesia tried to push past him, but his calloused hands stayed her. She looked up into Shance’s face, smeared as hers was with grease, soot, and engine oil. He dared to hold her still, knowing that she could easily fling him off and throw him against a wall.
Because friendship meant she wouldn’t.
“Let me see it. Please? You know I’ve learned medical care.”
“All right.” It was hard to tell him ‘no,’ especially when he looked earnest. “I’ll take it off.”
Kesia sat down, unzippered the boot, eased her foot out, and slipped off her sock. Humans wore so many layers! She allowed Shance to carefully inspect the blisters that had erupted along the bottom of her foot and across her ankle.
“Firestorms. This looks like more than a little, Kesia.”
“I might have brushed up against a bit of flame in there.” She shut her eyes against the pain as he prodded the wounds. “Anything you can do to help? I can’t go to the medical facilities. On the outside, I look human, but if they use the zeroscope they’ll know I’m a dragon.”
“Right.” Shance pulled a small container out of his pocket. “I have some healing salve that should take care of it.”
The tension in her shoulders dissipated as he applied the brownish salve, easing the throbbing in her foot. “Why are you carrying that around?”
“Would you believe I’m precognizant?”
“No.” She wiggled her toes at him.
He chuckled. “I keep it for my crew—or for me. When I first started serving aboard airships, I was accident-prone, even with my wind Talent. So I started carrying this around for when things happened. My first mission, I scraped my hands raw trying to slide down the main masthead. It was something I’d read about in a book. It didn’t matter that my father had told me it wasn’t a good idea. It only made me want to do it someday.”
“I understand.”
“You do?” Shance ripped off the inner sleeve of his coveralls and began wrapping her ankle and foot. “All right, now you need to share. I mean, if you don’t mind telling me.”
“It’s fine. I was seven years old and my mother had just showed me how to use the bellows to control the forge’s heat. She’d left the room, and, well, I really enjoyed using those bellows and I wanted to see how it would work with my own flame so—”
“How hot did it get?” Shance interrupted with a chuckle.
Kesia grinned sheepishly. “I melted half the tools closest to the forge before she returned. After that, she gave me another slatesheen treatment.”
“Is that a bad thing?” His fingers tucked the last pieces of fabric into place. “I thought you said it made you impervious to everything.”
“Oh, it’s wonderful. But the first few treatments hurt badly, especially in skin form. After that, we develop an immunity to it.”
Shance chuckled “So a treatment and a punishment. Very smart.”
“She was.”
Kesia grew quiet. His hand lingered on her foot. “Hard memories?”
“Yes, but good ones.” She looked up at him. “I’d rather remember and know they loved me than forget about them.”
“I understand.”
She studied him for a moment, breathing in the fragrance of fresh trees. The scent still aroused her, even though Zephryn held her heart and desire.
She wrinkled her nose. It was time to get that dissonance sorted out. “Shance, do you wear perfume?”
“Perfume?” He chuckled. “No. I haven’t even used hair pomade since your reaction when we first met.”
“So why do you smell…” She searched for a word.
“Awful?”
“Irresistible.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so now you’re changing your mind about me? After how adamant you were before, I’d almost suspect a love potion at work.”
Kesia latched on to the phrase. “A what?”
“It’s a mythical elixir that makes someone fall in love against their will. Kind of like how the voice of a dragon woman is said to call airship sailors to their deaths by luring them over the edges of their ships.”
“Our voices can be very compelling to humans, but we don’t have any actual power.”
“Yes, I know.” He rolled his eyes. “But in my case, I was already falling to my death, so that myth doesn’t apply. And the only elixir I’ve been drinking is this liquor Brody has been slipping me out of pity. Really strong stuff too. Has notes of different trees.”
Kesia’s heart raced, and she jumped to her feet, wincing as she pressed down on her right heel. “Trees?”
“Yes. Trees.” Shance stood, looking at her quizzically. “What about it?”
“At the gala, I was strongly attracted to Zephryn. And he smelled like trees. Peak pine trees. Ever since then, that scent has been present before we kissed. Drawing me to him.” Kesia glared at him, her throat heating up. “Do you always drink that liquor?”
Shance’s eyes widened. “No. But I have it here with me.”
He pulled out a small flask. Kesia grabbed it, unscrewed the top, and inhaled.
A rush of intense smells—tree branches and alcohol and other compelling aromas—flooded her nose and mouth. A perfect blend of Zephryn’s scent combined with the alluring flavors of whatever spices were in the beverage.
Anger burned within her. How had they trapped Zephryn’s scent? Who had given this to Shance? Did they know the effect it would have on her?
Whoever had done that needed to die.
“Kesia? Kesia! Your hands!”
“What?”
She blinked. Her hands were covered in scales and flames.
“Fewmets!�
�
She focused, trying to quell the fire.
Someone coughed behind her.
“Oh, dear me. Am I interrupting something?”
***
A deep alto voice laced with smugness broke into Kesia’s churning thoughts. A woman with dark brown velvet skin and tiny braids falling down her back stood in the doorway, her full lips quirked into a smirk.
Countess Nula Thredsing.
What was she doing here?
“Civilians aren’t allowed in the shipyard.” Shance stepped in front of Kesia. Thank Viorstan the flames were gone, but smoke still filled the engine room.
Had Nula seen anything?
“Oh, but I would have missed the delightful show.”
Firestorms!
“This is an engine room, Countess.” Shance kept his tone flat. “Smoke and flames are hardly out of the ordinary.”
“Except when they emerge from the hands of the Congruency’s favorite First Mechanic.” Nula brushed off her silvery corset-coat and stood on her tiptoes, fixing Kesia with a smile. “Or should I say, dragon mechanic?”
Kesia stepped out from behind him, smiling tightly. “Only a new device from the Scepter of Industry. A flame thrower that fits into the sleeve of the mechanic. It only appeared that my hands were on fire.”
“Oh yes?” Nula sauntered up to Kesia. “Where is this miracle device?”
Kesia folded her arms and raised her chin. “That’s a secret for mechanics only.”
Shance clenched his teeth. “What are you doing down here, Countess?”
Nula shrugged. “I received special permission from General Brody. He’s an old friend of the family, and most curious himself.”
Brody? A member of the Curious Intrigue?
Nula continued. “He thought I should meet this rising star personally. Now I see why. She has many unexpected qualities, does she not?”
“Only tools.” Kesia raised her chin and took Shance’s hand. “I’m tired. The repairs to the ship are nearly finished, so I think my betrothed and I will leave. Unless you object?”
Nula’s gleaming white teeth flashed as she smiled and stepped aside. “Oh no, feel free. Although, Captain Windkeeper, I don’t think your coveralls are regulation anymore.”
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