The Ruby Celeste Series - Box Set, books 1 - 3: Ghost Armada, Dire Kraken, and Church of Ife
Page 63
He had not seen his parents.
He’d seen the people on the Harbinger.
Soft breeze blew.
Behind him, the door opened.
He looked back.
Brie stepped out.
She was nowhere near as battered as Francis. Even so, Baterman had given her a fair beating. Her lip was split, and her cheeks bore scabs.
She pulled a low smile. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
She joined him by the rail. Small hands encircled it.
They looked out.
“Crazy couple of days, huh?” Brie said at last.
Francis laughed. “You could say that.”
“Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
Brie assessed him.
She looked older somehow. As though when Francis had last stood on this deck with her—when he set foot onto New Calais for this insane mission—she had been a child.
She was not anymore.
“I don’t believe you,” she told him.
“I don’t quite believe me either. How are you?”
“M’okay,” said Brie. “Little bruised, but …” She shrugged. Hair swept over her shoulder. For once, she made no move to brush it away. “I’ll live.”
“Good.”
Quiet but for the wind.
Brie rolled her lips in an inverse pucker.
“I remembered something. When we were in the cells.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“We never had that slow dance you promised.”
Francis laughed. “No, I guess not.”
“Maybe we could have it now?” Brie said. She rolled a noncommittal shrug. “I know there’s no music, but … it’s nice out. You’re here. And I’m here.” She shrugged again. “I guess neither of us really knows how, but … you did promise.”
A low smile tugged the corners of Francis’s mouth. “I guess I did.”
He held up his hands.
Brie took one. She took the other behind the wrist, and placed it on her hip.
Slowly, they began to sway.
“This feels odd,” said Francis.
“Oh—I’m sorry—”
“No, it’s not that. Just … like I said. I can’t dance. And we don’t have any music.”
“I could hum?” Brie said earnestly.
He laughed.
Brie looked up at him. Stars reflected on her pupils.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“Saving me.”
Francis nodded. “Thank you for saving me.”
Brie gave a little nod of her own. “Any time,” she whispered.
Her eyes blazed.
She tiptoed …
Francis knew what she was going to do before she did it.
And because his head was a mess—because the world had been turned upside-down, and he could not right it—because it had been Brie to rescue him, not Ruby, Ruby who he had seen most clearly when Hanratty pressed the gun to his head—because of all that, he let her.
He let her kiss him.
3
Ruby depressed the handle of the door leading topside. She pushed it open.
Francis was out. She grinned, and opened her mouth to call his name—
She stopped.
He stood at the far end of the deck. Brie was in his arms. And their faces … their faces …
Ruby backpedalled. Her neck cracked as she looked away. Her breath hitched in her throat. And it was a good thing it did, because if it did not—was that a bawl about to slip out?
She was frozen. Cool air blew in.
Her head would not work.
Finally: Shut the door.
She did. She pulled it slow and quiet so as not to …
Disrupt—
Frozen, still. Then:
Go.
She wrenched herself into motion. She was wooden, mechanical … but she moved.
Her eyes were wide all the way back to her quarters. Despite their size, she saw not the Harbinger’s halls.
All she saw was Francis and Brie, locked in embrace.
Survoix Again
(Epilogue)
1
The Harbinger returned to Survoix to bring Ife’s burial shroud to Magnus Dwight.
Though little more than seven weeks had passed, Survoix could not look more different. The trees were bare. Streets were piled with curled leaves, blown or swept into piles.
The sun was frosty, and Survoix’s people wore not summer clothes, but thick coats and scarves. Wisps of white cloud floated above the city, spattering rain. Before long, that rain would turn to snow.
The crew were happy enough to be back in Survoix. Downtime was good. Ruby suspected Francis especially enjoyed it. She could not be sure; she did not see him to ask.
“Thank you,” said Magnus when Ruby met to hand over the shroud. “The research team will need to assess it is not a counterfeit, but it should not take long. As soon as they have, I’ll release your funds to you.”
Ruby nodded. “That would be very kind.”
“I mentioned repeat work when we first spoke,” Magnus said. “Still interested?”
Ruby’s hesitation was slight. Long enough for a thought to go out to Francis—then reel back from him.
“Not at the current time, I regret,” she said. “But perhaps I could keep in touch if anything changes?”
“Of course,” said Magnus. “Pleasure working with you, Ruby Celeste.”
2
The ship was not empty when she got back. Natasha was in the command centre.
She looked up when Ruby came in. “Afternoon.”
“Miss Brady. I didn’t realise you were here.”
“Mikhail gets boring after a while,” Natasha said. “I thought I’d have a nose through databanks on the region; see if there’s anything interesting out there. You know, beyond a murderous church.”
“It wasn’t the church; just him,” said Ruby.
Natasha nodded. She was already back to flicking through entries.
“Did you see Magnus?”
“I did,” said Ruby.
“Give him the shroud?”
“I did indeed. Once they’ve validated its authenticity, we’ll get paid.”
“The most important thing of all,” Natasha said. “Did he give us another job?”
Ruby thought to the diary and amulet locked in her drawer. She thought of the things Grace had said.
She saw the stone ruin. Looming out of the snow: ancient, broken, cold … and waiting.
Waiting for her.
“Yes,” she lied. “He did.”
“Yeah?” Natasha said. “Where are we going now?”
Picturing that stone monolith, Ruby’s answer was just two words:
“Somewhere cold.”
In search of answers, Ruby Celeste directs the Harbinger north, to a snow-packed island descending into polar night. She seeks a stone ruin, believing it to be key to her questions: why does the shroud of Ife belong to her? What are the diary and amulet she found inside? And what precisely is Ruby ‘Inheritor’ to?
But to find the answers to these questions, Ruby has lied to her crew. And her deceit will not stay buried forever.
The story continues in
RUBY CELESTE
AND THE MEMORY KEY
COMING SOON
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Also available from Nicholas J. Ambrose
THE RUBY CELESTE UNIVERSE
Ruby Celeste and the Ghost Armada
Ruby Celeste and the Dire Kraken
Ruby Celeste and the Church of Ife
The Final Fl
ight of Castle Adeline
Madness on the Modicum *
Ruby Celeste and the Memory Key *
STANDALONE NOVELS
Samantha’s Promise
Mirror Me *
SHORT STORIES
Neath the Starshine
You Win
Gluttony *
* Upcoming
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and more at
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