by A. W. Exley
Lunch passed, and the Western Siberian Plain rolled underneath them when the navigator gave a cry. “Got her!”
“Hold on everyone.” Loki issued orders, his fingers tightened around the helm. “We need them to find us on the ground.”
Cara turned and took hold of the brass rail running under the window as Loki took the Hellcat in steep. Small objects along the windowsill scuttled along the ledge to pool in one corner.
Nate and Loki scanned the thick larch forest, searching for a break in the dense greenery. Spotting a small clearing, he threw the Hellcat into a rapid descent, landing her nestled in the embrace of surrounding trees.
“How long do we wait?” she asked.
“Well, that is the hard part. We have to stay on the ground long enough for them to lock on to our position, but we don’t want them jumping us from behind.” Loki answered.
“And the shell?” Her gaze fell to bag containing the pieces, sitting in one corner of the bridge like broken crockery in a dustbin.
Nate stretched out a hand to her. “Care to come for a walk and lay a false trail? We’ll find somewhere to drop the shards, so it looks like the hatchling is loose around these parts.”
Once bundled up, Nate picked up the large pieces of shell and they walked amongst the conifers trees. They came to a small circle of trunks with surrounding wooden guards.
“This is a sheltered spot,” Nate said.
They made a gentle depression in the snow at the base of a tree as though the egg had rested there. Cara arranged the shards to look like they had fallen apart and hoped it was sufficient to catch the attention of any searchers.
Golden movement flickered amongst the branches overhead. Cara looked up, her brain trying to decipher what her eyes saw.
The scream of a klaxon broke the silence. “Nolton’s found us sooner than expected!” Nate yelled over the warning noise. “Back to the Hellcat. Run!”
The yellow undercarriage of the Aurora passing above the green canopy had drawn Cara’s attention. She made her legs move as fast as the thick snow would allow back to where the Hellcat lay. Shadows swooped and spun amongst the thick greenery, accompanied by a high pitched whine. Risking another upward glance, Cara froze. Heavy boots followed by insulated trousers appeared amongst the boughs as soldiers rappelled from the airship above and dropped to the ground.
Oh damn. She eyed a path between two men and ran the best she could in deep snow, hoping Nate was close behind her. Her arm trailed over a tree and she cried out as fire ripped through her flesh and she couldn’t run any further, forward progress arrested. Turning, she saw a crossbow bolt protruding from her upper arm, pinning her to the tree. Winching against the pain, she gave a tug. His aim was off, the bolt nicked her skin, but the sleeve of her insulated jacket took the worse hit. Either way, the projectile held her captive, pinned to the trunk.
The shooter pulled back the hood of his jacket and Cara stared at a grinning Nolton. He tossed the crossbow to a soldier and drew a pistol as he advanced on her. Stopping next to the tree, he pressed the barrel of the gun to Cara’s forehead.
“I do believe you owe me a dragon.”
“Terribly sorry, I appear to have misplaced it.”
He pushed the barrel deeper into her skin, causing her to wince.
“Let her go,” Nate’s voice was low, but carried on the crisp still air.
Nolton kept his pale gaze fixed on Cara. “Now why would I do that? I haven’t finished playing with her.” He trailed the gun down the side of her face and along her cheek.
“You don’t want her, Nolton. You want me.”
“What I want is my dragon,” he spat out.
“You’re too late.”
Nolton’s head swung. Nate held the broken egg shell in his hands; he must have retrieved the shards when he realised the Aurora had found them. Once he held the duke’s attention, he threw the pieces on the ground.
The duke’s gaze narrowed and flicked from Cara to empty shell. “When?”
“Two days ago, he hatched on the Hellcat and caused a bit of upset. We put down here and tried to bond with him, but he disappeared into the forest. We’ve been trying to find him. I heard they are attracted to the odour of their shell, we hoped to use it to trap him.”
Nolton sneered. “You’re useless. I’ll find it. Mark these co-ordinates,” he barked over his shoulder. “Once I have England under my command, I will send soldiers back to find my errant pet. I’ll have to contend myself with taking you back.”
Cara stared at Nate, standing still, letting Nolton’s soldiers circle him. Dread chilled her system and she shook her head. “No, Nate, not without a fight. Don’t do this again.”
Click. The hammer pulled back, cold metal dug into Cara’s temple.
“Yes, Nate. Fight. Go on, I dare you.” Part taunt, part tease.
“Now is not the time, Cara.” He held Nolton’s attention, trying to draw him away from the tree.
Anger rose in her throat. “Yes, it is. This is the point where you fight the bad guy.”
“Argumentative thing, isn’t she?” He moved the pistol to gesture at Nate. “Bring him.”
Soldiers closed in behind, grabbing his shoulders and elbows.
“Victoria is expecting you and I’d hate to disappoint her.” Nolton cast a glance at Cara that froze the blood in her veins.
“No!” Cara yelled. “Fight! Don’t let them take you.” She pulled at her arm, tears welled up in her eyes as she ripped the bolt through a strip of flesh, but the thick clothing still held her tight. She clawed with her left hand, but didn’t have sufficient leverage to pull the bolt loose.
Attached lines were winched skyward and Nolton, soldiers, and Nate disappeared through the canopy and then were swallowed by the stomach of the British airship.
Cara screwed her eyes up tight and let loose a scream of frustration.
Shouts echoed around her, opening her eyes she found Loki, Miguel, and two crewmen.
“That man is really starting to piss me off,” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Nolton?” Loki inquired, stopping several feet from Cara.
“Nate. I’m not going to be his wife, I’m going to be his damn widow!”
The men paused several feet back and exchanged glances.
She blew out a long breathe. “That’s the second time he’s done this.”
“Done what?” Loki held his ground, not venturing any closer.
“Tugged his forelock and walked away meekly with his enemy. Why won’t he fight?”
Miguel turned familiar hazel eyes her way. “Because of you.”
“Excuse me?” Her words dripped with as much ice as the surrounding trees.
“Good going, lad,” Loki murmured. “She didn’t look angry enough, so why don’t you poke her with a stick.”
Miguel ignored Loki and stepped closer to Cara. “He doesn’t want you to get hurt, so he won’t fight.”
“Are you telling me I have turned the notorious Lyons into a neutered pussy cat?”
The men looked to one another. Eyes shifted back and forth in some unspoken male game of chicken, but no one picked up the gauntlet. No one spoke. No one dared.
“Fine. Don’t tell me,” she muttered. “But somebody better unstick me from this damn tree. I am bleeding under my jacket you know. And in case no one has noticed the Aurora is getting away with Nate.”
“We’ll catch them. But we’ll only unpin you if you promise not to grab the bolt and shove it through whoever releases you. You do look rather angry at the moment.” Loki pushed Miguel forward. “You do it; you think of her as family, and she might not hurt you as bad.”
Miguel pulled a long knife from the sheath attached to his thigh. He approached Cara and eyed up the bolt. “Ready?”
She gave a quick nod and he used the knife tip to dig the arrow free of the tree’s secure hold.
Her arm dropped. She screwed up her nose as a wave of pain shot down to her fingers and up to her s
houlder.
“Are you ok?” Miguel asked.
“Yes.” Cara waved him away. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a flesh wound. He’s a lousy shot.” Another thought occurred to her, now she was free. “How the hell did he get the jump on us? They nearly repelled right on top of me.”
Loki took a deep breath, pushing down anger at his failings. “Our sonar doesn’t work when we’re grounded and surrounded by trees, and theirs must have a greater range than we thought. We were relying on a visual, but they came in low and the trees blocked them until they were pretty close.”
Cara stuck a finger through the hole in her jacket and examined the tear. Blood stained the edges, but the frigid temperature stopped the flow. “Well, let’s debate that later, time we got moving.”
“Yeah, another slight problem there.” Loki said as they trudged back to the Hellcat. “We also have two hundred feet of squirrel home pinning us to the ground.”
She looked up to meet his black gaze. “We’re trapped by squirrels?”
“They felled a fucking enormous tree on top of our air bladder.” He ran a hand through his hair. “They came in fast and lassoed a tree, dropping it on top of us as they passed over. We’re not going anywhere until we cut it off and check for damage.”
She couldn’t understand the pirate being caught so easily. “Why didn’t you take off? Before they closed in?”
“I wasn’t going to leave you and Nate out here.”
“Well, plenty of time to check out this scratch, then.” In silence they made their way back to the trapped Hellcat. Cara sympathised with the vessel; she knew what it was like to be pinned in the forest.
he double beat in Cara’s chest grew longer as the Aurora took Nate farther from them. She knew the blows he took through their bond before an empty ache settled deep within her. Hours slipped by and she maintained her vigil on the bridge, kept awake by the built-in coffee machine. The incessant grinding of beans reminded her of the automatic kitty litter unit in Justine’s apartment, but smelled far more welcoming. With her fingers wrapped around a fresh mug of hot java, her gaze scanned the horizon as sunrise bled across the clouds. They left the endless green and white of Russia far behind. Now the Atlantic Ocean passed far below them, an unceasing expanse of deep teal with rough peaks from colliding waves.
The HMRAS airship had the jump on them. The Hellcat lost valuable time; first Loki and Miguel had to pry her free of the larch holding her captive. The duke used a larger bolt on the Hellcat; it took over an hour to cut the fallen conifers holding down the airship. Then the crew had to ensure there was no damage to their airbladder. By the time they rose into the sky, the Aurora had an advantage of nearly three hours. Loki’s mood grew worse with each passing minute at the failure of their plan.
Although the Aurora held her lead through the night, the swift Hellcat slowly ate away at the distance between. Cara did not need the radar to monitor the distance; the gap between beats in her chest closed, telling her they drew near to Nate. With the rising morning, the time had come to bring them down. Loki swore at the gathering clouds that obscured his view, and the charged atmosphere of an incoming storm wreaked havoc with their instruments.
“We are gaining on them.” Long fingers gripped the wheel. He had stayed at the helm all night. The two of them kept each other company as the other crewmen rotated on their set schedule.
“Oh crap.” Cara leaned forward, one hand clutching the rail under the window as ice shot down her spine and flowed through her body. Her eyes widened, trying to see what was happening on the airship far in front. A shadow danced amongst the clouds as the enormous military ship dipped low toward the ocean. She placed the mug of coffee on the ledge before it fell from her fingers with the next freezing stab through her gut. She opened herself to the connection with Nate, but found him closed tight to her. Whatever they were doing to him, he was trying to shield her from it. To protect her. Again.
Damn infuriating male.
The other ship was too far ahead to see as they disappeared behind a bank of grey cloud.
Pressure snapped around Cara’s chest like a steel band. The world blurred before her eyes, colours merged and ran together, edges faded into surrounding objects. She fell to her knees and cried out as her lungs constricted. Her body struggled to take a breath when a rush of invisible water ran down her throat and she coughed to dislodge the sensation.
Loki turned from the helm, a crewman stepping up to take over. Kneeling on the floor, he grabbed her shoulders. “What is it? What’s happening?”
His touch gave her a physical sensation to concentrate on. She put a hand on the floor for balance and screamed at her brain to breathe. Her body panicked and struggled for air even as her brain clutched at logic. She was safe on the Hellcat, air surrounded her, not water she rationalised. It was impossible for her to feel the water, for it to force its way down into her lungs, wasn’t it?
“It’s Nate,” she gasped with realisation. “They’re drowning Nate.”
She screwed up her eyes and pushed the panic down. She was safe. If she kept drawing even breaths, then Nate would survive. She just had to resist the urge to succumb to the pressure of the ocean, wanting to fill her lungs and drown her alongside Nate.
“Bucket,” she cried. “Bring me a bucket.”
Miguel kicked into action and disappeared and reappeared mere seconds later with a metal bucket. Cara cradled it between her knees. She had an idea of what to do. It was crazy, but then so was the link they shared.
“Shit,” Loki said, worry etched on his face. “They must be long-lining him, that’s why they’ve dropped so low.”
She flicked a question with her eyes, unable to spare the breath to talk.
“It’s the airship equivalent of keelhauling.” His eyes darkened to black, his gaze dropped away to the floor. He didn’t need to say the rest. No one survives.
Cara’s teeth began to chatter from the freezing water embracing Nate. “I need a blanket, before we both freeze.” Her fingers changed to purple as her circulation pulled back to keep her core warm. She took a deep shuddering breath and opened herself fully to Nate.
He couldn’t block her out now, too intent on trying to survive with the last remaining breath in his body. Cara travelled along their bond and immersed herself in the rough ocean alongside his thrashing form. A chain was looped around his ankles and then up to his wrists, binding his arms behind his back. He struggled against the steel imprisoning him, trying to work his hands free as the sea water sought to claim him. The weight of the metal wrapped around him and the pull of the airship held him under.
His lungs burned, his oxygen ran out, and the ocean forced its way between his lips. His instinct to try and take a breath allowed death to pour down his throat. Cara reached out ethereal arms to wrap around him, gentling his struggles, telling him she was there. His flailing lessened and she moved on to concentrate on what was happening in his body. She visualised his lungs full with deadly salt water and transferred the liquid along their bond. She pictured two vessels, one draining as it filled the other.
She tried to gasp for air, but couldn’t. Coughs racked her frame, her fingers curled around the bucket’s edge and opening her eyes on the Hellcat, she vomited the salt water lodged in her lungs.
Loki and Miguel watched wide eyed as she emptied her body of water she had taken from Nate. She kept coughing until she had expelled it all. She took a deep breath of fresh air and along the bond, Nate understood, and calmed. Cara inhaled and inflated his lungs with air and he exhaled in the turbulent ocean.
“I’m breathing for him,” she told Loki and Miguel between calm steady breaths. “But you have to rescue him. I don’t know how long I’ll last.”
At some stage Miguel dropped a fur lined blanket around her shoulders and she pulled it tighter, struggling to keep two bodies warm. Her efforts to breathe for both of them would be for nothing if hypothermia claimed her.
“Shit,” Loki swore. “Look afte
r her,” he pointed to the crewmen, and then swung his attention to Miguel. “You, weapons pod, you have the best aim. Load the harpoon.”
“What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“We’ll get close and lower you as far as the chain will allow, you’ll get one shot before they see us, so make it count.”
Miguel nodded his understanding and ran from the bridge.
Cara leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, concentrating on breathing, on staying alive. “What’s the rest of the plan?” she asked the pirate. She thought chaos would reign on the airship, but Loki held everyone calm. He issued orders in a low, steady tone. The crewmen well trained; they all knew their stations and what was expected of them.
“They are three times the size of us and heavily armed.” His gaze roamed the darkening sky. “But airships have one fundamental flaw; you can’t fire upward through your air bladder. There’s a storm brewing, I’m going to take us high, the clouds will cover us and mess with their instruments. We are going to toss Miguel down close while we spit on the Aurora from above.”
Cara closed her eyes again. She focused on breathing in and out and tried to ignore the seductive allure of the ocean, calling to her, serenading her to surrender alongside Nate.
She opened her eyes to find Loki’s black gaze on her.
“Is he still…?” He swallowed, the bob of his Adam’s apple the only visible sign of his concern for his friend and her.
“Alive? Yes.” Her eyes fluttered shut again, visual stimulus too much for her overtaxed brain to handle. Breath in, breath out, Cara commanded her body.
“Will we know if he dies?” The words so softly spoken, she nearly didn’t catch them.
“Yes.” Her heart lurched at the idea of letting go. “We’re connected. If Nate dies, he will take me with him.”
Nolton peered over the railing, watching the thick chain spiral through the cloud to the azure ocean below. In one hand he clutched his pocket watch, the second hand taking a leisurely stroll around the face. He had no intention of returning his prisoner to Victoria when it was far more satisfying to use him as fish bait.