An Airship Named Desire (Take to the Skies Book 1) (7 page)

“I’ve made rash decisions, yes.” He clasped his hands overtop the table. “But nothing that couldn’t be explained by simple psychology, pseudoscience though it may be.”

Isabella passed him a flat-lidded stare. “You know, a simple ‘no’ would have worked.”

Edwin’s mouth twitched until he released his grin. “But it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.”

“I’ll do a reading for Jensen and Bea.” Isabella waved her hands in the air. Edwin stood up from the table and walked over to his lab.

“Oh, Edwin,” I called out, “We’re celebrating on deck tonight. Are you going to join?”

He stopped and rubbed his chin. “I suppose I can pull away from the lab for the chance to further degrade my liver. Might the captain be breaking out the ale?”

“Maybe.” I winked. “You’ll have to head up there to find out.”

“Do you have to do my prediction?” Jensen complained, nudging his boot against the floor.

“I, for one, am looking forward to it,” I interjected. Isabella flipped open the latch and pulled out her deck. Her cards fascinated me. Unlike the regular playing cards we used for games, she owned a holographic tarot deck, so whenever she turned a card over, the structure flickered with a blue hologram overtop.

“I’ll read your past, present, and future. It’ll be quick and painless.”

Jensen placed his hands behind his head. Isabella’s chest rose with her deep breath as she shuffled her cards, and after quiet contemplation, she pulled three from the deck. A slight exhale passed her lips before she placed each one in a row. Ornate purple diamonds covered the back of the cards, which were interspersed by indigo runes of varying gypsy descent—though Isabella knew every one by heart. She closed her eyes and focused. From where we sat she appeared to spread her energy out over the cards, and after a slight inhale, she turned over the first one.

“Five of cups for the past,” she said. The holograph flickered on, and five transparent blue cups towered over the card. “You had a deep sorrow in your past, something that’s stayed with you your entire life.” Jensen’s jaw tightened, and even I noticed the tension that descended upon the room. Time to clear the air.

“Hear that?” I spoke up. “Even the cards are telling you to stop crying over that poor bet you made last time we played Faro.” Jensen narrowed his eyes, and I laughed. Isabella scrutinized the card before resting her gaze on him.

“Did something happen to your mother?” She asked, as her dark eyes filled with curiosity.

His frown deepened, and though he didn’t say a word, the slight flare of his nostrils told plenty. Before she could continue down that line of questioning, he cut her off. “So what’s my present?”

“Come on, I have daddy issues. It’s okay if you have mommy ones,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. My back pressed against the wall, and I folded my arms across my chest while I watched the master do her work. 

She took in another deep breath before turning the next card over. A frown turned her lips, and her forehead creased.

“Your present is the Tower.” The card lit up, and a tiny holographic tower teetered over the piece. “A reversed tower makes things …interesting. A strong change or upheaval in your life.”

“I’m about ready to heave up the rest of my lunch with this crap. Why are you holding onto this junk anyway? Didn’t your gypsy people reject you?” He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. The first card must have triggered something unwanted for Jensen because he wouldn’t throw Isabella’s past in her face like that.

“Classy.” She glared at him. “My ex-fiancée may have gotten me banished, but I still appreciate my roots and heritage. It wasn’t the elders’ faults he manipulated better than I could.”

“Well this tower card must mean I won a fortune. I’ll take my retirement on a tropical island.” Jensen pushed his chair in. “I’m going for a walk. You can keep your future, doll—I’ll make my own.” He stalked out of the room, but not before Isabella shot him a miniscule glare.

“I think the first one bunched his panties,” I said. “Although he’s never said much to me about his past.” Isabella met my gaze and nodded. She peeked at the last one in his spread.

“Ace of wands last. Card of breakthroughs and new beginnings.” She placed his cards back into the deck. “Maybe he will leave us for that tropical island. He can take that attitude with him.”

“Something must’ve hit him the wrong way. He wouldn’t have brought up—you know.”

Isabella scooped her cards and dropped them back into their holder. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a touch bitter about my cheating whore of an ex-fiance. Jensen knows better. I’d say for sure my cards were on their mark.” Her dark eyes glittered with unspent anger, and her lips pressed together in a firm line. I didn’t need to ask her how she’d still be so sour about the banishment from her clan after all these years. I understood holding onto baggage. 

“Maybe you can read my cards some other time.” I tapped a finger on the sealed deck. “When everyone’s not on edge. Here’s a change,” I said. “Let’s get you out of this infirmary and out onto the deck. The captain is breaking open some of our stores to celebrate the cargo pickup and evasion of the merchant ship. I’m talking the ale, the grog, maybe even some absinthe.”

“Well darling, all you needed to mention were the spirits.” Isabella brushed down her red skirt and stood from her seat. “I’ll drink to celebrate anything.” Her hips shifted back and forth as she exited the infirmary. “Try and keep up, I’ll see you above deck.”

I lifted my arms over my head for a stretch and then pushed myself away from the table. My fingers tapped a percussive beat against the door frame before I gave the infirmary one last glance and exited the room. A pint of ale would take the edge off all this tension bubbling on board. 

As I jogged up the steps, the floorboards creaked underneath me. Once I emerged topside, I noticed the sky had changed, and night coated the horizon with her velvet touch while a full moon glistened overhead. Millions of stars twinkled across the sky, interrupted by purplish-blue tufts of clouds. Nights upon an airship were like nothing else.

Our men huddled around the stern side of the ship, which meant the Captain must have brought out the casks of ale and grog. The wind carried the crew’s laughter out past the deck, towards the stars. I plucked my empty flask from the loophole on my belt and dodged crewmates to get to the casks where Isabella stood by the ale, drinking the fresh poured brew from a mug.

“A little overeager, are we?” I said, dipping my flask into the ale. The muddled golden liquid filled it, and I pulled a full flask out.

“The captain’s been stingy with the ale since our last job fouled. We’ve been drinking grog for the past couple of weeks. It wears down on a girl. This however—” She held her mug aloft. “This is liquid bread. It throws some color on your cheeks and provides proper nourishment.”

“More nourishing than the food we concoct,” I said, “Jensen’s right. We need a cook for the ship—I’m tired of gruel.” I gazed towards the helm where Geoff and Spade steered the ship at the navigation deck. After tucking my flask back into my belt, I filled two mugs. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take these over to our helmsmen.” I winked at Isabella, dismissing myself.

Her laugh rang into the air, and she swaggered off to terrorize a throng of men by the main hatch. I carried the mugs across the deck, one in each hand. At least this trip over to navigation didn’t involve dodging cannon fire or a stormy gale.

“You’re being sweet?” Geoff called out when I approached. “I didn’t know the world was ending. Let me light a cigar.”

“Sweet?” I sidled next to them underneath the canopy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, these are for me.” Spade snorted, and I passed him a mug. I lifted the other one to my lips before glancing to Geoff.

“What about me?” Geoff pointed to his chest. I peered at the mug and back at him before pursing my lips.

“Well, I guess you deserve it.” I passed him the ale. “I mean you did navigate us out of a storm from under enemy fire.”

“Damn straight I did.” Geoff took a hefty draft of ale. I leaned back against the wooden pillar and lifted my flask to my lips. The sweet taste of beer coated my tongue and tingled down my throat.

“How confident were you we’d make it?” I asked.

Geoff ran fingers through his thick brown hair with his free hand. “With your help navigating? I thought we’d die.” His eyes locked with mine, and his darkened gaze told me we had played our cards pretty close. Ever since last month, we’d done nothing but play it close. “We’ve had pursuit from stealing cargo before, but that wasn’t an average rogue ship. That was a state of the art, well-equipped merchant ship with military personnel on board. Did the captain know what the job threw us into? What’s in that box?”

“I haven’t the slightest,” I said with a shrug. “But we need that payoff, more than the captain’s let on since we’re taking these risky missions.”

“First pissing off the Morlocks and now the Brits. I hope he has a plan up his sleeve. We’ll need to stay under the radar as much as possible.” Geoff took another swig of ale.

“I know.” I heaved a sigh and lifted one leg over the other. “But the captain’s never steered us wrong before, and I doubt he’d start now. He wouldn’t risk our lives without a reason.”  Geoff nodded. The breeze whipped several loose strands from my messy bun and tossed them over my forehead.

“Any opinions over there, silent one?” I glanced back to Spade, who sat perched by the thrusters, watching the two of us.

His shoulders twitched with surprise, but he shook his head. “I have no qualms. I just steer the ship.” A smile tugged on my mouth. Good old Spade. He rarely strung a full sentence together, but his silent presence offered a much needed sturdiness to our crew.

“Boy-o, that’s good to hear.”

Geoff caught Spade’s eyes and looped his free arm through mine. “Care to join me for a stroll?”

“What’s wrong, Geoff?” I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t like that look he gave Spade. Those two gossiped worse than the deckhands.

“Nothing, nothing. It’s a balmy night for a walk.” He smirked.

“Right, ‘cause I haven’t done enough walking, leaping, and running today to last me a year.”

“Stop complaining and come with me.” Geoff tugged me away by the hand while Spade took over at the helm. My heart thumped offbeat in my chest, and a nervous sweat pricked the nape of my neck. That unspoken tension rose between us the second we walked off. He’d tried to talk feelings before, but I always dodged around him because in our line of work they interfered with getting the job done. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I wanted to throw him down and run my hands all over his lithe body, but that couldn’t happen between us. It wasn’t simple like a tumble with Jensen. Where Geoff was concerned, attachments came into play, and I didn’t mess around with those.

We walked past several crew members who watched Isabella dance with the natural grace of a gypsy. Based on the way her hips sashayed, I couldn’t blame their open leers. A lot of the crew’s fantasies centered around that woman.

Geoff’s warmth mingled with my own. He always smelled like ink from his stained hands and cinnamon from the sticks he chewed when he pored over maps. Firelight from lanterns flickered across the deck and cast winsome glows with checkered shadows onto the floor. We passed Jack, our scout, and Captain Morris kicking back mug after mug of ale. Jensen lumbered by and nodded as greeting.

“So, tell me what’s wrong.” I spoke while we walked. “I caught that look between you and Spade.”

“Just wanted to talk. I don’t like blasting my personal affairs to everyone,” Geoff said. We reached the edge of the ship, and he let go of my arm. “I know we joked about the last job and all, but I was worried sick about you. I have full faith in your skills, you know that, but these stakes don’t make me comfortable. After we messed with the Morlocks and Isabella got hurt, it drilled the message home.”

Geoff wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Gods Bea, contact us next time. With our jobs getting risky like this…I can’t imagine losing you...” he trailed off. His body against mine sent shivers tingling up my spine, and his warmth made my insides melt. Emotions I didn’t want to deal with surfaced, so I stepped away.

“I’ll be more cautious next time. I know you’re watching out for me.”

He caught my eyes with his intense dark gaze, and for a moment I aged backwards to a time before I put my guards up. My defenses dissolved. I wanted to fall into his arms and surrender to the mind-searing passion that wrung my stomach and twisted my heart. Couldn’t let that happen though.

I leaned over the side and placed my arms along the ledge, changing the subject. “We’ll have some smooth sailing soon anyway after this next payoff.”

He sighed but leaned over next to me. I lifted my flask again for another sip to wash away residual feelings. This distance—this was comfortable. Safe. Any time we strayed past those borders, my mind ran screaming in panic.

Geoff bumped my side with his hip. “You got to spend a vacation with Jensen, so I’m sure that made the trip worth it.”

“The intellectual experience of a lifetime.” I rolled my eyes. “If I heard one more story about how he used to practice riot wrestling with his brothers back in Texas, I’d have practiced some on him.” Geoff’s laugh cheered me and wiped away the last bit of awkwardness between us. Footsteps creaked from behind, and I turned my head as Captain Morris approached.