Midnight Sky (Dark Sky Book 2) (3 page)

In the three months since her capture and torture on the
Behemoth
, I thought Abby would get better. I expected the nightmares to continue, though she would physically improve. 

I hadn’t expected her to get worse. 

Riley and I approached the
Dauntless Wanderer
, where Abby and I slept so her screams wouldn’t wake the others who slept in the cavernous hangar. It was a three-masted barque built of taupe iron. Heavy bolts welded the siding together, nearly hiding the patchy bits of scrap metal used in its repair. New black sails adorned each mast and almost all of the canons had been refurbished. The gold script reading
Dauntless Wanderer
had been repainted. The vessel actually
looked
like a ship now, rather than a blocky piece of junk metal.

While Gemma, Nash, and even Sawyer admitted the
Dauntless
was becoming stronger and better than she ever had been, our captain was hesitant to bring the ship out into the broken world. Gemma argued for taking the
Dauntless
out of the ports, saying it was time to let others know we could fly. It wasn’t the first time we’d tested the ship in the air, but we only risked on cloudy nights. Sawyer argued back with his usual stubbornness– saying that as soon as the
Dauntless
was seen, it would be the target for every marauder Clan on the ground. Not only that, but it would attract the attention of any Hellion that passed through the Breach. Older marauders would recognize the
Dauntless
immediately, and stop at nothing to take it for themselves. Sawyer would die before he gave his ship up for anything.
 

So I found ways to improve it. I made a self-powering generator to create a more efficient engine that wouldn’t die on us if we took a flight that was longer than expected. Fog lights were built on the bow of the ship to see through thick clouds. New, electrically charging guns would cut down on reloading time if–or when–we encountered any dangers.

A small smile crossed my face as I remembered the feel of the wind pushing long strands of blonde hair from my face, the sight of fluffy clouds as they parted for us, the smell and taste of cool, fresh air, untouched by ten years worth of airships and their polluting fumes. 

I grabbed the netting dangling from the starboard side of the ship and began to climb. Riley moved up beside me, grinning mischievously. I smiled back at him, signaling that I was game. Almost a second later, we sprang into motion. We raced to the top, scaling the nets as fast as we could. By the time we pulled ourselves onto the deck of the ship, we were laughing and out of breath.

“Thank you,” I said to Riley, taking a steady breath. “I needed that.”

He chuckled, a rich, warm sound. “We both did.”

Riley suddenly reached out and tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear. I was frozen to the floor, heart thumping wildly as his fingers feathered down my cheek. He watched my face with soft eyes, intent and focused on my lips. 

Ever since rescuing him from the
Behemoth
, Riley had stayed close to me, always nearby to help or keep me company. Abby adored him and saw him as someone to talk to about things I wouldn’t understand. Nash and Gemma liked him and Sawyer, despite his moods, respected him. 

As for me… I didn’t feel stressed or awkward around him. Riley was a good, kind man and I saw him as my friend.

But he made it clear that he wanted more than simple friendship, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted the same thing he did.

“I should check on my sister,” I whispered, forcing myself to draw my mind away from his heated gaze and recall why I’d come up here, isolated from the eyes of the
Dauntless
crew.

I didn’t notice how close Riley was until he leaned back and unthreaded his hand from my hair. The expression on his face didn’t change.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I just want to see how her fever is doing. Would you mind waiting outside, just in case?”

He smiled gently. “Of course, Claire.”

I nodded to him and walked to the far cabin where Abby was sleeping. Though I tried to get her to do otherwise, Abby typically slept through the day. She claimed the light hurt her eyes and head, so she rarely ventured outside of the ports. Even when we risked sailing the
Dauntless
, my sister often stayed in the cabin.

When I reached the captain’s quarters near the stern of the ship, I knocked on the door. Abby wouldn’t leave her bed, but at least she would know someone was there. I wrapped my hand around the door handle and pushed it open.

“Abby? Moira?”
 

The interior of the cabin was dark, the windows covered in thick cloth to help her sleep. Unused tables were pushed against the walls, revealing a wide space of hardwood that creaked under my foot. Lying on the bed across from me, covered in heavy blankets, was the sleeping form of my little sister.
 

Abby was small, even for an eight year old girl. Her time in captivity left her nearly drained of all her blood, turning her smaller still.
 

A woman sat on the bed near Abby’s feet, humming softly as she sewed one of Sawyer’s shirts together with a needle and thread.

Moira was around the age my mother would have been if she were still alive, but she looked far older. Streaks of grey lined her copper red hair. Faded freckles dotted her cheeks and nose. A ratty brown shawl was wrapped around her neck, draping her shoulders and covering the top of her buttoned-up dress. On the outside, she looked like a calm, controlled, sane, and loving mother.
 

On the inside, she was broken.
 

Garnet Dayton, the self-imposed, so-called “leader” of my old underground colony, had believed in repopulation. He took young girls into his chambers and forced himself on them, thinking he earned rights to their bodies in exchange for sheltering them. Moira’s daughter was one of the girls he abused, a girl barely out of childhood, who died nine months later in childbirth with her unborn baby.

The tragedy destroyed Moira, who tried to use a knife to escape her pain. Garnet stopped her suicide and forced her to continue work as a nurse. It took a couple years, but after treating so many children, Moira’s mind broke. She saw each little girl as her daughter, every baby as her grandchild.
 

She looked up when she heard me approach, smiling brightly and setting the shirt aside. I tried not to look at her wrists, and the two rigid scars marking her skin.

“Claire,” Moira said quietly. “I’m so glad you’re back. Molly was asking about you before she fell asleep.”

I forced my lips into a smile. All of the crew, myself included, let Moira call Abby by her dead daughter’s name. She wasn’t entirely sane, but if she thought Abby was her daughter, then my sister would be safe. It was a small, strange mercy for the woman who cared for my little sister and sewed up our wounds.
 

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

Moira’s smile slipped, and she looked at the sleeping child on the bed. I followed her gaze, my heart wrenching when I saw Abby’s pale, hunched form. Moira reached over and put one of her hands on Abby’s shin, displaying the white scars I was trying not to see.

“She’s been in and out of consciousness. I did another checkup, but I don’t know how to treat what she has. Her symptoms are almost flu-like, but rest, hot foods, and the antibiotics aren’t doing anything. I’m worried about giving her more medicine, since I don’t want to treat the wrong disease.”

A knot built in my throat and halted my breath. “Is there anything I can ask Sawyer to find? Something else that might help her?”

Moira glanced at me, sympathy and heartache filling her crystal blue eyes. “I’m sorry, Claire. But the risk is too great. I’ll need to watch her and make more observations.” The pain hardened into resolve. “But I won’t let anything happen to our Molly. She’ll be safe with me.”

Moira wasn’t a fighter in the traditional sense, yet I knew she would do everything in her power to protect Abby. She’d already lost one daughter. She was determined not to lose another, even if that daughter didn’t belong to her.

“Thank you, Moira,” I said quietly. Finally swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded to my sister. “Do you mind if I spend some time with her alone?”

Moira hesitated, glancing between Abby and me, reluctant to leave her “child.” Still, she smiled and stood up, gathering the needle, thread, and shirt to her chest.
 

“Not at all, my dear,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to bring this back for our young captain.” She held up the shirt, then shook her head. “That boy. He just can’t stay out of trouble, can he?”

No,
I thought ruefully.
Not even once.
 

Moira patted my shoulder as she left the cabin, closing the door softly behind her and locking the silence in again.
 

Blowing out a steady breath, I knelt down by the bed and gently touched Abby’s shoulder with one hand. The other smoothed back tangled golden curls, revealing a sweet, baby face. Abby’s skin was drenched in sweat, but her skin was cold as ice. She whimpered and rolled onto her side, facing me. I tugged up the blankets to her chin, worried that she would never get warm.

Abby suddenly jerked and snapped her eyes open. She opened her mouth to scream, stopping when she saw me.

“Claire?” she whispered shakily, big green eyes filled with terror. Her sickness had begun to turn the whites an ugly shade of pink. “Are you here? Is it really you?”

My heart ached. “Yeah, Abby. I’m here.”

My sister lurched forward and wrapped her arms around my neck. I cradled her as much as I could, hoping my body heat would transfer to her. I stayed with her, listening to her strained breathing and feeling her shake in my arms. Rubbing my hand up and down her back, I looked over my shoulder to see if she’d eaten the food I left out for her.

It was all but untouched, as was the pitcher of water.

“Did you eat anything?” I asked.

“Moira wanted me to,” she moaned. “But it doesn’t taste right. I don’t like it.”

I pulled back, holding Abby by her frail shoulders. “Abigail, you have to eat, even if you don’t like it. You’ll keep getting weaker if you don’t.”

She bit her lip and averted her gaze.
 

“Did you have nightmares again?”

Abby nodded as though she was guilty. As if any of this could be her fault.
 

“Do you want to talk to me about them? Riley’s outside if you want to talk to him, too.”

“No, I…I think I’ll go back to bed. I’m still sleepy. I’ll eat when I wake up again, I promise.”

I was hesitant to leave her alone, and thought about forcing answers from her. But after everything she had been through, all the horrors and abuse she’d endured, my sister deserved to rest. There was little more I could let her do at this point.

“Okay. Moira’s just dropping something off for Sawyer. She’ll be right back. I have some projects to finish, but they aren’t important so I can leave them if you need me to. If you want me to stay, just tell me.”

My sister shook her head. “I’m okay. Just wish I wasn’t sick.”

I rubbed my hand up and down her arms, trying to soothe and warm her at the same time. “You’ll get better. I know you will.”
 

Abby stiffened slightly, and I almost pulled back. Before I could ask what was wrong, she wrapped her arms around my stomach and squeezed tight. “Why do you always have to go?”

I hesitated, then lifted her carefully into my lap. She felt so tiny in my arms.
 

“We talked about this, Abby. I need to help Sawyer and the others find the Breach. We need to stop the Hellions from coming back for good.”

“But why does it have to be
you
?”

I rocked her gently, hoping the movement would mask the slight tremors coming from my skin. I wanted to give her the answers–that no one else would be able or willing to create a machine to stop them, that the Hellions would keep hunting us until we were extinct, that their King would probably seek vengeance for what we did to his ship–but I stayed silent. Anything I said would only make Abby more upset, and she couldn’t add stress to her illness.
 

“I’ll be safe,” I assured her. “The crew will be with me. It’ll be okay.”

Abby’s whimper crushed my heart. “What about when you’re not? What if something happens?”

I stopped rocking and closed my eyes. Each breath I took strained my chest. “Abigail. Please. I need you to trust me. I need you to…”
I need you to have faith in me. If you don’t, then I’ll doubt myself. I’ll fail.

Abby wriggled out from my hold and looked into my eyes. “I do. I’m sorry. I just…I get scared.”

I smiled weakly and stroked her hair. “Don’t apologize. You know I would stay with you if I could.”

She nodded, biting her lip and looking away.

“Do you still want to sleep?” I asked when she didn’t say anything else.
 

Abby nodded again and pulled away from me, moving with painful slowness until she was stretched out on the bed and almost smothered by the blankets. I clutched her hand and pressed a small kiss to her head. Then I slid to my feet and turned for the door.

I paused when I reached it, glancing over my shoulder.

“Abby? What did you mean when you said the food didn’t taste right?”

Her back was to me, so I didn’t really hear what she said. But I must have misunderstood, because it sounded like, “It doesn’t taste alive.”

***

Riley pushed off the wall by the cabin door when I exited Abby’s room. He hurried to my side, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking concerned.

“She’s still not eating,” I whispered. My voice sounded weak, as if it was just a hairsbreadth away from cracking and bringing tears with it. “I don’t understand why she’s not getting better. She was fine when we brought her on the ship.”

He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his arms. I clutched his shirt and took in as much comfort as I could.