Knight of Wands (A Steampunk Fantasy Adventure Novel) (Devices of War Book 2) (29 page)

I just stood there and breathed.

She paused elegantly. “You’re not going to make me dance by myself, are you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m thinking about it.”

She cooed, pressing herself against me on her way by.

I closed my eyes and ground my teeth.

“However are you going to get me to agree to this treaty of yours, that now includes all the tribes, if I don’t believe you are my knight.”

“I’m not, Nix.”

She settled in front of me, her hand splayed against my chest as she murmured against my lips, “Oh, yes, Synn. You are. You will
always
be mine.”

I raised my chin, my lip curling. “Never.”

She gave me a whisper of a smile. “Always.” She drifted away in the crowd.

How could I possibly crave that? Was I really as whole as I thought?

And if I wasn’t . . . I spotted Keeley’s worried face in the crowd of onlookers. She was talking to Yvette. If I wasn’t, could I trust myself to lead the League of Cities?

My only answer was no.

CHAPTER 26

AIR GAMES TAKE TWO

I wasn’t
in a great mood as I headed to the arena first thing the next morning. Where was Joshua always hiding? How was I supposed to get a message to him if I never knew where he was?

The arena was busy with combat elimination rounds. Fences had been erected in small squares. The crowd crowed, cheering the contestants on. Currency exchanged hands. People were betting on us?

“El’Asim.”

I turned.

Marko Dudyk stepped through the thin crowd.

I watched him warily. I did not like him.

“We appear to be short an observer.” He stopped in front of me, folding his hands over his blue robe. “I was wondering if you would mind filling in.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’d give you a bad report? Cheat?”

The look he gave me was cold. “You think you’re the only competitor we’ve used in observation?”

I had other things to do. “Who would it be for?”

He looked down at the piece of paper in his folded hands. “Eosif Novokshorov.”

I winced. “There’s a slight language barrier.”

Marko shrugged. “While onboard, they will have to speak Adalic.”

I snorted. Not likely. “I’m busy. Please find someone else.”

“This is your mother’s command.” He turned away. “Gather your things and meet the
Hebo Kowka
on the docks. I’ll let them know you’re on your way.”

I let out a frustrated breath, shaking my head. “Marko Dudyk.”

He stopped and turned. “Yes?”

“What kind of protections are in place so we don’t have any further issues like we did last time?”

“Frankly, El’Asim, having you in the race will ensure the safety of at least one of the ships.”

“What are you implying?”

He walked toward me, his teeth clenched. He was a tall man. “There were three ships that came back on their own without any signs of sabotage. Your
two
ships and the Tokarz.”

Were they really looking at me as the saboteur?

“And of those three, only two completed the mission.”

“That doesn’t make me guilty.”

He bared his teeth, glancing away in disgust. “You’re the one who led the rescue operations, which made you quite the hero of these games.”

My hackles rose. I wanted to shove my fist in his face, but knew that was the wrong thing to do. “You’re trying to tell me that because I did your job for you, you think I’m guilty?”

His hazel eyes landed on mine.

I leaned in. “He admitted to me that he did it.”

Marko raised a graying eyebrow.

“Iszak Tokarz. That’s who you need to be looking at.”

“He didn’t complete the task.”

“Probably because he was too busy trying to destroy everyone else’s ships.” My jaw was so tight, it hurt. “What are you doing about that?”

His eyes narrowed. “You need to leave.
We
are investigating what happened.”

That didn’t sit right with me. “What other precautions are you providing?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and straightened. “I’m not telling you, El’Asim. Just know they’re in place and that we will be maintaining a very close eye on all the ships this time.”

I nodded. Did I believe that? “I just have one more question.”

He sighed, looking away.

“If I’m still under suspicion, why are you sending me out there?”

“
I’m
not.” He spun on his heel and left.

Great. Now I had to prove my innocence as well as find evidence of Iszak Tokarz’s guilt?

Joshua sauntered out of my room as I made it back to the living quarters. He stopped, pulled his head back and smiled as he redirected himself and headed toward me. “I just left ye a note.”

“I was looking for you.”

He grinned. “Shiny. I wanted ta let ye know what ye missed las’ night.”

I rolled my eyes and headed toward my rooms. After the incident with Nix, I hadn’t been in the mood for dancing. “I don’t need gossip.”

“Would ye like to know who drew the attention of yer fair sister?”

“Which one?”

“Zara.”

I snorted. “Did you just call Zara fair? If she were here, she’d hit you. You know that.”

He laughed. “Yup. It’s why I said it.”

I couldn’t quite give him my full and undivided attention. Something was going on here, something bigger than just Tokarz, but what? “Is he an airman?”

“Yup.”

I flinched. That meant I would probably be giving her the fleet while I took the city. I let out a long breath. “Who?” My voice sounded harsh even to me.

Joshua closed the door behind him, watching me gather a rucksack and fill it with clothing and supplies. “Kowka.”

I paused, a spare belt in my hand. “As in
the
Kowka?” I turned to him. “As in Eosif Novokshorov?”

Joshua’s lips were flat as he nodded. “One and the very same.” He clucked his tongue, snapped his fingers and slapped his fist to the palm of his opposite hand. “I just thought ye should know.”

Well, that brought a whole new light to the next three days. “And what about Oki? Did she find anyone?”

“Oh, loads.” Joshua chuckled. “I don’t envy her one bi’, tha’ one. Most of her suitors are after her for the power of controllin’ Ino City.”

“They do realize that the Ino are a matriarchal family.”

Joshua shrugged. “Who knows? They’ll learn soon enough, I suspect.”

True enough.

I cinched up my sack and donned my rain coat. “Anything else I should know about?”

“Other than the rumors of yer apparent engagement to Nix are greatly over exaggerated?”

I dropped my shoulders, eyes dead as murderous rage built in my chest. I was going to kill her.

He shrugged. “I don’t know wha’ they saw, but it wasn’t what I did. Could ye have shown your revulsion any more at the dance?”

I glared and pulled my weapon’s belt around my waist, freeing my curved sword from the folds of my long coat. “Probably not.” I slung my sack over my shoulder. “What are you doing for the next few days?”

He followed me into the hall. “I have things to keep me busy.”

I raised my eyebrow at the air of mystery and pushed the button for the platform. “Sounds ominous.”

He fell against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “Ino Nami made me the Master of the Librarium, which means it’s up to me ta come up with a fail proof plan ta allow access ta all the tribes.” He gave me a look that said how thrilled he was about it.

I stepped onto the platform as soon as the metal grate rose. “Congratulations.”

He snorted before following.

Someone waited for me just outside the elevator when the grate opened again. She loitered in the hallway with a sexy grace. Her dark eyes were vacant as though she were thinking about something, her expression soft and relaxed, her dark eyelashes lowered, her eyelids smoky. She wore a leather uniform similar to Dyna’s, this one black and red. She lacked her crown, but her ruby spider gleamed above her chest. What did she want?

“I’m leaving.” Joshua gave me a wide-eyed look as he peeled toward the arena. “Unless you need me.”

I waved him off.

Nix didn’t move or blink to acknowledge my presence.

I didn’t have time for this. “Nix.”

She raised her chin, her eyes focusing with a slow smile. “Synn.” She walked toward me, her hands open.

I stopped and retreated a step back, frowning.

She took my head in her hands and brought my forehead to hers. “Good morning, Synn.”

I stiffened and pulled away. “What are you doing?”

“Saying good morning.”

“You don’t get to say good morning like that.” I took her hands and dropped them. “I need to speak to you about fuel for the station.”

She grasped my fingers, keeping me close. “I would like to speak to you about other things, like when you plan on fulfilling the duties of your knighthood.”

I clamped my teeth together and tipped my head. “I’m not your knight, Nix. I don’t care how many times you say I am, I’m not.”

Her lips tightened. “You need fuel?”

I yanked my fingers out of her grasp. “Yes. But I’m willing to pay for it. I just need to know the price.”

She bit down on her lips and rolled them out slowly. “How much do you need?”

“Apparently, we’re almost out.”

“I’ll make arrangements.” She walked away.

“What?” I shook my head unsure if I should call her back, or let her go. What game was she playing? Was she going to hit me with a bill so large, I had no way of paying it? And in that way, she could get me to sign on as her knight?

I clenched my fists and walked to the docks. I had to figure out how to deal with that woman. Somehow, I had to get smarter.

It felt odd going to the docks and not boarding a
Samma
vessel. I searched for the
Hebo Kowka
. There were actually several
Kowka’s
at the docks. Once they realized there was no limit to the seats, all of their captains were competing.

That was something I was going to have to think about. Did we want to limit the seats, or did that go against everything I was trying to do? I had no idea.

I found the
Hebo
and leapt onto the loading platform swinging in from the dock. It was loaded with several boxes, and bales of sea flax. They were still under repairs. That was good to know and something to be watchful of. It wasn’t unheard of to make repairs while in the air. We did it all the time.

I jumped from the platform, landing lightly on my feet.

Eosif stepped down from the quarterdeck.

I headed in his direction.

“I vas interested to hear that my observer vas the El’Asim.”

I shrugged. “It was either this or stay in Ino City and be inundated with paperwork.”

He smiled slightly and pointed under the stair. “Your bag can go there for now.”

I tucked it under the last step before following him to the quarterdeck.

“I noticed you do not stay at the helm,” he said as I cleared the stairs.

I acknowledged that statement with my chin. “Do you know where we’re going?”

He raised his eyebrow, but said nothing.

I shrugged and watched. I was there for observation. I found a space against the rear rail and leaned against it.

Watching the crew as they lifted the
Hebo Kowka
into the sky was nice. The white sails popped, their air jelly fattened, his long tendrils flailing with a wind I didn’t feel.

Tall, bulbous clouds hung over us, their dark underside writhing like a boiling shadow. But the wind was free, and the sails were full. I closed my eyes, listening to their strange language. It wasn’t pretty.

Their air jelly had touched the underbelly of the storm when Eosif turned to me and crossed his arms over his chest.

I didn’t move. I was enjoying myself. It was a rare moment when I wasn’t needed to solve some sky-shattering problem. I hadn’t realized until that moment just how stressed I was. Up here, on a strange airship, there was nothing I could do about anything.

A slow smile crept over Eosif’s harsh face. “Vould you like to help us solve the clues?”

I sucked air through my teeth, feeling the most relaxed I had in almost a year. “I could take a look.”

“You are supposed to just observe.”

I shrugged and pushed off the rail. “The way I see it, you already proved yourself. I really don’t know that my being here serves any purpose except to make the people on the game council happy.”

The corners of his mouth turned down and he tipped his head before turning around and heading down the stairs. He shouted something in his language.

“What do you call your language again?”

“Vrmuusian. I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it.” Sarcasm laced his words.

I chuckled as we cleared the stairs and retrieved my pack. “You live in the one place most people fear, so I can see why.”

He threw me a sly smile. “It does serve many purposes.”

The captain’s quarters were divided into two by a partition. The bed could be seen on the other side through the slats. I had never seen anything so monstrous on an airship before.