An Airship Named Desire (Take to the Skies Book 1) (18 page)

“I made myself plenty more to gamble with.” She winked. “We may not have any jobs working for us right now, but we’ll get the money to keep Desire going somehow. Us gypsies, we know how to survive, love. Whatever means necessary.”

She was right. Even though cheating was a coward’s way to make money, I couldn’t argue with the results. “Good, because even if we’re desperate, I’m not letting Edwin start another hydroponics garden.”

“Yeah,” Isabella snorted, “I think it went downhill with his hybrids. His zucchicarronip tasted like raw sewage.” Up ahead, the sub-bus stretched across the landscape with a ruler’s rigidity.

Geoff scratched the back of his head. “I haven’t been on a sub-bus in some time, especially not the Reno one.” His voice trailed off, and we lost him to his own deeper thoughts. Geoff didn’t talk much about his past, but he had run away from home like me. The sub-bus ran beneath a thick arched convex walling of geosynthetic resin, which created a translucent barrier that protected the transport system from the weather’s wear and tear. Several black doors stood out against the transparencies, marking themselves as the entrances and exits.

After we entered through the doors, the environment morphed into the perfect temperature with none of the clingy humidity from outside. The arched barrier kept in the warmth, but to keep the humidity from ruining the machinery, periodically stationed vents dehumidified the area. It resulted in a warm and dry climate. The transit system whirred in the background, and I tapped my palm against my thigh as we waited. A couple benches lined the way, and my legs begged for rest, but if I sat down I wouldn’t get back up from sheer exhaustion. I wrinkled my nose.

“We left our mugs of grog back there,” I said. “What a waste.”

“It’s not a waste if its grog, just if you’re spilling ale or absinthe.” Geoff stretched his arms behind his back.

“Spilling absinthe? That’s a crime against humanity.” In the distance, the lights from the sub-bus reflected off the arched ceiling and demanded our attention. “This is the direction into the city, right?” I asked.

Geoff hit his forehead with his palm. “Really? You have the worst sense of direction out of anyone I’ve met.”

I threw my arm around his shoulders. “But that’s why I have you. And Spade. And Adelle now too.” Geoff stared back at me with a flat-lidded gaze, and I sighed. “All right, you can restart your navigational lessons with me after all this rigamarole.” The sub-bus thundered louder, and its sleek white exterior shone like an untouched casing. It zoomed towards us so fast the monstrosity nearly rumbled by, but at the last moment, the brakes squealed, and the sub-bus shuddered to an immediate halt.

The door slid open, but no one left. Apparently this wasn’t a popular spot. No idea why, those broken-down, abandoned city streets teemed with friendliness. Balling my hands into fists, I strode onto the sub-bus. Fluorescent lights lined the ceiling, bleaching the walls with a bluish tinge, and a lack of windows gave the chambers a claustrophobic feel. A map with a holographic console flickered at the head of each compartment on either side of the doors. Geoff placed his hands down, and a keypad appeared. His fingers raced over the optic keys.

“Nautilus, right?” he asked. I nodded, and he plugged in the information. An address and location popped up on the map. Geoff pressed the marker and input the number of passengers. When the fare charge came up, Geoff tapped his foot as he waited for me to dig up my card. “It accepts credits, not the rustic coinage you sling for beer.”

“There isn’t much on it but that should be enough.” I passed it over, and he slid the card into the indicated spot. Once the console processed the money and printed us out a ticket, the sub-bus started up again. A couple other people sat in our chamber. Two rows of seats lined either side, both covered in hunter green plush cushions. The edging facing the aisle glistened with a golden sheen, but under the medical lighting the metal shone green too.

Isabella swung into the nearest open row and squished against the wall. A screen hung over the doorframes on either side, signaling the stops. Geoff sat next to her, and I took the edge. The second my back hit the comfortable cushion, I bit back a moan.

“Let’s start placing bets here on who falls asleep first.” I sunk into the curve of the seat, and my back performed a lovely slouch.

“Now, Captain, it’s your job to stay awake and see us through this fiasco.” Isabella closed her eyes with a feline smile still on her lips.

“Excuse me, I’m going to die of boredom before we ever get there.” My eyes flickered from the lack of sleep. I frowned and folded my arms over my chest.

The sub-bus zoomed along, and aside from the slight buzz, it was a smoother ride than any other mode of transport I travelled. A woman with more petticoats than fingers tossed the occasional glare our way, and her sour pinched lips enhanced her haughtiness. She must have picked up the sub-bus out in the country to spend a night aboard the airship casinos in Reno. Must be nice. An older man slumped over like us with a bowler cap that fell over his forehead and touched the tip of his nose. Sleeplessness sent waves of irritation through my muscles, and I shifted in my seat again.

A destination scrolled over the header above the door while the polished voice of machinery circulated around the speakers near the ceilings. The transport thudded to a halt, and the creak of doors opening filtered throughout the chambers. I turned to look at the map on my right, squinting to see how far along we were. On the board, an illuminated circle marked the Nautilus an inch away from our current location.

Our compartment door opened, and a slim young girl walked in. What she lacked in hips, she made up for in bosom, and her short ruffled cocktail dress exposed plenty. Creamy skin and almond eyes gave her exotic appeal while the nametag clipped to her front, and the miniature nautical captain’s hat suggested a uniform. A man who had drifted off woke up and gave her his full attention. He wasn’t the only one.

“Claire?” Geoff’s voice sounded next to me. The girl’s head jerked in our direction, and her eyebrows furrowed once she caught sight of Geoff. Her small lips formed a shocked circle, and tears began pouring down her face.

Chapter Eighteen

My eyes widened with curiosity, but I forced myself to sit back and watch. She took several steps towards us, her feet dragging as if she were under a spell. I glanced at Geoff. His jaw dropped with genuine surprise, and his fingers dug into the cushion of the seat in front of us.

“I thought you’d…” Her words came out with hesitation. She stopped in front of our row and wiped the tears from her cheeks with her forearm. I raised my brows before glancing back at Geoff.

“Claire, I had to leave. I couldn’t say goodbye.” Both stopped and stared at each other, neither willing to continue. The sub-bus already started back up, and according to the holographic display, we zoomed into the main stretch of Reno. Claire’s tears deepened her blue eyes, offsetting her smooth skin. She was one of the rare few whose tears enhanced her looks. 

“I never stopped thinking about you,” she started again but bit her lip. Geoff’s face darkened. I recognized that expression: guilt. This girl had meant something to him, but listening to their vague, unclear sentences grated my nerves to ribbons.

“Give me a snack and maybe I’ll watch this melodrama unfold, but as it is, I’m hungry and sleepless. Both make me cranky, so, who’s the lady?” I jabbed a thumb in her direction as her dainty features narrowed into a glare. I extended a hand in her direction, since a little friendliness never hurt anyone. “I’m Beatrice, nice to meet you.” Claire hesitated and glanced between me and Geoff before she placed her soft hand against my blistered one.

“This is Claire,” Geoff introduced. “She’s an old friend from back before the Desire when I lived around here for a time.” The girl’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of the word friend—obviously they had something more between them. I leaned back in the seat and crossed my arms over my chest. Isabella slept next to Geoff, oblivious to the situation.

The sub-bus stopped again, and people boarded. Several passengers entered our compartment, so Claire took a seat in the row before ours. An awkward silence descended amongst us as the sub-bus set into motion again.

“Cute get-up,” I commented. “What’s the job?” Claire didn’t say anything at first as if she still debated whether or not she wanted to speak with me.

“I work at Nautilus.” She stared at Geoff rather than me when she responded. Not that I didn’t love an awkward interchange, but in this triangulation of the conversation I played third fiddle.

“We’re heading to the same place then,” I attempted again. Her expression didn’t change, and she kept staring at Geoff who refused to meet her eyes. I tapped a finger on my knee. Our stop couldn’t arrive fast enough.

“So what was Geoff like back in the day? I mean before he boarded the Desire?” The lanky deckhand I’d first met had grown into a man before my eyes, now first mate to my captain, though he still wore that same duster with all the bronze buttons and stains.

I punched him in the shoulder, but he didn’t respond. His eyes sank towards the floor, and a frown crowned his face. He couldn’t be enjoying any of this. Claire pursed her lips, not responding to me, but three times was my limit. My temper escalated. If she had some long held grudge with him, fine, but no one treated me like I was invisible. Beyond her disregard for me, the way she upset Geoff marked her off as a floozy in my books. My fingers curled into a fist, and I clenched my jaw to keep from snapping. Geoff must have noticed, since he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized to both of us. “You took me by surprise, Claire. If you want, we can catch up real fast before you have to go to work.”

“I’d like that.” Her words were terse.

I rolled my eyes. This broad didn’t deserve five minutes with him. I stood up for Geoff to get out, and I’m sure when he did he noticed the angry flare in my eyes. They sat several rows ahead of us surrounded by empty seats. I sat back down and folded my arms over my chest.

From her small manicured hands to the tears sticky on her face, everything about her screamed hyper-feminine, and I couldn’t ever imagine Geoff being with one of those girls. Trickles of their whispers filtered into my hearing but no phrases loud enough to distinguish. I tried to ignore the burning sensation in my chest, since I had no right to get irritated. Geoff could talk to whomever he wanted to, floozy or not. But, still. I huffed and kicked the side of Isabella’s boot. If I had to sit here in silence, I’d burst. Isabella woke with a start, giving me a sulky glare.

“What was that for?” she grumbled.

I pointed. “Geoff stumbled into an old flame.”

“So?” Isabella tilted her head and stretched her arms.

“She’s rude.” I settled back into my seat, fiddling with the strap on my holster.

Isabella entertained a grin, and she shook her head. “She’s not you, you mean. Sorry darling, he’s allowed any woman he wants. You’ve never given him a chance, and you’ve had plenty.”

“Not like that. Geoff just deserves the best.” Irritation stormed me like a nest of bugs.

“You’re so dense.” Isabella rolled her eyes before turning back on her side.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I shot back.

“I’ll let you mull on it.”

When I glanced over, her eyes shut in slumber again. Isabella was dead wrong. Annoyance prickled all over me but not because of his interest in someone else. No, I just didn’t like her rudeness. I shifted in my seat again and simmered in a silence that dragged on like waiting for a watched pot to boil—or burn in my case.

Finally Nautilus blinked onto the overhead screen. Geoff and Claire stood. I kicked Isabella’s boot again and roused her.

“Wakey, wakey, we’re off here.”

She blew away long strands of light brown hair that had drifted over her face and pushed herself from the seat. We exited through the doors. From the clouded shell of the sub-bus, all of Reno’s lights glowed and flashed from indistinguishable places. Claire whispered something in Geoff’s ear before she strode off ahead of us through the black exit doors. Nice of her to offer a goodbye. He sidled back over to us but didn’t say a word, and I didn’t ask. Anyway, Nautilus provided a quick distraction the moment we exited the sub-bus doors. 

A giant sign blinked on and off, spelling ‘Nautilus’ in cerulean light. The hotel itself rose high into the sky, more stories than I dared count, and the colored walls shifted from slate green to cavernous blue with electronic ripples like the tide below. Translucent aquamarine windows added to the effect. In front of the hotel, the giant submarine lurked like a subterranean threat. The three of us stopped, gaping at the spectacle before our eyes.

A docking walk traveled up to the entryway of a giant hulled out submarine. The numbers 571 glowed in white print against the hull, and a large sign read: USS Nautilus. Although I preferred airships myself, I couldn’t help but admire the curves on that hulking monstrosity.

Steel rivets lined both sides of the slate green panels covering the submarine’s exterior. The casino’s shell hearkened back to a time well before modern technology, but the ancient monolith had panache the newer models lacked. Her tail arced from ridge to bow, and the globed portholes shone from the interior lighting. The entire ship from a distance took on a shark-like quality with a sleek design not unlike the Desire. 

“Time to make some coin.” Isabella grinned. We walked up the sullen planked boardwalk leading to the main entrance. Large bouncers dressed in matching navy uniforms stood by the doors to make sure people didn’t carry side arms—none of our ruffian rabble allowed. I wrinkled my nose. No one was allowed to take Matilda from me. Plus, with how many enemies we’d made, going without spelled suicide.

“I’m going to give you my holster,” I told Isabella. “I need you to sneak by the guards. Geoff and I will enter simultaneously and provide the distraction, but you’re the best at subterfuge. Once inside, meet back up with us.” She nodded, and I passed her my holster, leather pouch included. Geoff relinquished his gun and ammo. Isabella strapped my holster and his gun on, saluted me, and disappeared into the boarding crowd. But that’s when I spotted him.

A hulking figure walked through the swinging doors of the Nautilus with a hunch I’d recognize anywhere, a man I’d stood beside on countless missions in the past. Even though I just glimpsed his back, I didn’t need the confirmation of his hazel eyes to know who he was.

Jensen.

My heart leapt into my throat, and I jabbed Geoff.

“Look ahead,” I whispered. “Don’t make a scene. We have to get to him as quickly as possible.” Geoff glanced up, and his eyes widened as Jensen disappeared into the building. We strode up to the guards who patted us down, but when they found nothing, they pushed us along. My nerves pulsed with fresh adrenaline at the sight of Jensen. We needed weapons. Isabella already disappeared into the crowd, and I hoped she’d found her way inside. Nautilus’ navy blue doors swung open, and we entered.

Copper chandeliers hung from the submarine ceilings, and their flowing lights reflected a trail of sapphire crystals. The two floor casino spanned the length of the submarine while artificial light invaded every spare inch, even the corners. I scanned the crowd for any sign of Jensen. The tense sounds of a violin played over the speakers, rising with the crescendo. Loud burbles of an indoor waterfall carried throughout the entire casino even though it cascaded from the center of the second floor down to the first. 

Men dressed in tuxedos, and the women wore bustled full dresses with boned bodices and petticoats on the smaller second tier. With my fitted leather tunic and loose breeches, I stuck out like an eggplant in a cabbage patch. Give me a mercenary, a drunkard, and a bar fight any day.

Someone bumped into me from behind. My hand leapt to my side for my gun, but I groped air. A woman, with the same uniform as Claire, pushed by me toting a tray full of drinks for the patrons by the slot machines and tables. I glared. My own rack wasn’t meager, but these women’s shelves carried their trays for them. People swarmed in clusters around the Nautilus, and everywhere we walked, snippets of conversation flowed into my ears. Jensen had blended into the crowd. I glanced around but spotted no sign of Isabella either, which caused a sweat broke out against the nape of my neck.

“Geoff, I need you to find Isabella. I’ll wait for you by the bar. With any luck, Jensen didn’t notice us, so I’ll try to mingle and blend into the crowd. If both of us are together, he’ll recognize us faster than we’d draw our nonexistent guns.” He nodded and took off.

The owners of the casino put some extraordinary effort into making the submarine a work of art. While the exterior glared sullenly slate, colors inside blossomed like a tropical garden. The walls resembled an underwater landscape with a cerulean base color shifting to different darker shades in sections while giant murals of jellyfish, octopi and schools of fish decorated the entire building. Seaweed drifted between them in such realistic detail the painting appeared three dimensional. I tapped my foot. My brain ran in search overload between looking for Jensen, Isabella, this Shadow Ward guy, and now Geoff. Bottles glistened against the bar in the distance, and I headed in that direction.

A hand tapped my shoulder.

I whirled around, fists brandished and ready for a fight. The middle-aged gentleman who stood behind me fit in with this whole crowd, wearing a bowler cap and a spotless tweed tailcoat. Like so many old aristocrats, he even had a monocle for the gods’ sakes. My panic fizzled. He was no threat.

“You stood out like a lost lamb, my dear.” The man’s voice was thick like resin and bogged down by a vaguely familiar accent. I lowered my fists, taking in a deep breath.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

“Someone you don’t want to meet?” he asked with a twinkle in his light gray eyes. “Or maybe you do want to meet them. And they may not want to meet you.”

I kept my eyes on the crowd but turned to face the man. Mingling helped me stay under the radar, not stick out like a feisty, punch-slinging sore thumb.

“An old friend. I owe him a debt I can’t wait to repay.” I started edging in the direction of the bar, hoping to lose this guy. Instead, he walked alongside me.

“Is this your first time in Reno?” he asked. “It can be overwhelming for newcomers.”

“Before, but briefly.” I took a deep breath before continuing, not wanting to disclose too much information to this total stranger. “Here on business. Yourself?”

“Why, business as well.” He gave me another charming grin that creased into dimples. “I’ve hit a bumpy patch with negotiations, but my plans will smooth out soon.”

I nodded, half-paying attention. “Maybe you’ve seen my friend,” I said. “He’s taller than most of the people in here and has broad shoulders like a riot wrestler. He’s dressed out of place, like me. The guy wears a bowler cap too, like you.”

The man scanned out into the crowd with raised brows. “I can’t say I’ve seen this friend of yours, but if I do, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

Geoff ran up to me, his chest heaving up and down from exertion.

“Bea, I searched for her all through this casino, even the upper floor,” he said, slouching over. “I haven’t caught sight of either since we entered.” I bit back a groan. We needed to find her and soon. 

“Oh, Geoff, meet—” I turned to where the gentleman had stood, but he’d vanished. Geoff crooked his eyebrow at me, but I shrugged. “I was talking to someone and trying to mingle, but he took off.” We both lapsed into silence, and awkwardness spread between us like an ink stain. I shifted from hip to hip, and neither of us spoke. The murmur from the chatter behind us blended with the splash of the waterfall.