Badlands by Seleste deLaney Read Free Book Online Page B

buckles of her weapons belt and she tossed it onto the bed. The gaslamps burned low, their radiance reflecting off the furniture’s brass fixings. She removed the borrowed shirt and sank onto the bed, intending to simply rest her eyes for a few minutes.
    As soon as the mattress enveloped her body though, fatigue overtook her.
    Visions haunted her sleep. The queen’s head on a pike, screaming at her to fulfill her role then telling her she had earned a reprieve from duty. Clockwork animals stabbing at her skin, bringing both life and death. Princess Laurette’s murder in a dozen vivid incarnations. The gliders falling from the sky, bodies mangled as they crashed into the rocks below. The faces of the Dark Hawk ’s crew painted in blood. Zeke. No. Spencer.
    Ever flailed on the bed, her limbs tangled in the blankets, a silent scream on her lips. Sweat drenched her body when she finally awoke, breath coming in panicked gasps. Sitting up on the bed, her fingers searched out her weapons but touching them brought little comfort. She knew sleep wouldn’t come easy the rest of the night. After dressing, she made her way to the bridge, intending to sit up with the young pilot. Mahala hadn’t seemed the sort to insist on small talk.
    When she stepped onto the bridge, she almost turned around. Captain Pierce still sat at the helm. His shoulders hunched and his head drooped. If he’d fallen asleep, she couldn’t leave him without endangering the ship. She sucked in a deep breath and stepped forward, her hand poised over his shoulder.
    “Hello, Ever. Have a seat.” He hadn’t even turned around.
    Uncertain if she should, Ever eased into the other chair. “I thought perhaps you were asleep.”
    “And that brought you to the bridge in the middle of the night to check?”
    “No. I meant I came here and—”
    Spencer chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. “I knew what you meant. What are you doing awake?”
    “I could ask you the same,” she said, unwilling to divulge the contents of her nightmares or the fact that she’d had them at all, especially the one involving him.
    A gentle rise and fall of his shoulders seemed the only answer she would get. Minutes passed before he said, “I’d imagine something similar to what brought you up here on this beautiful night. Memories that won’t die and worries about the hornet’s nest we’re stepping into.”
    She shivered at how right he was. “I apologize for dragging you into this mess. I’m certain the princess can arrange for advance payment on your delivery, and once you have safely returned her to the Badlands, I will make sure you are duly compensated.” No matter how steady she kept her voice, Ever knew it wouldn’t be as simple as she’d made it sound. Another tremor rocked her body.
    Spencer shrugged off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. “I definitely appreciate that, but I’ll tell you, in my experience, people step into messes of their own accord. You didn’t force me to save you. I just hope we’re the best people for the job you’ve got planned, because I sure don’t know who to point you toward.”
    Ever pulled the coat tighter around her shoulders as another chill ran over her spine. She tried to ignore the warmth from his body and the scent of him that clung to the fabric, even as another part of her wanted to wrap herself in it further. She forced her gaze and mind to the window, watching as light seeped into the night sky, bleeding it of color. She tried not to think about who was the best person for the job she had in mind at the moment. The one that had little to do with saving the Badlands. Instead they passed the rest of the night in awkward silence.
    Once the Dark Hawk was secured to the ground later that morning, Spencer and Zeke went off in search of Zeke’s father. It left Ever on the ship with Noah and the women.
    Noah cornered her at the mess table, his clothes and hair still disheveled from sleep. “So how in the blazes did you